In restaurants and cafes, mineral water is only brought to the table in a sealed bottle – there’s a reason for that.
In pubs, cafés, bars or restaurants, drinks are usually served by the glass. However, this is not the case with mineral water: provided the service staff adhere to the rules, the mineral water ends up in the unopened bottle at the table first and is only then poured into the glass.
And that is not in the gusto of the restaurateur, but is just as prescribed in the Mineral and Table Water Ordinance (MTVO). There it is regulated, among other things, that mineral water may only reach the consumer in sealed prepackaged packaging.
Because natural mineral water has to meet the highest quality standards – and these differ from those of table water, for example. This is how the MTVO defines the special requirements for natural mineral water:
- It originates from subterranean water sources protected from pollution and is obtained from one or more natural or man-made springs.
- It is of original purity and characterized by its content of minerals, trace elements or other components and, where appropriate, by certain, especially nutritional effects.
- Its composition, temperature and other essential characteristics remain constant within the limits of natural variations; they are not changed by fluctuations in the bed.
And so that the consumer or guest actually gets this quality water and not just any cheap table water, it must be served in the bottle at the table. The German mineral springs guarantee the safety, quality and the unadulterated naturalness of the mineral water from the source to the guest via the MTVO.
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Test by Öko-Test: German mineral water is so good
And the fact that the quality of German mineral water is very good is also confirmed by the recently published test by the magazine “ÖKO-TEST” (Issue 7/2021) shown. So has from the 50 tested classic waters in the test every second with “very good” truncated. Here you will find more information and results of the mineral water test by Öko-Test.
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Alternative: just bubble the water yourself
But no matter how good the mineral water in this country may be: since Sodastream made the sparkling water maker acceptable in Germany in recent years, millions of households in Germany have been sparkling their own water.
The tap water mixed with CO2 has nothing to do with real mineral water. However, for reasons of convenience, cost and the environment, consumers are increasingly turning to the home-made alternative. Our partner AllesBeste took a closer look at the sparkling water maker. We have summarized the test results for you here in detail, the compact recommendations of the test can be found in the following table:
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Quality of the tap water in the sparkling water maker
Tap water is one of the most strictly controlled “foodstuffs” in Germany. In view of the boom in soda makers triggered by SodaStream, this is basically good news. Because in addition to CO2, the water from the tap is the main component. But although German tap water is subject to high requirements and quality standards, this does not automatically mean that it comes out of the tap in the same quality in every household. For example, outdated pipes or fittings can have a negative impact on the water quality – and heavy metals may get into the tap water. If you want to get an idea of ”your water quality”, you can do this relatively cheaply using test strips available online. Alternatively, you will also find somewhat more expensive water test sets such as from Ivario or Aqua Emperorin which the results for almost 20 test values are determined via a laboratory.
Ivario laboratory water test combination (19-in-1) at Amazon