MINERAL AND CURATIVE WATERS IN SAXONIA - ISOTOPE ANALYTICAL CHARACTERIZATION

The groundwaters studied and labelled as mineral water were ''natural mineral waters'' for bottled waters and ''natural curative waters'' fo r heal therapeutical applications. They were characterized either by a specific mineralization oi their suitability for balneology. To revea l the actual hydrological situation isotope investigations using H-2, O-18, H-3, C-12 and C-14 (DIC) and S-34 (sulphate were included in a s tudy describing samples of 24 mineral water deposits in Saxonia. The w ater was classified into 4 hydrochemical types of genesis. Due to diff erent hydrogeological and hydrochemical situations widely scattered is otope ratios were measured. Most of the investigated mineral waters ar e containing at least parts of younger waters (with residence rimes le ss than about 40 years). Correlations between chemical composition and the tritium content could be observed within different springs from t he areas Bad Brambach, Bad Elster and Burkhardswalde. Strong variation s in delta(34)S were found in samples with low sulphate content, showi ng different sulphur sources, as well as microbiological reactions. On the other hand mineral waters from Bad Brambach and Bad Elster show n early the same delta(34)S value of about 6 parts per thousand CDT desp ite beeing of a different chemical type. The delta(13)C values between -22 and -2.2 parts per thousand PDB are related to different sources CO2.