This guide is for people or businesses who want to:

• use a spring in England to bottle spring water
• sell this spring water in the UK and the EU

To use a spring in:

• Wales or Northern Ireland, read Food Standards Agency guidance
• Scotland, contact Food Standards Scotland

What counts as spring water

You can only describe a product as spring water if:

• it comes from an underground water source that’s tapped at a natural or drilled exit
• it’s free of parasites and bacteria that cause disease
• the source is protected from pollution

BottlingThe mustwater takecannot placebe attransported thein springa orcontainer. borehole.See rules on how you’re allowed to transport the water.

You can sell spring water directly to consumers in, for example:

• bottles
• tetra packs and cartons
• water coolers
• pouches

You do not have to state the composition on the label (although many producers choose to do so).

There are no forbidden treatments, but you must follow rules for certain treatments if you use them.

Steps to get registered to produce spring water

1. Contact the Environment Agency to apply for a water abstraction licence. You’ll need this before you can take water from the spring.
   
   
2. Apply to the local authority in the area the water is extracted to register as a food business for spring water.
   
   
3. Carry out initial tests out on your spring water to make sure it complies with chemical, microbiological and radioactive limits. Send the results to the environmental health officer at the local authority who’s registering your business.
   
   
4. Understand the rules you’ll need to follow when exploiting the spring. You need to know this to make sure your spring water is viable to produce.
   
   
5. Understand what treatments you can use. You need to know this to make sure your spring water is viable to produce.
   
   
6. Check the labelling rules you’ll need to follow.

The local authority will register your business and premises when they’ve checked:

• your testing records
• that you’ve understood the rules you must comply with
• your premises meets hygiene conditions

They’ll let you know in writing when you can start producing and marketing your spring water.

Tests you need to carry out on your spring water

You must test your spring water and make sure it complies with:

• chemical limits
• microbiologicalparasites limitsand bacteria
• radioactive limits

You should check that the laboratory testing your water has received third party accreditation for carrying out the method of testing that you have requested.

Initial and ongoing tests

Carry out initial testing and keep records of the results - you’ll need to show these to the local authority. Take samples at source and take as many as you need to be sure your water complies with the rules.

After initial testing, you must carry out ongoing testing regularly - discuss how often with the local authority you’re dealing with. This can vary, depending on, for example:

• how much spring water you produce
• the conditions around the spring

For both initial and ongoing testing, you do not need to send samples of the water to the local authority. They will carry out their own tests at your bottling plant.

Chemicals limits

Test your water to make sure it complies with the following limits.

Chemical	Maximum limit	Details
Antimony	5 micrograms per litre
Arsenic	10 micrograms per litre
Benzene	1 microgram per litre
Benzo(a)pyrene	0.01 micrograms per litre
Boron	1 milligram per litre
Bromate (Br03L)	10 micrograms per litre
Cadmium	5 micrograms per litre
Chromium	50 micrograms per litre
Copper	2 milligrams per litre
Cyanide (CN)	50 micrograms per litre
1,2-dichloroethane	3 micrograms per litre
Fluoride	1.5 milligrams per litre
Lead	10 micrograms per litre
Mercury	1 microgram per litre
Nickel	20 micrograms per litre
Nitrate (NO3)	50 milligrams per litre	You also need to divide concentration of nitrate in milligrams per litre by 50. Add this to the concentration of nitrite in milligrams per litre. Divide it by 3 - it must not be more than 1.
Nitrite (NO2)	0.5 milligrams per litre	You also need to divide concentration of nitrate in milligrams per litre by 50. Add this to the concentration of nitrite in milligrams per litre. Divide it by 3 - it must not be more than 1.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons	0.1 micrograms per litre	This means the total of all individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found and measured during your testing should not be more than 0.10 micrograms per litre
Selenium	10 micrograms per litre
Tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene	10 micrograms per litre	This means the total of tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene combined should not be more than 10 micrograms per litre
Trichloromethanes	100 micrograms per litre	This means the total of all individual trichloromethanes should not be more than 100 micrograms per litre

Chemical limits: special conditions for acrylamide, epichlorohydrin and vinyl chloride

Your water must not contain more than the maximum limits for these 3 chemicals.

Chemical	Maximum limit
	Acrylamide	0.1 micrograms per litre
	Epichlorohydrin	0.1 micrograms per litre
	Vinyl chloride	0.5 micrograms per litre

If there’s any risk of the water exceeding these limits, you must sample and test the water. However, you do not need to test the the water if you and the local authority are satisfied that:

• your spring water has not come into contact with equipment made using acrylamide, epichlorohydrin and vinyl chloride
• you’ve not used any flocculants containing these 3 chemicals

You can demonstrate to the local authority that your water does not contain residues of these chemicals over the limits by providing either a manufacturer’s:

• relevant certificate of conformity
• declaration of conformity
• declaration of performance

Chemical limits: pesticides

Test your water to make sure it complies with the following limits.

Pesticide	Maximum limit	Details
Aldrin	0.03 micrograms per litre
Dieldrin	0.03 micrograms per litre
Heptachlor	0.03 micrograms per litre
Heptachlor epoxide	0.03 micrograms per litre
Other individual pesticides	0.1 micrograms per litre	You only need to test for pesticides that are likely to be present in the water. The maximum of 0.1 micrograms per litre applies to each individual pesticide you test for.
Total pesticides	0.5 micrograms per litre	Total of all pesticides you find should not equal more than 0.5 micrograms per litre

MicrobiologicalParasites limitsand bacteria

YourTest the water mustat besource freeevery of6 parasitesmonths andto bacteriaprove that causeyour disease.water Testis yourfree waterof toparasites.

Every make3 suremonths, ityou compliesmust withtest and show an absence of the following limits.bacteria in certain testing conditions.

BacteriaShow absence of these bacteria	MaximumConditions limitof testing
	Escherichia coli	0 perin 250 ml at 37°C and 44.5°C
Pseudomonas	Other aeruginosacoliforms	0 perin 250 ml at 37°C and 44.5°C
	Faecal streptococci	0 perin 250 ml at any temperature
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	0 in 250 ml at any temperature
Sporulated sulphite-reducing anaerobes	0 perin 50 ml at any temperature
Total

You’ll also need to ask your laboratory to test the total viable colony countcounts (TVC)every after3 72months, hoursboth at 22ºC 100source perand ml TVC after 24bottling.

The hourstotal atviable 37ºC 20colony percounts ml are the total number of bacteria picked up by the test.

ForThe yourresults, initialafter testing,bottling, takeshould samplesnot both:exceed:

• 100 per millilitre when tested at source20 to 22°C in 72 hours on agar-agar or agar-gelatine mixture
• 20 per millilitre when tested at 37°C in 24 hours on agar-agar

Collect samples within the first 12 hours after bottlingbottling.

Keep - keep the water at between -1°C and 4°C before yousending sendit to the laboratory laboratory.

Radioactive limits

Test your water to make sure it complies with the following limits.

Test for	Concentration or value
	Radon	100 becquerels per litre
	Tritium	100 becquerels per litre
	Indicative dose	0.1 millisievert per(a litreyear)

Rules for exploiting the spring

You should be aware of rules to follow once your business and premises are registered and you start to exploit the spring.

Rules for protecting the water at source

You must make sure that:

• any equipment you use to collect the water, such as pumps, prevents contamination and does not change the properties of the water
• the source or borehole is protected against pollution
• pipes and reservoirs are made from materials suitable for water, and are built to prevent any chemical, physio-chemical or microbiological change to the water

Bottling or using containers

Your bottling plant must be based at the spring.

You must also:must:

• meet hygiene requirements when you bottle and produce the water
• bottle the water in containers with caps or lids, to avoid contamination
• use food-grade standard containers to avoid adverse changes to the microbiological and chemical properties of the water

If you find that your spring water has become polluted at any stage, you must stop bottling from the spring until you’ve removed the cause of pollution.

How you’re allowed to transport the water

You must transport your spring water from your plant in bottles or containers that the final customer will use.

The only exception to this is if you were transporting water from the spring to a bottling plant further away on or before 13 December 1996, in containers not intended for the final customer. If this applies to you, you can continue transporting using the same containers.

Check what treatments you can use

You may want to use treatments to make your spring water taste better or to make it comply with the rules.

You may use any treatment for spring water. You must follow certain rules if you use:

• the authorised ozone-enriched air oxidation technique
• activated alumina

Ozone-enriched air oxidation treatment

You can use ozone-enriched air oxidation to separate compounds of iron, manganese, sulphur and arsenic from the water if they occur naturally at source.

You can only use this treatment if all the following apply:

• before you start, you’ve met the conditions for exploiting the spring
• the treatment does not accidentally disinfectant the water, as a side effect
• the treatment does not alter the mineral, chemical and microbial composition of the water (apart from iron, sulphur and manganese)
• it does not leave residues in the water that could be a risk to public health

Any residues caused by this treatment should not exceed the following maximum limits.

Treatment residue	Maximum limit (milligrams per litre)
	Dissolved ozone	50
	Bromate	3
	Bromoform	1

You must get authorisation from the local authority to use this treatment. You should:

• allow them to examine your proposed method of treatment, place of treatment and take samples for analysis
• provide any extra information the local authority asks for

Authorised activated alumina treatment

You can only treat your water with activated alumina if:

• you’re aiming to remove fluoride
• you follow the technical rules

Any residues released into the water as a result of removing fluoride must be as low as possible and should not be a risk to public health.

You must make sure:

• the treatment does not accidentally disinfectant the water, as a side effect
• you get permission from the local authority at least 3 months before you start this treatment

Labelling rules

You must follow rules in this section when labelling your spring water.

You need to put the following on your labels:

• type of product (also known as the sales description)
• name of spring and place where the water is exploited
• details of any ozone-enriched air treatments you’ve used

You can also put a trade description (sometimes known as the brand name) if you want to but it’s not legally required.

Type of product (sales description)

You must put ‘spring water’ on your labelling. This describes the type of product and is known as the ‘sales description’. You must not sell it as any other type of water, such as natural mineral water.

Name of spring and place where spring is exploited

On the label, you must put the name of the:

• spring (if the spring does not have a name, you must give it one - discuss with the local authority when you register your food business)
• place where the spring is exploited - for example, you could use the town or village where it’s based, but you must not be misleading when you use a location on your labelling

If you’ve used an ozone-enriched air oxidation treatment

If you’ve used an authorised ozone-enriched air oxidation technique on your spring water, you must put the words ‘water subjected to an authorised ozone-enriched air oxidation technique’ on your labelling.

If you’ve used any other treatments, you do not need to put any wording on the label about them.

Trade description (optional brand name)

The ‘trade description’ is also known as the brand name. For example, Highland Spring, Pure Life or Harrogate.

You do not have to use a trade description for your spring water. If you choose to have one you must follow the trade description rules set out in this section.

Trade description: using the town or place name

You can use the town or place of exploitation as the trade description as long as your spring is located there.

You must not use a misleading place name as your trade description. For example, you cannot name your water after a town in Somerset if your spring is in Wales.

If you use as your trade description the:

• name of the spring, then you must put the place where it’s exploited elsewhere on the label
• place it’s exploited, then you must put the name of the spring elsewhere on the label

Trade description: using a trade description (brand name) that’s different from the name of the spring and place of exploitation

If you do this, you must make the font for the name of the spring and place of exploitation at least one and a half times the height and width of the largest of the letters used for your trade description.

Trade description: you cannot have more than one

Usually, you must sell all spring water from the same spring or borehole using only one trade description. You cannot sell it under a second name.

For example, if you already sell ‘ABC Spring Water’ you’re not allowed to sell a new batch from the same spring using the name ‘DEF Spring Water’.

The only exception is if you want to sell your water to a retailer, such as a supermarket, hotel, stadium, museum, venue or cafe, who will apply their own branding.

The best practice way to do this is to sell your water with both:

• your trade description
• the retailer’s own logo

For example, add a retailer’s logo to your label provided it’s still clear that the water comes from your brand. If you do this, the retailer’s logo does not count as a second brand.

Alternatively, you can choose to not have your own trade description, remove your own logo and sell the water with the retailer’s logo only instead. You can do this as long as the retailer’s logo is clearly separate from the sales description ‘spring water’.

If you have questions about this, speak with your contact in the local authority where the water is extracted.

If you use spring water as an ingredient in soft drinks

You can use the term ‘spring water’ on your labelling as an ingredient in soft drinks.

You’re allowed to do this as long as your spring water complies with the rules in this guide at the point you add the first extra ingredient to the spring water, such as flavouring.

When you’re allowed to start producing and marketing your spring water

The local authority will:

• check your testing records
• make sure you’ve complied with all the rules

When they are satisfied that your spring water meets the rules, they will register your business and confirm it in writing.

Once you’ve received this, you can start to produce and market your spring water.