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Reading a water label
A water label in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania or the Russian-language market prints the same analysis in different words. Here is the vocabulary, the three legal categories a bottle can belong to, the unit traps, and how to turn any label into a comparable number.
Three categories, three sets of rules
| Category | What it has to be | What the label must tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Natural mineral water | From a specific protected underground source, microbiologically wholesome at source, with a stable characteristic composition recognised by a national authority. | The source name and place, an analysis of the characteristic constituents, any permitted treatment applied, and the carbonation description. |
| Spring water | From an underground source, fit to drink at source, bottled at source. | The source. It does not have to have, or declare, a characteristic mineral composition. |
| Bottled drinking or table water | Water intended for human consumption, which may be treated public supply. | It is regulated as drinking water rather than as mineral water, so the mineral analysis is optional. |
The practical consequence is simple. Only the first category guarantees you a published analysis. If a bottle carries no ion table at all, that is usually the category it is in — which is not a safety problem, but it does mean you cannot compare it on this site's terms.
The same label in five languages
| English | Eesti | Suomi | Latviešu | Lietuvių | Русский |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural mineral water | looduslik mineraalvesi | luontainen kivennäisvesi | dabīgais minerālūdens | natūralus mineralinis vanduo | природная минеральная вода |
| Spring water | allikavesi | lähdevesi | avota ūdens | šaltinio vanduo | родниковая вода |
| Drinking / table water | joogivesi, lauavesi | juomavesi, pöytävesi | dzeramais ūdens | geriamasis vanduo | питьевая / столовая вода |
| Still | gaseerimata | hiilihapoton | negāzēts | negazuotas | негазированная |
| Sparkling | gaseeritud | hiilihapollinen | gāzēts | gazuotas | газированная |
| Total mineral content | mineraalainete üldsisaldus | kivennäisainepitoisuus | minerālvielu kopējais saturs | mineralinių medžiagų kiekis | минерализация |
| Calcium | kaltsium | kalsium | kalcijs | kalcis | кальций |
| Magnesium | magneesium | magnesium | magnijs | magnis | магний |
| Sodium | naatrium | natrium | nātrijs | natris | натрий |
| Potassium | kaalium | kalium | kālijs | kalis | калий |
| Bicarbonate | vesinikkarbonaat | vetykarbonaatti | hidrogēnkarbonāts | hidrokarbonatas | гидрокарбонаты |
| Sulphate | sulfaat | sulfaatti | sulfāts | sulfatas | сульфаты |
| Chloride | kloriid | kloridi | hlorīds | chloridas | хлориды |
| Fluoride | fluoriid | fluoridi | fluorīds | fluoridas | фтор |
The unit traps
Milligrams per 100 millilitres. Some labels report per 100 ml to match the nutrition-declaration convention used for foods. Multiply by ten to get milligrams per litre. Forgetting to is how a water with 40 mg of sodium per litre gets read as one with 4.
Grams per litre. Russian-language labels, and the Georgian and Caucasian waters generally, print mineralisation in g/l — and often as a bracket, such as 5.0–7.5 g/l, because a licensed source is allowed to vary within a declared range. Multiply by 1 000 for mg/l. The bracket is not sloppiness; it is how those waters are certified.
Sodium against salt. Water labels give sodium; food labels usually give salt. Sodium × 2.54 = salt. So 200 mg of sodium per litre is roughly half a gram of salt, and the 2.0 g daily sodium reference is the same number as the 5 g salt one.
The Russian classification. Mineralisation up to about 1 g/l is a table water you can drink freely; 1 to 10 g/l is a medicinal-table water, sold with a course of use; above 10 g/l is a medicinal water. Georgian and Russian bottles are labelled to that scheme, which is why they carry drinking instructions that a French still water does not.
Turning any label into a comparable number
Once the units are straight, three pieces of arithmetic cover most questions. Hardness in millimoles per litre is calcium ÷ 40.08 plus magnesium ÷ 24.31; multiply by 5.61 for German degrees. Share of a daily reference is the ion figure divided by 950 for calcium, 350 for magnesium, or 2 000 for sodium. And the dry residue, if it is printed, tells you immediately which of the three EU mineral-content claims the water is entitled to. The comparison table has all of that computed for the waters in this database.
Analyses: the figures each producer publishes on the label or in its technical sheet — see the basis line on every water page. Reference intakes: EFSA Dietary Reference Values. Label claims: Directive 2009/54/EC, Annex III. Mineral-water constituent limits and the fluoride labelling rule: Directive 2003/40/EC. Tap-water parametric values: Directive (EU) 2020/2184. Checked 2026-09-06.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mineral water and spring water?
They are separate legal categories. A natural mineral water comes from a specific protected underground source, has a stable composition, is recognised by a national authority and must publish its analysis. A spring water also comes from an underground source and must be fit to drink at source, but has no requirement for a characteristic stable mineral composition. Bottled drinking or table water is a third thing again and can be treated public supply.
What does mineralisation in g/l mean?
It is the dry residue — everything dissolved in a litre, weighed after evaporation — expressed in grams instead of milligrams. Labels in the Russian-language market use grams per litre, EU labels usually milligrams. 1 g/l is 1 000 mg/l. The Russian classification puts table water at up to 1 g/l, medicinal-table water between 1 and 10, and medicinal water above 10.
Why do two bottles of the same brand have different numbers?
Because a bottling field often has several boreholes, and the water from each is analysed separately. Producers also re-analyse sources periodically and update the label. That is why any comparison table, including this one, is a reference point rather than an authority.
How do I compare a label in mg/100 ml with one in mg/l?
Multiply the mg per 100 ml figure by ten. It is the single most common unit trap on a water label, and it makes a water look ten times less mineral than it is.
All waters compared
The full analysis table, grouped by mineral content.
Water hardness explained
Degrees, millimoles and parts per million, converted, plus what hardness does and does not do.
Low-sodium water
The 20 mg per litre label rule, and how much sodium a litre of each water really carries.
Water highest in magnesium
Every water ranked by magnesium, against the EFSA adequate intake.
Water highest in calcium
Calcium per litre ranked, and how much of a day it covers.
Bicarbonate and alkaline water
What bicarbonate is, which waters carry a lot of it, and what it comes packaged with.
Read one label properly and you have read them all
TempoLife scans labels and keeps the numbers, so the reading only has to happen once.