Hydrogeological Resources: Natural Mineral Waters, Mineroindustrial Waters, and Spring Waters.

Consigned in the portuguese legislation as a geological resource, Natural Mineral Waters, Mineroindustrial Waters and Spring Waters are framed by Law n.º 54/2015, of June 22, which establishes the bases of the legal regime for the disclosure and use of geological resources existing in the national territory.

Natural Mineral Waters and Mineroindustrial Waters are part of the State's public domain, while Spring Waters are privately owned.

Natural Mineral Waters must have physical-chemical stability throughout the hydrological year, unlike Spring Waters that may present a seasonal chemical variability, motivated by relatively short circulation times in the subsoil. Thus, Natural Mineral Waters have a deep, slow circulation, in which the water-rock interaction phenomena are often of the order of tens to thousands of years, providing waters with a well-defined and specific chemical composition. Each Natural Mineral Water has, therefore, its own unique characteristics that result from a long and complex process through which it passes, with numerous and diverse intervening factors.

DGEG is the Public Administration entity responsible for the knowledge, conservation, enhancement and qualification of these geological resources, ensuring their economic, social and environmental sustainability and complying with several general principles described in Article 4 of Law n.º 54/2015 of June 22, which include the promotion of scientific knowledge of existing resources, their forms of exploitation and the appropriate protection of geological resources, in order to exploit it.

Competences of the Directorate of Services of Hydrogeological and Geothermal Resources (DSRHG)