About 80 Natural Mineral Waters of the national territory, used in thermalism and bottling, were the target of an innovative study for two and a half years, in order to achieve new scientific contributions on these resources of the public domain of the State. The richness and hydromineral potential of Portugal, as well as the need felt, over the past few years, to study the natural microbial nature of these waters, were the motivation for the DSRHG to create a new strategy for the development of knowledge of natural mineral waters as "a whole", allowing their enhancement and more effective exploitation.

This multidisciplinary project interconnects the areas of geology, physicochemistry and biology, being considered from the beginning, by the DSRHG, the tool that will provide the advance in the exploitation of these resources. The natural mineral waters were, for the first time, characterized in terms of their microbial composition, using metagenomics as a new approach to study. This methodology allowed us to identify the microbial communities present in these waters with unique genetic material and potential bioactivity, detect the presence of unique microorganisms as their hydrobiomic code, as well as isolate and characterize viable microorganisms, to better understand aquifer systems as dynamic biological units.

The seminar organized at the Lisbon Congress Center, December 10, 2019, was attended by 200 participants, providing debate on the topic among concessionaires, experts and the general public. This event was a milestone in the history of natural mineral waters, the beginning of a chapter, with the presentation of a new concept: "Hydrobiogeochemistry".

To follow the project and learn more about Natural Mineral Waters, check out the Hydrogenome Platform.

Poster   Operation Sheet   Project Goals   Map of Occurrences object of the study   Financing   Promotional video

Activities developed:

• Definition of a study methodology and planning of activities over 2 and a half years.

• Metagenomic analysis, by next generation sequencing, of about 80 natural mineral waters.

• Identification of unique species and eukaryotes.

• Isolation and identification of viable microorganisms, including new species.

• Carrying out the first transcriptome study of natural mineral waters to determine the indicative metabolic activity.

• Preparation of 74 individual sheets for geological and natural microbial characterization of the analyzed waters.

• Promotion and dissemination of the results obtained among specialists and the general public.