| Country | USA |
| Source | Lithia Springs, GA |
| Type | Still |
| pH | 7.20 |
| Bromine (Br2) | 0.51 |
| Calcium (Ca) | 150 |
| Chloride (Cl−) | 1300 |
| Fluoride (Fl) | 2.50 |
| Lithium (Li) | 0.50 |
| Manganese (Mn) | 0.30 |
| Magnesium (Mg) | 8.70 |
| Nitrate (NO3) | 0.70 |
| Potassium (K) | 19 |
| Silica (SiO2) | 97 |
| Sodium (Na) | 580 |
| Sulfates (SO) | 459 |
| TDS | 2400 |
| milligrams per liter (mg/l) | |
| Website: lithiamineralwater.com | |
Lithia Springs Water (LITHIA) is a brand of mineral water that contains naturally occurring lithium carbonate. LITHIA is sourced from Lithia Springs, Georgia located on the border of Cobb and Douglas counties, only 12 miles from the city of Atlanta. The water contains a very high mineral content as measured by Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of 2,400. It contains the following chemical elements in amounts of 100 or more micrograms per liter: lithium, calcium, chloride, fluoride, magnesium, nitrate, potassium, silicon, and sodium. Owned by Lithia Mineral Water Inc. since 2009, LITHIA is currently marketed and sold only in the United States.
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The distinctive properties of LITHIA is attributable to its source. The spring source originates from deep within the earth where pristine water slowly permeates through miles of fissures becoming mineralized from contact with blue quartz bearing granite rock. The spring's mineral water is produced in limited quantities with a high mineral content that has seldom varied since it was first bottled and sold in 1888. It emerges from Lithia Springs at a temperature of 14.44°C (58 °F).[1]
Certain rare geological conditions can only produce natural bearing lithium waters. The geological area from where Lithia spring flows from is a pluton, primarily composed of blue quartz bearing granite rock that was formed during the formation of the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains about 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period.[2]
Natural lithia waters are rare and have historically been sought after for their curative properties by health seekers and water connoisseurs alike. The spring naturally contains lithium an essential micro-nutrient that is necessary to maintain mental and physical wellbeing.[3] In the Lithia Springs area local historians believe that the water has life extension qualities. On February 8, 2011, German researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena published their findings in the European Journal of Nutrition indicating that lithia waters lead to an increased life expectancy in humans and metazoans.[4] Lithia waters are one of the most researched types of spring waters in the world because of their attributed health benefits.
At the site of the springs, archeological explorations of the grounds have uncovered from the earth an ancient megalithic temple that artifacts suggest is thousands of years old. Cherokee and Muscogee people have legends about the mysterious ancients who left petroglyphs carved in granite rock to beacon future generations to come to the health giving spring. Standing guard over Lithia Springs is a giant smiling turtle effigy carved from granite. This smiling giant is an ancient symbol of health and long life that has beaconed health seekers for thousands of years to come drink the springs curative waters. Until 1838 and the trail of tears Lithia Springs was a healing center for the southern Cherokee Nation.[5] In October 1887, the Congress of Physicians held their annual convention at Lithia Springs, Georgia. Historical records show that prestigious doctors of the day prescribed lithia water for gout, rheumatism, urinary tract disease, depression, alcoholism, mood swings, and many other ailments.[5] In 1888 Judge Bowden started marketing and selling Lithia Spring water under the brand name Bowden Lithia Water.[6] So popular was the water that the 300 room Sweet Water Health Resort opened in 1888 offering its guests, electric lights, inter communications system, indoor plumbing, custom made furniture from Michigan, European wines, Lithia water and the world's only Lithia vapor baths. Mark Twain, the Vanderbilts, Presidents Cleveland, Taft, McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt were just some of the rich and famous people said to have come to Sweet Water Health Resort to experience the curative water that flowed from Lithia Springs.[7] In 1889, Lithia Springs Mineral Water won the “Gold Metal Par Excellence” at the Piedmont Exposition in Atlanta.[5]