Lithia Water

Lithia water is a type of mineral water characterized by the presence of lithium salts, such as the carbonate, chloride, or citrate of lithium, with genuine natural lithia mineral springs historically scarce. Between the 1880s and the First World War, drinking lithia water became fashionable in the United States, with health claims attached to it that began with a mistaken understanding of gout, and one early commercial source was bottled at Lithia Springs, Georgia, starting in 1888. Demand grew large enough that most bottled lithia water on the market was artificially prepared by adding lithium bicarbonate to ordinary spring water rather than drawn from a genuine lithia spring. The market declined after the First World War as government regulation and the spread of clean public tap water eroded consumer confidence in bottled mineral waters.