Lithuania’s Natural Mineral Waters “Tichė”, “Birutė”, “Vaiva” and “Vytautas”

A new name has joined the famous Lithuanian mineral water brands – “Vaiva”. This is the name given to the mineral water extracted from a well roughly 400 m deep in Rokiškis by the Vilnius-based company UAB “Lamikara”.

The origins of this mineral water’s extraction go back to 1991. After independence was restored, a group of local business people from the district decided to take up this venture: they founded UAB “Sartai”, leased state land on Miškininkų Street, next to the former buildings of the Lithuanian cooperative union, and set up a water well there. All the required procedures were carried out: plans were approved, protection zones were established, water tests were performed, and a large portion of the equipment needed for the business was purchased. The mineral water extracted in Rokiškis was meant to be called “Sartai”: UAB “Sartai” had patented that name for the future product. However, after four years of preparatory work, the negotiations fell through.

So it’s good to know that things are looking up for “Vaiva”. Now let’s find out what’s good about “Vaiva” and how this mineral water differs from the other Lithuanian natural mineral waters we’re more familiar with – “Tichė”, “Birutė”, and “Vytautas” (see Table 1).

      Table 1. Chemical analysis results of the Lithuanian mineral waters “Tichė”, “Birutė”, “Vytautas”, and “Vaiva”.

Water quality indicator, its units	Water quality indicator value
“Tichė”	“Birutė”	“Vaiva”	“Vytautas”
pH, pH units	7,37	7,27	7,42	7,22
Specific electrical conductivity (SEC), mS/cm	1,62	4,43	7,53	10,16
Permanganate index, mg O2/L	not tested	1,35	1,45	1,0
Total hardness, meq/L	17,1	16,05	55,4	47,6
Total mineralization, g/L	1,38	2,7	5,8	7,3
Cations
Sodium (Na+), mg/L	76	650	888	1727
Potassium (K+), mg/L	19	6	60	32
Calcium (Ca2+), mg/L	220	186	785	552
Magnesium (Mg2+), mg/L	73	81	197	240
Anions
Chlorides (Cl–), mg/L	46	1204	1750	3480
Sulfates (SO42–), mg/L	834	375	1990	989
Fluorides (F–), mg/L	0,3	?	1,0	?
Bicarbonates (HCO3–), mg/L	108	243	103	300

Comment on the data presented in Table 1: the mineral waters “Tichė”, “Birutė”, and “Vytautas” have already been discussed earlier, so I won’t go over them again here.

I’d like to give “Vaiva” some praise. Here’s why. This water’s mineral composition differs fundamentally from that of “Birutė” and “Vytautas”. “Vaiva” has fairly high concentrations of potassium, calcium, and magnesium ions, along with a relatively low concentration of chloride and sodium ions. Another point in “Vaiva’s” favor is that this water contains a fair amount of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt), which has a laxative effect. I’d also like to point out that “Vaiva” is very similar to “Tichė” in mineral composition. It’s just that “Tichė” contains roughly three times less of the mineral substances most important to the human body (potassium, calcium, and magnesium ions) than “Vaiva” does. So, one glass of “Vaiva” is equivalent to three glasses of “Tichė”. If I had to choose just one of the four mineral waters discussed here, I’d choose “Vaiva”. It’s just a shame that this mineral water has been unfairly forgotten. Business people, where are you?

Readers will probably be interested to learn what effect the various mineral substances (or, more precisely, ions) present in the water have on the human body. Since I’m not a hygienist, below I present the specialists’ opinion, i.e. an excerpt from the 2008 research paper by the public institution “Lithuanian Center for Balneology Research”, titled “Standardized Methodological Recommendations for the Use of Mineral Water in Lithuanian Health Resorts for Health Improvement, Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Purposes”. Here is that excerpt:

“Chlorine is needed for the function of the digestive organs – it increases the secretion and acidity of gastric juices, promotes bile formation and improves the motor function of the gallbladder; it takes part in the body’s water metabolism; it is important for the function of the muscular and nervous systems; combined with calcium cations it has an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect and reduces bleeding; it strengthens bones and teeth; and it stimulates the excretory function of the kidneys.

Sulfates – strengthen the contractions of the gallbladder and its ducts, promoting the flow of bile into the duodenum; combined with magnesium and sodium ions they are not reabsorbed in the intestine, and therefore have a laxative effect.

Bromine – has a calming, anti-inflammatory, and pain-relieving effect.

Sodium – regulates the amount of water in the body, maintains osmotic pressure and the acid–base balance; regulates the propagation of nerve impulses; together with chloride ions it maintains the secretion of gastric juices and stimulates intestinal motility; it is important for liver function,

Potassium – is needed for the generation and conduction of the heart’s electrical impulses and for cardiac contraction; it regulates the amount of water in the body.

Calcium – ensures many functions of the body: it is important in the contraction and relaxation processes of the heart muscle; it reduces the permeability of blood vessel walls and stops bleeding; it has anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects and increases the body’s non-specific resistance; it increases the enzymatic strength of gastric juice and improves liver protein metabolism; and it promotes the production and urinary excretion of urea.

Magnesium – takes part in carbohydrate, protein, and energy metabolism; regulates the propagation of excitation in the nerves and muscles, and relaxes smooth-muscle spasms; it lowers arterial blood pressure, lowers blood cholesterol levels, and has a calming effect”.

Note: I’d like to throw a small stone into the hygienists’ garden. The fact is that mineral waters contain neither “chlorine” nor “bromine” as such. What they contain (or may contain) is chloride and bromide ions. The chemical properties of chlorine and bromine differ sharply from the properties of chloride and bromide ions. Likewise, mineral waters do not contain potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium as such – what they contain is sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium ions.