Languedoc-Roussillon Water
Spring Water (drinking)
  Perrier
Water. Perrier is a brand of bottled mineral water made
from a spring in Vergèze in the Gard
département of the Languedoc-Roussillon.
Perrier is naturally carbonated and Perrier claims that the
level of carbonation in every bottle of Perrier is the same
as the water of the Vergèze spring.
 Perrier
is available in Europe in bottles of one litre, 500 ml, and
330 ml cans. All Perrier bottles are green and have an instantly
recognizable shape. It is one of the most common bottled waters
in France.
Perrier now exists in three flavours: unflavoured, flavoured
with lemon, and flavoured with lime.
The spring the water comes from, called Les Bouillens, was
bought in 1898 by a local doctor named Louis Perrier who operated
a spa. He later sold it to Sir St. John Harmsworth, brother
of Lord Northcliffe, proprietor of the Daily Mail in the UK,
who had been sent to France to learn French. St John cashed
in his shares in the Daily Mail to buy the spring. Abandoning
the spa treatment he renamed it Source Perrier and started
bottling it in green bottles shaped like the Indian clubs
he used for exercise.
| Sir St John marketed the product in the
UK as a chic product among the middle classes. It was
advertised as the champagne of Mineral Water. (There was
a genuine champagne by the name of Perrier but with no
connection). He advertised in newspapers with broad appeal
like the Daily Mail and successfully established the brand.
Some 95% of sales were to the UK and USA.
Perrier's reputation for purity suffered in 1990 when
a North Carolina study reported having found benzene
in the water. This led to the recall of 160 million
bottles of Perrier water.
From 2002, new varieties have been introduced in France:
Eau de Perrier (less carbonated than the original one,
in a blue bottle) and Perrier Fluo, with fashioable
tastes such as ginger-cherry, peppermint, orange-litchi,
raspberry and ginger-lemon.
|
|
| pH |
|
5.46
|
| Calcium |
(Ca) |
147.3
|
| Chloride |
(Cl-) |
21.5
|
| Bicarbonate |
(HCO3) |
390
|
| Floride |
(Fl) |
0.12
|
| Magnesium |
(Mg) |
3.4
|
| Nitrate |
(NO3) |
18
|
| Potassium |
(K) |
0.6
|
| Sodium |
(Na) |
9
|
| Sulphates |
(SO) |
33
|
| TDS |
|
475
|
|
 Alet
Water. Natural spring water is bottled and sold at Alet-les-Bains.
Click here for more
about Alet-les-Bains 
Other Springs and Spas. There are numerous
other natural Springs
and Spas in the Languedoc-Roussillon,
including La Chaldette, Sainte-Odile d'Avène, Avene les Bains,
Le Boulou, La Preste les Bains, Balaruc les Bains, Moltig
les Bains, Vernet les Bains, Bagnols les Bains, Lamalou les
Bains, Rennes-les-Bains,
Amélie les Bains, Allegre les Fumades, Bains de Saint Thomas,
Bains de Dorres and Bains de Llo. Some of these spas date
from Roman
times. Click here for more about these springs
and spas
Rainfall
Although the summers tend to be dry, the Languedoc-Roussillon
can have wet springs and autumns. In the Middle Ages the long
hot dry summers were responsible for a number of successful
castle sieges, including Carcassonne
(1209), Minerve
(1210), Termes
(1210) and Beaucaire
(1216).
Click on the following link for more on rainfall
in the Languedoc
A number of rivers rise just outside the region - either
in the Pyrenees
or the Massif Central.
  Rivers
Below are some of the principle rivers in the Languedoc-Roussillon:
Click on the following link for information on the River
Rhône
Click on the following link for information on the River
Aude
Click on the following link for information on the River
Gard (or Gardon)
Click on the following link for information on the River
Hérault
Click on the following link for information on the River
Têt
Click on the following link for information on the River
Tech
Click on the following link for information on the River
Orb
Click on the following link for information on the River
Vidourle
Many of the rivers rising in the Pyrenees are used to generate
hydroelectric power.
The
Canal du Midi enters the Mediterranean at the port of
Séte
in the Languedoc-Roussillon.
Completed in 1666 the canal is still an astonishing piece
of engineering and now a world heritage site.
Fresh Water Lakes
Click on the following link for information on Fresh
Water Lakes
Salt Water Lakes (Étangs) & Salt
Works
 The
coast of the Languedoc is littered with salt water lakes and
marshlands., most notably in and around the Camargue.
Click on the following link for information on the Etangs
(Salt Water Lakes)
The Gulf of Lyon and the Mediterranean Sea
 The
coast of the Languedoc-Roussillon
borders the Gulf
of Lyon, part of the Mediterranean Sea.
The coastline
is spectacular with numerous popular beaches including a number
of Naturist
Beaches
Rivers that empty into the gulf include the Tech,
Têt,
Aude,
Orb, Hérault,
Vidourle,
and Rhône.
Water Sports
 Sea-water
jousting (Joutes Nautiques), still practised in the Languedoc
at Sète,
Agde,
Béziers
and other towns, was first recorded in ancient Egypt.
Beach and water sports include SCUBA
diving, sailing,
water
skiing, canoeing&
kayaking, wind
surfing, kitesurfing,
and sand yachting. There is also
sea fishing for tourists along the coast of the Languedoc.
|
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