Knowing Where Your Water Comes From—More Important Than Ever

In response to recent news coverage about pharmaceuticals in U.S. municipal water systems and in some bottled water that comes from municipal supplies, we've posted the complete text of our annual detailed water analysis, to provide full disclosure of the quality of Summit Spring Water.

Even when rogue contaminants like pharmaceuticals do not find their way into municipal water, a host of toxic chemicals like chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, and lye, to name only a few, are commonly and deliberately added to public drinking water supplies; and detergents, phosphates, and fertilizers from contaminated water sources are not completely removed in water-treatment processes.

Many people prefer not to consume the poisons that are commonly found in tap water, and we want you to feel confident that they are nowhere to be found in the source of our naturally pure spring water.

We've always posted a summary analysis on this site, but to fully demostrate our commitment to absolute transparency, we're now providing complete details for anyone who wants to know precisely what they're putting in their bodies.

Click here to view and download our complete 2007 Summit Spring Water-Quality Analytical Reports.

Summit Spring Water's Purity—True and Completely Transparent

Our motto is "You Should Know Where Your Water Comes From," and in that spirit, we're laying our cards on the table; because frankly, the closer you look at Summit Spring Water, the better it looks.

Currently posted are the 2007 Summit Spring Water-Quality Analytical Reports. Our 2008 results are due back any day, and we'll post those as soon as they arrive.

These reports are results from seven independent labs that collectively test for nearly 200 substances—more than twice the number required to be tested for by either the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Summit Spring Water spends over $10,000 each year to maintain this level of water-quality testing, far exceeding the EPA's standards for public drinking water and the FDA's standards for bottled water.

A Few Tips for Reading Water-Quality Analysis Reports

These reports are very detailed and can seem a little cryptic if you're unaccustomed to interpreting them, so here are a few tips about what to look for and how to interpret the information:

The two primary columns to look at are "MCL" (Maximum allowable Contaminant Level) and "Level Detected."

• MCL is the level that the FDA deems acceptable. Substances that show no MCL value (represented by "- - -") are considered harmless; therefore, no safety levels are established and enforced.

MCL values marked with two asterisks (**) are considered secondary, and testing for them is not required but recommended. These substances are not considered to affect health; testing for them is recommended only to provide clues to the source of any cloudiness or odor that may be present. You'll see that our results for these substances fall far below the MCL, and Summit Spring Water has no cloudiness or odor of any kind.

• Level Detected is the amount of a given substance detected in Summit Spring Water. You'll see that very little of any substance...other than water...is found in Summit Spring Water. Most substances tested for have a value of "ND" (None Detected).

For some substances, the result under "Level Detected" may be "NA." This means the contaminant was not analyzed by that particular testing lab. Not every contaminant is tested for by every lab, but each contaminant is tested for by at least one of the labs.

An asterisk (*) next to a result in the Level Detected column indicates a result that falls outside of the recommended range (either higher or lower) for that item. The only item on our report that falls outside of the recomended range is pH. Because Summit Spring Water has such a low mineral content, and minerals raise pH, our pH tends to be on the low side (5.8 on this report) for natural spring water. For comparison's sake, the recommended range for treated bottled water is between 5 and 7, the human stomach is between 1 and 3, and apple juice is between 2.9 and 3.3.

Testing for Pharmaceuticals

We tested for pharmaceuticals in 2004 and found no evidence of them whatsoever. Not surprising, since the spring's source is in a pristine Maine forest, at the highest altitude in the county, far removed from any source of human waste-stream contamination. Because the likelihood of contamination is so remote, we do not conduct annual tests specifically for pharmaceuticals, but we will periodically monitor our source to make sure it stays free of them.

Most municipal water comes from surface-water supplies like lakes and rivers, which are easily contaminated by human activity. The source of contaminants like pharmaceuticals in municipal water is in part from human waste that is processed through sewage treatment plants and directly or indirectly reintroduced into public drinking water supplies—what some call a "toilet-to-tap" process.

You Won't Find Any Water Purer than Summit Spring Water

Summit Spring Water—unlike any municipal tap water—is authentic, free-flowing natural spring water that comes from a single protected aquifer deep beneath the pristine forests of Maine. We collect only the natural overflow without the use of pumps, bore holes, or other artificial means that can offset the balance of nature.

Click here to view and download our complete 2007 Summit Spring Water-Quality Analytical Reports.

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