Glacial water is water with a glacier somewhere in its story: meltwater, ice, or groundwater that moves through ground a glacier left behind. The EU directive that covers mineral and spring water doesn't define the term, so the source description on a bottle tells you more than the word “glacial” does.
What counts as glacial water?
Three quite different things get sold as glacial water, and brands rarely say which one they mean.
The first is meltwater, taken from a stream or lake that a glacier feeds. The second is ice. Svalbarði collects icebergs that have calved from glaciers around Svalbard, and its website says the source ice can be up to 4,000 years old. The third is groundwater: rain and meltwater that soaked into the ground, in places where a glacier built the ground itself.
Evian uses glacier language too. Its site says its water filters through glaciers and rocks for 15 years. That is a statement about the ground the water crosses, not about a glacier you could walk up to today. FRØYA belongs in the third group.
What is a moraine, and why does it matter for water?
A moraine is a mound, ridge or other accumulation of glacial till, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. Till is the unsorted mixture a glacier carries and then drops: clay, silt, sand, gravel and boulders. When the ice retreats, that material stays behind as hills and ridges.
Rain and meltwater can sink into material like that and collect underground. FRØYA’s own account, on the story page, says the water is “naturally filtered over millennia as rain and meltwater seeped through mineral-rich moraine layers”. That is the producer describing its source. How much a ridge changes the water is something only an analysis can show, and a bottle that claims a number without a lab report behind it deserves a raised eyebrow.
Where does FRØYA fit?
FRØYA comes from Vassryggen in Forsand, Rogaland, in western Norway. The analysis page describes a ridge formed approximately 10,500 years ago during a glacial thrust, made up of moraine and ablation moraine. The water is groundwater, pumped from that ridge. Nobody scoops it off a glacier or chips it out of an iceberg.
So in FRØYA’s case, “glacial” is a statement about geology. The glacier made the ridge, and the water is what rain does afterwards. That is why we describe the source as groundwater first.
Does glacial water taste or test differently?
There is no single glacial profile. Svalbarði publishes total dissolved solids of 21 mg/l and a pH of 6, and calls its water super low in minerals. FRØYA’s Eurofins analysis, from a sample taken in March 2018, reports calcium 16 mg/l, magnesium 1.1 mg/l, sodium 4.8 mg/l, chloride 8.5 mg/l, sulfate 5.0 mg/l and a pH of 7.9. Those are two different waters, and both have a glacier in the background.
The numbers come from the rock and soil the water has touched, not from the word on the label. If you want to know what you are drinking, read the analysis. We go through how in our guide to reading a bottled water analysis.
How old is glacial water?
Be careful with ages, because three different things get quoted. Svalbarði’s “up to 4,000 years” is the age of the ice. Evian’s “15 years” is how long it says the water spends filtering through rock. FRØYA’s “approximately 10,500 years” is the age of the ridge.
The age of the ridge is not the age of the water. Rain falls, soaks in, and moves through the ground at its own pace, and measuring how long a given groundwater has been underground takes dedicated dating work. FRØYA’s story page says the water was filtered over millennia, but no water-age measurement is published, and we won’t invent one. What the ridge’s age does tell you is how long the ground has been sitting there for water to pass through.
Is glacial water purer or safer?
Not automatically. “Pure” and “glacial” are descriptions, not test results. Bottled water sold in the EU or Norway has to meet the rules for its category, and those rules are about measured things: microbiology, chemistry and labelling. If you are curious how the categories differ, see spring water vs mineral water.
FRØYA’s report lists sugars, protein and fat as below the limits of quantification, and gives results for sodium, calcium, chloride, magnesium, sulfate and pH. It is a single sample from 2018, and it says so. A fresh, dated analysis tells you more than a glacier photo on the label. Water from a stream near a glacier is another matter altogether: it is not bottled water, and it should be treated before anyone drinks it.
What should you look for on a bottle?
- A named source and place, not just a country or a mountain range. FRØYA’s is Vassryggen, Forsand.
- An analysis with a date, a laboratory and a sample reference.
- The legal category, usually natural mineral water or spring water.
- Whether “glacial” means meltwater, ice or groundwater. If the label won’t say, the brand’s website should.
You can read FRØYA’s report yourself: it is on the certificates page, with the original PDF linked.
Frequently asked questions
What is glacial water?
Water with a glacier in its origin: meltwater, ice, or groundwater from ground shaped by a glacier. The EU directive on mineral and spring water does not define the term, so what it means depends on the brand.
Is glacial water the same as glacier water?
Brands use the two terms loosely. Read the source description rather than the adjective: it should tell you whether the water is meltwater, iceberg ice or groundwater.
Is FRØYA glacial water?
FRØYA is groundwater from Vassryggen in Forsand, Norway. It comes from a ridge formed approximately 10,500 years ago by glacial forces. It is not meltwater or iceberg ice.
Is glacial water safe to drink?
Bottled water has to meet the rules for its category, whatever its marketing says. Untreated water from streams near glaciers is a different thing and should be treated before drinking.
How old is glacial water?
It depends on the source. Svalbarði says its iceberg ice can be up to 4,000 years old. FRØYA’s ridge formed approximately 10,500 years ago, and that is the age of the ridge, not a measured age of the water.
Sources
- NSIDC glossary: moraine
- NSIDC glossary: glacial till
- Svalbarði: the water
- Evian: water attributes
- Directive 2009/54/EC on natural mineral waters (EUR-Lex)
- FRØYA Eurofins analysis report AR-18-MO-004161-02 (PDF, three pages)
- FRØYA Water: water analysis page
- FRØYA Water: the story
Figures for FRØYA come from Eurofins report AR-18-MO-004161-02 (sample taken 20 March 2018, report dated 11 April 2018), which covers one sample. Figures for other brands are taken from the pages linked above and may have changed since. This article is general information about water, not medical advice.
