Águas subterrâneas - águas de nascente e águas minerais naturais: o caso de Pedras Salgadas

Abstract

Water is a natural resource that must be preserved, because, although it covers most of our planet, only a small percentage can be consumed. It is a scarce, fragile and irreplaceable resource, but it is also renewable one. It is neither lost nor vanishes: rather, it is transferred and renewed through the hydrological cycle. Fresh water is a limited resource that can be found in rivers, lakes and as groundwater. One of the great natural properties of water is its great capacity to dissolve the most diverse substances, being, therefore, important for containing nutrients that are fundamental for the life of plants and human beings. These realized early on that some water properties could be beneficial to health. Portugal is very rich in waters that are known for their unique abilities to cure some diseases and preserve health, which distinguishes them from other groundwater. In this essay, we seek to make known the importance of these waters for health, for industry, for tourism and, consequently, for local and national development. We choose the history of Pedras Salgadas water as a case study from the time these waters were a fountain by the road, until today, when it is famous all over the world. The methodological framework we follow is based on documentary research, fieldwork and semi-structured interviews to local dynamic agents. It is intended to highlight both its past, a water with health benefits, and its present, namely with the revitalization of thermal equipment and infrastructures: the requalification of Pedras Salgadas Park, into Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park, a project of high quality tourism in Portugal, and also in the development of the bottling and distribution industry of this water, which is unique in the world.