I drink so much bottled water every day that I just had to know - Who was the genuis who thought to bottle water from some outback creek and sell it at a huge market up to dumb city folk like me? And exactly how do those bubbles get in Perrier anyway, or any other carbonated mineral water. And more, what the hell is "mineral water" anyway. What exactly is in this mineral water, apart from the obvious?

The fact is, if one drinks as much bottled water as I do, and we're talking upwards of six huge bottles a day (if I have my way, Evian, if it's a bad day at the local market, Poland Spring or Dasani), I really ought to know who the hell came up with the idea of bottling a natural resource and turning a profit. I mean, it's really pure genius. I can just see some guy or gal in the middle of nowhere sitting by the edge of a local spring or mountain stream and thinking, "Shit, I'll just put this in a bottle with a pretty picture of trees on the front and sell it as 'Mountain Water'or some such, and dumb urbanites will buy it."

But was it that simple? I didn't know, and so I set to find out.

In 1798, the term "soda water" was first used. Bathing in natural springs was considered a healthy thing to do and a fun pastime. Scientists belived that the naturally occuring bubbles in the springs, caused by Carbon Dioxide, were the source behind the medicinal and curative qualities of the water. Before this though, drinking water with lemon juice and honey (which is amazingly good hot if you have a cold, flu, or sorethroat) became increasingly popular. It was a company in Paris that patented the elixir: Compagnie de Limonadiers of Paris. The lemon, honey, and water juice was sold all over Paris and soon became popular worldwide. I'm quite sure, though, that somewhere back in the middle ages, someone had put this very same combination together - they just hadn't thought to handletter flyers and brand it. Fools.

By 1767, an Englishman by the name of Joseph Priestly found a way to put the bubbles in water and keep them there. He was the first to make carbonated water that was drinkable and like that one would find in nature. Meanwhile, other chemists fiddled around with various minerals and whatnot, including sulfuric acid and chalk and made "mineral water."

In 1810, the first U.S. patent was issued for the "means of mass manufacture of imitation mineral waters" to Simons and Rundell of Charleston, South Carolina. (source: inventors.about.com)

People everywhere could now supplement their healthful mineral water dips with healthful mineral water sips, and by 1810, carbonated mineral waters were all the rage. Before too long, others manufacturers were aboard and were fiddling with other additives, such as Birch extract as well as various herbs that they touted as beneficial to one's general health and sense of well-being. The public sucked it up. One could have birch, sasparilla, dandelion, ginger, you name it, added to this fizzy water - and so far, these were all herbs that had been proven to be beneficial in some way; some, old folk remedies passed down through generations, others developed by local pharmacists and doctors. Perhaps most medicinal of all, and still used to this day is Ginger Ale, friend of aching bellies the world over. This true and popular remedy must be credited to the Irish, who, it is believed, created the sparkling ginger drink in 1851.