Thermal mineral water

Lipik's natural mineral water entered the underground approximately 35,000 years ago. Shielded from all pollutants and rich in dissolved minerals, it is perfect for your well-being. Many world experts have studied the healing properties of this water, whose benefits have been utilized since ancient times.

A brief history

It is believed that even ancient Romans were aware of the benefits of Lipik's thermal water, but the first written documents date back to the 16th century. The spa in Lipik is mentioned as early as 1517 under the name “Lipička vrela.”

In the latter half of the 19th century, there was a professional and serious approach to Lipik's thermal waters, leading to the manual drilling of a well, now known as the Count's Spring. The mineral water from the Count's Spring gushed from a depth of almost 300 meters and had a temperature of 64°C. Its chemical composition mainly consisted of fluorine, sodium, calcium, potassium, and bicarbonates

Based on the balneochmical analysis conducted in 2010 (confirmed by the analysis from 2020 - table 2) at the Laboratory of the Water Department of the "Andrija Štampar" Public Health Institute, by analysts Damir Andabak, Dipl. Ing., and Radovan Čepelak, Dipl. Ing. (table 1), the water tested over the years has not significantly changed its properties and remains mineral, fluorine-rich, sodium-hydrogen carbonate, chloride, and hyperthermal. As such, it possesses strong balneological characteristics in terms of temperature (60.4°C), fluoride content, and the presence of dominant ions: sodium, hydrogen carbonates, and chloride, which constitute the balneological profile of the water.

In addition to being used for bathing, Lipik water is widely used for drinking due to its healing properties. The first mention of mineral water bottled for drinking dates back to 1876. At that time, three springs were known: "Antunovo," "Grofovo," and "Ivanovo vrelo." Until the beginning of the First World War, Lipik was a well-known European thermal bath and spa, and mineral water was sold on the market until 1918 as "Lipiker thermalquelle" or "Lipiki hevviz."

From 1920 onwards, two forms of bottled water from Lipik appeared on the market: "Lipička alkalna jodna ljekovita voda" (Lipik alkaline iodine medicinal water) - bottled in 1-liter bottles, and "Lipička alkalna jodna stolna voda" (Lipik alkaline iodine table water) - bottled in 1.4-liter and 0.5-liter bottles. From 1940 onwards, it has been bottled only under the name "Alkaline iodine table water."

After the First World War, there was a period of stagnation, but a revival was noted in the late thirties, while actual bottling resumed in the fifties. After the Second World War, the mineral water was bottled under the name "Narodno lječilište Lipik - alkalično jodna stolna voda", and later "Banja Lipik - osvježavajuća alkalično jodna stolna voda" 

In 1968, Studenac was known as "Mineralna stolna voda - Lipika," and it was bottled by "Osječanka." The bottling facility for mineral water became part of Podravka in 1970 and was known as "Prirodna mineralna voda" (Natural mineral water), while it acquired the name "Lipički studenac" in 1973. Two years later, two more natural mineral water sources were discovered, and in 1980, a new factory was built. The mineral water was named "Studenac" in 1998, a name it retains to this day.

During the Croatian War of Independence, the bottling plant was largely destroyed, but by mid-July 1992, it had resumed operations as the first renovated factory in the liberated territory of the Republic of Croatia. From July 1992 until the end of September 1993, Lipički Studenac was the only domestically produced natural mineral water on the market in Croatia.