Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underground. In this they are unlike sweet springs, which produce soft water with no noticeable dissolved gasses. The dissolved minerals may alter the water's taste. Mineral water obtained from mineral springs, and the precipitated salts such as Epsom salt have long been important commercial products.
The Mineral Spring, etching by Wenceslas Hollar (1607–1677). The unidentified central European spring features a sunken stone basin and ornamental retaining wall.
Tourists and pilgrims having a bath in a hot spring in Gurudwara Complex, Manikaran in Uttrakhand state of India, c. May 2009.
A chalybeate (iron-laden) mineral spring at Breznik, Bulgaria
Tap tapan spring in Azarshahr, Iran
A spring is a natural exit point at which groundwater emerges out of the aquifer and flows onto the top of the Earth's crust (pedosphere) to become surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere, as well as a part of the water cycle. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh water, especially in arid regions which have relatively little annual rainfall.
On an average day nearly 303 million US gallons (1,150,000 m3) of water flow from Big Spring in Missouri at a rate of 469 cubic feet per second (13.3 m3/s).
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
A natural spring on Mackinac Island in Michigan
Sunrise at Middle Spring, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Utah
