Imported bottled waters have been commercially available in the UK since 1861 and long before that the famous spa towns like Bath, Harrogate and Leamington Spa were fashionable places to visit in order to recuperate, usually from food and drink excesses which were common among the wealthy people in those days. In spite of the unpleasant taste of many of these heavily mineralised waters, they were 'taken' in liberal quantities, probably in the belief that anything which tasted so horrid was bound to be good for one.