The 2025 Annual Meeting of the Water Sommelier Union in Karlovy Vary
With a record number of 80 participants (and a long waiting list of members who unfortunately could not attend), the WSU Annual Meeting 2025 took place! Our members came from 16 different countries to the world-famous spa and mineral water town of Karlovy Vary in Czechia.
For our participants – and also for those who unfortunately could not attend – here is a review with short reports, impressive impressions, and beautiful pictures!
Soos Nature Reserve
Soos is an important national nature reserve in the Czech Eger Basin. It protects a moor that has become internationally known for its natural mofettes and mineral springs.
During our visit to Soos, heavy rainfall had saturated the ground surface with water, allowing us to observe an impressive natural spectacle: the rising gases (almost 99% of which is carbon dioxide) penetrate the surface water and, by bubbling in the depressions of the mofettes, give the impression of boiling water. The carbon dioxide escaping from the moor caves can be a deadly trap for small animals and birds that stay close to the ground, as we observed in some places.
„Very salty, metallic, carbonated, and a noticeable hydrogen sulfide smell“: this was the most common sensory description of our participants about the Imperial Spring, the only drinkable mineral spring in Soos. The Imperial Spring is also the warmest spring in the Eger Basin. However, as it mixes with colder, gas-containing water on its way to the surface, its temperature at the spring outlet is only 17.5°C.
Karlovy Vary underground
Two German-language and two English-language guided tours through the Karlovy Vary underground beneath the Hot Spring Colonnade were certainly one of the highlights of our annual meeting.
The tour of the historic part of the Karlovy Vary underground showed us how traditional Karlovy Vary souvenirs, known as „stone roses,“ are made. These roses are sintered naturally within a week through the separation of minerals. On display was a collection of sinter rock and sparkling stones, as well as old pipes from the beginning of the last century and rare, green-shimmering bacteria and algae that live on the surface washed by mineral water.
Our members also learned interesting facts about the Hot Spring Colonnade, its history, its unique underground structure, and, of course, the most famous Karlovy Vary spring – the Hot Spring (Vřídlo).
Karlovy Vary colonnades and springs
Karlovy Vary is famous for its magnificent colonnades and numerous mineral and healing springs. It’s easy to lose track of them all. That’s why we provided all participants with a booklet for orientation during the enjoyable walk. This booklet contains detailed descriptions of all the colonnades and freely accessible springs.
And to ensure that our members could enjoy the numerous healing waters, each participant received an original Karlovy Vary spa cup (with the WSU logo!).
Tasting Czech healing, mineral, and spring waters
Czechia offers a huge variety of healing, mineral, and spring waters! Some with extraordinary sensory characteristics! From metallic to salty to extremely bitter varieties! An impressive experience for all water sommeliers! Many thanks to our Czech WSU member Jan Vokurka, who organized all the Czech waters for us! With the help of detailed fact sheets, participants were also able to learn about the underlying mineralization, history, and other special features of the springs. It was an extraordinary sensory experience!
Presentations Mineral Water CelebrationDay 2025
Lectures on all aspects of water are a valuable part of our Mineral Water Celebration Day! After all, one of our WSU goals is the further education of our members. We are particularly pleased that external experts and active WSU members have agreed to present interesting news from the world of water! We were able to present a total of four exciting lectures:
- Tomas Vylita „Mineral Waters of the Czech Massif“
- Lodovico die Gioia „Emerging Contaminants: a growing threat for drinking water“
- Diane Plattner „My Water Journey“
- Peter Schropp „The new supporting members of the WSU“
Many thanks to all the speakers for their active support!