My previous article explained why Hungary’s geothermal and mineral water resources represent untapped natural capital and why property prices do not yet reflect their full potential. This article moves one step closer: it examines how a water-law permit and official recognition as natural mineral water can affect the value of a specific property, and why two neighbouring plots that appear identical may command very different prices simply because one is associated with an officially recognised, lawfully exploitable source and the other is not. The value of a property with mineral water springs is shaped not only by market demand, but also by the combination of permits, official recognition and restrictions on use.

Author: Emese Széll, Private Real Estate Advisor to Premium Clients in Hungary

Recognition as natural mineral water: a condition for market access

Natural mineral water is not merely a quality category; it is a legally regulated designation. In Hungary, the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest recognises water as natural mineral water, on application, under Joint Decree 65/2004 (IV. 27.) FVM–ESzCsM–GKM. Only water recognised through this procedure may be marketed under the designation “natural mineral water”. Recognition requires evidence of compliance with the prescribed chemical, microbiological, source-protection, extraction and bottling conditions.

It is not an exclusive market right or a legal monopoly. Rather, recognition is a condition for the lawful use of the designation and for placing the product on the market, while the geological characteristics of the source and the site-specific permits may create commercial scarcity.

According to the case files available to me, hydrodynamic modelling for one of the sources examined demonstrated an adequate degree of protection for the water base, while tritium analysis supported the conclusion that the water originated in deeper strata. The Government Office of the Capital City Budapest recognised the water as natural mineral water. That recognition, together with the relevant water-law permits and protection measures, may have substantial market value, but it does not create a statutory monopoly.

The Börzsöny case: mineral water springs, 150 metres and a decade-long process

I know the case of a mineral water source in the Börzsöny hills well. According to the documentation available to me, the well was drilled in 1979 to a depth of approximately 150 metres and produces high-quality aquifer water. Hydrodynamic modelling was prepared for the operating permit, using numerical simulation to examine the vulnerability of the water base and the origin of the water. Over the 50-year assessment horizon, the model indicated no recharge from surface sources; the calculation used a recharge zone with a radius of 448 metres, and the tritium content was negligible.

Official recognition of the water as natural mineral water, together with the completion of the related permitting process, materially strengthened the property’s market position. The point at which the recognition decision became final was the key legal milestone affecting value.

The protection system as both a value driver and a constraint

The protection of water bases is governed by Government Decree 123/1997 (VII. 18.). The system provides for inner and outer subsurface protection zones, hydrogeological zones A, B and C, and corresponding surface protection areas where a subsurface zone reaches the surface. The inner protection zone must be designated. Whether outer and hydrogeological A and B surface protection areas must also be designated depends in part on whether the corresponding subsurface zones reach the surface, while a hydrogeological C zone is not mandatory in every case.

Not every restriction appears on the land-registry title sheet. Inner and outer surface protection areas must be entered in the land register, while rights, obligations and prohibitions associated with hydrogeological protection zones are also recorded in the water-law register (vízikönyvi nyilvántartás). The protection system may restrict certain uses of surrounding land while reducing the risk of contamination of the water base.

A source with a properly established protection system may therefore embody two forms of value. The first is the verified water use authorised by a valid operating water-law permit. Ownership of the property and entitlement under the permit do not necessarily belong to the same person, however, and purchasing the property does not automatically transfer the permit. A change in the permit holder or the owner may require an authority review and an amendment to the permit. The second source of value is the protection of the water base, which may restrict certain uses of neighbouring properties and thereby help preserve water quality over the long term.

The Great Plain case: value held in suspension

A different situation arises where the resource exists, the well has been drilled and the water has been chemically tested, but exploitation has not begun. I am also closely familiar with a thermal well on the Great Hungarian Plain. It draws thermal water from a depth of nearly 950 metres at a temperature above 50 °C. According to the laboratory report available to me, its silicic-acid content, expressed as SiO2, is approximately 341 mg/l, nearly four times the silica content of Fiji Water, a frequently cited global premium benchmark.

The chemical profile alone, however, does not establish eligibility for recognition as natural mineral water or medicinal water, nor does it demonstrate suitability for beverage or therapeutic use. Separate testing and authority procedures are required. The well has not operated since it was drilled in 2007, not because of its geological characteristics, but because parallel permitting procedures became protracted.

This is a case in which the theoretical value of a property associated with mineral water springs or a thermal water resource may be high, while the market price does not yet reflect it. From an investment perspective, this may be the entry point, but only for a buyer who understands what is required to turn geological promise into a legally exploitable asset.

What is a spring actually worth in the property price?

The answer depends on the stage reached in the permitting and recognition process. The following three levels are not statutory categories, but a practical due-diligence model.

  1. Level one: speculative. The presence of the water resource is suspected on geological grounds or has been documented, but no valid authority permit exists; any water-related premium is therefore largely speculative.
  2. Level two: permitted but not recognised. The well has been completed and has a valid operating water-law permit, but the recognition procedure required for the intended commercial or therapeutic use has not yet been completed.
  3. Level three: fully resolved. The relevant recognition decision has become final, the applicable subsurface protection zone or surface protection area has been designated, and all permits required for the intended bottling or other use are in place.

At that third stage, the property’s value can be assessed according to a different logic from that applied to ordinary land or buildings.

What comes next

Reaching the third level requires a complex process involving several authorities and overlapping fields of law. The next article examines this path in detail, including the roles of the regional water-management and water-protection authority, the mining authority where applicable, and the nature-conservation, agricultural-land-protection, building and land-registry bodies; it also considers Natura 2000 implications and the long-term sustainability of permits, drawing on direct experience of the two projects described here.

Legislation cited

This article provides general market and legal information only and does not constitute individual legal, water-law or food-law advice. The project-specific data described above should be verified against the original laboratory reports, permits and authority decisions. The English titles of Hungarian legislation are descriptive translations; the Hungarian-language legal text is authoritative. Legislation checked as at 3 September 2026.