Londonderry Lithia was a brand of bottled

lithia water Lithia water is defined as a type of mineral water characterized by the presence of lithium salt (chemistry), salts (such as the lithium carbonate, carbonate, lithium chloride, chloride, or lithium citrate, citrate of lithium). Natural lithia min ...

sold in the northeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The source of the water was in

Londonderry, New Hampshire Londonderry is a town in western Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. It sits between Manchester and Derry, the largest and fourth-largest communities in the state. The population was 25,826 at the 2020 census. Londonderry is known f ...

, and the company headquarters of the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company was in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. It is on ...

. As a marketing promotion, Annie Kopchovsky, the first woman to bicycle around the world, changed her name in 1895 to

Annie Londonderry Annie Cohen Kopchovsky (1870 – 11 November 1947), known as Annie Londonderry, was a Jewish Latvian immigrant to the United States who in 1894–95 became the first woman to bicycle around the world. After having completed her travel, albeit mo ...

and carried the company's placard on her journey.

Composition

According to the company, the water had been analyzed by Prof. H. Halvorson and found to contain among various other minerals 8.620 grains of lithium bicarbonate per Imperial gallon. However, following the prohibition of adulterated and misbranded drugs, a government chemist determined that the water contained only a spectroscopic trace of lithium, less than 1/1200 grain per gallon, and that sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate had been added to some samples. This resulted in action condemning and forfeiting the product. The company ceased production by 1920.

References

External links

Lithia Springs chapter
of the History of Londonderry
David Rumsey Map Collection engraving
{{clear Bottled water brands Companies based in Nashua, New Hampshire Soft drinks Patent medicines Lithia water Defunct manufacturing companies based in New Hampshire