An Illinois judge has accepted a $12 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit attacking the purity of Maine’s Poland Spring Water.

Judge Michael Colwell’s decision Wednesday in Circuit Court in Kane County, Illinois, affirms a settlement consisting of coupons and charitable donations announced in August by Poland Spring.

Nestle Waters, which owns Poland Spring, applauded the decision, saying the ruling allows the company to get on with its business.

“We felt it was a very fair solution and we’re glad the court agreed,” said Nestle Waters spokeswoman Jane Lazgin.

Under the terms of the agreement, Poland Spring will offer $8 million in discounts to consumers over the next five years. It also requires the company to make charitable donations of $2.75 million.

The remainder will go to legal fees for lawyers. The client of the attorney who brought the lawsuit will get $12,000.

In issuing the ruling, the judge rejected objections from lawyers with class-action lawsuits pending against Poland Spring in other states. Those lawyers had said the settlement was too favorable to the company.

There are 11 other class-action lawsuits pending elsewhere. Theoretically, the Illinois judge’s ruling weakens those cases because it covers most of the consumers who have bought Poland Spring water since 1996.

Fewer than 1,000 consumers opted out of the settlement, said Robert Foote, who brought the Illinois class-action suit against Poland Spring. Those consumers could continue to pursue cases, but presumably the award – if any – would be less than that in the Illinois settlement because it covers far fewer people.

Among the lawsuit’s claims were that the water in Poland Spring bottles comes from wells, not bubbling springs, and is not as pure as its advertising claims. Poland Spring denied the allegations.

Federal rules set eight years ago allow a water bottler to call its product “spring water” if it is drawn from the same source as a natural spring and if it meets certain requirements for its chemical composition.

Poland Spring bottles water drawn from sources in Poland, Poland Spring, Hollis and Fryeburg. The company contends Poland Spring bottled water is properly labeled and meets quality standards.

Other attorneys with their own class-action suits said they will continue to press their cases.

“We’re going to keep going forward,” said Wanda Garcia from the law firm of Hagens Berman of Seattle, which has class-action suits pending against Poland Spring. “We are planning to appeal and are, of course, not in agreement with the judge’s ruling.”

Garcia said the settlement “violates the rights of consumers.” Giving discounts on water that consumers believe is not pure is not a reasonable way to settle the dispute, she said.

Bottled water has become a big business. It’s the fastest-growing beverage segment, with annual sales of more than $7.7 billion in 2002. Sales have been growing at an annual rate of about 12 percent, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a consulting and research firm in New York.

Poland Spring is the biggest-selling spring water, with sales last year of more than $600 million. Only Aquafina and Dasani, which filter water from municipal supplies, sell more bottled water than Poland Spring.