The taxonomic status of four strains from several mineral water sources in Taejon, Korea, was examined. The DNA base compositions of these strains ranged from 62 to 66 mol %. All of the strains contained sphingolipids and ubiquinone 10 as the main respiratory quinone. The cellular fatty acids of these strains included octadecenoic acid, hexadecanoic acid and 2-hydroxymyristic acid, without 3-hydroxy fatty acids. On the basis of morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, together with 16S rDNA sequence comparison and DNA-DNA reassociation data, three new species of the genus Sphingomonas are proposed for the strains isolated from natural mineral water: Sphingomonas aquatilis sp. nov. for strain JSS7T (= KCTC 2881T = KCCM 41067T), Sphingomonas koreensis sp. nov. for strains JSS26T (= KCTC 2882T = KCCM 41069T) and JSS28 (= KCTC 2883 = KCCM 41066) and Sphingomonas taejonensis sp. nov. for strain JSS54T (= KCTC 2884T = KCCM 41068T).