Do We Drink Right Water in our Day-to-day Lives?

Introduction

During hot summers, it is better to cool off from outside and inside using water. With the change of climate patterns, the water has become a scarce quantity in the world. This is primarily due to the shortage of water or good quality or potable water in the cities and villages of this world as the rains have become scanty and less-frequent. This has forced the people to go after different sources of water to sustain their lives. With this change, many sources of water have come to the lives of people. They include mineral water, bore well water, flavoured water, Reverse Osmosis (RO) treated water to name a few. Do we have the clear understanding of what these words mean when we search for water for our sustenance? In this blog post, we would be clearing the air on these names for the sake of readers.

Doubts about Commercially Available Water

People moving to the cities come across different water sources and names when they search for the potable water. Before embarking on using them, the users need to know some things about them. Many questions arise in the minds of people like “What is the nature of mineral water?”, “Is the drinking of the flavoured water, healthy?”, “Is RO water is same in quality as the distilled or pure water?” etc. Let us attempt to make the distinction between these potable sources of water for healthy comparison.

1. 1       Infused Water: This is made by dipping the chipped fruits and vegetables in chilled water. This water is used to detoxify the body. Hence, it is also called as detox water. Being superior in quality and good for health, this drink has become one of the most popular drinks in the world today.
   
   
   
   
   
2. 2.       Tonic Water: It is actually a carbonated drink that has been laced with large quantities of quinine. In olden days, it was used as a medicine tonic to treat malaria. Hence, this drink has become quite popular with drink mixers for cocktails now-a-days.
   
   
   
   
   
3. 3.       Mineral Water: This is nothing but the natural water coming natural springs and fountains. By virtue of its source, it is rich in minerals such as sodium, potassium, sulphur, iron, etc. It also contains lots of salt of soluble metals. Learned from the ancestors about its curative property, people have started to bottle it for its sales in the market.
   
   
   
   
   
4. 4.       Flavoured Water: This kind of water can be made at home or purchased from the market. However, it is better to go for the home-made ones as we have the control over the raw materials used. It is usually made at home by muddling the sliced fruits in a jar and pouring potable water to it. The artificially manufactured ones have chemically made flavours, which are either harmless or harmful to the body.
   
   
   
   
   
5. 5.       Sparkling Water: The mineral water containing dissolved gases is called sparkling water. The dissolved gases are in the natural form. The artificially made sparkling water contains basically dissolved carbon dioxide. According to the medical experts the carbonated water seldom contains sugars. Hence, they are healthier when compared to others containing other gases. They also swear that the replacement of normal water with sparkling water does not augur well for the health of the body.
   
   
   
   
   
6. 6.       RO Water: This is made by passing water under high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane. This process is called reverse osmosis. In this process, dissolved salts, pathogens – like bacteria -, organics, etc. would be removed from water. The efficiency of the semi-permeable membrane present in the filter ages with the time, resulting in the lowering of the quality of potable water produced. The aged membrane cannot completely remove the viruses.
   
   
   
   
   
7. 7.       Distilled Water: In fact, this is the purest form of water available on our planet. Usually, the distilled water concentration improves to 99.9%. Since this kind of water is obtained by evaporating and condensing the impure water, it is called distilled water. The process of distillation leaves the contaminants behind in the original mixture.