Guide to Safe Drinking Water: Tap Water, Well Water, Bottle Water and Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water |

Drinking water is the water that is safe to use for food preparation and to drink. For good health, everyone should drink pure and safe water regularly. The amount of water may vary from country to country depends on the climate of the countries have. For example a cold climate like America, around 95% of people drink water less than three-liter of drinking water per day, and a hot country may be in the middle east drink water up to sixteen liters of drinking water per day. 

Every day, the horror stories are coming out about the drinking water, which you use, it is really hard to know, who to trust, what to trust and what water is best for you. In cities, people use tap water, bottled water, RO water, etc and in villages, people use also tap water, bore well water, well water and water from different sources, etc. We have always used the drinking water out of our own risk, whether from a municipal corporation water system, bore well, or a well. Sometimes, Bottled water gets the job done, when convenient. But, actually what are the real facts? The truth is that there are contaminants in all of those water supplies, some of which can be very hazardous to your health. Let's discuss what comes with the drinking water you drink and the best way to use it safely.

1. Tap Drinking Water. 

 

Let's first start with the "tap water" in-home that comes from municipal corporation water systems. This is the water that is treated at water treatment plants. The water is purified according to certain regulations and then sent out to our homes. 

However, still, some of the contaminants remain to exist in this water, many of them not even regulated to be removed. These contaminants in water may consist of microorganisms, disinfectants and their byproducts, inorganic chemicals, and radionuclides. Also being passed through are medications that have not been removed during the cleansing process. All of these contaminants have many side effects and different ways in which they are leaking into our water supplies, some of these contaminants even being added for specific reasons. 

The microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses)  that are present usually come from human and animal fecal waste or from bacteria that are naturally present in the environment. The effects that these have on our body may include gastrointestinal illness, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and pneumonia.

To remove these bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses from drinking water, disinfectants and their byproducts are actually added to control the microbes that are present. However, we may face some of the health risks associated with this, these are anemia, eye and nose irritation, stomach discomfort, and nervous system effects.

Drinking water qualities vary in place to place due to the inorganic chemicals found in water come from a number of places. These include

a. discharges from refineries,

b. runoff from production wastes,

c. decay of asbestos cement in water mains,

d. erosion of natural deposits,

e. discharges of drilling waste and

f. coal-burning factories.

 

Due to the above the health issues for these may much bigger. You may see an increase in blood cholesterol, a decrease in blood sugar, skin damage, circulatory system problems, increased blood pressure, intestinal lesions, and kidney damage. 

Radionuclides (a radioactive nuclide ) may cause an increase in the risk of cancer and kidney toxicity. This is come from the erosion of natural deposits of particular minerals that are radioactive and from the decay of man-made deposits. 

A new discovery found as the effects of the medications in drinking water, that come from your tap water .Medications like antibiotics, mood stabilizers, sex hormones, and even just ibuprofen and acetaminophen, among others, are being found in tap water. Humans are consuming medications and so they become present in their waste. This waste is treated at water treatment plants and they are not regulated to make sure the medications are removed. So, they are coming unknowingly in your nice, cold, fresh glass of water. 

So, what exactly all this information means? All of these contaminants include names that you are very familiar with. Coming to our home through our tap water are viruses, chlorine, arsenic, asbestos, barium, copper, cyanide, lead, mercury, alpha and beta particles, and uranium, to name a few. All there are coming from the municipal corporation drinking water system, which is easy to understand the urgency of these matters when you know what is all the category includes. 

2. Well Drinking Water.

The second is "Well" Water, certainly not as good as tap water and not clear as a safe alternative. "Well," drinking water supply may contain bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.

 

a. The bacteria's effects may include bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, stomach cramps, vomiting, and the spread of infection from the intestines to the blood, which can cause serious illnesses. 

b. Viruses, in the well water, as we well know, may cause "flu-like" symptoms, including fever, muscle pain, and rashes. Outside of these symptoms there are dark urine, jaundice, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, cramps, and headaches. 

c. The protozoa may cause diarrhea, cramps, fever, and mild illnesses that may become serious or fatal to those with weak immune systems. Common names for some of these are E. coli, salmonella, Hepatitis A, and cryptosporidium.

 

3. Bottled Drinking Water.

The third let's talk about bottled water. Many people think and believe that they are choosing a safer option by drinking bottled water. The main problem with this is that forty percent of bottled water actually comes from a municipal water supply system.

 

You are paying for water that you get for free from your tap or faucet. On top of that, it's not even free from many contaminants, so your money and time are literally going down the drain. It depends on the company's water purification system. Obviously, this is not the safest alternative to choose from.

 So, many people have been using tap, well, and bottled water forever. You don't have an idea about deaths every day from bad water. The effects may not be fatal every time you drink a sip but, if there is something better out there that is better, safer, more reliable, and in your control, why put your family at risk? Is there any better answer? 

A Reverse Osmosis (RO) system is a water purifying system, which is installed under your sink (large fixed container in a kitchen, with taps to supply water). It removes unwanted substances from water molecules leaving the water you consume fresh, safe, and pure. It is becoming familiar, more and more common as it is available for consumers for their own homes.

 

Let's discuss what is Reverse Osmosis (RO) System? 

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water purification process is composed of granular activated carbon (GAC) pre-filters, an RO membrane, a storage tank, and a faucet that delivers the purified water.

Basically, the water coming to your home passes through the pre-filters first to get rid of anything they can before reaching the membrane. Because these membranes are subject to degradation from a number of substances (chlorine, iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide), the pre-filters are essential. The membrane is semi-permeable to allow only the pure water through while rejecting all the contaminants in it. It has also Crossflow that is used to allow for the self-cleaning of the membrane. Some of the water passes through the membrane as pure water, while some water continues on with the contaminants to help wash them away to be clean. This whole process works from the water pressure from your sink. 

What is so special about the RO system? 

The RO water purification system is also called the hyperfiltration system because it gets rid of, so many more contaminants than any other water purification system and really makes your water as pure as possible to give you safe drinking water. 

Essentially, the system effectively removes bacteria, viruses, salts, sugars, proteins, particles, dyes, heavy metals, chlorine, and related by-products. It also does a very fantastic job of removing most inorganic chemicals, most microorganisms, and inorganic contaminants. It also removes those unwanted medications that are in your drinking water. Specifically, almost all that we found that contaminates of our tap water, well water, and bottled water is removed by the RO system. 

Here is a summarized list of what the Reverse Osmosis  (RO) system can eliminate aluminum, arsenic, barium, chloride, copper, fluoride, iron, lead, mercury, nitrate, asbestos, radium, taste, color, and odor-producing chemicals, and solids that have been completely dissolved. 

As we discussed the RO system is a very good water purification system for safe drinking water. However, there are advantages and disadvantages and the Reverse Osmosis system of water purification. 

Advantages of RO:- 

As we discussed there are so many advantages of the Reverse Osmosis system.

a. It is a system that is affordable for everyone.

b. If you have been going the bottled water route, this is a huge saving for you.

c. Remove these bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses from drinking water.etc 

Disadvantages of RO:- 

The disadvantages of RO is very less as compared to overwhelming success. The disadvantages of Reverse Osmosis (RO) are of the followings:

a. These pre-filters need to be replaced every two to three years. Otherwise, you will be drinking water that is not as pure as it should be.

b. Sometimes a sediment pre-filter is recommended along with the GAC pre-filters or a water softener for excessively hard water.

c. Reverse Osmosis system is generally a slow process and there is a fair amount of water waste.

d. It takes about one to three gallons of unpure water to produce one gallon of pure water.

e. Water directly from a river or a lake - or any body of water with large numbers of microorganisms, recommended that ultraviolet purification is used. 

If you know what contaminants are most present in your water, this is the place to look to find out exactly what your needs are. You can find list everything from your refrigerator filters, sports bottles, and faucet mounts to new parts, RO systems, and UV systems. In this way you at least know for sure that you are getting exactly and what you need RO system or not.

 

Drinking water from the copper bottle:

Drinking water from the copper bottle is very beneficial for health, even I use it regularly. Take drinking water from the RO machine and keep it in a copper water bottle to drink.

 I used to keep water in the copper water bottle in the night and used to drink it in the morning. Also on the whole day I and my family drink the water from that copper water bottle.

The point that is most important here is that your water is most important for your health. You use the water to drink, cook, take showers in, wash your car with, and wash your clothes in. You can't go a single day without turning your tap, and you now know that the water that is coming out isn't really safe.

Maybe it is not exactly hazardous, but most likely, there are at least a few contaminants in your water. I know that you don't want your developing child, or your elderly parent to consume water that may do them more harm than good.

 

Do a little research on your drinking water. You have to taste your water in your water research center asap. This is some scary stuff, some of which that hasn't had enough time to be researched. At the end result of your efforts will be pure drinking water and safe drinking water that you won't have to question. You have no choice because you love you and your family very much. But, you have to do this task asap if you have not done it.

 

Filter your drinking water. It's as simple as that.

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