I was surprized to know that there are a few reveiws being posted under this section as compared to that under mobile phones and cars. Water is the most important entity in our life and we should be aware of its quality, its source, its characteristics, and finally its test report from a certified laboratory. Every household has its own source of drinking water, some have municipal corporation’s water supply filling their over-head reservoirs or tanks, some rely on the direct supply in their taps, whereas, few have their own underground water resources in the form of wells or tubewells, or casings bored deep inside the ground.
On an average an adult human-being requires a minimum of 2-liters of water for drinking purpose and more than three gallons of water for performing activities important for maintainence of personal hygiene, and the requirement varies from individual to individual depending on the age and physical dimensions of an individual. As far as our external body is concerned i.e. our skin, hairs, and nails, etc. a crystal clear, free flowing, stream water, or lake, pond, river, or even well-water is considered to be a good source of good quality water. One should always avoid using stagnant water, sea water (or any source of hard water which has got more than specified level of total dissolved solids). Most of the metallic elements like sodium, potassium, mercury, arsenic, cobalt, which are soluble in water and are toxic in nature can cause skin diseases and chronic ailments, if water containing these elements in totally dissolved state (i.e. invisible to the naked eyes) is used regularly for washing, bathing, or any other external use. If we study the water cycle in detail we can have a clear idea as to why water is more susceptible or more vulnurable to contamination as compared to other elements in the atmosphere. Water being formed by hydrogen and oxygen is capable of forming hydrogen bonding with a number of organic substances found on our planet, and hence, is very friendly solvent for most of the salts(bases), acids, and radicals. Even a glass full of water appearing crystal clear might be containing a toxic substance like potassium cyanide in the totally dissolved state and can be detected only through laboratory tests (but it rarely happens).
We should take some inspiration from the natue itself and try to learn how natural living and non-living beings purify water for their day-to-day use. For example the phenomenon of the purification of water inside the trees and plants is called osmosis, i.e., the roots suck water from the underground water resources and then the water is passed through millions and billions of fibres (each having a capillary diameter of less than a millionth of a milimeter) which are thinner in diameter than our single hair, hence, even bacterias and viruses are not capable of making their way through these dense fibres and are eleminated from the internal water cycle in a tree or plants. In the same way the total dissolved solids like salts, heavy metals, toxic components are also filtered out and the quality of the water entering inside the tree is absolutely safe. That is the reason for high quality water content found inside the fruits and vegetables which makes our skin look more healthy and glowing. In the same way if we start using reverse osmosis technology based water purifiers in our homes which delivers the same quality of water as that in the fruits and vegetables we will soon realize that the results are amazing and soothing.
What ever we drink and eat should be in its purest form and nowadays scientists and researchers have introduced numerous techniques through which we can determine the quality of any commodity (edible or non-edible). If we can afford to be on the safer side, then why should we avoide being on the safer side ?