Myths and facts about drinking water: defining quality

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The author of the article, the technical manager of the Aquaphor company, wrote it clearly for advertising purposes, but nevertheless, the article sheds light on a number of interesting facts and myths about drinking water, its composition and filters for water purification …

"If you take a sip from the bottle that says" Poison"

you will almost certainly feel a slight discomfort."

Several decades ago, we did not attach importance to what kind of air we breathe, what kind of water we drink. We just breathed, drank from the tap and were happy with life. Life, as always, has made its own adjustments. Most no longer think about the question: to use or not to use a filter for drinking water. They are thinking about something else: which filter should be used: a jug or a stationary filter, domestic or imported … in the end, can you buy an installation with the frightening name "reverse osmosis"?

This topic for our customer is relatively new and so far, as a rule, obscure. And the lack of "transparency" in the issue gives rise, as we know, if not monsters, then at least myths. This cup also did not pass the topic of drinking water treatment. Over time, an epic grows out of myths, however, first it is necessary to separate the truth from delusions. This is what we will do in our article.

The first myth. If there is less MPC, then it is not harmful! or If it is not visible, then it is not harmful

“A filter is a device for filtering a liquid, which retains impurities, turbidity and foreign bodies suspended in it, as a result of which it leaves the F. clean and transparent. Homemade F. for the purification of turbid water has been used since ancient times.

In Egypt, for example, “sihr” is still used - a vessel made of porous clay (during molding, coal is added to the clay dough, which, when the vessel is fired, burns out, leaving pores), into which water is poured; it seeps through the walls and in a clean and cooled form, due to evaporation, is collected in a substituted bowl."

This is how our ancestors imagined a water filter. Clear, and, therefore, clear water flows out, that's good! Sometimes we think so too. Alas, the delusion, excusable in the 19th century, is unforgivable now. And the man himself is to blame. The development of industry in the 19-20 centuries led to total pollution of the environment, including water resources.

The most common pollutants of surface waters in Russia remain petroleum products, phenols, easily oxidized organic substances, metal compounds, ammonium and nitrite nitrogenas well as specific pollutants: lignin, xanthates, formaldehydeand others, the main source of which is wastewater from various types of industries, agricultural and municipal enterprises, surface runoff.

The main rivers of Russia - Volga, Don, Kuban, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Pechora are assessed as “polluted”, their large tributaries - Oka, Kama, Tom, Irtysh, Tobol, Miass, Iset, Tura, as “heavily polluted”, R. belongs to the same category. Ural.

The state of small rivers is unfavorable, especially in the zones of large industrial centers, due to the inflow of large amounts of pollutants into them with surface runoff and wastewater.

Agree, such a text looks like a summary from the area of military operations. Moreover, pay attention, all substances that pollute water bodies do not occur in nature. They - human handiwork … They are not familiar to the human body, and, therefore, there are no specific mechanisms of neutralization developed as a result of evolution. Result - allergy - the scourge of the twentieth century.

Today, a person is forced to swallow what flows from the tap. In such a situation, society is forced to take responsibility for the safety of the consumed product. And to carry out control, introduce certain parameters that the water must meet.

These parameters are included in the concept " Sanitary rules and regulations"(SaNPiN)" Drinking water". This document defines the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of various substances in drinking water. Water that meets these requirements is believed to be safe and drinkable. In fact, the framework of SaNPiN is very conditional and is often determined not by biological needs, but by technical capabilities.

In addition, it must be remembered that each human body has its own individual characteristics, and the threshold concentrations after which the reaction to a particular substance begins can differ significantly for different people.

Unfortunately, the majority of citizens in relation to water are guided by the principle: "Invisible means clean!"

The second myth. Beneficial minerals in water or "is it harmful to drink distilled water"?

We use water in which a certain amount of mineral salts is dissolved. As a rule, their qualitative and quantitative composition is determined by the geological characteristics of a particular region. Thanks to the efforts of high school and Health magazine, most of us confidently classify these mineral salts as harmful and healthy.

Useful include potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium cations, to harmful - all the rest.

The most advanced citizens remember that, since there are cations (positively charged ions) in water, there must also be anions (negatively charged ions), the benefits of which we know nothing about, except that fluorine is good, and nitrate is Badly! As a result, the entire water-drinking electorate is divided into two camps. Some suspiciously ask the seller: "Do useful minerals remain in the water after the filter?"

Let's try to figure it out.

The table clearly shows the amount of water in the daily rate of one or another element.

Element	Daily requirement, mg	Average concentration of an element in drinking water, mg / l	The required amount of water to replenish the daily rate, l
Calcium	800	100	8
Magnesium	500	50	10
Potassium	2000	12	167
Sodium	5000	200	265

The average person drinks about 2 liters of water per day (excluding the post-holiday days). It turns out that, at best, we can get a more or less noticeable proportion of calcium from water. True, it should be noted that in the form of inorganic salts, calcium is poorly absorbed by the body, and water with a concentration of 100 mg per liter is rather hard, you cannot brew good tea with such water!

On the other hand, in some cases, the high content of calcium and magnesium in water interferes with the removal of harmful elements, such as lead, mercury, cadmium etc. For their complete removal, special selective sorbents are needed. For example, the ion-exchange chelated fiber Aqualen-2 used in Aquaphor filters. Without the use of such sorbents, it is impossible to guarantee the complete removal of heavy metals from hard water.

Where do we get the missing mineral salts from?

Yes from food! Cheese, cottage cheese and milk more than make up for the lack of calcium, and dried apricots, beans and apples cope with potassium deficiency. And yet, doesn't the mineral composition of the water we drink affect anything? Affects! And how!

It affects the functioning of our digestive tract. And when we have to change the usual water for another, for example, when traveling on a business trip or on vacation, for especially sensitive natures this can end in embarrassment! True, after a while the body adapts and everything returns to normal.

Conclusion: of course, it is better to drink water, to which you are accustomed, if there is nothing harmful in it, but, choosing from two evils, it is better to remove everything from drinking water, even useful, than to leave a little harmful!

There is an opinion: P. Bragg, after 50 years, drank distilled water and advised others to do it. He considered it one of the medicinal means and emphasized: “She is not dead water. It is the purest water that a person can drink.

Distilled water helps dissolve toxins that accumulate in the body of a modern civilized person, it passes through the kidneys, leaving no inorganic residues of stones there. This is soft water. Wash your hair in distilled water and you will see for yourself.”"

The third myth. Silver is not only harmful, but also useful or the "silver age of water purification"

We read in the encyclopedia: “silver (Ag - argentum) is a chemical element of the first group of the periodic table of D. I. Mendeleev. White metal, malleable, ductile. Chemically inactive. Possesses bactericidal properties: silver ions sterilize water . Here! From this place in more detail!

Apologists for the "silver shield" urge the use of water with a fairly high silver content. We are assured that silver ions not only kill all harmful bacteria, but are also beneficial for the human body, sending them for evidence to the church and to the manufacturers of silver dishes. Like, if our ancestors ate on silver, then just give it to us!

Silver in ionic form is indeed a bactericide, i.e. kills bacteria. Which? Almost everything! And harmful - pathogenic, and harmless, and necessary - participating in the life of the body, and the cells of the body themselves! How? Silver ions replace trace element ions in enzymes, for example (Co), which are responsible for metabolism and reproduction. This leads to dysfunction of the cell and to its death.

And don't make big eyes! Yes, silver is a cellular poison, a xenobiotic. There is even a disease - argentosisassociated with an increased content of silver in the body. And, of course, you exclaim! What an experience of generations - silverware for the most valuable members of society, a traditional spoon on the first tooth, and finally, "holy water" with a silver cross! Do not worry! " You are not in church, you will not be deceived!»

Indeed, for a long time, one of the few means of combating the epidemics that came along with urbanization and mowed down entire cities was silver and gold. Yes, gold ions are also a bactericide (read poison), but this is only for a select few! That is, again the dialectic of existence - if you want to live, drink poison! Fortunately, in our time there are poisons and cheaper!

However, it is worth saying a few words in defense of the silverware. Have you noticed that bactericidal properties have ions silver, i.e. silver salts dissolved in water? Metallic silver is harmless - bon appetit! But you shouldn't drink water with silver ions. By the way, “holy water” does not deteriorate for months because is a poison for all living things.

And what about our supervising authorities? What, for example, does the SES say about the "silver" water? He speaks quite harshly: MPC (maximum permissible concentration) for silver - 0.05 mg per liter. The same as lead.

Do you by any chance consider lead a useful metal? By the way, the use of silver as a bactericide - in any concentration - in water intended for baby food is prohibited by law. So you don’t know what to answer to an inquisitive, but not very literate buyer who asks the question: "Is there silver in your filter?"

If you say “No” - the client will not understand, if you say “yes” - you feel like a poisoner of humanity …

Now, if there was such a filter in which there is silver, but does not emit into the water! Is this possible? It turns out possible! Usually, for fixing silver in a household drinking water filter, they use Activated carbon. True, this technology does not guarantee a spontaneous washout of silver ions into filtered water.

To make sure all your silver is where it belongs, you need to use a stronger hold. For example, on an ion-exchange material, selectively, i.e. selectively, binding heavy metals, and at the same time silver. Is there such material in nature? There is. And it is even widely used in filters for drinking water, however, only with the Aquaphor brand.

This material is called Aqualen-2 and is a chelated ion-exchange fiber. We have already mentioned it when we talked about the selective removal of harmful cations. Silver ions on this fiber are fixed very firmly, while not losing their bactericidal function.

The fourth myth. More fluoride - stronger teeth

Over the past decade, television ads have taught us that fluoride is essential for healthy teeth. Of course, not in the form of a free element - it is the strongest oxidant and poison - but in the form of fluoride, a negatively charged ion (F-).

The advertising advantage of the presence of fluoride in toothpaste was so tempting that soon there were filters that not only purify water, but also enrich it with fluoride ions! An advertising brochure of one of the companies producing water purifiers ("Barrier") tells in detail and convincingly about the benefits of fluorine - "the most important microelement for the human body."

Here's a full quote:

The physiological norm for the content of fluorine (or rather, the fluoride anion) in water is, according to the booklet, 0.5-1.5 mg / l … Let's remember these numbers. It would seem that everything is clear. By purchasing a filter ("Barrier-5"), the consumer will get rid of harmful impurities in drinking water and additionally strengthen his body with the help of fluoride.

But … Turning to SanPiN "Drinking water", we find that the fluorine content in drinking water should not exceed 0.7-1.5 mg / l, depending on the region. It is also interesting to give a list of substances in a number of which are mentioned fluorine: aluminum, beryllium, molybdenum, arsenic, nitrates, polyacrylamide, lead, selenium, strontium.

Most of the listed substances - the strongest poisons.

Having opened the book "Harmful substances in industry", vol. 2 (Leningrad, 1971), pp. 54-55, we read:

But here:

What is the conclusion from the lengthy and contradictory quotes? Is fluoride good or bad? As is often the case, there is no definite answer. Yes, fluoride is essential for the body. But the borderline between the physiologically necessary amount of fluoride in drinking water and the maximum permissible level is very uncertain. The consequences of an overdose can be very serious. A person's need for fluoride depends on his age, health, nutritional conditions, region of residence, etc.

The fifth myth. The imported filter is the best

Which filter to buy - imported or domestic? The correct answer to this question is that you need to buy the one that cleans the water better. At the same time, the opinion that import filters work better is erroneous.

In most cases, Russian filters are in no way inferior to foreign ones, and often even surpass them in their characteristics. Well-known foreign firms, as a rule, pay the most attention to the appearance of their products, and not to the "inner content".

As a result, products are obtained, such as a propaganda machine depicting the latest achievements of science and technology: inside an old truck, outside - plywood boards with a picture of a spaceship. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the fact that Russian filters are better than imported ones, since they were designed specifically for purifying our tap water. This is both true and exaggeration. An exaggeration - since a really good filter is able to qualitatively purify any water - even Russian, even American, even African. And, at the same time, it does not matter where the filter is made.

“Aquaphor filters, for example, are produced in Russia, but they work successfully in the USA, Europe and Asia. This is partly true, since the water in Russia is indeed one of the dirtiest in the world. And our pipes are iron and rusty, not plastic, as in some Western countries.

Therefore, it is quite possible that the manufacturers of the imported filter did not even assume that there could be so many different, sometimes unexpected, impurities in the water. Our producers know exactly what kind of tap water we have. They themselves drink it every day. And one more significant point. Of course, it's good when the filter works perfectly. But, unfortunately, the rubber gasket can leak, the lid can break, and a small part can get lost.

And then what? Is the expensive thing spoiled? If the filter is Russian, almost any problem can be solved by contacting the manufacturer. "Aquaphor", for example, never refuses to its users to replace failed filter parts, even if it is the user's fault (broken flasks, broken handles, lost or damaged parts). And even more so, it is much easier for a Russian manufacturer to carry out warranty repair of a filter (especially for expensive stationary systems).

At the same time, of course, imported filters are more expensive than domestic ones. Usually, a higher price is associated not with higher quality, but with higher costs for shipping products from abroad.

Currently, a fairly large number of companies engaged in water treatment are represented on our market. These are both import and Russian companies. Among them there are firms that have been operating in this market for quite a long time and firms for which these products are "casual".

Of course, you should focus on companies for which the production of water purifiers is the main field of activity, and which have been doing this for a long time. In addition, one should distinguish between firms representing "trade brands" and "screwdriver production" from companies engaged in serious production and producing an original product.

First of all, this concerns the "filling" of the water purifier - sorbents - substances that purify water. It should not be forgotten that “worthwhile” ideas and solutions are subject to patenting. Thus, the activity of a company can be judged by the number of patents issued in its name. So take your pick!