Water is the source of life, everyone knows that. However, this refers only to clean, beneficial water. But where can one get it amid global environmental pollution? After all, the great Louis Pasteur warned that "man drinks 90% of his diseases." And according to WHO data, annually about 25% of the world's population is at risk of getting sick precisely because of poor-quality drinking water. So how can one find out whether water is fit for consumption? What are we drinking? What should we drink?
Quite by chance, in the subway, I came across an invitation from a foreign company to "do a free analysis of drinking water purity." Looking ahead, let me clarify: a limited test was offered — for general, without element-by-element breakdown, chemical contamination by only one indicator — weight. However, it is also interesting and quite important.
But can one learn more about water? Of course. For example, Ukraine's sanitary-epidemiological stations control about 30 types of water contamination (for more precise analyses, our country simply does not have the appropriate equipment). But for ordinary people, that is, private individuals, even such a study is an expensive pleasure. In America, three times as many indicators are under strict state control. But America is America, and where are we. But Canada in this respect has become seemingly closer. In Kyiv, there is a representative office of one of the world-famous manufacturers of the most modern water filters with a consultation center that offers free services.
In a word, I asked my husband to bring from the dacha a half-mayonnaise jar (according to the company's conditions) of water from a well: the water in it is suspiciously yellow, and when it settles a little in a bucket, it becomes covered with a thin film. We still drink it, of course, after boiling it first. I took another jar — with clear Kyiv tap water. And I presented all this good stuff to Oleksandr Parkhomenko, the only representative in our country of the foreign company that interested me. Regarding the village sample, he immediately determined by eye: "Your water is bad," and clarified: "Do you understand that all this suspension settles in your kidneys and liver?" And then... he was surprised, comparing the data of a device resembling an electronic thermometer: the clear tap water that had passed through several stages of purification (at the water pumping station it is run through a centrifuge, passed through sand, chlorinated...) turned out to be twice as "dirty" as the brown water from the well. Probably because the village stands on sand, which, as is known, is an excellent natural filter. Once we finally flush the well, neither sand nor clay suspension will get into the pipes anymore. And the pipes themselves will be washed out so much that no oily film will float to the surface of the water anymore.
If your liver hurts — check the water
— Oleksandr Mykolaiovych, do many people come to you?
— Unfortunately, few, and as a rule, those who are already seriously concerned about their health: we still don't have a culture of healthy living.
— How do you help them?
— With a free consultation and good advice. I show the relevant tables: hair falls out — therefore, food and water lack selenium; liver hurts — check your drinking water, most likely it has an excess of iron; "blood pressure jumps" can quite possibly be provoked by an excess of lead; and an excess of chlorine, which combines with other organic substances, forms carcinogens that lead to cancerous tumors... I recommend purchasing literature on questions of interest to visitors: books by the classic of world dietetics Paul Bragg "Water and Salt," "How to Live to 120 Years...", research by the Japanese popularizer of a healthy lifestyle Dr. K. Nishi... All of this is freely sold at the "Petrivka" book market. Naturally, I tell them about the advantages of various filters.
— Well, that's an expensive pleasure. It's not accessible to everyone. But boiling water can and should be done by everyone. Is it really a panacea?
— Not quite so. It has been proven that a temperature of 100 degrees far from kills all microbes harmful to humans. The causative agent of viral hepatitis dies at a higher temperature. Some viruses need to be boiled for at least 6–7 hours. But besides pathogenic microbes, there are many impurities harmful to humans, such as iron salts, mercury, nitrates... Even in boiled water there are many of them.
— And if the water is left to settle?
— Undissolved particles will fall into sediment, part of the chlorine will evaporate. But after just a few hours, bacteria from the air will begin to multiply in such water.
— And what about water fountains (buvety) — aren't they a way out? After all, microbes and viruses don't descend to the depth of artesian wells. And it's cold for them there — sunlight doesn't penetrate through the thickness of the earth either.
— Yes, everything would be fine if fountain water were delivered to the surface in the same form in which it exists underground. But most wells were surveyed long ago (the pipes there were laid decades ago), and they began to be put into mass operation in connection with the Chornobyl accident, when surface waters turned out to be affected by radiation. It was decided to decommission the fountains, and it turned out that the iron had not everywhere withstood the test of time, and the gaps between pipe sections are also not flawless. Thus, powerful pumps pump rust and dirt along with the water. In a word, groundwater raised to the surface requires even more careful control by the SES than tap water, and the fountains — improvement of technical equipment. Moreover, water with such mineralization as fountain water is far from suitable for every one of us.
— By the way, about mineral water. Mostly bottled. It is advertised so much. Is it really clean, beneficial, necessary for everyone?
— For the complete truth, it should be reported: the minerals in it are usually contained in a form inaccessible to humans (we get all the necessary minerals from food of plant and animal origin) and only pollute the body, causing diseases and premature old age. By the way, centenarians do not drink such water. Desalinated (distilled) water helps to get rid of unabsorbed minerals. It is this that should be consumed periodically.
Everyone can afford this
Do you know how to boil water?
Specialists suggest doing this: first of all, the water needs to be left to settle — let the chlorine evaporate. Then it should be boiled without covering with a lid. Salts will fall into sediment. One or two minutes is quite enough. If this is done longer, the remnants of chlorine will begin to interact with the organic components of the water, creating toxic dioxin. After cooling the water, it is desirable to boil it once more.
It is best to store boiled water in the same vessel in which it was boiled (say, an enameled pot), or in clean glass (ceramic) jars. But no more than six hours.
And do you know how to obtain desalinated, freshly melted, in a word — ecologically clean and healthy water from tap water?
Boiled water needs to be cooled, the upper layers poured into an inverted plastic two-liter bottle with a well-tightened cap but with the bottom cut off (it will then serve either as a stand for the cap or as a loosely covering lid above the water surface, otherwise it, evaporating, will lead to rapid frosting of the chamber walls). Remove the bottle with frozen water. Shake out the ice. The upper layer, 2–3 cm (after it melts), pour into a clean vessel so that in the cone, near the cap, a part of the unwanted water remains, in which the salts are contained. The poured water is ready for drinking.
And how to extend the life of clean water?
There is an old good but forgotten method: to prevent the development of microorganisms, silver items (spoons, chains, crosses) can be placed in bottles: silver ions in a very small amount are fatal to viruses.
It is common knowledge that the human body consists of 70 or even 80 percent water. And if it loses it, problems arise — with digestion, sleep, memory... Without water, a person generally will not survive even a few days. Therefore, thirst should be quenched at its first signs. Best with green tea or acidified water — not in one gulp, but in small sips, retaining the moisture in the mouth.
Be careful — with carbonated drinks. After all, phosphoric acid, which gives them their fizz, is an enemy of calcium, and its absence leads to brittle bones, hence — to fractures.
Keep in mind that even after drinking a lot, you will feel satisfaction not immediately, but after about 10–15 minutes. Especially — in hot weather. Do not rush to fill the glass again: the more you drink, the more you sweat. That way you can disrupt your metabolism.
Nadiia ROMANIUK