Water is the elixir of life. Starting from the very building unit, cells and tissues, to complex organs of living beings, they require water to function properly and systematically. Contributions of Water in survival are the most basic and the most significant. A human body’s normal physical functions, cognitive (brain and motor) functions and normal thermoregulation (body temperature) are all maintained through water balance. Similarly, water purifiers and filters are an essential part of filtering the water we intake in our body. This is a detailed article on water filters and how they impact your health.
What type of water filter is best? [Water Filters]
Though water seems a simple liquid, it’s not. Water is not just a compound with 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. It’s much more complex and the composition is influenced by many factors ranging from atmospheric interactions to minerals in the soil to its contact with organic or living matter. Water in its primal or crude state is with traces of several minerals, gases and even pathogens (harmful bacterias).
Therefore, no source of ground or surface water can be clearly claimed as chemically pure H2O. Drinking water has its own minerals dissolved in them additional to their plain chemical composition. Speaking of which, that’s where the Water Purifiers come in to play. Even though normal pipe waters come after several stages of filtrations and treatments, people prefer to use the water from water purifiers for regular consumption and usage, considering it as the safest of all forms of available potable water.
Impacts of Demineralized Water
Like the two faces of a coin, there are several factors about this system that people should know, that are fatal to their health. As said above, water sure is impure with many dissolved and non dissolved impurities that are bad for our health which the purifiers successfully remove through processes like Reverse Osmosis (RO), demineralization etc. Along with these impurities, they also remove the dissolved essential minerals like sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. that are vital for maintaining our overall health. Purifiers leach out the necessary minerals that are very much significant to human health and the prolonged consumption of water rid of natural minerals has adverse effects that may prove even fatal to one’s health.
Water filter system
The technique used for water purification is commonly Reverse osmosis (RO). In this technique, the pressurized water is forced to pass through a semipermeable membrane. It will remove solid impurities, dissolved impurities, pathogens and unfortunately, mineral ions too. RO water is thus indeed very pure yet is deficient in essential minerals like calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium and other important dissolved solids.
Our body’s homeostasis (overall chemical and physical metabolism) will get disrupted negatively if we take in drinking water with low mineral content or water with low Total Dissolved Salts. Mineral loss through urinary excretion is regular and in addition to that when it’s coupled with low mineral intake it results in a further mineral imbalance. Adverse effects on hormone production and secretion, bone mineral density, kidney functions etc. can be caused. An increase in the elimination of essential minerals such as sodium, calcium, chloride, potassium ions will disturb the delicate osmotic pressure of blood cells creating an electrolyte imbalance. Under such conditions, consuming RO demineralized water ultimately causes symptoms like nausea, tiredness, and weakness, headaches, muscular cramps, impaired heart rate etc.
Effects of water purification
The human body requires certain minerals and micronutrients for its optimum functioning. Their vital sources are natural water enriched with minerals, plants that grow in such water, and animals who consume these plants. Minerals from water are readily absorbed in the body as compared to those from any other food sources. Present generation’s intake of junk foods is undoubtedly devoid of essential nutrients and when it is supplemented with drinking demineralised RO water, the negative impact is huge. Magnesium and potassium deficiency contributes to high blood pressure, deficiency of calcium leads to brittle bones and reduced iron intake interferes even with blood formation.
Although water is not a major source for calcium and magnesium, research has shown that consuming water that is low in calcium and magnesium is associated with an increased risk of premature birth or low birth weight, fractures in children, cardiovascular diseases, certain neurodegenerative diseases, gastrointestinal diseases due to the low PH content of these demineralized water etc, when compared to natural water consumption.
So, unless people want to end up with chronic kidney and gastrointestinal diseases, they should thoroughly understand the functioning of RO water purifiers. They serve demineralized water with low TDS levels below the required recommended values. It’s fatalistic on human health. The health implications of consuming the same water should be considered before deciding on its installation and regular consumption. Using natural-well water after boiling or bottled water from reputed brands is a comparatively sounder and safer choice. It provides you with pure water-rich in beneficial minerals and totally safe.
