Bottled Drinking Water

Different variants with the same one aim,

“Healthier consumers”

Mountain Spring Water [Mineral Water], Distilled Drinking Water,

Super Oxygenated Drinking Water, Hexagonal Drinking Water,

Let Consumers freely as well as rationally choose the best.

Drinking Water Sources:

Drinking water comes from surface water and ground water, large-scale water supply systems [municipal water / city running water / tap water], public drinking water supply tend to rely on surface water resources, surface water includes rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs / dams, smaller water systems [home private drinking water] tend to use ground water [shallow or deep well], ground water is pumped from wells that are drilled into aquifers, aquifers are geologic formations that contain water, the quantity of water in an aquifer and the water produced by a well depend on the nature of the rock, sand, or soil in the aquifer where the well withdraws water, if we have our own drinking water well, we are responsible for making sure that our water is safe to drink, so private wells should be tested annually for nitrate and bacteria to detect contamination, also test for other contaminants, such as radon gas and pesticides.

Another source for drinking water is mountain spring water / mountain valley spring water / artesian water[*], an aquifer provides the water source for an artesian well, an aquifer is the layer of permeable rock, like limestone, sandstone, that absorbs water from an inlet path at high elevation such as the top of a mountain, the water source might be fed by rains, snowmelts, porous stone is sandwiched between a top and bottom layer of an impermeable substance like clay soil or shale rock / soft rock, this keeps the water pressure high, so that when we get to a point below the entryway of the flow, there is enough pressure to bring the water up, an artesian well allows water to rise to the surface that has traveled through porous rock from a higher elevation, this pump-less well seems due to gravity movement because the pressure that builds up between layers of rock gets relieved when the water finds a path to the open air.

[*] An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that will flow upward through a well without the need for pumping. Water may even reach the ground surface if the natural pressure is high enough, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian well. An aquifer provides the water for an artesian well. An aquifer is a layer of soft rock, like limestone or sandstone, that absorbs water from an inlet path. Porous stone is confined between impermeable rocks or clay. This keeps the pressure high, so when the water finds an outlet, it overcomes gravity and goes up instead of down.

in-organic chemicals in Drinking Water.

WHO's Guidelines for drinking-water quality, set up in Geneva, 1993, are the international reference point for standard setting and drinking-water safety.

EPA Primary Standard protect drinking water quality by limiting the levels of specific contaminants that can adversely affect public health and are known or anticipated to occur in water, this regulation is legally enforceable standard that applies to public water systems.

EPA Secondary Standard is non enforceable guideline regarding contaminants that may cause cosmetic effects, such as taste, odor, color in drinking water.

Bottled Drinking Water:

Bottled water is not necessarily safer than the tap water:

• EPA sets standards for tap water provided by public water systems,
• Food and Drug Administration sets bottled water standards based on EPA's tap water standards, FDA has adopted EPA standards for tap water as standards for bottled water, standards for contaminants in tap water and bottled water are very similar, bottled water may be no more pure than tap water, this is because there are simply no government standards that require bottled water to be any better.

The FDA describes bottled water as water that is intended for human consumption and that is sealed in bottles or other containers with no added ingredients, except, it may contain a safe and suitable antimicrobial agent, fluoride may also be added within the limits set by the FDA.

FDA also has established regulations specifically for bottled water, including standard of identity regulations, which define different types of bottled water, and standard of quality regulations, which set maximum levels of contaminants (chemical, physical, microbial and radiological) allowed in bottled water.

Each time the EPA establishes a standard for a chemical or microbial contaminants, the FDA either adopts it for bottled water or makes a finding that the standard is not necessary for bottled water in order to protect the public health.

Production of bottled water also must follow the current good manufacturing practices (CGMP) regulations set up and enforced by the FDA. Water must be sampled, analyzed and found to be safe and clean / sanitary, these regulations also require proper plant and equipment design, bottling procedures and record keeping.

Bottled water sources:

1. Artesian well water. water from a well that taps an aquifer / layers of porous rock, sand and earth that contain water, which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay, when tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, commonly called artesian pressure, pushes the water above the level of the aquifer, sometimes to the surface, according to the EPA, water from artesian aquifers often is more pure because the border layers of rock and clay inhibit the movement of the contaminants..

image from FDA website, for illustration purposes only.

2. Mineral water: water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million [250 ppm] total dissolved solids, it should be noted that the minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water itself, they cannot be added from outside sources.
3. Spring water: derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earth's surface. Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring, if some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.
4. Well water [shallow or deep]: water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.

Water treatments in Bottled Drinking Water manufacturing:

1. Distillation: in this process, water is turned into a vapor, since minerals are too heavy to vaporize, they are left behind, and the vapors are condensed into water again., if comply with US Pharmacopoeia, it can be labeled as purified water ^[1].
2. Water Filters: there are two main types of filters: sediment and activated carbon, the basic concept behind nearly all filters, however, is fairly simple, the contaminants are physically prevented from moving through the filter either by screening them out with very small pores and / or, in the case of carbon filters, by trapping them within the filter matrix by attracting them to the surface of carbon particles, the process of adsorption.
3. Reverse osmosis: water is forced through membranes to remove minerals in the water, absolute 1 micron filtration, water flows through filters that remove particles larger than one micron in size, such as cryptosporidium ^[2] a parasitic protozoan, if comply with US Pharmacopoeia, it can be labeled as purified water.
4. Ozonisation: bottlers of all types of waters typically use ozone gas, an antimicrobial agent, to disinfect the water instead of chlorine [Cl₂], since chlorine can leave residual taste and odor to the water.
5. 
   

^[1]. US Pharmacopoeia 23- 1995: Purified water is water obtained by distillation, ion-exchange treatment, reverse osmosis, or other suitable process, it is prepared from water complying with the regulation of the federal EPA with respect to drinking water, it contain no added substances. pH between 5.0 and 7.0, total solid not more than 0.001 %.

^[2]. Cryptosporidium is a small parasitic organism that infects the small intestine of a variety of mammals, including humans, leading to the illness cryptosporidiosis, cryptosporidium is present in aquatic environments, usually in small numbers, and is found more commonly in surface waters than in ground waters, cryptosporidiosis is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps and fever, cryptosporidium can be transmitted from one infected person to another, from contact with an infected animal or from contaminated food or water.

[ 1 ]. Bottled Mountain Spring Drinking Water [Mineral Water]:

For hundreds, even thousands of years, pure water has flowed beneath the mountains, some of the underground water reservoirs emerge onto the surface as mountain spring water. Water from mountain springs filter up from deep within the earth through layers and layers of sand and stone so that when it finally reaches the surface it has been thoroughly filtered naturally and carries with it the gift of a wide variety of minerals, this is what makes mountain spring water special besides its purity; the balanced mineral content that is so important [vital] to the human body, the water is pure, clear, and free from any bacteria, the water is safe to drink even before processing, the mountain spring water carry balanced levels of the minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and sodium.

The manufacturing process begins with filtering of the mountain spring water to eliminate any large particles carried up from the depths of the earth, the water then goes through the sanitation process to guarantee that it is completely free of any disease cause by bacteria, the water is immediately and hygienically filled into newly created PET food grade material bottles at the time of processing through in-line filling system..

[ 2 ]. Bottled Distilled Pure Drinking Water [Purified Water]:

We need minerals, but the source of minerals for the body is food we eat, not the water we drink, plants have a unique ability to convert inorganic minerals absorbed from the soil and water into organic forms our bodies can use, people have the mistaken belief that essential minerals are derived from water they drink.

Among several types of water, such as: rain water, snow-melt water, raw water, hard water, filtered water, soft water, de-ionized water, boiled and distilled water, only distilled drinking water is pure and virtually free of all contaminates, as a result, distilled water has no taste, no color, no odor, no bacteria, no heavy metals, no acids, no organic minerals, no toxic chemicals, no poisons, in an emergency, boiling is the best way to purify water that is unsafe because of the presence of protozoan parasites or bacteria.

Distillation: in many ways, distillation is the reverse of boiling, to remove impurities from water by distillation, the water is usually boiled in a chamber causing water to vaporize, and the pure steam leaves the non volatile contaminants behind, like salts, sediments, metals and anything that won't boil or evaporate will remain in the distiller and then be removed, the steam moves to a different part of the unit and is cooled until it condenses back into liquid water, the resulting distillate drips into a storage container, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will evaporate and condense with the water vapor, so a vapor trap, carbon filter, or other device must be used along with a distiller to ensure the more complete removal of contaminants including the VOCs.

Advantages of distillation process:

• A good distillation unit produces very pure water, that is one of the few practical ways to remove nitrates, chloride, and other salts that carbon filtration can not remove them.
• Distillation also removes pathogens in the water, mostly by killing and leaving them behind when the water vapor evaporates, if the water is boiled, or heated just short of boiling, pathogens would also be killed.
• As long as the distiller is kept clean and is, working properly the high quality of treated water will be very consistent regardless of the incoming water, no drop [constant] in quality over time.
• No filter cartridges to replace, unless a carbon filter is used to remove VOCs [volatile organic compounds].

Health effects:

Bottled water processed with distillation or reverse osmosis lacks fluoride ions [ F] which are sometimes naturally present in ground water, the drinking of distilled water may conceivably increase the risk of tooth decay due to a lack of fluoride ion element.

[ 3 ]. Bottled Super Oxygenated Drinking Water [Oxygenated Drinking Water]:

Benefit claims by the manufacturer:

• Extra supply of oxygen to the body for overall health improvement
• Enhancement of the brain function for clearer thinking and alertness
• More oxygen to the muscle to increase energy and performance
• More oxygen to skin cells for healthier, younger looking skin
• Enhanced metabolism and waste removal
• Enhancement of the body's ability to fight bacteria and viruses
• Better absorption of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients

The Oxygenated Water assessment:

1. The concept of obtaining significant amounts of oxygen through the digestive system makes a physiological sense as quenching your thirst by inhaling a glass of water into our lungs.
2. The primary way to transport oxygen in the body is bound to hemoglobin in the red blood cells, in normal healthy exercisers, hemoglobin leaving the lungs is already 97 % to 98 % saturated with oxygen, the structure of the circulatory system ensures that any oxygen picked up in the digestive system would go through the lungs before reaching the muscles and other tissues, in the lungs any extra oxygen in the blood will reduce the amount of oxygen transferred to the blood, the final oxygen saturation of the hemoglobin would still be 97 % to 98 %.
3. Oxygenating water has no effect on the body's ability to absorb the oxygen into the bloodstream or transfer it throughout the body.
4. The water that we drink can take up to an hour or more to travel to the intestines where it is absorbed, but the oxygen [O₂] we inhale into our lungs will absorb into our bloodstream almost immediately, so doesn't it make sense to supply oxygen by drinking a glass of water.
5. Oxygenated water makes sense for fishes that have specialized structures for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide in an aquatic environment, but not for humans.
6. Similarly to, the human digestive system is designed to absorb water and nutrients, not oxygen.

A single breath of air contains more oxygen than a bottle of oxygenated water, there is no scientific evidence or logical rationale to suggest that drinking super oxygenated water can in any way increase the amount of oxygen in the blood stream, therefore, any potential benefits of super oxygenated water would undoubtedly be attributed to the placebo effect, there's very little reliable evidence to show that super oxygenated water has any significant effect on exercise performance, energy levels, or recovery, this water isn't going to hurt its consumer, but there's no reason to believe it's going to help the consumer substantially.

[ 4 ]. Hexagonal Drinking Water:

Hexagonal water theory:

Dr. Mu Shik Jhon, President of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and the Honorary Chair-Professor of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and a world authority in water research, is the originator of the hexagonal water theory and has been actively disclosing its relationship with cancers and aging mechanism as well as possible healing effects. Professor Jhon says that here are three different shapes of water.

1. hexagonal hook-shaped,
2. pentagonal hook-shaped,
3. hexagonal chain-shaped,

He confirmed that there are more hexagonal water around the normal protein than around cancerous protein.

Water clusters: the Science

Chemists have long recognized water as a substance having unusual and unique properties that one would not at first sight expect from a small molecule having the formula H₂O. It is generally agreed that the special properties of water stem from the tendency of its molecules to associate, forming short-lived and ever-changing polymeric units that are sometimes described as "clusters", these clusters are more conceptual than physical in nature; they have no directly observable properties, and their transient existence (on the order of picoseconds) does not support an earlier view that water is a mixture of polymers (H₂O)n in which “n” can have a variety of values, instead, the currently favored model of water is one of a loosely-connected network that might best be described as one huge "cluster" whose internal connections are continually undergoing rearrangement.

Penta water: supposed five-molecule clusters of water [water pentamer – polymer formed from 5 molecules of monomer], is a commercially sold brand of bottled water that is claimed by its manufacturer to be structurally different from normal water, it is advertised as the ultimate bottled water, penta process subjects water to high energy sound waves, creating sonoluminescence ^[3] reduces the average size of the water clusters present in liquid water, this supposedly makes it easier for water molecules to pass through cell membranes, it is further claimed that water so treated improves the survivability of cells, the various claims made by Penta are classed as pseudoscience ^[4] by scientists, as they have never been scientifically established, and contradict laws of nature, penta water is filtered water no different from ordinary water.

^[3].Sonoluminescence is a mysterious phenomenon caused when ultrasound waves excite a liquid, creating tiny bubbles which emit light when they collapse. The effect is magnified when the bubbles contain a noble gas. The phrase sonoluminescence means "sound light".

^[4]. Pseudoscience is a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status

3 kinds of Drinking Water Containers:

PET-Bottles #1, PP-Cups #5, PC-Gallons #7

Also Read:

PET / PETE Bottle. its advantages, and its Health issues.
Safely use of Baby Feed Polycarbonate Bottles.
Safely use of Plastic Food Packaging.
Growing up Green, for Healthy Newborn Babies.

Lear more the health benefit of various non-alcoholic commercial drinks: