An astonishing fact we all learned in elementary school is that of our body is 70% made of water. 

This water must be renewed every five to ten days.

In addition to oxygen, water is one of the most important elements on the earth for sustaining life.

The human body needs water for every function it performs.

Water builds, regulates, conveys, cleanses and helps to nourish each part of the body.

The quality of water you drink can radically affect your health.

That is why it is vital to drink only the purest water.

Effect of water on our health

Water is an essential constituent of all body fluids, including blood, lymph, saliva, secretions from glands and spinal fluid.

Water makes up 92% of the blood and cerebro-spinal fluid, 98% of intestinal and gastric juice, pancreatic juice and saliva glands.

Water plays an important role in all the processes of the body:

• lubricates the organs and tissues
• regulates the temperature
• flushes out waste and toxins
• moisturizes the skin
• feeds joints, bones and muscles
• carries nutrients to vital organs

Sufficient water retention in the body reduces the retention of waste products and toxins in our body, enhances gland and hormone functions, relieves the liver from excess fat and reduces hunger.

Man can live without food for a month, but without water only about seven days.

When and how to drink water

Thirst is not a reliable signal that your body needs water.

Thirst indicates that body dehydration has already occurred.

Also, thirst stops even before the body has received a sufficient amount of water.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to sufficient drinking of water every day.

A variety of drinks that contain sugars, alcohol, and other dissolved substances, only increase the need for water instead of decreasing, because water is used during their decomposition.

Only pure water can properly meet the needs of our organism.

Consuming sufficient quantities of clean drinking water reduces dehydration - such water is most essential for the organism.

However, water has a higher surface tension than the water in the cell has, so water slowly penetrates into the cell. This is the basic reason why we should not allow thirst - cell dehydration. Constant consumption of a certain quantity of water provides enough time for water to penetrate into the cell.

You should drink small sips of water throughout the day. It is especially important to drink a glass of clean water in the morning, immediately after getting up.

It is considered that the minimum daily requirement of water for an adult with poor physical activity is about 20-25 g per kilogram of body weight, which means that a man of 75 kg should have a minimum daily input of 1500-1875 g (1.5 to 1.9 liters) of water.

With increased physical activity and at high temperatures, the need is significantly higher.

Polluted water - the cause of disease and premature death

Water is one of the most aggressive solvents in the world. Known as the "universal solvent," it will in a lesser or greater amount dissolve almost everything that it comes into with on its way to our tap, until it reaches saturation.

Impurities found in water include atmospheric gases, minerals, organic matter and other compounds used during transportation or storage of water.

Common causes of contamination of drinking water are:

1. Wastewaters

Many cities are unable to solve the problem of wastewater treatment, which represents a dangerous source of pollution, because in such a manner untreated wastewater may be discharged into the underground or waterways and contaminate water wells or springs.

2. Agriculture

In areas of intensive agriculture, storm waters wash off farmland and carry away large amounts of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides into the underground.

3. Roads

Major cause of pollution sources are road sewages that contain mineral oil, heavy metals, etc., that go into the ground and continue into the waterways.

4. Acid rain

Nitrates and heavy metals enter streams from acid rains, and it is known that most of the waterways gravitate towards the Danube River region, which leads to cross-border and regional transport of pollutants in the Danube valley. Rivers located in the Danube River region are therefore the most polluted ones.

5. Chemicals used in the treatment process

Regularly, pollution of drinking water comes from the use of chemicals in the drinking water treatment processes. The most dangerous health consequences are derived from chlorine, aluminum sulfate and sodium fluoride usage.

The poison in our taps

Did you know that the chlorine in gas form was used as a poison gas in World War I, before it was used to poison the bacteria in our water supply?

Studies have shown that the chlorine in water is associated with heart diseases, dementia and bladder, liver, pancreas, colon, and urinary tract cancer.

Hazardous byproducts formed by chlorination of water have no taste or smell. These byproducts have caused cancer, reproductive problems and caused disabilities in animals during laboratory studies.

Fluoride is one of the most potent poisons known to man. Sodium fluoride is used in water supply to the density of 1.2 parts per million.

The same sodium fluoride, but at higher concentrations, is used for rat and cockroach poison and as a pesticide.

Adding sodium fluoride to water supplies began in 1939, when an industry ordered to chemist to find a way to use a large quantity of sodium fluoride - waste generated in aluminum smelters.

Large industry has pressed state and local governments to fluoridate water supplies, and the public was offered a sales slogan that fluoride prevents tooth decay.

ABC News published studies reported that more than 700 chemicals were found in drinking water, 129 of them are listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) as a serious hazard to health. However, EPA requires that water utilities be tested only for 14 of these chemicals.

Approximately 1000 deaths each year and at least 400 000 cases of water transmitted diseases can be attributed to contaminated water.

One of six children under 6 years of age has elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Water borne diseases are increasing. Municipal water plants use chlorine as a disinfectant to control the spreading of germs, but evidence suggests that many microbes are resistant to chlorine.

Chlorinated water is often contaminated with parasites resistant to chlorine, which causes sickness of many people. Researchers have concluded that a third of all gastrointestinal illnesses are caused by drinking water.

Various studies have been made in the vicinity of the landfill waste girt, revealed that four of the five sites are leaking poisons into the groundwater.

Our surface water supplies are threatened not only by larger landfills and chemical plants, but also from small plants such as dry cleaners and service stations.

Most alternatives are not any better

Rainwater

During the past people have gathered and drank rainwater. Today it is no longer safe.

Rainwater can be good when it leaves clouds, but not after falling through miles of polluted air full of smoke, smog and industrial waste.

Boiled water

Cooking water is an old method of water disinfection – because it kills bacteria.

But, during the boiling process, there occurs an increase in nitrate, salts, heavy metals and other contaminants in the water.

Bacteria that are killed by cooking remain as dead bodies and enter our bodies in that form. The dead bodies are fertile ground for the rapid spread of germs that are already in the water.

Boiling water does not remove inorganic minerals and chemicals.

Water Softeners 

Water softeners handle hard water simply replacing the hard minerals such as calcium and magnesium with sodium.

Removal of such minerals allows soaps and detergents to dissolve.

Softeners have little effect on bacteria and do not remove synthetic chemicals or heavy metals such as lead.

Softeners are limited in their usefulness of purifying drinking water. Given that the sodium is added to softened water, you may have problems if you are on a salt-free diet.

Opposite osmosis systems

Opposite osmosis systems are based on the principle of forcing water under high pressure through a synthetic semi-permeable membrane to reduce inorganic minerals.

These systems vary widely in efficiency regarding rejection of nitrates, chlorides and other contaminants.

Their performance is dependent on the pressure and water temperature, pH, bacteria and levels of dissolved solids and chemical contaminants in unprocessed tap water.

The opposite osmosis system is designed to flush out the extra amount of water contamination. In this process, for every 1 liter of water that is processed, four liters are wasted and send to sewage.

Don't be fooled with bottled water

Bottled water may seem like a good solution.

Unfortunately, there is no universal standard of quality that is used for bottled water.

It is therefore not surprising that there is virtually no scientific evidence which claims that bottled water is healthier than most city tap water.

The fact is that public tap water is legally accepted source for bottled water.

Have you ever opened bottled water and felt that it has the taste and smell of plastic bottle?

This is because the water in cheap plastic bottles can rinse out toxins such as methyl chloride and xenoestrogens. These two substances are carcinogenic; they reduce fertility and cause reproductive tissue cancer.

Freshness is also a problem. A recent study of Northeastern University in U.S.A. revealed that the bacteria can multiply even in bottled water and can cause intestinal problems, diarrhea and nausea.

The mass use of bottled water also causes environmental issues.

How to ensure intake of clean and healthy water

Impurities that water usually contain can lead us to an early demise.

But, unfortunately, only a handful of people are trying to provide clean drinking water, free of inorganic minerals, chemical toxins and other harmful pollutants.

Most people are willing to drink the tap water with any impurities. And water supplies are becoming increasingly polluted due to industrial, agricultural waste, lead pipes, and because of sodium fluoride, chlorine and other chemical admixtures that are added to the water in these water supplies.

Many people drink water only when soft drinks and beverages they are not available. The fact is that only a few people supply their body with clean water, which is so essential for life and health.

Using clean water is one of the easiest and most important steps you can take to ensure health.

You can get clean water

• natural sources of drinking water
• from freshly squeezed juices
• from ecologically grown fruits and vegetables
• water purified via water filter

About the author:

DE FACTO Ltd. is engaged in the water purification systems distribution and in the education of the general population regarding the problems linked to drinking water, as well as the impact of water on the human body and health.

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