This page deals with the various ways of purifying your tap water.
First, however, let's have a look at how the minerals and contaminants in your tap water can be made visible. The following video by Adrian is revealing. Electrolysis "burns" the minerals and each mineral show up as a different colour. Each colour indicates the type of mineral and contaminant present. However, the same colour can mean more than one contaminant so this is not an exact science.
The value of electrolysis is that this method indicates the degree of impurities. The darker and denser the colouring of the sample, the more contaminants, organic vegetable matter and minerals there are in the sample.
Groundwater has been regarded as being unadulterated in the past. However, the water has gradually been infiltrated with agricultural chemicals which seep down through the soil at the beginning of aquifers. Consequently, your Natural Mineral Water which you buy in bottles can no longer be regarded as "pure" with nothing added. However, it is still heaps better for health than tap water which derives from surface water - reservoirs, lakes and rivers.
Distillation
Rainwater falling from uncontaminated skies is nature's distilled water. Alas, when it hits the ground these days, it is no longer pure . To source commercial distilled water, we can buy it as car battery water. The quantity is not enough to drink on a long-term basis and to drink pure H2O on a daily basis, we need to make our own.
Distillers are easily purchased from the Internet and are more-or-less of the same configuration. Costs are between £75 and £120 although some can be more than £200. Specify stainless steel for the lining of the chamber plus a toughened glass carafe. Most conventional distillers also have a small chamber in the spout for a carbon sachet which captures any fugitive particulates. These are either supplied with the distiller or purchased in bulk from the Internet. They are relatively inexpensive.
Distillers make about 4 litres of pure water and take 4 hours approximately to finish their cycle. Wait for the water to cool down before pouring it into either a glass demijohn or a 5 litre plastic bottle.
To ensure absolutely purity, use only glass containers.
Clean the stainless steel chamber and the inside of the lid periodically with the cleaning solution provided or use vinegar or bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water which is then boiled in the distiller for 30 minutes. Wait for the distiller to cool down before tipping out the contents and giving the interior a good scrubbing. In hard water areas, the cleaning process needs to be more frequent.
The process removes inorganic minerals from the water and some have advised against distillation because of this. However, the minerals which are processed by plants and which are then subsequently eaten by us are probably more advantageous to our health than the inorganic minerals derived from the rocks through which our groundwater percolates. The exception seems to be magnesium which is more readily absorbed by our bodies than magnesium in vegetables, fruit and meat. However, it is vitally important to realise that most tap water in the UK (with the exception of Hartlepool) is deficient in magnesium.
References:
Melse-Boonstra A (2020) — Bioavailability of Micronutrients From Nutrient-Dense Foods: A narrative review — good overview of how food matrices affect absorption. PMC
Schneider I et al. (2017) — Magnesium bioavailability from mineral waters with different mineralization — direct human data showing good absorption from water. PMC
Greupner T et al. (2017) — Calcium bioavailability from mineral waters with different concentrations vs milk — shows mineral water can match milk for calcium bioavailability. Taylor & Francis Online
Heaney RP (2006) — Absorbability and utility of calcium in mineral waters — classic comparative work on calcium from water. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Piskin E. et al. (2022) — Iron Absorption: Factors, Limitations, and Improvement Methods — explains the strong role of diet composition for iron absorption (why food matters). PMC
Reverse Osmosis
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