Did you know that around 60 per cent of the human body is water? Water is essentially what we are made of, what keeps us alive, and big part of what allows us to live with the degree of comfort that we do. You probably put a lot of thought into the food you eat, the products you use, and getting enough sleep and exercise, but when was the last time you considered the quality of the water you drink, cook with, and bathe in?
Recent studies estimate that the average human needs between two to three litres of water a day to maintain optimum health, that’s up to 21 litres a week and over one thousand a year! If you’re going to putting something into your body in such large quantities, you want to make sure that it’s safe, high quality, and free from harmful materials and sediment.
1. We take it for granted
In most parts of Canada, safe water is easy to take for granted. We’ve always had access to it and therefore never question its availability or quality. It is important to remember that not everyone is so lucky though. According to the World Health Organization there may be over one billion people across the world who don’t have proper access to a supply of safe drinking water. It is estimated that two million die from diseases contracted from unsafe drinking water every year.
Water purification saves lives. It is the process of removing all the harmful elements from water before it is consumed. This includes chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids and gases. Filtration is the most common way this is achieved but it can also be don’t through sedimentation and distillation, as well as biological and chemical processes like flocculation and chlorination.
2. How effective is water treatment?
Thanks to scientific advancement, this process can now even be accomplished with a simple tablet. Water purification tablets can take impure or unsafe water and safe for human consumption. These little tablets have been proven effective again bacteria and viruses. They work by adding chlorine dioxide to the unsafe water. Chlorine dioxide is the same chemical compound found in most municipal water supplies.
These incredible little tablets and fast and effective and can purify water on the road or in the field. They are even trusted by the military to ensure troops have clean drinking water while they are in transit or in mobile locations, before more permanent water purification systems can be set up.
3. The dangers of impure water
This is important because although not all unsafe water necessarily causes death or long-term problems, it can cause stomach issues that temporarily put you out of commission. It is estimated that the lack of drinking water causes almost 90 per cent of the four billion cases of diarrheal disease that happen every year.
These diseases are especially rampant in developing countries, and that is where water purification could play a key role in significant improving and extending the lives of many. Water purification tablets can make a difference, such as keeping a village’s water supply safe and ensuring that it is free from bacteria that might be carrying life-threatening diseases.
4. Worry for your children
Children are especially susceptible to these bacteria, and even if it not life threatening, unpurified drinking water can have a negative impact on a child’s mental and physical development. The same is true for pregnant women. A Princeton University study found that they are more likely to have babies prematurely or with a low birth weight if they are not drinking clean water over the course of their pregnancy. As you see, there are so many ways that water purification tablets can help improve lives.
