MINERAL WATER

 MINERAL WATER

Having nearly dwelt on most common titles, I was at cross-roads trying to pick an item good for common interest. What comes in the way of blog writing is the ‘selection’ of a topic which interests many if not all. The difficulty turns acute, as we progress into the game having made a number of topics. A glance of blog data shows we have so far sailed through 210+ episodes though the topics would be less than that, as some of them went for 3 or more episodes, to make the items fairly comprehensive.  Coming to the topic of the day:

Logically, water should by itself be ‘Mineral water’. True. Water carries minerals as it moves over the land before reaching catchments like Dams, Lakes, Ponds and similar other bodies. Unfortunately, the properties of water tend to make it an imbalanced item in terms of ‘potability’. Potable water should conform to certain mineral content so as to be safe/ ideal for human consumption. Since water has the property of being a ‘universal solvent’, substances in the path of water movement tend to ‘mix’ with water by dissolving in it. Ultimately, water so derived comes to have ‘unknown’ composition. Water in its purest state has no minerals in it. At that point, water the liquid is obtained by a combination of Hydrogen / Oxygen, the two gases. The ratio of Hydrogen to Oxygen is 2:1, yielding the liquid molecule of water. So, ideally, pure water cannot have anything else except H₂ O. But, in nature, pure water does not exist, as during its flow, several substances get dissolved. As per U S stipulation, the permissible level of TOTAL DISSOLVED SALTS [TDS] in natural springs should be less than 250 ppm. In view of the higher ratios of dissolved contents, purification of water is essential. Absolutely pure water would be tasteless and it requires addition of standard minerals as a method of improving water quality from consumption point of view.

A significant property of water for human consumption is that it has to be free of ‘microbial content’. Care has to be taken to ensure ‘zero’ microbe feature before marketing.                                                                        The mineral content preferable is

Carbon di-oxide 2500 mg / l,   Calcium 251.8 mg/ l

Sodium 178 mg/ l, Bicarbonates 1445.9 mg/ l

Magnesium 93.97 mg/l, Potassium 2.5 mg/L

Sulphates, Chlorides  each below 200 mg / l             

Though these are the prescribed values, any minor deviation will not matter because, humans do not exclusively depend on water for minerals. Minerals are generally derived from vegetables and fruits commonly consumed. There is enough ‘freedom’ for manufacturers in upkeep of mineral dose in the product. But, they have to ensure ‘ZERO’ microbial content for ‘bio-safety’ standards for the product. If, biologically safe- mineral water  brand does not matter.                      

Prof. K. Raman