- #31
Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 11,919
- 54
The fluorine issue is a big one. There is an increase in cavities among children that has been attributed to the increase in drinking bottled water that does not contain flurorine, even with fluorine in toothpaste. IIRC, children drinking primarily bottled water are recommended to use an extra fluorine mouthwash.
That acidification of distilled water when it sits is the reason you're supposed to use your distilled/deionized water immediately when making reagents in the lab, and why it's not recommended to store it after it comes out of the purification system (as you too often see in labs, they fill up a carboy with water and use it for days from that source). If you measure the pH of that water after a few days, you'll see it drifts far lower than 7 (neutral) into the acidic range. I've done this to prove to our tech that she should make buffers from freshly purified water and use them promptly. Of course it depends on the use. When a range of pH is acceptable, it's not as critical as when doing analytical chemistry where you need to keep pH very precise.
But, the fact remains, water is water and as long as your body doesn't dehydrate, and there aren't any parasites in the water, you'll be fine. Tap water is safe, and anything you do beyond that is simply for taste preference. I prefer to boil mine and add a teabag
In one place I lived, I used a charcoal filter because the water coming out of the tap smelled and tasted over-chlorinated, and I just didn't like that taste. The only people telling you that there's something unhealthy in your tap water are those trying to sell you expensive filtration or distillation equipment.
That acidification of distilled water when it sits is the reason you're supposed to use your distilled/deionized water immediately when making reagents in the lab, and why it's not recommended to store it after it comes out of the purification system (as you too often see in labs, they fill up a carboy with water and use it for days from that source). If you measure the pH of that water after a few days, you'll see it drifts far lower than 7 (neutral) into the acidic range. I've done this to prove to our tech that she should make buffers from freshly purified water and use them promptly. Of course it depends on the use. When a range of pH is acceptable, it's not as critical as when doing analytical chemistry where you need to keep pH very precise.
But, the fact remains, water is water and as long as your body doesn't dehydrate, and there aren't any parasites in the water, you'll be fine. Tap water is safe, and anything you do beyond that is simply for taste preference. I prefer to boil mine and add a teabag
In one place I lived, I used a charcoal filter because the water coming out of the tap smelled and tasted over-chlorinated, and I just didn't like that taste. The only people telling you that there's something unhealthy in your tap water are those trying to sell you expensive filtration or distillation equipment.
And I'm as healty as they come.
)