As someone who likes to exercise and who does not drink
alcohol, you could say I love me some water. I stay hydrated all day long and
even more so when I’m going to be outdoors or on the treadmill. I really enjoy
flavored water the most, but as long as it’s bottled, I’m a fan. Did you know
there are many different kinds of water? Water is categorized by its origin,
composition, consistency, and treatment.
The water that comes directly from your faucet is of
course tap water. It may or may not be suited for drinking, though, as we
learned from the Flint water crisis.
Spring water is underground water that has soaked through
the earth’s surface. It pools and forms a spring. Spring water is generally
considered safe to drink even though it hasn’t been subjected to treatment in a
plant. Spring water is often confused with mineral water, but spring water is
water from the earth’s surface whereas mineral water is tapped straight from
underground.
Then there’s mineral water, which is tapped from
underground, making it rich in minerals like manganese and calcium. I think
it’s interesting that the minerals in the water have to be naturally occurring
for it to have that name, but I find random stuff interesting. Mineral water
cannot be treated water, either, but carbonated mineral water is fine. Who
knew?
We’re all familiar with well water, right? Well- it’s
water from a well. Like spring water, it’s absorbed into the earth when it
rains and then it trickles down all the crevices big and small in the soil and
forms lakes under the ground. It’s then brought up from these lakes using the
bucket on a pulley system. The deeper the well has been dug, the more water it
may be able to access and tap. In rural areas, well water is sometimes the
primary source of the community’s water. This was the case for small
communities right around the neighborhood I grew up in.
Purified water has been tapped into and brought up from
below, but that has undergone purification treatment after that point in a
plant. This is done in order to remove contaminants like bacteria and any
remaining solids so that it becomes suitable for drinking..
Distilled water is a type of water that has been
subjected to treatment called distillation to remove all minerals. The result
is a completely pure form of water, though it is not usually suitable for
drinking because we humans need the minerals and salt usually found in water. I
did not know this for a very long time, and I remember buying distilled water
in the past thinking it was just, well, drinking water.
Lastly, did you know that sparkling water is just water
that has been carbonated? It can consist of any old type of water- spring,
mineral, or purified, plus carbonation. So it may not be as fancy as I first
thought, but some of my favorite water is flavored sparkling water. Try it!
