Food Facts (14)
Every month a new interesting food fact will be listed for your health and convenience. There will be nutriental information, facts and health benefits about each special food. This issue we have Water.
Water
First of all you have tap water, then bottled water, filtered water, salt water, distilled water and on and on. each has its own purpose. In its purest form, it's odorless, nearly colorless and tasteless. It's in your body, the food you eat and the beverages you drink. You use it to clean yourself, your clothes, your dishes, your car and everything else around you. You can travel on it or jump in it to cool off on hot summer days. Many of the products that you use every day contain it or were manufactured using it. All forms of life need it, and if they don't get enough of it, they die. Political disputes have centered around it. In some places, it's treasured and incredibly difficult to get. In others, it's incredibly easy to get and then squandered. What substance is more necessary to our existence than any other? Water.
Water is the only substance that occurs naturally as a solid (ice), a liquid and a gas (water vapor). It covers about 70 percent of the Earth for a total of approximately 332.5 million cubic miles (1,386 million cubic kilometers). If you're familiar with the lines "Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink" from the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," you'll understand that most of this water — 97 percent of it — is undrinkable because it's saltwater (see illustration on next page). Only 3 percent of the world's water supply is freshwater, and 77 percent of that is frozen. Of the 23 percent that is not frozen, only a half a percent is available to supply every plant, animal and person on Earth with all the water they need to survive.
So water is pretty simple, right? Actually, there ar e a lot of things about it that scientists still don't fully understand. And the problem of making sure that enough clean, drinkable water is available to everyone and everything that needs it is anything but simple. In this article, we'll look at some of these problems. We'll also explore exactly what plants, animals and people do with water and learn more about what makes water so special.
Bottled Generic Water Nutritional Highlights:
Serving Size: 1 fl oz (30g) |
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Total Fat: 0g - 0%
Saturated Fat: 0g - 0%
Trans Fat: 0g - 0%
Cholestrol: 0mg - 0%
Calories: 0
Total Carbohydrate: 0g - 0%
Dietary Fiber: 0g -0%
Protein: 0g
Sugars: 0g
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Vitamin A: 0%
Vitamin C: 0%
Vitamin E: 0%
Vitamin K: 0%
Thiamine: 0%
Vitamin B6: 0%
Folate: 0%
Calcium: 0%
Iron: 0%
Magnesium: 0%
Potassium: 0%
Manganese: 0%
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Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie reference diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower based on your individual needs. Nutrient data source: US Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database from Nutritiondata.com
Tap water
Water (H2O) is the most abundant compound on Earth's surface, covering about 70%. In nature, it exists in liquid, solid, and gaseous states. It is in dynamic equilibrium between the liquid and gas states at standard temperature and pressure. At room temperature, it is a tasteless and odorless liquid, nearly colorless with a hint of blue. Many substances dissolve in water and it is commonly referred to as the universal solvent. Because of this, water in nature and in use is rarely pure and some of its properties may vary slightly from those of the pure substance. However, there are also many compounds that are essentially, if not completely, insoluble in water. Water is the only common substance found naturally in all three common states of matter and it is essential for all life on Earth. Water usually makes up 55% to 78% of the human body.
Natural spring water
Since the revision in the 1990s of the definition of the phrase “spring water” it’s really hard to know what you’re getting. Water labeled as spring water may not be from a specific spring but rather may come from a number of industrialized sources where huge boreholes are drilled and the water is pumped out of the ground at an absurd rate. It may then be heavily processed to filter out and kill all of the contaminants stirred up in the pumping process. Not quite the pristine spring nestled deep in the woods we all would like to imagine. Summit Spring is actually nestled in the cool green woods of Maine inside a small stone building constructed in the 1930s to protect it from the elements. And every precious drop of Summit Spring Water flows from the Earth all on its own and is bottled right at the spring just as it always has been.
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water can be sparkling (with effervescence), or still (without effervescence).
Carbonated water
Bottled noncarbonated drinking water competes in the marketplace with carbonated beverages (including carbonated water) sold in individual plastic bottles. Consumption of water often is considered a healthier substitute for sodas.
Bottled water versus tap water
In the United States, bottled water costs range between $0.25 and $2 per bottle, while tap water costs less than a penny. In 1999, according to a NRDC study, U.S. consumers paid between 240 and 10,000 times more per unit volume for bottled water than for tap water. Typically 90 percent or more of the cost paid by bottled water consumers goes to things other than the water itself-such as bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing, other expenses, and profit.
Filtered water
Water filters remove more dangerous contaminants than any other purification method, and they are uniquely designed to work with municipally treated water. The water they produce is not subject to phthalate contamination, and they are able to remove cryptosporidium from drinking water, a feat that neither municipal water treatment plants nor bottled water companies have yet managed. Also, drinking filtered water is a much more economical practice than drinking bottled water. The pure water product of a water filter costs very little more than untreated tap water. Furthermore, because water filters use no more energy than is already required to propel water through a home’s plumbing system, they circumvent several of the environmental problems of the bottled water industry.
Distilled water
One way to remove these elements from water is to boil it until it changes to steam, a process known as distillation. When this steam is allowed to cool down and condense into liquid form again, the result is a purified form called distilled water. Distilled water should ideally be nothing but hydrogen and oxygen molecules, with a PH level of 7 and no additional gases, minerals or contaminants. Distilled water is safe to drink, but it is used more often for research purposes where water purity is essential or industrial uses where mineral deposits can cause damage over time. Distilled water may also be used in steam irons to prevent calcium build-up, but this requirement has generally been relaxed in recent years. Certain baby formulas may use distilled water as a mixing liquid as well. Pediatric bottled water formulated with additional electrolytes may use a distilled water base as well.
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