Water is one of the essential supports for life. It is a known fact that this basic need rarely occur in its pure form. We have water from rain, well, springs, rivers, sea and oceans, which are all its sources. Water is needed for almost anything we do ranging from, drinking, bathing, washing, sporting, transportation, cooking, and in some places, for worshiping.
Every home depends on this natural material for life support. In Nigeria, a state is named after a goddess of water ‘Osun’ and a day is set up for gathering and worshiping at the banks of Osun River in Osogbo, western Nigeria. There are a lot of beliefs that through this river, supplications are answered, that shows the natural power water has.
Now asking if a pure water is drinkable or a drinkable water is pure, clarifications need to be made as to which water is pure and which water is drinkable.
According to the general sources, a pure water is water that contains hydrogen and oxygen only, in the ratio 2:1 and this gives its formula H20. To those using water for analytical purposes, they go by the explanation above. For those at different factories using water for their productions, such as people making acids, and other liquid chemicals, pure water may not necessarily contain hydrogen and oxygen alone, the presence of other elements or nutrients in them may be of less concern. To the farmers, pure water is any water that will not affect crops and animals negatively. It must support the growth and development of their plants and animals. The contents, especially the one used for animals need regular checks, because presence of minerals such as nitrates, chlorides, sulfates, carbonates, bromides, iodides and the likes needs, to be monitored not to exceed standards, or fall below as this may affect the animals taking the water.
In washing and dry cleaning industries, a pure water there, is one with no calcium and magnesium ions in their sulfate and carbonate forms. Presence of these ions cause hardness in the water, which waste their soaps and disrupt their dyeing. Color is another point here, pure water should be colorless. This confirms the relativeness of pure water.
Drinking water has standards. Apart from the hydrogen and oxygen elements present in water, certain recommendations were given on the levels of minerals a drinkable water should contain. These nutrients are needed by the body. In addition, the water must be colorless, tasteless, odorless and free from germs. Drinking analytical pure water may not give the body the required nutrients so to those in in the food, and beverages companies, a pure water there is not the same as the one in the science laboratories.
Conclusively, a drinkable water must be pure and contain the necessary nutrients while a pure water may not contain some nutrients. Also, purity of water is relative to the use.
