NT Bureau

Chennai, Oct 9:

       Clean water is one of the most important needs of our bodies. It is a sad fact that something as essential to life as clean drinking water can no longer be taken for granted by us.

       According to research reports, most tap and well water in India is not safe for drinking due to the heavy industrial and environmental pollution.

       We have reached a point where all sources of drinking water, including municipal water systems, wells, lakes, rivers and even glaciers contain some level of contamination.

       Contaminants range from naturally occuring minerals to man-made chemicals and by-products. It is proven that even a low level exposure to many common contaminants will over time cause severe illness including liver damage, cancer, and other serious ailments.

       But then, which is the safest water? tap, bottled, reverse osmosis, distilled or filtered? In this context, home water purification method is the best choice.

       No doubt home water purification can offer significantly purer water than tap water.

       However, a wrong choice can rob water of the essential minerals.

       It is pertinent to point out that ground water in many instances is purified at the household level through Reverse Osmosis system. And many people are unaware of the fact that the TDS levels of their water is not suitable for Reverse Osmosis and mostly end up removing even the desired minerals which are essential for the body's well being.

       While using an RO system, utmost care should be taken to see that only excess minerals are removed. A mineral level of 100 TDS is desirable in drinking water.

       Since RO systems remove 80 per cent- 90 per cent TDS, RO should be used only where TDS is above 500 mg/l.

       An RO water purifier installed in a low TDS area may result in de-mineralised water, which could be harmful. Thus before deciding to invest in a water purifier, ensure that you have the minerals and salts checked as an RO water purifier can be the best purifier if the TDS is above 500 mg/l and could be harmful if TDS levels are below 500 mg/l.