Perhaps it’s just my own ignorance but I recall back in the days when I was a child, water was just water. Sure there were some which we just couldn’t/shouldn’t drink without risking health complications such as the obvious chlorinated pool water, mucky puddle water, sea water, unboiled water etc but that’s hardly as complicated as the classification of water we have here today.
Now I appreciate that the level of complexity about water is different for everyone because it really depends on which country you live in, your local water delivery system and the level of pollution experienced. It is commonly mistaken that only poorer countries such as those in Africa and Asia are the ones where people just can’t drink straight from the tap, but that ordeal is something almost everyone even in the USA, UK and Europe deal with. And it is usually caused by the reliance on pre-World War I-era water delivery systems and treatment technology. Those aging pipes can break or rust, be made of lead; and leak harmful contaminants into the water they carry and breeding bacteria.
So if you’re as lost as I can be when it comes to the ‘ Twelve Most Common Modern Day Water Classifications’, here’s a brief guide that covers them:
1. Terminology: Hard Water
Hard water is water that has high dissolved mineral content (mainly calcium and magnesium ions). It is not a health risk, but classified as a nuisance because of mineral buildup on fixtures (lime scale)and poor soap and/or detergent performance as the dissolved carbonates of calcium and magnesium inhibit the formation of a lather.
2. Terminology: Soft Water
Despite its name, soft water has always faced the contradiction of being neither healthy nor desirable for drinking. The direct opposite from Hard Water, Soft Water is treated water in which the only cation (positively charged ion) is sodium. This works great for anything you need to soap up with because you can lather up a load but washing it all off might be a bit more difficult.
3. Terminology: Heavy Water
Heavy water (D2O) is chemically identical to our ordinary water but the difference how it is made with a hydrogen isotope that has a neutron in addition to the proton in its nucleus (water that contains a higher proportion than normal of the isotope deuterium). Heavy water is obviously heavier than ordinary water having a density of 1.108 g/cm3. It is mainly used as a moderator in nuclear reactors. It is also known as wet water (yes I am aware of the irony)
4. Terminology: Light Water
This one is simple, light water is regular water. It can be hard or soft water but it is also known as ‘dry water’.
5. Terminology: Purified Water
Purified water refers to water that is the product of any of the 3 water purification methods used to remove contaminants from it – distillation, filtrations, reverse-osmosis.
6. Terminology: Distilled water
Distilled water is basically that has graduated from the distillation process. It is referring to water that has had virtually all of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation it the scientific process of boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container, leaving most if not all solid contaminants behind.
To be continued in Part 2 : ‘ Twelve Most Common Modern Day Water Classifications’(Water term 7 -12)
