How healthy is drinking water?

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Scotch, it'd still be a good idea to check the pH of what is coming out of your faucet. Our water department reports that the pH is 7.4 consistently, but what comes out of my faucets is 6.0. That may be attributable to old pipes, or who knows what else. But what they are reporting is not a reality in our house.

Alexk, I'll have to check out Alton Brown's water report. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Scotch, it'd still be a good idea to check the pH of what is coming out of your faucet. Our water department reports that the pH is 7.4 consistently, but what comes out of my faucets is 6.0. That may be attributable to old pipes, or who knows what else. But what they are reporting is not a reality in our house.

Alexk, I'll have to check out Alton Brown's water report. Thanks for the suggestion.
How do you check it? No one around here has a swimming pool!
 
Thanks luckofthedraw your post was fantastic - i found it really helpful and glad i now learned something new about water (especially about the Ph levels).

However, yes $20 is a bit pricy for just a one-time test... and i checked my tap water supplier (thames water) and couldn't find any information about it.
 
I don't know if a local swimming pool supply would have any cheaper. I use chemicals and not test strips but, it would give you a base line to start with. At least you would know if you have to be concerned.
I've never tested my house water and have lived or stayed in many different locations around the world.(of course in more underdeveloped countries I take bottled) Some people are more susceptible to things like that I guess. Most of the cities I have lived in have a good filtration system and haven't had a problem
 
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Water serves as a lubricant [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Water forms the base for saliva [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Water forms the fluids that surround the joints. [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Water regulates the body temperature, as the cooling and heating is distributed through perspiration. [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Water helps to alleviate constipation by moving food through the intestinal tract and thereby eliminating waste- the best detox agent.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Regulates metabolism[/FONT]
 
don't be put off by the negative side - water is the source of life - drink atleast 1.5 litres a day and you're bound to notice a difference, not just to your skin but your wellbeing in general will benefit - look what happens to a plant that is not getting enough water - the leaves start to shrivel up.

I'm going to take my own advice and have a big gulp of tap water right now x
 
Three litres of water a day are healthy. Anything above that might not be that good. That's at least what I've heard.
 
My first wife was in the hospital shortly after we were married. (She nearly poisoned herself using a spray oven cleaner without any ventilation! - a young newlywed without any kitchen experience.) Anyway, the lady in the bed beside her was a waterholic - and when she had first checked in, was drinking 3-4 gallons per day! It did cause her all sorts of medical problems!
 
Three litres of water a day are healthy. Anything above that might not be that good. That's at least what I've heard.

Thats a LOT of water. A whole lot depends on both climate and metabolism. Someone in a hot climate might need 3 litres but that is quite excessive where I live.

Keep in mind too that we take in liquid from other sources as well. Juice, tea, anything you drink that isn't caffeinated would provide some of the hydration your body requires.
 
i drink a lot of water during the day. i buy water from the grocery store, when bottles are empty, i fill with tap water and store in fridge. tastes the same to me. once a month i throw all the bottles away and start over. since i am only one drinking it, don't worry about germs, etc.
 
that might work as well but would need two, i like the water cold. the water is on sale here usually below three dollars. which to me is not a lot. i recycle the bottles when i am ready to replace. i have two trash cans one for garbage and one for recycle. thanks for imput
 
When I said three litres I meant just water because drinking 2 litres of soft drinks for example isn't really healthy at all.

3-4 gallons a day??? That can't be right. I can't believe that a single person can drink that much during just one day.
 
I haven't read through this entire thread, so forgive me if this has been mentioned before.

Water is extremely healthy, probably the single most important thing you can consume aside from oxygen. Eight to 12 glasses per day is still the standard recommendation, and I believe that includes water in all forms -- plain, sodas, coffee, etc.

BUT, and it's a HUGE but, too much water is bad for you and can actually kill you. Google "Water Intoxication" is you don't believe that. And read this news article:

Woman in water-drinking contest dies - Life- msnbc.com
 
Even when we were in the trailer, "only" traveling the 48, I drank bottled water ... because some people's systems (I drink a LOT of water) can't handle the changes in perfectly good water. I'd get the runs and get weird little blisters on the back of my hands. At the time my husband only drank a glass or two of water a day so he never experienced it. He "got" gout, and one of the treatments is drinking more water (and yes, it does work). I've always done quarts (might be a gallon or two at the end of a hot day). Even as a child I drank a lot of water. Whenever we'd move (I think it averaged every 2-3 years), I'd have the runs and these blisters. So when we were on the road I'd buy purified water and it seems to do the trick. I avoid tap water here (used to have reverse osmosis, now just have a pur filter) because we live on top of old lead mines, and the water can sometimes taste really lousy because of chlorine. In the summer I put about a gallon and a half of water in pitchers in the fridge (no a/c), in the winter don't bother to refridgerate our water, but do make a pot of tea of varying kinds and keep it on a warmer burner I have.
 
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