Where does pure, natural water come from?
This seems like a pretty straightforward question, but there are some interesting issues that come up in making a response. First, the words “pure” and “natural” don’t really mean the same thing. Pure water is a kind of theoretical concept, it means water that has nothing in it except H2O (hydrogen and oxygen). Absolutely pure water doesn’t really exist in nature. Water, known as the “universal solvent,” always contains traces of the substances with which it has been in contact. These may include gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen from the air, minerals such as calcium and silica from rocks, and organic matter such as weak organic acid from soil and vegetation. This is not bad. Most of these naturally occurring substances are harmless and, in some cases, beneficial. Most people think the taste of water is improved by moderately low concentrations of naturally occurring minerals, such as calcium carbonate.
A. This seems like a pretty straightforward question, but there are some interesting issues that come up in making a response. First, the words “pure” and “natural” don’t really mean the same thing. Pure water is a kind of theoretical concept, it means water that has nothing in it except H2O (hydrogen and oxygen). Absolutely pure water doesn’t really exist in nature. Water, known as the “universal solvent,” always contains traces of the substances with which it has been in contact. These may include gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen from the air, minerals such as calcium and silica from rocks, and organic matter such as weak organic acid from soil and vegetation. This is not bad. Most of these naturally occurring substances are harmless and, in some cases, beneficial. Most people think the taste of water is improved by moderately low concentrations of naturally occurring minerals, such as calcium carbonate. In the laboratory, with processes such as distillation, revers
