Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
WHAT IS WATER PURIFICATION?
Water purification is the separation of a water source into two separate streams; one containing purified water (permeate) with nearly all impurities removed, and another carrying the contaminants away (concentrate). While filtration is part of this process, that is on the pre-treatment and conditioning side, and the terms “filtered” and “purified” are not interchangeable.
WHY PURIFY WATER?
Water is a universal solvent. As it works its way through the water cycle, regardless if it ends up as surface water, such as that found in a river, lake, or reservoir, or ground water, which has permeated into an underground aquifer, it will have picked up a variety of minerals, plus many other organic and inorganic compounds along the way.
AREN’T MINERALS GOOD TO HAVE IN YOUR WATER?
Yes. Spring water is what most people generally have in mind when thinking of the health benefits of minerals in water, which is drastically different from the profile of dissolved solids in a typical municipal water supply, even after treatment.
WHY REMOVE THE MINERALS?
There is unfortunately no practical way to selectively remove problematic minerals, such as lead, arsenic, chromium and a host of other organic and inorganic compounds from drinking water, while leaving behind the minerals people find desirable. So to purify water is to remove it all.
WHY NOT JUST DRINK SPRING WATER?
If you would like home delivery, this is definitely an option. For many others, this is just not practical. In the majority of cases, the spring water available to the consumer is sold on store shelves in individual packaging that is not designed for reuse. Each bottle itself might seem cheap, but against the bulk water pricing by the gallon, the costs are high to the consumer, as are the costs in materials, trucking, logistics, etc. Water is heavy, after all. While there are special circumstances where this is the most sensible way to consume water, generally speaking it’s not desirable in the long term.
Consider having us deliver Spring water to your home today!
CAN I DO THIS AT HOME?
Home purification is an option, and depending on numerous factors, can sometimes be a good choice for a household. To achieve the same purity as is available at our commercial scale is relatively difficult to do at the household level, but in some cases that is plenty sufficient.
What is Distilled water (DS) and can I drink it?
Distilled Water we often describe simply as clouds at ground level. It is water that was vaporized into steam, which was then condensed and collected as purified water. The contaminates are left behind and are continually carried away as more water comes in and boils off. Think of it as a tightly sealed pot of boiling water that is continually replenished as the water boils off. It is a highly efficient and incredibly thorough method for purifying water and removing all impurities.
Is Distilled Water Safe to Drink? It certainly is. To some, the ultra pure nature of distilled water can be so different from what they are used to, that they prefer a spring water, or water purified through reverse osmosis, with a few trace minerals left behind, simply for taste. In some specialized uses, however, Distilled really is the best option for it’s reliably low TDS and consistency.
What is Reverse Osmosis (RO) water?
Reverse Osmosis is a process by which water is pumped at high pressure thru a membrane, letting pure water flow out one side, and carrying the waste away with the rest.
Imagine a bowl with a divider split down the middle. If the divider were just porous enough to allow water and salt through, you could pour pure water in one side, and salty water in the other, and expect the higher concentration of salt will pass through the membrane as the solution settles into equilibrium. This is happening at the cellular level in all of us with a host of different minerals. The direction is always the same, high concentration flows to low concentration through a semi-permeable membrane.
Reverse osmosis is the reversal of this process. It is the introduction of pressure on the higher concentration side of a semi-permeable membrane. In this case, the higher concentration water is simply the source water; municipal tap water. The process forces water back through the membrane, where the minerals cannot pass as freely, so pure water, now stripped of minerals, gets through. This leaves the concentrated side of the membrane to become even more concentrated as pure water exits the system, which is the reverse of what an imbalanced system under normal osmotic pressure would do.
Reverse Osmosis is a very robust and reliable method, and fast! It is the most commonly used method for purifying water. Only as compared to Distillation can it be said that RO is slightly less effective at removing contaminates.
What is alkaline (ak) water?
Alkaline Water in our store was first purified by Reverse Osmosis, then passed through a bed of minerals which dissolve at low concentrations back into the purified water. The chief minerals present are Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium.
Many bottled water brands are marketed and sold now based on their mineral content or pH. We’re getting our bases covered to provide a good alternative for the variety of single use containers of Alkaline water you can find on store shelves. We hope to expand our offerings in this area in the future.
Alkaline Water: Benefits and Risks Article
What are PolyCarbonate (PC) and BPA Free plastics?
BPA (Bisphenol A) Free Plastic
What does City of Davis (feed water) water contain?
City of Davis - Annual Water Quality Reports
What is the pH of your water?
NORMAL RANGE: 6.0 - 8.0
H2O To Go: Distilled (DS) - 6.16
H2O To Go: Reverse Osmosis (RO) - 6.46
H2O To Go: Alkaline (AK) - varies between 8.5 - 9.5
City of Davis: Feed Water - 7.79