badbobby Loc: texas

It seems like so-called pure water is very important to people. Bottled-spring-water brands put the word "pure" before "fresh" and "clean" in their advertisements. Water-purifier companies make billions of dollars all over the world promising to cut anything but H2O out of tap water. There's even a whole branch of alternative medicine built on imagined, seemingly magical properties of superpure water.

Here's the thing, though: Pure water doesn't exist. Or, at the very least, it's not really possible on Earth.

May Nyman, a chemistry professor at Oregon State University, told Live Science that water sucks up ions too readily from the surrounding environment to allow for truly pure water.



"Absolutely pure water doesn't exist," Nyman said.
tarctic Ice]
Water really "likes" to dissolve other substances inside itself, she said. That's because water molecules have strange Mickey Mouse shapes, with two hydrogen nuclei at one end and an oxygen nucleus at the other end, each with different electronic charges. Water molecules use those charged hydrogen bonds to interact and cling to one another, but they also cling to any molecule that approaches them. That makes it very likely that water will dissolve a bit of any object it encounters into itself.

And the purer a sample of water gets, the more strongly it will try to dissolve ions from any object it encounters.

That limits humans' ability to generate pure water, because at a certain point it will start to dissolve the walls of its container.

One widely-cited claim in chemistry circles pertains to Lake Baikal in Russia, which is teeming with special filter-feeding shrimp that eat organic matter, removing impurities from the water.

"In the '90s, it was proclaimed that Lake Baikal had such pure water that if you were to take a glass of this water, the water would start to etch the glass," Nyman said, "because water likes ions, and it would just take the ions right out of the glass into solution."

Nyman said that this affinity is too powerful for scientists to fully overcome even in sterile laboratory environments. Anything a very pure sample of water encounter, like a bit of dust or a plastic container, she said, will leave behind traces of itself in the water.

Very few situations require totally pure water. That's why the tap water in most (though not all) places in the U.S. is totally safe to drink, even though the taste may vary. And even for scientific projects that require very clean water, Nyman said, it's easy to distill water to the point that the few impurities that remain don't mess anything up.

But perfectly pure water? It doesn't exist.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

As you know, I live on a farm. A few years ago, the city decided it had to test my water. We have used the same well for more than 100 years..... no one has ever gotten sick from it...but, okay, so they tested it and they found all sorts of minerals and a bug or two. So, I doubt if any water is "pure." Having said this, I find that the water from the well seems to be sweeter than water produced by the city. BTW, regardless of how hot it is.... that water is always cold. You can pump directly using the hand pump, nothing better on a steamy hot Virginia summer's day!

badbobby Loc: texas

drank unfiltered well water for years as a youngster

I'm still kickin

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

I go out of my way to find filthy water...keeps my i****e s****m on its toes.

Ferrous Loc: Pacific North Coast, CA

Sweeter that city water?... Not really. All water wells are different, some with a high Rotten egg smell to other unpleasant tastes and smells. All Water Areas have there own characteristics. I have worked on wells that are like Natural Spring water, better than any bottled water, to other wells that you can't stand to drink the water. Some wells are cool and crystal clear while other wells, I have seen coming out of the ground at over 80 degrees F (close to active Thermal areas) . I have seen some wells that have a Natural Carbonation (Calistoga Water for one)

Glad you have a Good well, Pennylynn. Just remember to check the air charge in your Pressure tank (Tanks should be charged with about 40 PSI) so the pump doesn't short cycle and burn out the pump prematurely. A good working pump with a properly maintained charging system can add years to the life of the pump. ( I was a Water Well Pump Mechanic)

Ferrous Loc: Pacific North Coast, CA

Big Mike... Maybe you should dip into the holding tank for your Mound System? Water is a bit Black and Gamey, but it's filled with all those bugs and solids ( BOD = Biological Oxygen Demand) you seem to like that keeps you going.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Thank you for all the information! I do not live in the city.... but more like a small township and I think I am related to more than 90 percent of its inhabitants. When I say the people from the "city" I was talking about our mayor and the folks who make sure I pay our taxes. Every now and again, one of the officials get worried unnecessarily and the next thing I know someone is at the door wanting to check...radiation, well water, or random blood checks on the live stock (although a vet visits them every 6 months).

All I know about this well is it was hand dug back in the 1700s, brute force, and then in the 1920s my family had to have it drilled deeper... it goes down very deep into water or an underground river that comes from the mountains. I was told that the first shallow well was an artesian well and there was an earthquake that shifted the aquifer and natural pressure was lost. It is so clear... never seen mud, cloud or sand in it. And the taste is unlike any other water I have tasted and that includes water I drank in the Alps which the natives told me was pure and also from a deep source. Each year a company comes out to check everything, and so far... that old pump has been rebuilt once, but seems to be working well.

We also do not waste water, we use the gray water for the gardens and the old house has one bath tub, all tubs (with that exception for kids) were replaced by showers. I want my greats to enjoy this water for generations to come. We have three ponds on the farm that feeds upward (and I have that checked too) for the many animals.... I firmly believe that we all must be good stewards of our land.

Again... thank you for all the information and sound advice!