Top 10 Drinking Water Types

Having safe drinking water in the home is paramount among persons throughout the world. Drinking water quality is also one of the primary focuses of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in the U.S. and new regulations are added each year. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is currently working on a tap water quality database of over 45,000 communities across 45 states. Below is a list of the 10 types of drinking water.

* Additional notes added by the Sick House Doctor are depicted in BLUE

1. HARD WATER. This is saturated with calcium, iron and magesium among other inorganic minerals. Typically water in lakes, creeks and ponds are classified as hard water.

2. SOFT WATER. This is water that containes less of the heavier minerals found in hard water but may still have trace minerals as well as viruses, bacteria and chemicals present.

3. BOILED WATER. While it is widely known that boiling water removes germs, it is not as widely known that it also concentrates the inorganic minerals.

4. DISTILLED WATER. This is water that is condesed through a steam process so that all of its impurities are left behind. It is one of the purest forms of water since it normally has the smallest amount of pollutants or inorganic minerals. Some persons believe that it should not be consumed since it also has no organic minerals present while others state that you can get better forms of organic minerals from eating the proper foods.

5. RAW WATER. This is water that has not been boiled but may be classified as either hard or soft water. Raw water may contain millions of viruses and bacteria in just a few drops. 

6. RAIN WATER. This is water that is condensed in the clouds and is similar to distilled water until it drops from high altitudes picking up various germs, heavy metals and other pollutants before falling to earth. Many times, rain water appears with a yellow tint due to the pollutants it contains.

7. SNOW WATER. This is nothing more than frozen rain and may have all the same germs, heavy metals and other pollutants as rain water.

8. FILTERED WATER. Filtered water usually has less particulate pollutants but may still have viruses and chemicals present. The quality of filtered water is determined by the quality and rating of the filter(s).

9. REVERSE OSMOSIS (RO). This is a type of water which is filtered by a complex set of filters and other media. RO water may allow some iron and nitrate molecules to pass through the media and the RO process also is known to waste up to 50% of the water used to back wash the membrane media from time to time.

10. DI-INONIZED WATER (DI). This type of water exchanges the hard ions for soft ions. DI water is considered a form of soft water but it normally contains sodium salts. It does however still have the potential to have bacteria or viruses present.

Note: Inorganic (dead) minerals are in a form that is not believed to be beneficial to the human body. In human biology, inorganic minerals are known to interfere with certain bodily functions and may even be toxic to the kidneys.

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