Answers
I have been reading this book that deals with improving your life and health, and it suggested that one should start drinking spring water rather than standard tap water. Why would this be? So i went to the store (i buy water by the jug because the water in my area is not properly treated) and it is more expensive to buy spring water than drinking water. What gives? Is it really that big of a difference?
Spring water usually supplies a better array of trace minerals than purified "drinking water". The difference in content is slight.
However, unlike purified "drinking water," municipal tap water is usually bad for us because it tends to have chlorine and flouride added. Chlorine is toxic and denatures vitamins in our bodies, rendering them useless. Drinking chlorinated water can cause vitamin deficiency.
While flouride helps the teeth, it harms the body. Municipal water also tends to supply toxic impurities such as pesticides and heavy metals which can impair fertility and worsen health. So unless your city's tap water comes from an aquifer or spring, it is probably not good for you. More info on how city tap water compares to bottled water below.
Rural well water, or water from a small town or nature preserve out in the boonies, is usually relatively unpolluted and won't contain much but the odd pesticide from local farms, unless it is an old mining town. Mining pollutes big time.
If you are in a city and don't have a spring near you, then "purified water" is better for the environment and your pocketbook than spring water such as Fiji or Perrier, etc.
The recent study which supposedly showed Fiji water to be of poorer quality than most tap water defined high quality water as water which supplies trace minerals. Fiji water contains nearly no minerals so they defined it as "low quality."
Tap water usually does supply minerals. However, I would say that defining water as "high quality" based solely on mineral content is biased since it misses a *very* important factor: The levels of toxins in the water!! If you analyse the water primarily for toxin levels, Fiji water is of much higher quality than most municipal tap water sources.
So if you live somewhere that spring water is abundant and doesn't have to be shipped in any further than purified water, then the spring water may be a better choice.
In some cities like Austin TX, San Marcos TX, or Hot Springs Arkansas, you can just go collect your own spring water from a public spring! :)
And if your city draws its water from a spring's underground equivalent (aquifer water), like San Antonio TX does, then tap water in such a city will be identical to bottled spring water, and buying spring water will waste money, gasoline and plastic!
You can get the same minerals that spring water supplies by adding a mineral supplement such as coral calcium, or adding more fruits, veggies, beans, nuts and seeds to your diet.
And you can remove chlorine and pesticides from city water by using a filter such as Brita or PUR.
Interview with Dick Gregory on benefits of drinking spring water and health in general
I buy it by the gallon. Choices are spring or drinking water.
Drinking water is purified tap water, spring water comes from a spring or water source which is usually listed on the bottle.
In Walmart, I see there are 3 kinds of bottle water: "distilled water, spring water, and drinking water".
Can you tell me the difference among them in usage?
Thanks.
If they are legally labeled correctly, then the name is the description. Distilled water has been evaporated and then condense to a liquid. It leaves everything else behind. That means no minerals in distilled water. It is usually used for making solutions in a chemistry lab but I used if for my winter humidifiers so there is not white powder to clean out after use.
Spring water should come only from a spring. It should still be pathogen free and will taste better than distilled water. It could have lots of minerals in it and you will probably have to pay more for it. As far as I know the only appropriate use would be for consumption (drinking and cooking).
Drinking water probably just comes from some tap. It source could be anything (lake, river, spring, well). Probably the least expensive. Still should be nothing wrong with it. No pathogens, you just don't know the source.
PhD Food Chemistry and Nutrition
The Drinking Water comes from a municipal source and is filtered with charcoal.
The Spring Water doesn't say if it's filtered at all; would I be right to assume that both variations are filtered to an extent?
I have always drank distilled water b/c I like the taste better but the store was out of it today and so I got drinking water. What is the difference between the 3?
Distilled water is pure water. Water is boiled so that steam is let off leaving anything that is not water behind. The steam is collected and run through a cooling system where it is changed back to water and collected. Nothing but H2O.
Spring water is suppose to be from a natrual source, not from the tap. Spring water can be untreated, filtered, or purfied. Usually it is only filtered so I will never get it.
Drinking water is most likely just untreated tap water. Anything that has minimal treatment to be considered safe enough more normal consumption is considered drinking water. This can mean tap, filtered, purified, or distilled. Most likely if it had any of the last 3 they would say it so I bet it is usually just tap or maybe filtered.
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Water supply services has been defined (Van Koppen, 2006) as the provision of water of a given quality and quantity with a given reliability at a given time. This definition emphasizes the outputs; what people receive, rather than the inputs: the hardware (or technology, or schemes; all used interchangeably) and the software (skills, capacities and institutions required to manage hardware and water resources) that are implied in terms such as “water supply system” or “irrigation scheme”. According to Van Koppen (2006; 19) a water service should have the following three features in order to effect multiple uses; A service should be reliable and constant or, for seasonal uses, predictable. A service implies the existence of (public, private or, more commonly, combined) service providers, and service users; and of agreed or formalized relationships between them. It also...
Severe drought dries Texas aquifer, threatening famed Barton ...
The drought is dragging into its third year in parts of central and southern Texas. Lakes, rivers and creeks are evaporating, cities have ordered residents to cut back on water use, and farmers’ crops have been devastated.
While the blue-green waters of the 3-acre pool at Zilker Park may look clear and inviting when the crowds arrive for Labor Day weekend, the drought has taken a toll on the site where Robert Redford learned to swim and music fans cool off during the Austin City Limits festival.
The springs are flowing at about 25 percent of their average rate, threatening endangered salamanders and the swimming hole where the water is always about 68 degrees.
“We haven’t had a drought like this since the ’50s, so we’re kind of in uncharted territories,” said David Johns, a hydrologist with the city of Austin.
The pool is fed by the largest of the three underground springs known collectively as Barton Springs. The springs draw water from the Edwards Aquifer, a massive 160-mile underground water system. Water usually enters the Barton Springs portion of the aquifer through six creeks as well as caves, sinkholes and other openings, but there’s been no significant rain for more than two years.
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