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Tap water under the microscope

Water is a magnificent structure that every creature living on Earth needs. Life started in the water, 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water and it makes up two-thirds of our body weight. Without water a human can live for no more than 3 days, while without food we can survive for much longer. But what is this simple yet so important substance made of? And what can we see if we examine a single droplet under a microscope?


Water is home to a number of species and minor organisms. Besides huge whales, living creatures of micron size also live in it, so it is highly important to preserve the cleanliness of the Earth’s waters and thus wildlife health. Contaminants, toxic compounds and microplastics that get into the water threaten all living creatures, including us, humans. Therefore, it is in everyone’s interest to protect the environment and the cleanliness of water.


Water is a magnificent structure that becomes visible to the human eye when we examine water droplets under a microscope. Numerous microorganisms live in natural waters, but we do not find any in drinking water. The water supplied to us is a thoroughly purified and filtered liquid, which can be consumed with confidence, and in Hungary it is of a high quality. But what if we look at water droplets in a frozen state?


An exciting discovery was made by Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto, who used a unique freezing process to transform water droplets into convex ice pieces and then put them under a microscope. What he saw was not only magnificent but also illuminating.


The frozen droplets are just as varied as snowflakes. There are hexagonal and octagonal, more angular and rounded shapes, and some that resemble a screw or jewellery.


Beyond the variety of shapes, the scientist discovered a further major difference. Water is sensitive to external effects, including various chemicals, but the research found that messages, music and microwaves also impact it. This was evidenced by the fact that some of the frozen droplets completely lost their exciting structure and became obscure, opaque. These changes were observed in the droplets associated with the negative message and those from tap water, which was clearly due to chlorine.


And here is the explanation: the chlorine in the tap water removed the crystals after freezing, because it completely changed the structure of the water. But what else does chlorine do with water?


Chlorine is needed to kill the microorganisms in the water which cause diseases. To ensure that clean water flows out of the tap, drinking water is disinfected with chlorine gas before it enters the pipeline network. Currently, the residual chlorine content in drinking water that can be measured is 0.2 mg/l, which is in line with the recommendation of the health authority.


However, in addition to harmful microorganisms, chlorine affects all living organisms. Although the amount present in drinking water is not a problem, consuming chlorinated water is not recommended. Besides having the best quality tap water, it is advisable to use a quality filtration equipment, such as Floewater. This water filtration system provides filtered, clean drinking water without disposable plastic waste, so you not only consume clean drinking water instead of bottled water but also protect the environment.





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