WATER

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Hello everyone...👋... it’s @essiens, it feels great being a steemian. My last post here was an introductory post... in which I made a brief introduction on myself... so this is gonna be my second post here on steemit, and this second post is gonna be a science post in which I’ll write on the topic WATER.
However, water plays an important role in the human body. The human body is made up of about 60% of water, the brain is 75% water and our blood is 83% of water. We are continually losing water over the day through urine, sweat and in our breath as vapour. This water has to be replaced, as the body cannot store water. In fact, the human body can last for weeks without food but only few days without water; water is absolutely essential to life and it’s one of the most important things needed in the human body.

• DEFINITION OF WATER

Water is the transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance that is the main constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms, and that is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients.
This definition tells us that water is colorless, tasteless and odorless. So this definition makes us to understand that any liquid substance that has taste, color and odor is not water. So if you should add anything to water(like sugar or salt) or add any color to it, it’s no more water, it’s something else. So water has to be pure.
So Having known what water is, let’s see what are the types of water.

• TYPES OF WATER

However, Water is distinguished on the basis of it’s origin, consistency, composition and treatment.
The types of water are:

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• MINERAL WATER :

Mineral water is the water that naturally contains minerals. It is obtained from underground sources, which makes it rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium, manganese. No further minerals can be added to the water. The water also cannot be subjected to any treatment, except for limited ones such as carbonation, iron or manganese removal, before packaging. The essential minerals give it a reputation of healthy drinking water. The component of mineral water can vary from brand to brand, some may have more number of minerals while others may have lesser. The presence of the minerals also gives the water a characteristic salty taste.

• TAP WATER:

Tap water is the water that you get directly from your faucet, it may or may not be suited for drinking purposes because it isn’t treated. It is widely used for household chores such as cleaning, cooking, gardening and washing clothes. It must meet the regulations set by the local Municipal bodies.

• SPRING WATER:

In some places, rainwater accumulated underground tends to “leak” out at the surface as a spring, or puddle. Natural springs are not passed through a community water system and are yet considered suitable for drinking as it comes from under the ground. The spring water is known to be the most clean natural source of water.

• SPARKLING WATER:

You may have encountered waiters in your favourite restaurant asking your preference of water: regular, mineral or sparkling. Sparkling water is the water that has undergone carbonation which makes your water fizzy just like your sodas. Sparkling water may be spring water, purified water or even mineral water, upon addition of carbon dioxide it becomes sparkling water.

• DISTILLED WATER:

Distilled water or dimineralised water is one where the water has been subjected to a treatment that removes all its minerals and salt by the process of reverse osmosis and distillation. It is an absolutely pure form of water but it is not typically recommended for drinking. It can cause mineral deficiencies because it is devoid of all salts and most of the natural minerals in the water are gone as a result of this process. Drinking this water may cause a rapid sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium loss.

• RAIN WATER:

When it rains, water trickles down and travels through the inner crevices of the soil, beneath the ground to form underground lakes. This happens over a period of time. In rural areas, one of the primary sources of water is what is dug out from deep wells. Deep wells directly tap groundwater and bring it to the surface from which people can take their water.

• PURIFIED WATER:

A purified water is the water which after deriving from its source has underwent purification treatment in a plant. The act of purifying entails removing all bacteria, contaminants and dissolved solids making it suitable to drinking and other purposes. You can either purchase it from the markets or install a water purifier at home and have pure water to consume.

• IMPORTANCE OF WATER :

There are lots of importance of water to the body... there are:

• Energy and Exercise Performance
  Dehydration is one for the fastest routes to low energy; a drop in body water of just 1 or 2 percent can result in your energy levels dropping significantly. And it’s not just physical energy, its mental energy too; ability to think clearly, mood, concentration and memory all suffer when we are dehydrated. If you feel your energy or concentration is flagging, a glass of water may be all you need to perk up. Water is also essential for exercise performance, as your muscles cannot function properly without adequate fluids.

• DEHYDRATION:

Dehydration can result from not drinking enough, from losing too much fluid through sweat – for example in hot temperatures or when exercising for long periods, or from vomiting and diarrhoea when we are unwell. The cells of the body cannot function properly without water and a drop in our body’s water levels can trigger the following symptoms of dehydration:

Headaches
Fatigue
Loss of concentration
Mood changes and slow responses
Light headedness or dizziness
Dry mouth and throat
Dry skin
Dry and cracked lips
Furthermore, if the body is continually dehydrated there is a risk of more serious problems such as constipation, urinary tract infections and kidney stones. The simplest way to tell if you are getting enough is to check the colour of your urine – it should be light in colour, dark urine is a sure sign you need to drink up.

• APPETITE AND WEIGHT:

The feeling of being thirsty is often mistaken for hunger, particularly as we get older as the thirst mechanism declines with age. Therefore, drinking plenty of water can actually help with appetite control.

Water ‘pre-loading’ (drinking water before meals) can help you to eat less and is a relatively easy habit to implement if trying to lose weight. A 2015 study for example, found that simply drinking 500ml of water 30 minutes before each meal, helped overweight adults lose an extra 1.3kg in 12 weeks (1). Foods with a high water content will also help keep us feeling full and help appetite control; fruit and vegetables, porridge and soups are especially good for this.

• DETOXIFICATION:

Water is important to remove waste products from the body and to help the body process and get rid of any toxins. The kidneys require plenty of water to filter and remove impurities and waste from the blood. The liver, your body’s main detoxification organ also needs water to neutralise harmful substances so they can be safely removed from the body. Adding a squeeze of lemon to your water will further stimulate the liver’s detoxification pathways.

• SKIN:

Dehydration causes the skin to become dry, and look dull and even makes wrinkles look worse. Staying well hydrated is essential for your skin to stay radiant, to help prevent acne and to generally look and function at its best. Fluid retention also occurs when the body is short on fluids, as it hangs on to the precious water it does have – this can make skin look puffy and can make you feel bloated all over. When we drink plenty of water, it helps the body rid itself of excess sodium and ironically reduces water retention.

• FUNCTIONS OF WATER:

• It keeps skin hydrated.

• It helps in the regulation of body temperature.

• Acts as a delivery system, taking nutrients to cells and removing waste.

• It Forms the base of many bodily fluids such as blood and saliva.

• Needed for digestion, softening and dissolving food components.

• Essential for normal bowel movements and preventing constipation.

• USES OF WATER

People could not live without water. We need it to drink, to cook with and to wash ourselves. In this section you can find out more about the ways we use water in our bodies, and in our homes and at work. You can also learn about saving water.

Boy drinking from water bottleWater in our bodies
Every living plant or animal needs water. The human body is made up of two thirds water and without water we would die.

Did you know?

A person could live for weeks without food but only about one week without water.

Water in our homes
Have you ever thought how lucky you are to be able to turn on a tap and have all the water you need?

A hundred years ago most people had no water supply in their homes. Instead they had to carry water from a tap or well on their street. In many countries today, people still need to fetch water from ponds, streams, rivers or wells.

Seventy years ago, most people only had cold water in their homes and all water for washing or washing clothes had to be heated on an open fire or cooker.

Today we use much more water than seventy years ago because:

water is piped directly into our homes
we wash, shower or take baths more often
we have lots of hot water
washing machines and dishwashers use more water
gardens are watered with hoses or sprinklers
cars are washed

-Water at work
Water is not just used in the home. Businesses also need lots of water for:

-farming
-energy
-recreation
-transportation
-industry
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• PURIFICATION OF WATER:

Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids and gases from water. The goal is to produce water fit for a specific purpose. Most water is disinfected for human consumption (drinking water), but water purification may also be designed for a variety of other purposes, including fulfilling the requirements of medical, pharmacological, chemical and industrial applications. The methods used include physical processes such as filtration, sedimentation, and distillation; biological processes such as slow sand filters or biologically active carbon; chemical processes such as flocculation and chlorination and the use of electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light.

Purifying water may reduce the concentration of particulate matter including suspended particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, as well as reducing the concentration of a range of dissolved and particulate matter.

The following ways to purify your way are:

1 – Boiling

Boiling water is the cheapest and safest method of water purification. Water sources and or channels of distribution may render your water unsafe. For example, parasites and germs are things you may not see by bare eyes, but their effects can be life threatening.

In this method, clean water should be brought to boil and left at rolling-boil for 1-3 minutes. For people living in high altitude areas, it is recommended to boil your water for longer than water boiled at lower altitudes. This is because water boils at lower temperatures in higher altitudes. Boiled water should be covered and left to cool before drinking. For water drawn from wells, leave it for compounds to settle before you filter out clean water for use.

2 – Filtration

Filtration is one of the effective ways of purifying water and when using the right multimedia filters it’s effective in ridding water of the compounds. This method uses chemical and physical processes to purify water and make it safe for human consumption. Filtration eliminates both large compounds and small, dangerous contaminants that cause diseases with a simple and quick filtration process.. Since filtration does not deplete all the mineral salts, water that has been filtered is considered healthier compared to water purified using other methods. It’s one of the effective water purification methods that utilize chemical absorption process that effectively removes unwanted compounds from water.

Compared to reverse osmosis, filtration is considered effective when it comes to selective elimination of much smaller molecular compounds such as chlorine and pesticides. The other factor that makes filtration less costly is that it does not require a lot of energy needed in distillation and reverse osmosis. It is an economic method of water purification because little water is lost during purification.

3 – Distillation

Distillation is a water purification method that utilizes heat to collect pure water in the form of vapor. This method is effective by the scientific fact that water has a lower boiling point than other contaminants and disease-causing elements found in water. Water is subjected to a heat source until it attains its boiling point. It is then left at the boiling point until it vaporizes. This vapor is directed into a condenser to cool. Upon cooling, vapor is reversed into liquid water that is clean and safe for drinking. Other substances that have a higher boiling point are left as sediments in the container.

This method is effective in removing bacteria, germs, salts and other heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. Distillation is ideal for people who have access to raw, untreated water. This method has both advantages and disadvantages. A notable disadvantage is that it is a slow process of water purification. In addition, it requires a heat source for the purification to work. Although cheap sources of energy are being developed, distillation remains a costly process of purifying water. It is only ideal (effective and least costly) when purifying small quantities of water (It is not ideal for large scale, commercial or industrial purification).

4 – Chlorination

Chlorine is a powerful chemical that has been in use for many years to treat water for home consumption. Chlorine is an effective water purification method that kills germs, parasites and other disease-causing organisms found in ground or tap water. Water can be purified using chlorine tablets or liquid chlorine. As an off-the-shelf water purification product, chlorine is cheap and effective. However, caution should be taken when using chlorine liquid or tablets to treat drinking water. For example, people suffering from thyroid problems should talk to a medical practitioner before using this product. When using chlorine tablets, it is important to apply them in heated water, as they dissolve well in water that is at 21 degree Celsius or higher. Chlorine tablets kill all bacteria leaving your water clean and safe.

CONCLUSION:
So in conclusion, I think in the article, we know what water is all about, it’s importance and it’s purification...
Note this: Water is the most important thing needed in your body, so take it important.

Thanks for reading!!!

References:
importance of water in the body
Definition of water
Types of water
uses of water
water purification
ways to purify water