Water
Water is the most important substance needed to sustain life. Water is not an element. Water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen. It consists of two volumes of hydrogen to one of oxygen, as expressed - H2O.

Properties
Pure water is an odourless, tasteless liquid. Under standard atmospheric pressure (760 mm of mercury) the freezing point of water is 0 Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit. Water maintains its maximum density at a temperature of 4°C or 39°F and expands upon freezing. Because most substances are somewhat soluble in water, it is frequently called the universal solvent.

Water collects all the chemicals, all the wastes, and pollutants known and unknown. Pollutants are distributed in every water system on Earth. Water is the only substance that occurs at ordinary temperatures in all three states of matter that is, as a solid, or liquid, or as a gas. As a solid (ice), it is found as glaciers and ice caps, on water surfaces in winter as snow, hail and frost, or as clouds formed as ice crystals. It occurs in the liquid state as rain; and as clouds formed of water droplets, and on plants as dew.

Under the influence of gravity, water accumulates in rock intensities beneath the surface of the earth as a vast ground water reservoir supplying wells and springs and sustaining the flow of some streams during periods of drought.

Water Is Life
Water is the major substance of living matter. From 50 to 90% of the weight of living organisms is water.

Protoplasm the basic material of living cells, carbohydrates, proteins, salt, and similar chemicals. Water acts as a solvent transporting, combining, and chemically breaking down these substances.

Blood in animals and sap in trees and plants, consist largely or water and serve to transport food and remove waste material. Water also plays a key role in the metabolic breakdown of such essential molecules as proteins and carbohydrates. This process, called hydrolysis, goes on continually in living cells.

Natural Water Cycle
Hydrology is the science concerned with the distribution of water on the Earth. Under the influence of several factors, of which heat is predominant, water is evaporated from both water and land surfaces, and is transpired from living cells. This vapour circulates through the atmosphere and is precipitated in the form of rain or snow.

On striking the earth, the water follows two paths. These paths are determined by the intensity of the rain and the porosity, permeability, and thickness, as well as the previous moisture content of the soil. One part of the water, called surface runoff, flows directly into rills and streams and into the ocean or into land locked lakes.

Under natural conditions the water table rises intermittently in response to replenishment or recharge and then declines as a result of continuous drainage into natural outlets such as springs.

Composition
Because of its capacity to dissolve numerous substances in large amounts, pure water rarely occurs in nature.

Rain and snow absorb from the atmosphere in varying amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases, as well as traces of organic or inorganic material. In addition, precipitation carries radioactive fallout to the Earth's surface.

In its movement on and through the Earth's crust, water reacts with minerals in the soil and rocks. The principle dissolved constituents of surface and ground water are: sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium and potassium, and the oxides of calcium and magnesium.

Ground water from shallow wells may contain large quantities of nitrogen compounds and chlorides derived from human and animal wastes. Almost all supplies of natural drinking water contain fluorides in varying amounts.

The human body uses water to keep it functioning. Our bodies need the Earth's water recycling system to replenish the minerals we require to keep us healthy. Our body has come to rely on minerals such as: Iron, Zinc, Iodine, and a whole host of others. The water dissolves the minerals from the earth, while making its way to the ocean. When we drink water, minerals get into our blood stream. The minerals are then distributed to parts of the body where they are needed. The body is made up of 90% water and our blood stream is 90% water. We drink water everyday. It is water that makes our digestive system work. The water we drink distributes vital processed nourishment to different parts of our body. Water visits every part of the body from our head to the tips of our fingers and toes.

It helps to flush our bodies clean of unwanted material left from the food as well as the liquid we consume. The body requires 55 ounces of water each day. Less than that is not enough to keep us healthy.

Having enough water each day gives us energy. The water in our blood regulates body temperature. One square inch of skin contains fifteen feet of blood vessels. These blood vessels regulate the temperature of the body. When body temperature rises, radiant energy or heat is lost due to vascular dilation, and increased blood flow to the skin surface. Each square inch of skin also contains hundreds of sweat glands, which are controlled by a heat regulator. These sweat glands secrete moisture, which evaporates and cools the body. This moisture leaves the body through the sweat glands and becomes part of the Earth's hydrologic system.

Water is a solvent to almost every element there is on Earth. Water pollutes itself with everything with which it comes in contact. Water pollution started as soon as life began on Earth. At that time and up until three hundred years ago, the Earth could keep up with pollution, as it wasn't happening as fast as the Earth could clean it up. There is one trillion tons of water evaporated from the Earth's surface each day. This vapour is attached to particles of dirt in the air, which becomes a nucleus to form raindrops, which, in turn, form rain clouds. Ninety percent of that falls into the ocean as rain; the remaining 10% falls on the land mass as rain or snow. It runs into our streams, lakes, rivers, and oceans, or it percolates through the ground to become part of the soil moisture and underground water table.

Ninety percent of the rainfall comes from evaporation of the oceans. Ninety percent falls back into the ocean as precipitation. There is only 1/10 of a trillion tons of fresh water to supply the needs of the Earth's plant life, animals, and people.

Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis is a filtering process whereby water is forced through a membrane with tiny holes. There are two weaknesses to this method.
1. The tiny particles that are screened out become lodged in the membrane's holes and soon rupture it, rendering it useless as a filter.
2. Membranes are generally made of a plastic product. Chlorine in the water will fracture the sides of the membrane holes and destroy its filtering function.

Distillation
Distillation has two weaknesses:

1. There are chemicals which are lighter, the same weight nad heavier than water. When distillation takes place, water turns to steam. The steam passes through a cooling oil, is turned back into water and forced into a drinking water contained. The lighter chemicals are distilled before and after are forced into the drinking water container. The chemicals with the equivalent weight of water will be distilled right along with the water and both will end up in the drinking water container. The heavy chemicals are distilled last but finish up in the drinking water container.

2. The minerals needed to sustain life are left in the distiller; none make it through into the drinking water container.

Bottled Water
In 1999, bottled water sales increased by 10% to $8.5 billion. Currently, Americans consume over 5.2 billion litres of bottled water each year. Consumption of bottled water has increased by 10% to 12% annually since 1995, and similar growth is forecast to continue through 2003 when sales are anticipated to reach $11.9 billion

Currently, there are over 900 different bottled water brands available in the United States. The vast number of brands, combined with different classifications of bottled water and fairly lenient labelling regulations, have created a certain degree of confusion among consumers. However, consumer perception of bottled water offering a cleaner, healthier, better-tasting product than tap water will continue to drive growth. As the market continues to expand, analysts expect a handful of brands to establish themselves as dominant players.