What is mineral water?

Water flows through underground rocks. Being a universal solvent, it dissolves in it various minerals and trace elements like calcium, magnesium, sulphur etc. As spring water flows out of the Earth’s surface, it carries along various types and amounts of dissolved minerals. This water when obtained directly from the underground water-bearing strata is called mineral water. It is packaged close to the source of emergence with hygienic precautions.

Nathaniel Altman, the author of “Healing Springs” mentioned that exposure to air and water causes some minerals and gases to quickly leave the earth and the process of oxidation expels energy releasing ions from the water. Hence, even BIS guidelines prohibit the transport of natural mineral water in bulk containers for packaging or for any other process before packing. It is not subjected to any treatment other than the Indian Standard adopted by BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). The only treatment permitted on natural mineral water for separating unstable constituents such as compounds containing iron, manganese, sulphur or arsenic is decantation and/or simple filtration with the condition that mineral content of the water is not modified in its essential constituents. For that reason, many bottling companies had to drop ‘mineral’ from their products to call them ‘packaged drinking water’ as their water undergoes treatment like Reverse Osmosis and other purification procedures.  According to BIS, packaged drinking water includes any packaged water other than ‘packaged natural mineral water’.

Awareness of the importance of ‘dissolved solids’ in water we drink like minerals and other beneficial constituents has existed for thousands of years, being mentioned in the Vedas of ancient India. In the book Rig Veda, the properties of good drinking water were described as follows: “Sheetham (cold to touch), Sushihi (clean), Sivam (should have nutritive value, requisite minerals and trace elements), Istham (transparent), Vimalam lahu Shadgunam (its acid-base balance should be within normal limits)”- ( Frantisek Kozisek,  National Institute of Public Health Czech Republic).

Now, lets’ try to understand what dissolved solids or Total Dissolved Solids are. 

As the name suggests, it represents the total concentration of dissolved inorganic salts and organic matter. Common inorganic salts may include cations like calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium and anions like carbonates, nitrates, bicarbonates, chlorides and sulphates. Since many of these dissolved solids exist as ions, TDS concentration can be measured through conductivity of water. But, conductivity determines the ability of water to carry a charge and not the actual total dissolved solids. Therefore, conductivity measuring devices find the approximate TDS levels and not accurate. Basing our judgment on the TDS count won’t help us decide precisely.

According to CFR – Code of Federal Regulations (Title 21), water should have ‘not less than 250ppm’ to be called ‘mineral water’. Water with TDS level less than 500ppm would be of ‘low mineral content’ and water with TDS level more than 1500ppm would be of ‘high mineral content’. Evidently, ‘Packaged mineral water’ has a huge demand in the market, domestic as well as global. It proves that people have no reason to get paranoid about the quality of water just based on ‘TDS count’.

Also, The ‘Environment Protection Agency (EPA) that establishes standards for drinking water in the USA, has set TDS of 500 mg/L as a secondary standard based on taste, odour, colour, corrosivity, foaming, and staining properties of water. Primary drinking water standards which are based on health considerations do not subject TDS levels to any limit. Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) are health-based and enforceable by law. Aesthetic parameters like ‘TDS’ are under Secondary Maximum Contaminant Levels (SMCLs) and are not enforced. Even WHO has mentioned only preferable levels of TDS in drinking water and not mandatory limits.

Then why is it necessary to measure TDS count at all? High concentration of TDS might indicate the presence of harmful contaminants such as iron, manganese, sulfate, arsenic and bromide. This may happen when the excessive dissolved solids are added to water as a result of human-caused pollution. Therefore, it is important to monitor TDS levels to check early warning signals of water pollution. 

Do we really need bottled ‘mineral water’?

Minerals found in Earth strata include calcium, magnesium, potassium etc. which are required by the human body. They also include potentially hazardous elements like lead, arsenic, antimony, barium and aluminium. When taken in quantity higher than maximum permitted limits, they can be harmful to the body. So we can begin with saying that all minerals are not good for us.

Majority of minerals in water are absorbed in the small intestine as they arrive as charged ions in colloidal solution. Minerals in water are metabolised in body such that there is efficient but limited absorption as some of them can be toxic at high concentrations. This is why, for minerals like calcium and magnesium, the typical contribution from water is 5-20% (WHO, 1973; National Research Council, 1977; Neri & Johansen, 1978) whereas, the richest source of dietary calcium like dairy products contribute over 50% of the total calcium in many diets. On the other hand, less than 5% of the other minerals in water are absorbed by the small intestine.

Mineral intake by human body largely depends on the amount of minerals in water and the quantity of water consumed. Mineral content in water bottles varies in different parts of the world. WHO states, “The composition of a natural mineral water is a characteristic that cannot be modified; hence, there are no two identical mineral waters”. Even in the US, CFR mentions that no additional statement (other than ‘mineral water’) need to appear if the TDS of mineral water is between 500ppm and 1500ppm.

Normally, customers are not aware of the amount and types of minerals in ‘mineral water’. The bottling giants supposedly take advantage of that and fool the public by alluring them to drink ‘mineral water’ for the alleged health benefits and supplementary capabilities it has. Even the claims of water purification companies of removing all the toxic minerals and leaving us with only good minerals would be wrong as all these minerals are laid together in the Earth and no purification method so far can separate our desired minerals from undesired ones. The water with high mineral content would mean that the water is left with most of the dissolved solids in it.

There are also many other minerals our body requires that are not usually present in drinking water, like iron, copper, selenium etc. It has been clearly established by WHO that food is the principal dietary source of minerals. Therefore, one must get these minerals from food or other supplements.

India, with diverse climate and pollution concerns, water contains much more disease-causing contaminants including heavy metals, radioactive materials, pharmaceutical drugs, bacteria, viruses than beneficial minerals. Therefore, it is better to consider the ‘purity’ of water more than anything else. There is another major concern that the growing trend of bottled water might make the municipal water authorities complacent and bother less about the quality of public water systems. The population that can’t afford commercially bottled water is left with no choice but to quench their thirst from arbitrary sources. The organisations and other public institutions should be deemed responsible for at least the people working for/with them. Instead of collaborating with bottling giants and increasing superfluous economic and environmental expenditure, they ought to opt for one stop solution to hydration. Point of use and point of entry purification systems for purifying and dispensing municipal water supply would be a rational way to convey a fair and equal prerogative to the natural resource.

The notorious businesses of food and milk adulteration are already littering the Earth’s natural wealth. The world that has seen multiple biological terrorism incidents in the past has to stay cognizant of the quality of food and water. Their ‘purity’ must be above everything else. The balanced nutritional intake and adequate physical activity should be preferred to maintain adequate water metabolism and to avoid mineral deficiencies, or as suggested by a medical professional.

WHO recommends, “in case of borderline deficiency of a given element, even the relatively low intake of the element with drinking water may play a relevant protective role”. It is also advised to have sufficient mineral water and other supplements if the nutritional intake through food is inadequate. But, isn’t the population that is devoid of ample nutritional food mostly that who can’t also afford ‘packaged mineral water’? Who are these bottling businesses for then? Are they just ‘manufacturing’ demand of the public along with producing fancy bottles for an otherwise free resource? Are we just getting hypnotized by the media manipulation propaganda? Why let businesses compel us to shell out our hard-earned money for something that is ours?

 “…The issue is whether we want to live in a free society or whether we want to live under what amounts to a form of self-imposed totalitarianism…”-Noam Chomsky. We don’t have to pay for the air we breathe, then why for water?

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