Colorless, odorless, tasteless, and calorie free, water is vital to all life on earth. No human, animal, or plant can live without it. From elephant to microbe, water is essential; and there is no substitute. Each of the six billion people on earth needs to consume, in liquids and food, about two and a half quarts [2.5 liters] of water every day to keep healthy. No water, no life.Fortunately, there is plenty of water. When photographed from outer space, our beautiful blue planet looks as though it should be called Water, not Earth. Indeed, if the world's water evenly covered the surface of the planet, it would form a global ocean 1.5 miles [2.5 km] deep. All of the earth's land surfaces could fit into the Pacific Ocean, with room to spare.
According to Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep; and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters."
It is difficult to argue that water is any less than a miracle, the product of a benevolent MasterMind. According to the Genesis account, water was already present before the opening and closing of the six 'creative days'. It was on the second day of 'creation', according to Genesis 1:6 that 'an expanse came to be between the waters above the expanse and those below'. Thus the water cycle: it is worth noting that all the water that is here on earth has been here for aeons of time, evaporating from the great oceans, falling as rain and snow over mountains and plains, flowing inexorably back to the sea from which it came, the 'watery deep.'
Although water seems simple - it is just 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen - it is an extremely complex substance. Dr. John Emsley of Imperial College(London, England) states that it is "one of the most investigated of all chemicals, but it is still the least understood." Dr. Emsley explains, for example, that "H2O should be a gas ... but it is a liquid."Man's survival depends on water. All great civilizations have been founded at great sources of water. No other issue has caused more military and legal battles than water rights.
To begin with, although 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water, not all of it is drinkable. For example, the seas make up about 97 percent of this water. This leaves 3 percent classified as fresh. More than three fourths of this water, however, is locked solid in earth's glaciers and polar ice caps. Another 14 percent is underground water in aquifers too deep to tap. The remaining water, estimated to be a minute 0.027 percent, flows through freshwater rivers, lakes, and streams, and in aquifers that can be tapped. The surface freshwater is recharged with rain and other precipitation, but because of the great depth of some aquifers, they cannot be recharged. Unlike giant turbines that can create electricity for home and industrial use, no new water can be manufactured. So when the water tap is turned on in the home for that special pot of tea or coffee, or for the invigorating hot tub or shower, and the great valves are opened in industrial establishments or to recharge swimming pools, the water must come from nearby rivers, lakes, or wells tapping the aquifers. Although the annual rainfall for the earth is plentiful, it does not fall on all parts of the earth in equal proportions. In some parts of the earth, rainfall may be more than abundant, whereas in others it may not rain for years. In the places where rain is scarce, great irrigation systems are necessary for farming, and these waters are pumped from aquifers where recharge is either nonexistent or insufficient. This has resulted in wells running dry.
Aquifers Running DryOf these aquifers, the Ogallala is the largest in the world. It runs under six states of the midwestern United States, and home, industry, and irrigation are vitally dependent on it, but it is approaching a crisis that will vitally affect tens of millions of people. There are now 200,000 wells pumping water from the Ogallala, and its water table has dropped 10 to 15 feet over an area of 60,000 square miles. Said one writer: "Like a group of little boys with their straws jammed into an ice cream soda, they are rapidly sucking it dry." Some are already feeling the onset of this imminent crisis. "The pumping level is down to within a few feet of the bottom of my 11 wells," said one farmer, "and it's been that way for five years. If I pump too fast, I run out." "Eventually the water will be gone," said one writer, "and in some areas that time may come in this generation." Some experts estimate that the Ogallala will run dry in 40 years.Global warming will only complicate and magnify the problems. Warmer air holds more moisture, so storms are becoming less frequent, less predictable, and more violent. If fossil fuels continue to be used at the present rate(and 3rd-world countries are clamoring to be dealt in to the industrialized sector), ocean levels could rise by a foot or more each decade of the new millenium. Did you know that every gallon of gasoline that is burned contributes over 5 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? Actually, if you follow the pollution trail from refinery to the individual vehicle, each gallon of gas burned yields almost 27 pounds of green house gasses. How so? Burning carbon yields CO and CO2, both heavier than carbon alone. It is way past time to switch to cleaner energy sources.
Water Behaviour and Water QualityWhat makes water such a good solvent, even the "universal" solvent? For one thing, water molecules adhere to one another and other substances in a marvelous way. One drop of water contains 100 billion billion atoms; no wonder it has penetrating power! Water can climb up surfaces against the law of gravity. Water has an amazing ability to absorb and retain heat. Water can exist as a solid, a liquid, and a gas, all at normal temperatures.(The unique properties of water in solid form make life possible: if, like most substances, water became more dense when frozen, the oceans and lakes would long ago have filled up and life ceased.) Water is essential to life, as a solvent, because it carries nutrients through the skin, the lymph and the blood to all tissues of the human body. Water can also be deadly, as the carrier of toxic chemicals, parasites, and bacteria.Where is the pure water?
Having trouble concentrating? Maybe you need to drink more water, suggests Asiaweek Magazine. The magazine reports that teachers and parents of some Hong Kong schoolchildren were recently advised that drinking plenty of water helps students combat listlessness. Children should drink 8 to 15 glasses of water a day, parents were told. Citing the book The Learning Brain, the report points to studies indicating that dehydration can lead to poor learning. Drinking pure, clean water is better than drinking soft drinks, coffee, tea, or even juices, which may actually stimulate the body to expel fluids, states Asiaweek.
An estimated 3 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation and more than 5,000 children die daily as a result of diseases related to dirty water, according to a U.N. report published Monday, March 13, 2000.
"There are more people without proper sanitation this year than last year and there will be more again next year," said a water and sanitation expert at the World Health Organization.Tap water is now treated purposely with several well-known chemicals(Chlorine, Flourine, lime, copper sulfate, aluminum sulfate, sulfur dioxide), and infected by accident with hundreds more. Remember that the by-products of civilization are everywhere. Road salt, agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, rubber, motor oil, paint thinner, it's just a matter of time before these pollutants make their way into the water sources. Example: Atrazine, a corn pesticide. If there were not so many bacteria that eat at least some of this stuff, we would be in much worse trouble.Each human being needs between 2 and 3 quarts of water each day, from all sources(a tomatoe, for example is about 90% water). That means about 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime. Some recent developments in water transport and treatment have presented more problems than they have solved.
Take water softening: Using sodium to displace calcium and magnesium is good for the pipes, but not good for you. Sodium causes fluid retention, gas, heartburn, and cardiovascular problems.Or copper tubing: Lead pipes were a disaster. The switch to iron pipes saved lives, but caused a health threat to children with too much rust. Now copper, especially with the increase in acid rain, is increasingly a threat. Electrolysis in copper tubing can put excess copper into solution, and this is implicated in childhood learning disorders, memory loss, senility, and birth defects. Are you thinking copper pipes are not such a big problem? Check this recent 'Science Daily' report..
Imitate Nature's Water CycleWater distillation is the only purification method that follows Nature's blueprint. Boiling kills microbes but concentrates the rest of the pollutants. Filters work briefly for chemical and particle reduction but can become a haven for bacteria and virus. Reverse osmosis is an energy glutton and still does not remove enough pollutants. Even the U.S. E.P.A. acknowledges that the only "pure water" is distilled water. Under the 'Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974', the E.P.A. set "acceptable standards" for over two dozen water contaminants, including bacteria, radioactive substances, and inorganics like lead, nitrates, and pesticides. Is that really "acceptable?" Does anyone know what the cumulative effects of exposure to these toxins could be, even if individual levels are "acceptable?"Writing in the Weekend Australian, Michael Boddy cites the experience of mountain climbers to support the claim that excessive fatigue can result from a buildup of poisonous waste in body cells. He says: "Swiss mountaineers failed to conquer [Mount] Everest due to lack of water, and water is why the British expedition under Sir Edmund Hillary was successful-they were made to drink twelve cups of water a day while on the climb."
The same writer tells of a Harvard University experiment that also bears out the value of drinking water. A small group of athletes was instructed to drink no water at all and asked to walk briskly at three miles an hour (5 km/hr). They kept going for about three and a half hours. Then their body temperature rose suddenly to about 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39° C.). Soon after, they collapsed from exhaustion.
A second group followed the same routine, but they were allowed to drink water whenever they felt thirsty and drank as much as they wished. This group lasted for about six hours and then experienced exactly the same reaction as the previous group and became exhausted.
Then a third group was tested. But this group was monitored closely, and it was found that they lost about one cup of water every 15 minutes. By replacing this amount of water as it was lost, none of this group experienced the sudden rise in body temperature, nor did they reach the point of exhaustion. In fact, all of them claimed that they could have walked on indefinitely. So it seems that natural thirst may not be an accurate barometer of our body's need for water. We might need more than thirst dictates.
Since clean water is vital to life, to safely transport nutrients and eliminate wastes, it doesn't make sense to leave your supplies "to chance." No one has time or money enough to fully test for water-borne contaminants. Many wells and municipalities require only one test, that for E.coli. Only distillation will remove the full range of contaminants effectively. Grapefruit extract makes an ideal emergency water treatment when distillation is not possible, but the home distiller is still a most valuable appliance for every home. More testing is not the answer.
Research conducted by the Research Institute for Child Nutrition, in Dortmund, Germany, and reported in the consumer magazine, "Test", concluded that children between the ages of one and four often drink too little. One to four-year-old children are especially sensitive to dehydration and should drink almost one quart of fluid a day, besides what they get with meals.
On average, they drink a third less than this - and not always by choice. The researchers found that in 1 case out of 5, a child's request for something to drink was refused by the parent.The best beverage? "Where it is safe, plain water is ideal", states "Test".The book 'Water' states, "Without access to and some degree of control over water, human life at its simplest and its most complex would be impossible. The record of man's response to that fact constitutes much of the history of civilization."
And what's new about water and global warming? A recent computer generated forecast calls for a 70% reduction in Western mountain water sources by 2050, and that's a 'best-case' scenerio. Click here for Science Daily Report, 2/17/04.
Click for some additional information sources:
NutriTeam Home
NutriTeam® Countertop Distiller
Compare Distillation with other methods.
Cleaning Water Wells and other Water Supply Issues
GSE - What is it? How Does it Work? How was it discovered?
Vegetable and Fruit Wash - Home and Commercial
Fish Tank Algaecide
Chlorine-Free Jacuzzi
GSE Replaces Chlorine as Wastewater Treatment
Back to Main GSE Info Page
Many Common Applications of GSE: Acne, Cold Sores, Impetigo , Sinusitus, Ulcers, etc.
Please send feedback.
GSE Product Price & Info Center
Water Distillation Info & Equipment
For further information, please contact the office ofNutriTeam, Inc. PO Box 71, Ripton, VT 05766, USA 1 802 388-0661 tel, 1 800 785-9791(toll-free), 1 802 388-4858 fax
Order Grapefruit Extract, Click Here.
Click Here for Secure-Server On-Line Store.
Back to Main GSE Info page More Info? Please send e-mail: support@nutriteam.com or call: 802 388-0661, 1 815 377-2198(fax) or toll-free 800 785-9791 top of page
