Question to the expert: Is it true to drink rainwater
Text: Alexey Vodovozov
RESPONSES TO THE MAJORITY OF US QUESTIONS we used to search online. In the new series of materials we ask such questions: burning, unexpected or widespread - to professionals in various fields.
We have already examined several myths related to drinking water, and found that carbonated water is safe for the stomach and kidneys, drinking and eating can and should be, and no standard in “two liters of water per day” exists at all. And yet, many are concerned about the topic of water quality: since we drink it and use it to prepare food every day, can we do it with maximum benefit? We asked the expert about the trend for "natural", unprocessed water, and whether the rainwater is the cleanest.
Alexey Vodovozov
toxicologist, scientific journalist
In pursuit of "natural, and therefore useful," people reach amazing extremes. Take water: filtered, "charged", "structured", "living" and "dead", "hydrogen", with "negative oxidative potential" and even "dietary" - what kinds of varieties are not on the market. It would seem that nothing else can be invented, but now the new trend is unwinding - “raw water”, in its native form, without sterilization, filtration and other processing. On the site of one of the manufacturers such miracles are promised that I want to immediately spend $ 36.99 on the first ten-liter bottle (replenishment will cost almost two times cheaper). Other companies are proposing to act more radically and to arrange for themselves “water independence”, having bought a few thousand dollars installation for collecting extremely natural atmospheric moisture. There is no doubt that fashion will quickly come to our country.
Here again we are dealing with a classic logical error, in which any natural phenomena and “gifts of nature” are declared safer and more beneficial to humans than artificial or processed by “chemistry” and “physics”. Often, "naturalists" reason like this: the universe is so wise that it gives the potato the ability to accumulate starch in tubers, so that we can eat them, and the cows are created by nature, so that we can get natural fertilizer for potatoes.
If you try to shake this seemingly well-structured system, asking what place nature took in it solanine, a toxic substance contained not only in the inedible fruits of potatoes, but also in its edible tubers (these are the greenest areas on the peel), and also specifying that a mass of causative agents of dangerous intestinal infections can nest in cow dung (for example, enterohemorrhagic E. coli, which killed several dozen Europeans in 2011), naturalists usually quickly switch to the “counter-arguments I’ve got so we’ll go straight to the insults. "
For water, it has a direct relationship. Not all water is suitable for drinking, even if it is running. According to the WHO, 2.1 billion people in the world simply do not have access to safe water at their place of residence, and about 4.5 billion do not have the necessary sanitation facilities. As a result, every year, 361,000 children under five die of diarrhea alone. Open springs from which raw water is supposed to be collected are dangerous and unpredictable.
Of course, raw water is alive, in the literal sense of the word. It contains a lot of viruses, bacteria and protozoa, most of which are absolutely harmless. However, even single representatives of the microworld are enough to spoil the whole goodness of the picture. For example, in Moscow reservoirs, cholera vibrioes are regularly caught - fortunately, until it has time to multiply to the desired concentrations. And then there is dysentery ameba, shigella, salmonella, "fighting" variants of E. coli, norovirus, rotavirus and others. So "raw water" without proper treatment, at least filtering and disinfection, is not the most healthy choice. Adherents of the new trend claim that treatment with "chemistry" and "physics" kills the "soul" of water, turning "living" water into "dead". But the paradox is that "living" water is much more likely to make its consumer dead.
The adepts of the stream claim that the treatment with "chemistry" turns "living" water into "dead". But the paradox is that "living" water is much more likely to make its consumer dead.
An additional argument in favor of rainwater is the fact that people have collected it throughout the history of their existence. But in fact, this does not confirm its usefulness. Supporters of the benefits of rainwater tell us that according to the characteristics it comes close to distilled water, because it condenses in clouds of water vapor. At the same time, they somehow miss the moment that not only steam rises into the air, but also dust, soot particles, microorganisms, exhaust gases and a lot more. On the way from the cloud to the ground, rainwater collects all this. The researchers, according to numerous observations and analyzes, agree that rainwater cannot be considered safe to drink because there are too many dangerous microbes, including the so-called fecal flora. The risk increases even more if water is stored for further use without proper treatment.
Another important nuance: if rainwater is collected from the roof, it is additionally “enriched” with asbestos, lead and copper, although construction standards try to minimize them in roofing materials. With the treatment of collected water is also not so simple: chlorination or iodination does not eliminate harmful chemical impurities, and many microorganisms have long developed chlorine resistance. This also applies to boiling.
By the way, there is one thing that does not correlate with the concept of usefulness from the point of view of the admirers of everything natural, often claiming that all diseases, from flu to cancer, occur during acidification of the body. Therefore, it is recommended to constantly alkalize it, and "living" water, which can be prepared in special devices for many thousands of rubles, also has an alkaline reaction.
But rain water does not fit into this concept, because it has an acid reaction. Nitrogen oxides, which are especially actively formed during thunderstorms - under the influence of powerful electrical discharges, are to blame for this. And then from the heavens flows, though weak, but still a solution of nitric acid. By the way, this is just perfectly explained from the point of view of a wise nature - this is how the nitrogen cycle is carried out, and this is one of the important ways of its delivery to the soil.
It turns out that even among the supporters of "live" and "natural" water there are differences, and here you can predict the appearance of the next variations like rain water with an alkaline pH, which will be completely "miraculous", especially in terms of sales. Just business, nothing personal.
Photo: Wellindal, design56 - stock.adobe.com