Tap water (tap water) is pre-filtered and pre-treated water by a system of specialized industrial water purification plants, in order to supply large volumes of domestic water to serve the entire residential area and urban area.
Unlike before, most people still use rain water and well water for drinking water. Today, tap water is gradually becoming popular and becoming the main source of water for people in both cities and rural areas.
Compared with natural water sources such as rainwater, bore water, tap water is safer and cleaner in the era of polluted environment.
However, tap water also reveals many disadvantages: it has a strong chlorine smell, still exists microscopic impurities and harmful bacteria. So, is the tap water really clean? Is tap water only for domestic use? Should tap water be used directly for cooking and drinking? Is it okay to drink tap water?
Join Sakura Electric to find out the current state of tap water, thereby explaining whether tap water is clean, should it be used to drink directly. At the same time, give you a way to treat tap water for safe drinking!
Is the tap water clean? Current status of tap water
As we all know, tap water is inherently a pre-treated water source. Therefore, this water source is colorless, has little residue, is considered clean to the naked eye, can be safely used for hygiene, bathing, etc.
Before explaining whether the cleanliness of tap water can be used directly for drinking or not, let’s learn about the current state of tap water.
In fact, the composition of tap water still contains a lot of small impurities, bacteria even though it has been treated. At the same time, the amount of residual chlorine from the water treatment process is also one of the major limitations of this water source.
Although tap water treatment technology has been around since the end of the 19th century, popular from the 20th century until now, not all tap water treatment processes in the country, locality or region guarantee the quality. .
In advanced developed countries such as the US or Japan, tap water is treated with the most advanced filtration technology and undergoes rigorous testing for quality. In Japan, people can also drink fresh tap water directly from the tap.
However, looking at the current situation of tap water as well as the complex problems in the process of treating and distributing tap water in Vietnam, it is not possible to confirm whether “tap water is safe” or is tap water really clean? Unless there is clear evidence of quality based on the criteria for assessing tap water. Specifically:
Concentration of dissolved solids in domestic tap water (TDS):
Concentration of dissolved solids (expressed by TDS index) is a quantity of solids (Be it mineral ions, metal ions… very small in size that cannot be seen with the naked eye) that exists in a certain amount of water. .
The higher the concentration of solids in the water, the more impurities the water contains, potentially hazardous. Safe, standard tap water should have a TDS concentration in the range of 100 – 300 ppm is ideal.
Concentrations higher than 170 ppm water fall into the hard threshold, concentrations above 300 ppm water may contain high amounts of minerals not recommended for regular use, above 500 ppm is an absolute alarm level should not be used.
pH of tap water:
In addition to the TDS index, what is the pH of tap water is also a concern for many people. The pH value indicates the acidity and alkalinity of water.
On the pH scale value from 0 – 14, the pH value = 7 is the most commonly used neutral water. Decreasing pH values indicate acidic water not recommended for drinking, increasing pH values indicate healthy alkaline water.