2017 Aug 1
The simple, transparent, tasteless, shapeless liquid that is water is truly one of the most powerful elements on earth. Kings, queens, emperors, presidents are all slaves to water. Water is quite literally our elixir of life. All life on earth depends on water.
Whilst water serves a myriad of purposes, its purpose for drinking is perhaps its most notable.
Water makes up as much as 85% of our human body weight. A slight 2% drop in our body’s water content can trigger significant signs of dehydration such as low blood pressure, dizziness, disorientation, and dry skin.
So why exactly is water so important for our survival?
All vertebrates our endothermic, i.e., we are capable of regulating our internal body temperature, and water is instrumental in regulating this body temperature.
It is also an excellent detoxifying agent as it helps flush out toxins in our body in the form of sweat and urine.
This seemingly simple compound is responsible for aiding digestion, excretion, transport of nutrients throughout the body, replenishing cells, and maintaining osmotic pressure in body cells.
In a much more obvious way, it also helps keep our skin look vitalized and healthy, and our curly locks shiny and glossy.
Whilst in the past, our ancestors treated water as a godsend and practically venerated it, our precious rivers, waterfalls and oceans are at present being polluted and exploited by none other than the great man himself.
A deadly cocktail in a glass
As such, the water we drink today is far from pure. It is a well-known fact that water is a super solvent. It is perhaps a little too good, in the sense that it dissolves all sorts of toxic components that comes in contact with it. Our drinking water therefore contains hundreds of toxic chemicals, inorganic minerals, metal components, bacteria, and viruses. It’s practically a deadly cocktail in a glass.
These toxic components are added to water bodies from fuel leaks from boats and ships, fertilizers, weedicides, pesticides, and other forms of toxic waste.
Polluting the water affects not only us, but entire ecosystems at large. These toxins travel up food chains, poisoning every link in the process.
Boiling? Not an all-round solution, folks!
- Did you know?
1 in 7 people do not have access to clean water.
Whilst most of us think that boiling water will get rid of all these toxins, in actuality, it only kills the bacteria. As such, boiling has virtually no effect on the toxic metal components in water.
Even if we manage to eliminate a component of the toxins in water through purification methods, the innocent animals and birds do not have the luxury of doing so.
Water was created on water not just for our benefit, but rather for the benefit of all living forms on earth. We do not have the right to destroy this invaluable treasure; we should merely make use of it and protect it for the sake of all living organisms.
Since prehistoric times, water has been perceived to be a gift of the gods that rains down from the heavens above.
The earth is like a terrarium, meaning that it almost never loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today.
Whilst this may sound like a good thing, this also means that additional water will not be gained by the planet to replace the already-existing water that has been polluted.
It is therefore crucial that we ensure that our human activities do not cause any further hydro-pollution, and also find ways and means to reverse the damage already sustained by this liquid that is the elixir of all life.
