By DANNY O. SAGUN

THIS may raise eyebrows of water refilling station operators: the water that comes out of their purifying machines is already “dead.”

Why? Because the minerals which are natural components of water and which our body needs are already gone as a result of the purification process. Boiled water is also considered dead water.

Our lone guest at the Pantongtongan Tayo radio program of the Philippine Information Agency over Radyo ng Bayan-DZMQ last Tuesday, Dr. Ana de Guzman, assistant provincial health officer, clarified these points during our discussion on government measures to bring safe water to the households

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Without meaning to despise the thriving water business (It’s become some sort of a fad today, look at how they mushroom in practically every corner!), Ana noted that many could not afford purified water from the refilling stations in the neighborhood much less bottled water produced by big companies.

A container (five galloons) of purified water costs from P25 to P50. A below average income family would rather buy more pressing needs like rice, fish and vegetables than spend the money for water alone. Anyway water is very much available with the presence of deep and shallow wells — only that we are not very sure if the water from those sources is potable.

Government, Ana says, thus aims to bring safe water anywhere in the country thru a cheaper and faster means – the use of a water treatment solution called hyposol (sodium hypochlorite solution). A 100 ml of hyposol costs only P25. It can already treat up to 28 containers of water. One has to spend some 89 centavos for a container, a big savings indeed!

Hyposol came to the fore in 2004 when thousands fell ill to acute gastroenteritis (diarrhea, dysentery, and even cholera) in Malasiqui, San Carlos, Bayambang and other neighboring towns due to unsafe drinking water. Investigation showed that their sources of water there (tube and open wells) are either near toilets or pigpens.

Piped water system is a long shot solution, she says. In the meantime, families can have safe drinking water thru the simple process of mixing hyposol with water contained in a clean container. The water is already safe to drink after 30 minutes.

Back to the so-called “dead” and “living” water.

De Guzman pointed out that water in its original state is living with all the minerals and nutrients in it. Remove those minerals thru purification, distillation, boiling etc. and the water becomes dead.

Some water refilling stations boast that their state-of-the-art equipment is much better than others because the process they use involves several stages or steps of water purification. The more purification stages, they claim, the better the water produced.

Dr. Ed Janairo, health regional director, in a recent water forum observed however that the longer the process used, the higher the possibility of contamination particularly if the station is not regularly checked or monitored.

On the so-called living water which costs four times more than that produced by most refilling stations, Ana clarifies that alkaline was added to the “dead” or purified water. “Binabalik lang nila yong alkaline para maging buhay muli yong tubig,” she noted.

Confused?

We might just ask, “Ano ba talaga kuya?”