The memory of water, "how to charge water on TV" and other myths about living and dead water

    A professional journalist, cynic and author of lectures on the theme “The art of being a bastard”, moreover, the famous Petersburg citizen, Alexander Nevzorov, likes to make fun of those who say: “The USSR had the best education in the world”. No, the journalist does not deny the quality of knowledge provided by the Soviet scientific school. But, as if casually, he recalled how in the late 80s and early 90s, students of the “classical Soviet school” massively treated the diseases on Anatoly Kashpirovsky’s television shows and charged the water with Alan Chumak’s passes.

    Despite all the openness of information in the world penetrated by technology, many people still believe in antediluvian myths. It seems that the red woolen thread protects from the evil eye. Or that the water passed through the filter becomes “dead”. And the "documentary films" about the "memory of water" that came to the rescue only reinforce myth-making among seemingly intelligent and educated people.



    Today we will talk about what we know for sure, and what is the essence and meaning of our work. We will try to destroy a few absurd statements about water. Let this article be the first in the so far unpublished book Aquaphor : Myths and the Truth about Water.

    Filtered water = dead water


    When a person is healthy, he can drink for a long time both tap water and distilled water. And do not have any serious consequences for the body. True, if you drink tap water for a long time (especially if the communications in your house have not changed for 20-50 years), then problems will appear over time. And they will depend directly on the quality and degree of contamination of water from the tap.

    They also write different things about distilled water: they say that it “washes out” calcium and other important mineral substances from the body. This is an antiscientific statement. Distilled water is neutral in nature. It cannot harm a person, although it is devoid of useful and, possibly, substances required by us.

    And if it is completely honest, then simply drinking clean (and sometimes distilled water) is much healthier for a person than drinking carbonated lemonade with a lot of sugar. The same world-favorite "cola" has a chemical composition that many researchers consider aggressive - and that is true, if you can clean jewelry with "cola" . Such drinks, which have long been studied and proven, affect the metabolism in the human body, and really contribute to the removal of important microelements from it.



    So, scientists and doctors have long and carefully studied the causes of osteoporosis, a typical disease of middle and older age. Osteoporosis is directly related to leaching of calcium from the bones, because of which they become fragile and brittle. And one of the compelling reasons for osteoporosis is the excessive use of soda. This is what they write in the relevant literature and declare such reputable institutions as the USDA Human Nutrition Research Institute.

    It is clear that in a modern city you cannot drink distilled water all the time, and you don’t need it. But if you are worried about “minerals in your body,” then know that in order to get the daily ration of the vital element of sodium from drinking water, you need to drink 120 liters of water. IN A DAY. And to replenish the daily requirement of potassium will require 40 liters. IN A DAY. Who will be able to master such drinking volume? Yes, no one.

    Therefore, all the stories about water enriched with minerals, calcium and other "water with gold and vitamins" can be considered exclusively advertising "approach" in order to attract the gullible buyer. And even a really healing mineral water cannot be drunk without an appointment and observation of a doctor: at best, it will not help, at worst - harm. And it will be definitely worse than just drinking purified or even distilled water.

    One of the few important mineral additives to water that the body needs is magnesium. Its deficiency is harmful to the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and magnesium is deficient in most urban dwellers. Therefore, filter manufacturers add dolomite to sorbents: it provides water with magnesium. Or you can choose a filter with an additional mineralizing module containing magnesium . The water from this filter will be clean and saline.

    Bottled Water - Better Filtered and Tap


    Indeed, there are brands of bottled water, from which, in the words of O. Henry, "the lame begin to see, and the blind to walk." This mainly happens to the blind when they see the price tag on the superfashionable artesian water, and run away from the store in horror. To be honest, “fashionable artesian water” at 400 rubles per bottle with a capacity of 0.5 l has exactly the same taste as “ordinary drinking water” at 50 rubles per bottle with a capacity of 2 l. But you can endlessly argue about the tastes of water, and, if you are tasty and the wallet allows you to buy expensive and 100% pure brand water, for health.



    Ordinary bottled water from the supermarket - and this is where the dispelling of the myth begins - it is often just plain tap water. Only passed through the filter! In truth, low-cost bottled water manufacturers also filter their water. For this, they purchase and install industrial cleaning filters. That is, we must understand: bottled water is the same filtered water.

    And bottled water is poured into PET plastic bottles, which, under direct sunlight, “generously share” their chemical components with water. Recently, the “green movement” is increasingly active against the use of plastic, and there are quite a few materials on this topic. One of the latest WHO reports indicates: Almost 94% of bottled water contains microparticles of dangerous plastic.

    So why then buy bottled water? Why drink oil products that have fallen into it, if you can just buy a filter and absolutely precisely, without residue, purify drinking water?

    Mozart-infused water is livelier than Nirvana's


    Everyone probably read about the fact that the structure of the water changes depending on what kind of music to include above the capacity with it. There is also an impressive film “The Great Secret of Water” with the participation of “innovator” Emoto Masaru: there beautiful snowflakes form to classical music, and ugly ones to rock and grunge. Or again: next to the water they say a word, for example, “fool” - and then show the ugly form of the water crystal obtained. And when the water says "clever", the shape of the crystal is beautiful and symmetrical.



    Such a picture works flawlessly on immature minds. But here's the ill luck: all these experiments turned out to be fake, in any way not related to science. It turned out that during the experiments the rules of double-blind testing were not followed. This, in plain language, means that the experimenter himself could select the test results. And, of course, he chose that which confirmed his concept. All subsequent independent rechecking of Masaru’s experiments was not confirmed by his “scientific guesses”. “The cherry on the cake” of the revelation turned out to be that Masaru himself has no natural science education - he is a graduate in international relations.

    From the point of view of science, the memory of water does not exist. Yes, at low temperatures, water molecules form relatively ordered structures - but only for millionths of a second, and then they break up. The shape of the crystals is determined by the physicochemical conditions, but it is not exactly dependent on words and other external “influences”. As part of the fight against anti-scientific materials, Masaru and his followers (of which there were quite a few in the middle of the “zero”), RAS academicians even released the bulletin “In Defense of Science” , which described in detail all the errors and unreliability of the film. When someone starts telling you about the “memory of water”, immediately send lovers of esotericism and other “magical passes” to study the scientific literature and materials of real research.

    Water with schungite - magic.


    Since the 80s Twentieth century in the "fashion" shungite water entered. Shungite, or "assay stone", is a Precambrian rock that occupies an intermediate position between anthracite and graphite in composition and properties. Shungite really has a sorption ability. It (in small quantities) absorbs and removes heavy metals, organic matter from the water, kills unpleasant odors and tastes.



    In general, it looks good, right? But there are several problem points. The first - the usual and well-known activated carbon absorbs substances from water 60-70 times more effective. It is enough to look at Wikipedia to find out: the sorption capacity of schungite is 10 mg / g, and that of activated carbon is 600-700 mg / g.

    Secondly, it is obvious that the properties of schungite (even without taking into account comparison with activated carbon) are not at all unique. Instead of shungite in the nozzles of filters for “snatching up” of microorganisms that form active sludge in water, they use both expanded clay, and special plastics, and crushed stone. And other fairly inexpensive and effective materials that may be available in a particular location. In general, there are quite a few types of sorbents for cleaning and filtering water , although from a scientific and economic point of view, the effectiveness of activated carbon is the most obvious.

    Finally, it is worth knowing that up to 10% of inorganic impurities may be present in shungite (lying in the ground). Schungite can be mined from places where there are various ores in the rock, heavy metals, etc. — and, one way or another, these impurities can then get into your “clean drinking water” from schungite. In this regard, we can say: shungit is not at all bad, but it is more inappropriate for them to filter water. Although it is difficult to deny that the sale of "the purest miraculous schungite" can make a good deal of mining his dealers, cheat when selling up to 5 000% of its real value.

    "Structured" water


    This is, in fact, a modification of the myth of the "memory" of water, only modernized. The current “alternative” medicine and healers from the “Battle of Psychics” program adore talking about “structured” water. It is obtained in various ways: it is “structured” by prayers, spells, magic hand passes. And yet - passing water through an electric or magnetic field. And then they offer to drink it, as a super cure for all diseases. But both physicians and biologists categorically deny the amazing healing properties attributed to "structured" water. Of course, water, like any substance on the planet, reacts to external influences. Under the influence of an electric field, water molecules are ordered - but it is only necessary to remove this field, and after billions of fractions of a second, water returns to its original state.

    In addition, water - diamagnetic. She simply does not “remember” the effects of the field. As well as do not act on the water and miraculous prayers. We will not even talk about spring water, which supposedly cleanses the body, but does not stand up to any scientific criticism. Unfortunately, many people, despite numerous checks and special reports on the topic , still travel hundreds of kilometers to strange springs for “living structured "Water.



    Another version of the “structured water” myth is deuterium. The “deuterium” myth states that when water is frozen (for structuring), the first crust of ice on it must be removed - and then the “deuterium evil” will be removed from the water. Someone probably read such recommendations from the "luminaries of folk" medicine like Dr. Neumyvakin. In order to close the topic of deuterium once and for all, we need a little bit of chemistry.

    A normal hydrogen atom consists of a proton and an electron rotating around it, the atomic mass of hydrogen = 1. And deuterium is a hydrogen isotope (its nucleus consists of a pair of proton + neutron) and it is twice as heavy. Deuterium oxide - D2O - is heavy water, which is used in the operation of nuclear power plants, but this isotope itself is not radioactive. To get this very heavy water for NPP operation, you need several very complicated processes with electrolysis and special equipment. And in the nature of "terrible deuterium" is extremely small: for 5,000 atoms of ordinary hydrogen - only 1 atom of deuterium. Such a ratio says only one thing: to look for and “remove” deuterium in drinking fresh water is about the same thing as extracting gold or oil from sea water.

    And, as they say - in order not to get up twice - it’s good to know that heavy water in life can exist only in insignificant doses, and for a person it is practically harmless . Therefore, you can boil the water without fear of deuterium, and not freeze. By the way, there is even an opinion that deuterium is useful, because an increase in the proportion of heavy water within reason can inhibit the aging process. This is still only a hypothesis of medical gerontologists, but as soon as we find reliable data about it, we will certainly share them with our readers.

    Home water filter jugs are equally useless?


    About 20 years old jug filters have been known in Russia, and many have become accustomed to such a jug in the interior of their kitchen. However, most people believe that jugs from different manufacturers differ only in price, displacement and lid color. But different manufacturers have different technologies and cleaning, and the production of filter jars. As a result, the results are also different. But apart from the professionals and enthusiasts, no one was puzzled about the differences in jug filters.



    In fact, there is a difference. And before buying a filter jug ​​for 500 or 1 000 rubles, you need to take into account two key points:

    1. In order for the jug to really clean your water, you need to choose the right cartridge. Based on the problems of “domestic water” from the tap, choose a filter cartridge for a specific problem: for example, to remove rust from the water or to soften hard water. To be honest, filter jugs can cope with very hard water, but the capacity of the filter module will be enough for a very short time.

    To really soften a very hard water, you need not a compact jug-filter, but a complete reverse osmosis system. It is a powerful filter system that can “close” all problems with water: from mechanical cleaning to the removal of all pollutants (even viruses!) And the mineralization of water with magnesium. The filter jug, on its part, will help to clean the water from mechanical impurities like rust, toxins and residual chlorine, which are abundant in tap water. However, the water after filtration with a jug will still have to be boiled (while the water from the reverse osmosis filter can be drunk without boiling).

    2. If you watch with delight how in 2-3 minutes the jug filters a liter of water, do not be in a hurry to rejoice. The filtration rate of water can be a minus, but not a plus of the filter jug! Especially if it is visually noticeable that the filtered water retains some kind of shade or turbidity. If you have - just such a case, then most likely, you are faced with a so-called. channel effect of the filter jug.
    The fact is that the standard content of the filter of any jug is a mixture of ion-exchange resin and activated carbon. In this filtration mixture, flowing water is prone to quickly piercing rivulets-grooves-channels through which it flies “whistling”, practically without being cleaned. From here and high speed of the passage through the filter, and low quality of cleaning.

    Several years ago we in “Aquafore” found a way to improve the shape and content of the filter module. To avoid the “channel effect”, not to let the sorbent literally pile up and fall apart, we developed the synthetic fiber “Aqualen-2”. Literally braiding particles of coal and tar in the filter, Aqualen-2 holds the shape of a sorbent material and does not allow water to pierce streams and channels. But only with this “elimination of the channel effect” are the properties of Aqualene-2 ​​not limited: it detains heavy metal ions. And also does not allow leaching of silver ions from the sorbent, which kill bacteria. It should be noted: the flow rate of water through the filter is not reduced - but in your jug ​​there will be guaranteed clean drinking water.

    So, we hope that with the help of science-like texts and funny pictures we managed to destroy some myths about water. We, Aquaphor , will try to write without boring and informative about other stereotypes about water, about water purification methods and, of course, to answer your questions. And so that we can write about what you really interesting and curious, leave us your questions and comments.

    Also popular now: