Most Indian cities suffer from poor groundwater levels. Forget about mineral drinking water, many people do not even have access to pure drinking water itself.
That brings the biggest confusion to the table. Is there a Difference Between Mineral Water And Packaged Drinking Water?
Many of you may think that it’s the same. But it is not. Otherwise, you won’t see mineral water bottles selling for around ₹60 per liter whereas packaged drinking water is available for ₹10-15 per liter.
So definitely there is a difference between these two types of water and this article will be all about discussing it.
What In Mineral Water?
Mineral water means it has minerals in it. The minerals can be naturally sourced or artificially added.
Naturally sourced water that flows through hills or falls has minerals added automatically when it flows through rocks. When it reaches the ground level, impurities get added due to human, plant, and animal waste.
All you need to do is to filter the water to remove impurities and the water is good for consumption. Don’t remove the minerals using RO as removing the minerals is a bad idea. Our body needs essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium for proper growth and good health.
By now we might have understood that mineral water is the healthiest water but do we have access to it? People living in metros hardly get mineral water as urbanization has spoiled the hills and greenery a long time ago.
What is the solution?
Packaged Drinking Water? Well, it has its drawbacks. Let’s get into that now.
What Is Packaged Drinking Water?
Packaged Drinking Water is RO-purified water. It may contain minerals if the manufacturers use any special process to add minerals after the water is RO purified.
If they are adding minerals, they specifically mention that on the bottle as ” Added Minerals”. But still, it can not match the mineral level of naturally sourced mineral water.
So, Packaged Drinking Water is a compromise to our right to Pure Mineral Water.
The main issue with packaged drinking water is the RO process. RO process removes all the TDS including minerals. That is why RO water does not have any taste and carries no health benefits.
Manufacturers must add minerals to bring back the taste. Otherwise, no one will buy their water bottles. But adding minerals in a factory is a chemical process whereas Natural mineral water has minerals naturally added to it.
You can also buy a water purifier with a mineralizer that may add the required minerals to your RO water.
Difference Between Mineral Water And Packaged Drinking Water
The main difference between Mineral Water And Packaged Drinking Water is the way minerals are added to it.
Natural mineral water gets its mineral naturally whereas packaged drinking water gets it chemically. So there is always an issue with packaged water it can not match the quality of mineral that natural mineral water gets.
However, Natural Mineral water may not be always healthy for you as it may contain harmful germs and other impurities that normal filters can not remove. But if you use RO, you lose minerals. So it is always a trade-off between pure drinking water vs safe drinking water.
Technologies like UV filters, and UF can get rid of most of the impurities from natural mineral water but still, these technologies can not make water 100% pure.
Conclusion: Mineral Water Vs Packaged Drinking Water
Pure and safe drinking water are two contradicting terms. Both can not go together. If you drink natural mineral water, you might be consuming germs whereas in packaged drinking water you are losing everything.
Better to get natural mineral water if possible and use advanced filters like UV filters or UF to get rid of the harmful chemicals.
