What minerals are in tap water?
The minerals in tap water can be considered dietary minerals because they each play a part in the body’s normal functioning.
There is calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, ferrous iron, potassium, etc–most of which you will find in vitamin supplements.
We need the minerals found in your water in order to properly function. Minerals make for strong bones and teeth and also help the body maintain a healthy acid-alkaline balance.
Water Supply
The concentration of these minerals depends on where your water comes from. Because the minerals are absorbed by the water as it flows over or through rock containing minerals, spring and well-water will have a higher concentration of minerals than dam, river or tank water.
Should they be removed?
Because our bodies have evolved needing minerals, the short answer is no. In fact, if they are taken out of the water, as that water flows through the body it will absorb minerals from the body causing an imbalance. To be fair, the effects may be small, but it does exist.
If you were to measure what minerals are in tap water, you would find that they are there in only very small amounts. However, if your tap water produces scale or build-up, you may wish to reduce the minerals that cause it. This is known as softening water.
How are minerals removed?
Filtering your water by distillation or reverse osmosis methods will take out the minerals, effectively demineralizing it. Distillation is not very practical for tap water use and reverse osmosis is an expensive option and wastes a lot of water in the process.
A better solution is to install a filtering system which selectively filters out unwanted toxins and leaves the beneficial minerals and taste there–as it should be.
A multi stage carbon block filter will leave those minerals there as well as filtering out the unwanted toxins. They are easy to install yourself and have a low operating cost–replacing the filter at 6 month intervals.
In summary, what minerals are in tap water is not as much of an issue as, how do you leave them in there and what toxins do I need to remove from tap water to make it totally safe and pleasant to drink.????
