Water is absolutely essential to life.  In fact, it can make up to about 70% of our body weight.  Although water is important in our daily lives, many of us still don’t consider just how important slight changes can be to our daily drinking water supply. 

Water is a chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen and while pure water can be purchased (distilled water), most of us drink water with many substances- many of them helpful already included in our water.  Since water’s chemical nature is to dissolve practically every substance it comes into contact, overall ingredients in water will vary substantially from source to source.

There are many types of water available for consumption; perhaps the most popular types of water available include tap water, filtered water and spring water.  Here is some information regarding each.

Tap Water
Tap water is water that has been processed (usually by a municipal authority); however the source of the tap water can come from a variety of different sources.  For instance, tap water can come from reservoirs, fresh water lakes, desalination plants and even processed from sewage. 

Since delivering safe drinking water is the top goal for municipal water departments, the water is usually processed with several chemicals, most notably chlorine to clean the water, removing harmful bacteria and making it safe for consumption.  Tap water while safe to drink, is usually met with lots of resistance from the public.  Although tap water is safe, cheap and delivered straight to your faucet, most people never drink it straight from the tap due to the fact that it may have an unpleasant taste.

Filtered Water
Filtered water is one of the most popular types of drinking water that is consumed by the public today.  In fact, filtered water can be purchased as bottled water; in addition the same water that is bottled is also used in soft drinks such as sodas, ice teas, sports drinks, etc. 

What is filtered water? Well simply put, it is tap water that has been processed by the bottler.  The bottler in most cases has added sugar, flavoring and carbonation in the case of soda, but filtered water is also bottled as clear, refreshing drinking water as well.  In the case of filtered water being used for bottled water, this tap water is filtered further removing certain substances that can affect taste and sometimes certain substances such as calcium and sodium are added to enhance taste.

Spring Water
For those looking for a purer type of drinking water to consume, you might want to look into natural spring water.  Spring water comes straight from the source without any processing.  Springs are water deposits deep within the earth.  Many springs are water deposits from ancient glaciers and while extremely pure, they include certain minerals that enhance the taste.  Many spring waters that are bottled are sometimes called mineral water due to the fact that many minerals are found within the spring water that enhance its taste.