What Minerals are in Tap Water?

To learn what minerals are in tap water, you need to learn a little bit about the geology in your area. The mineral content of the rocks in your area determines the mineral content of your tap-water. When a mineral becomes dissolved in water, they are sometimes referred to as electrolytes.

We need electrolytes to maintain good homeostasis or hydration of the cells of the body. We get them from the food that we eat, but the US RDA reports that the mineral content found in tap-water around the country helps people meet their minimum daily electrolyte requirements.

If we look at what minerals are in tap water, we may find calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and copper. Most people do not like the taste of copper and calcium, but potassium and sodium are pleasant tasting. They are also the most important electrolytes for homeostasis.

If you use a home purifier to remove chlorine and other hazardous contaminants, you should make sure that it DOES NOT affect the naturally occurring mineral content. Reverse osmosis reduces the mineral content, as it reduces the content of things like lead and cysts.

Selective filtration devices contain different steps to remove lead and cysts. Those steps do not affect the mineral content. One of them, ion exchange, which removes lead, helps to balance the mineral content, preventing hardness and improving taste.

As you are learning what minerals are in tap water, you might also want to learn about hazardous contaminants that are in your supply. The University of Cincinnati has made it relatively easy to do that. They have created a searchable map that allows you to click on your city and found out what purification steps are needed in your home.

The map shows that everyone in the US needs a home purifier, if only to reduce chlorine and chlorination byproducts, as exposure to those byproducts increase a person's lifetime risk of cancer. Exposure can occur through drinking, showering or bathing in chlorinated supplies. But, regardless of the purification method used by your facility, disinfection byproducts of one type or another will always be present.

So, anyone whose source requires disinfection must make sure that their purifier is certified to remove "THMs". Most systems are not certified to do that. It takes an adsorptive block, with multiple filtering media, including carbon and resins.

The map also shows the cysts were found in all but 10 supplies around the country. Submicron filtration will remove cysts without removing what minerals are in tap water. An adsorptive block with a submicron sized porous structure will remove cysts, which could otherwise cause chronic illnesses among your family members.

Those pores also prevent water from channeling around the filtering media. So, every drop of your water is the cleanest and best tasting possible.

When you learn what minerals are in tap water, you learn that drinking more water is good for your health, but only if you have the right purifier in your home.