Beijing tap water so hard, can drink?

Drink hard water is harmful to the health www.thebeijingnews.com? · 2007-8-26 6: 51: 33 ·

Source: Beijing News

The "hard water" and "soft", the two words many people sounds familiar, but probably not many people know the concept, from a little knowledge and speech born of "fear, fear of hard".

For example, a friend of the mother-in-law is very afraid of drinking hard water, worried about drinking out of stones.

In fact, the hardness of the water is water with calcium and magnesium ions concentration.

Natural water, groundwater, in particular the number contains calcium and magnesium ions. Some of these ions is calcium carbonate or bicarbonate, magnesium in the form of water, a kettle on your head, the bicarbonate into bicarbonate, carbonate is solubility not settle down. In simple terms, is formed. There is no need to worry about drinking water does not boil, furring will open in the stomach, the intestines get into flecks, because there is a lot in human body fluids, bicarbonate, ensure that there is no precipitation out carbonates.

However, the water of calcium and magnesium ions concentration is too high for many other problems.

Calcium and magnesium ions can be generated with the SOAP role in insoluble stearate, affecting SOAP removability; the boiler water if you have too high concentrations of calcium and magnesium salts, boiler wall forming scale, reduce the thermal conductivity of boiler; use this water for cooking pickles, will influence the taste of scale precipitation.

Necessary water inside the calcium and magnesium ions concentration in a standard, if too high will not fit for living water.

Water in calcium carbonate content can come to calculate the hardness of water, hardness unit 1PPM as one, on behalf of 1 mg/l of calcium carbonate content. Generally, higher than can be called hard water 170PPM, and below the water as water softener 80PPM. Our latest drinking water standard of hardness standard is 450PPM. the data show, Beijing water hardness generally 300PPM to 600PPM. but not all of the hard water in precipitation scale after boiling, as calcium and magnesium ions may also to Kraft or chloride salt forms exist. They will not be heated chemical changes.

Therefore this kind of hard water called permanent hard water — you can't eliminate through the mundane means of calcium and magnesium ions, and said the bicarbonates caused by hard water is called temporary hard water.

In fact, calcium and magnesium are necessary minerals the body.

Calcium is an important component of bones, magnesium is the nervous system functioning is indispensable.

But mineral supplement excess will have problems.

Calcium too much will prevent the absorption of other minerals, and magnesium intake too much will create magnesium toxicity.

Therefore we need to calculate the potential intake of calcium and magnesium in total.

The hardness of the water by Beijing, 600 mg/l of calcium carbonate content, if you drink 2 litres of water a day, then the total calcium magnesium intake of less than 600 mg, and this is assuming that you drink water that is permanent hard water.

According to the results of the study area Dietetics, daily intake of calcium and magnesium separately even 1000 mg, is not a big problem. In General, drink hard water will not cause more calcium magnesium poisoning, no stones, can rest assured to drink — — if you don't mind hard water the inconvenience and discomfort mouthfeel.

If the area of the hard water significantly exceed the national standards, such as reach over your 1000PPM times the amount of water is relatively large, so to be safe, you really should consider softening the hard water and drink it.

□ Kyi 13 (Biology)