RAW WATER: BEVERAGE DE JOUR

I watched a robin splashing to its delight in our bird bath. Moments after it flew away, another robin arrived to drink to its delight. When I was a young child, my parents rented a vacation cottage in the north woods of Wisconsin, along a lovely lake. One morning, I saw the owner leave her cabin, walk to the shore and fill her coffee pot with lake water. "I always use this water for coffee" she explained to my parents. "The lake water is so clear."

It seems that the new drink craze has discovered "Raw Water". Of course, the dietary buzzword these days is "organic." To be healthful, food must be organically grown. So, for example, a carrot qualifies as organic if it is free of everything, except for high price.

However, in addition to being organic, it also seems that food must be either undercooked or more likely, RAW. Thus, we have raw vegetables, raw milk, raw honey and possibly even raw meat. Frankly, it is retro hunter-gatherer before discovery of fire.

So, now we have raw water as the "drink". What makes water "raw"? Clearly, raw water is water in its natural, untreated state--as it comes from a well, or a spring, or even a lake in Wisconsin. It contains all of the naturally occurring substances, dissolved or in suspension, added by its source.

For most of history, humans and robins have been drinking raw water. At the same time, many have become ill or died from contaminants in raw water. For example, in the United States cholera caused by drinking water was all too common. It was not until approximately the beginning of the Twentieth Century that chlorination was implemented to treat public water supplies to more safe levels.

Today, of course, thanks to the Environmental Protection Act public water supplies receive treatment for all sorts of contaminants identified by EPA, in compliance with standards promulgated by EPA.

On the other hand, raw water remains available via wells serving residential, commercial and farm buildings where central water systems do not exist; and, of course, bottled spring water is generally available.

One situation where raw water has been long promoted for health are spas such as in Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad), Czech Republic. Indeed, doctors send their patients there to drink the waters, which are deemed curative. Speaking from personal experience, hordes of visits can be seen carrying small vessels of the "water" seeking its restorative qualities, but never wandering too far from the soon needed water closet (toilet). I am aware of a water utility in the United States whose well water contained a high amount of a sulphur compound, resulting in a high level of customer complaints about the need for frequent bathroom visits.

Public water supplies are treated for a reason: for health and safety. Raw water can taste good and make good coffee. However, not all raw water is equal. Its drinker must know its drink.

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© Daniel J. Kucera 2018