Distilled water is water that has been boiled into vapor and condensed back into liquid in a separate container. Impurities in the original water that do not boil below or near the boiling point of water remain in the original container. Thus, distilled water is a type of purified water.
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for human consumption, but water purification may also be carried out for a variety of other purposes, including medical, pharmacological, chemical, and industrial applications. The history of water purification includes a wide variety of methods. The methods used include physical processes such as filtration, sedimentation, and distillation; biological processes such as slow sand filters or biologically active carbon; chemical processes such as flocculation and chlorination; and the use of electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light.
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large carboys for water coolers.
Dasani is an American based brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola Company, launched in 1999. It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world. The product is filtered and bottled.
A water dispenser, known as water cooler, is a machine that dispenses and often also cools or heats up water with a refrigeration unit. It is commonly located near the restroom due to closer access to plumbing. A drain line is also provided from the water cooler into the sewer system.
A water filter removes impurities by lowering contamination of water using a fine physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to different extents, for purposes such as: providing agricultural irrigation, accessible drinking water, public and private aquariums, and the safe use of ponds and swimming pools.
Purified water is water that has been mechanically filtered or processed to remove impurities and make it suitable for use. Distilled water was, formerly, the most common form of purified water, but, in recent years, water is more frequently purified by other processes including capacitive deionization, reverse osmosis, carbon filtering, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, ultraviolet oxidation, or electrodeionization. Combinations of a number of these processes have come into use to produce ultrapure water of such high purity that its trace contaminants are measured in parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt).
Water softening is the removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning effort, as soap is not wasted bonding with calcium ions. Soft water also extends the lifetime of plumbing by reducing or eliminating scale build-up in pipes and fittings. Water softening is usually achieved using lime softening or ion-exchange resins, but is increasingly being accomplished using nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membranes.
Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one species of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid. Ion exchange is used in softening or demineralizing of water, purification of chemicals, and separation of substances.
Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food conglomerate founded in 1894. One of the best-known food processing companies in the U.S., Beatrice owned many well-known brands such as Tropicana, Krispy Kreme, Jolly Rancher, Orville Redenbacher's, Swiss Miss, Peter Pan, Avis, Milk Duds, Samsonite, Playtex, La Choy and Dannon.
LifeStraw is a brand of water filtration and purification devices. The original LifeStraw was designed as a portable water filter "straw". It filters a maximum of 4,000 litres of water, enough for one person for three years. It removes almost all waterborne bacteria, microplastics and parasites. A bottle was later developed which incorporated a LifeStraw cartridge into a 650-millilitre (22 US fl oz) BPA-free plastic sports water bottle. In addition to these portable filters, the manufacturer produces high-volume purifiers powered by gravity that also remove viruses. These are designed for family and community use.
Nanofiltration is a membrane filtration process that uses nanometer sized pores through which particles smaller than about 1–10 nanometers pass through the membrane. Nanofiltration membranes have pore sizes of about 1–10 nanometers, smaller than those used in microfiltration and ultrafiltration, but a slightly bigger than those in reverse osmosis. Membranes used are predominantly polymer thin films. It is used to soften, disinfect, and remove impurities from water, and to purify or separate chemicals such as pharmaceuticals.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distributions. RO can remove dissolved or suspended chemical species as well as biological substances, and is used in industrial processes and the production of potable water. RO retains the solute on the pressurized side of the membrane and the purified solvent passes to the other side. It relies on the relative sizes of the various molecules to decide what passes through. "Selective" membranes reject large molecules, while accepting smaller molecules.
Zip Industries is a privately owned Australian business founded by Michael Crouch AC. It manufactures and markets instant boiling water systems. These are sold in more than seventy countries, where they are specified for use in kitchens, hospitals, universities, schools, and homes.
Raw water is water found in the environment that has not been treated and does not have any of its minerals, ions, particles, bacteria, or parasites removed. Raw water includes rainwater, ground water, water from infiltration wells, and water from bodies like lakes and rivers.
Crown Maple Syrup is a certified organic maple syrup company based in Dover Plains, NY. The company was established by Robb Turner in 2010. The sap used to produce maple syrup comes from tapped maple trees in areas ranging from the Hudson Valley to Western Vermont. The syrup is processed and bottled at Madava Farms on an 800-acre site. The farm is considered to be the largest maple syrup production facility in North America.
ELGA LabWater is the laboratory water brand name of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies. ELGA manufactures, supplies and services water purification systems for use in general, R&D, healthcare and clinical laboratories. Its offices and distributors are located in more than 60 countries.
Quooker is a company from the Netherlands that manufactures mixing taps with integrated heating elements, as well as soap dispensers, water filters and water softeners for removal of minerals from hard water. The company was founded in 1987 by Henri Peteri and his son Niels Peteri. The company holds several patents on both the boiling water tap and other products. Quooker is currently active in 16 different countries as of 2023, and has more than 400 employees. All products are manufactured at their 11,000-square-meter (120,000 sq ft) factory in Ridderkerk, the Netherlands.
Point of use water filters are used in individual houses or offices to provide filtration of potable water close to the point of consumption. The related topic, Point of use water treatment describes full-scale water treatment options and technologies designed to serve communities when municipal water treatment fails or is unavailable.
