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Did
you know?
Reverse osmosis is the finest water filtration method known. This process will
allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. It is used
to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the
color, taste or properties of the fluid. R.O. uses a membrane that is semi-permeable,
allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting
other ions and contaminants from passing.
This technology uses a process
known as crossflow to allow the r.o. membrane to continually clean itself. This
is the reason of why an r.o. element can last many years before clogging or
need replacement. This
water purification process requires a driving force to push the fluid through
the membrane, and the most common force is household water pressure or pressure
from a booster pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving force and
efficiency.
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What
is spring water and how is it so safe?
A
spring is a water resource formed when the side of a hill, a valley bottom
or other excavation intersects a flowing body of ground water at or below
the local water table, below which the subsurface material is saturated
with water. A spring is the result of an aquifer being filled to the point
that the water overflows onto the land surface. They range in size from
intermittent seeps, which flow only after much rain, to huge pools flowing
hundreds of millions of gallons daily.
Springs
are not limited to the Earth's surface, though. Recently, scientists have
discovered hot springs at depths of up to 2.5 kilometers in the oceans,
generally along mid-ocean rifts (spreading ridges). The hot water (over
300 degrees Celsius) coming from these springs is also rich in minerals
and sulfur, which results in a unique ecosystem where unusual and exotic
sea life seems to thrive.
Springs
may be formed in any sort of rock. Small ones are found in many places.
In Missouri, the largest springs are formed in limestone and dolomite
in the karst topography of the Ozarks. Both dolomite and limestone fracture
relatively easily. When weak carbonic acid (formed by rainwater percolating
through organic matter in the soil) enters these fractures it dissolves
bedrock. When it reaches a horizontal crack or a layer of non-dissolving
rock such as sandstone or shale, it begins to cut sideways, forming an
underground stream.
As
the process continues, the water hollows out more rock, eventually admitting
an airspace, at which point the spring stream can be considered a cave.
This process is supposed to take tens to hundreds of thousands of years
to complete. The amount of water that flows from springs depends on many
factors, including the size of the caverns within the rocks, the water
pressure in the aquifer, the size of the spring basin, and the amount
of rainfall.
Human
activities also can influence the volume of water that discharges from
a spring-ground-water withdrawals in an area can reduce the pressure in
an aquifer, causing water levels in the aquifer system to drop and ultimately
decreasing the flow from the spring. Most people probably think of a spring
as being like a pool of water-and normally that is the case. But, as this
picture of the wall of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA shows, springs
can occur when geologic, hydrologic, or human forces cut into the underground
layers of soil and rock where water is in movement. Water from springs
usually is remarkably clear. Water from some springs, however, may be
"tea-colored." This picture shows a natural spring in southwestern Colorado.
Its red iron coloring and metals enrichment are caused by ground water
coming in contact with naturally occurring minerals present as a result
of ancient volcanic activity in the area.
In
Florida, many surface waters contain natural tannic acids from organic
material in subsurface rocks, and the color from these streams can appear
in springs. If surface water enters the aquifer near a spring, the water
can move quickly through the aquifer and discharge at the spring vent.
The discharge of highly colored water from springs can indicate that water
is flowing quickly through large channels within the aquifer without being
filtered through the soil. The quality of the water in the local ground-water
system will generally determine the quality of spring water.
The
quality of water discharged by springs can vary greatly because of factors
such as the quality of the water that recharges the aquifer and the type
of rocks with which the ground water is in contact. The rate of flow and
the length of the flow path through the aquifer affects the amount of
time the water is in contact with the rock, and thus, the amount of minerals
that the water can dissolve. The quality of the water also can be affected
by the mixing of freshwater with pockets of ancient seawater in the aquifer
or with modern seawater along an ocean coast.
So,
should you feel confident about whipping out your canteen and filling
it with cool and refreshing spring water? No, you should be cautious.
The temperature of an Ozark spring comes from its passing through rock
at a mean annual temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit. The water is crudely
filtered in the rock, and the time spent underground allows debris and
mud to fall out of suspension. If underground long enough, lack of sunlight
causes most algae and water plants to die. However, microbes, viruses,
and bacteria do not die just from being underground, nor are any agricultural
or industrial pollutants removed.
By
the way, a spring is defined as a concentrated discharge of ground water
to the surface. Ground water flows through aquifers (literally, water-bearers)
from recharge areas, on uplands, where it is replenished by rainfall and
snow melt to discharge areas, in valleys, where it flows to the surface
into streams and rivers, providing them with dry-weather flow (see diagram
above from Driscoll, 1987). When the flow paths are focused by either
topographic or geologic factors, ground water will flow to the surface.
Most
springs in can be generally classified as gravity springs. The water flowing
from the recharge area has energy derived from the higher elevation of
that area. This gravitational energy forces the water to move through
the sand or rock of the aquifer. Most of the time, the energy is pretty
much used up by the time the ground water discharges to a stream. Most
springs are less spectacular than this. They often form where the slope
of the land is steeper than the slope of the ground water surface (the
water table), so that the ground water reaches the surface and flows out.
A
spring develops best when the flow of this discharging water erodes the
surface soil, forming a gully or rill, thus creating a low spot where
more water can discharge. Such springs often form the headwaters of small
streams, and are common around the edges of sand plains in southern Maine.
The spring may continue to grow as the gully deepens and lengthens back
into the slope, capturing more water. Water can also find its way to the
surface through natural bedrock fractures, or through a sand layer sandwiched
between clay layers.
These
more permeable collectors, again, serve to focus the flow of ground water
so that it flows from a small area instead of seeping from the entire
hillside. The original Poland Spring was described in 1909: "The water
issues from cracks in a dike of porphyry which is about 10 feet wide at
the spring and strikes about N 80 degrees W, as nearly as can be estimated"
(Clapp and Bayley, 1909). There were many developed springs in the late
1800's and early 1900's.
A
1906 U.S. Geological Survey census showed 44 commercial springs in southern
Maine alone. Public water supplies were often from rivers and lakes (108
of 149), but many (29) communities used springs as their source of supply.
Only a few springs still supply water to municipal supplies. Commercial
springs often bottled water for the local market. Bottles of spring water
were hauled by wagon from the spring, where they had been filled, to town,
and delivered to customers.
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