WATER; AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT

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Water is like an asset to nature because every living thing needs it, and that simply explains how important it is. In fact, the importance cannot be exaggerated; water plays a lot of roles for us as humans and for nature as a whole. It is one thing to have access to water; it is another to have access to clean, safe, and healthy water. Water can look really clean, sparkling, and pure to our naked eyes, but it still contains some impurities.

Sachet water is very common in my country, and these days, I get really scared to drink it because of my past experiences. This one is very recent; I was really thirsty a few days ago when I went out with my brother, and I got this sachet of water I saw nearby. The smell and taste were so horrible, and the sachet of water itself suddenly felt like irony. You know why? We often refer to these sachets of water as "pure water" in my country, and it was obviously so impure a child would be able to tell. Just yesterday, I went to a function with my mom, and before they could get us table water, they gave us these sachets of water, and I took a sip since I was thirsty. Guess what? It had a very weird taste as well; I was really disappointed.

Although I wouldn't say table water is purer than sachet water, I have never had that kind of experience with table water. The only issue I have with table water nowadays is this sharp taste they have that disguises itself as "pure" but is actually just chemicals evident in the taste, and I think it might pose some health risks later in the future because the effects will not be immediate.

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While disinfectants like chlorine are widely used to make water safer to drink, I do think they should not be used excessively in order to not expose consumers to other health risks. When I was younger, my mom bought these sachet purifiers, and we performed a lot of experiments with them. We'll fetch well water, clean or not, and we'll pour this purifier into it and stir for some minutes. The dirt would start to gather, and we'd be able to extract the cleanest part of the water. I was always excited anytime we did this, and most times, we saved the water to cook only.

Personally, the water I have access to most of the time is borehole water—not those ones where machines will be inserted in wells but those that come directly from inside the ground. There was this particular time when I was still in school, and I had no choice but to stop buying sachet water. I can't really recall the reason, but then I had to boil the borehole water from my hostel to drink and cook with. I think that is one traditional and advisable way to keep water pure. I was not used to it at first, but I later realized that it perfectly expresses the definition of water: a colorless, odorless, and tasteless substance.

Also, it is very important to keep storage tanks closed at all times and properly cleaned regularly.

It is very sad that there are some parts of the world where they do not have access to clean water; it's the most basic thing every human ought to have access to. It is very important to the general function of our body system; it does a lot more than most people actually think.

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Thanks for reading❤️