Water has existed in nature for billions of years. However, why the natural water in rivers, lakes and seas will not expire after billions of years of wind and rain, and people can't drink bottled water after one year? What is the difference between natural water and bottled water? What is the secret behind bottled water? One mystery after another puzzles us and pushes us forward on the road of science.
Historical origin
On the earth, water has a very beautiful name: the source of nature and life. We can live for a while without food, but water is a necessity for human survival. Imagine if the water on the earth disappears, the mountains and rivers dry up, the land dries up, plants wither and animals die ... the earth without water is actually another disaster. When water disappears on the earth, the diversity of nature disappears without a trace.
Four billion years have passed since the first drop of water appeared on the earth. For 4 billion years, mountains and rivers have been flowing, and the water source has never stopped, and it has always maintained freshness and vitality. On the other hand, the process of human making and transforming water sources: in order to ensure the purity and drinkability of water sources, people will process the natural water depth to form bottled water. Careful observation shows that natural water will never expire, but why does bottled water only have a shelf life of 1 year?
Four billion years ago, an ocean composed of liquid water appeared on the earth, and the earth began a dynamic water cycle. With the progress of science and technology, we have been able to make water by chemical reaction, but this technology is difficult, costly and the return is quite limited. Therefore, at present, most of the water existing on the earth still comes from the primitive ocean. The formation of water needs a long physical process, in which the form of water is ever-changing, but the composition of water will not change. In the constant movement and change, water always keeps the vitality of life, so the water of nature will never expire.
Hidden Secrets
Since natural water will never expire, why does bottled water with the same ingredients only have a shelf life of 1 year? The short shelf life of bottled water is not the problem of natural water, but a substance different from natural water is produced during processing.
First of all, bottled water has a mystery. At present, most bottled water on the market is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is a polymer compound. With the passage of time, PET will age, and at this time, low-molecular compounds will be released into the water, which is also the chief culprit of water quality deterioration.
Another factor that bottled water is easy to expire is the degree of contact between water and the external environment. If the sealing of bottled water is good enough and the water in the bottle is not in contact with the external environment, then the natural water remains in its original state. Water molecules are very stable and are not easy to be destroyed.
Under such circumstances, if strict sterilization and disinfection are carried out, microorganisms and bacteria in natural water will also be killed, and bottled water will never deteriorate at this time. If all sealed bottled water cannot be degraded, this bottle of water will exist in this world forever and will never expire. Judging from the current technology of making bottled water, human beings have not enough ability to completely seal bottled water, so many microorganisms will be produced inside bottled water, which will cause certain pollution to the water body, thus leading to the deterioration of the water body.
Running water will never stink.
There is a folk saying that running water does not rot, and family members do not bite. Not all water in nature will not go bad. Water that has not deteriorated after billions of years is actually related to its permanent fluidity. If the water in nature is always in a stagnant state, then this pool of water will become a hotbed for microbial breeding. Even natural water may deteriorate under the pollution and destruction of microorganisms.
If the water in nature keeps flowing, the situation will be very different. Because water is in long-term operation, the ecosystem it exists will change constantly, and the ecosystem with many ecological participants is stable. In order to maintain balance, the self-healing ability of this ecosystem is also super strong. In a powerful ecosystem, water also has a strong self-purification ability, which can eliminate microorganisms in water in time and ensure its purity to the greatest extent.
Dead water is called stagnant water, and the oxygen content of such water source is extremely low, so it is difficult to decompose organic matter. The suffocating environment breeds many anaerobic organisms, and the existence of these organisms increases the possibility of deterioration of stagnant water sources. In the process of flowing, the oxygen in the water source can be dissolved quickly, so the oxygen content in the water source is continuously increased, the microbial decomposition speed is accelerated, anaerobic organisms cannot survive, and the possibility of water source deterioration is very small.
Although flowing water will not deteriorate, it does not mean that all natural water can be drunk. Scientists discovered groundwater through exploration 2 billion years ago. Although there are no microorganisms in this well-preserved water, the groundwater is rich in minerals and metals and is not suitable for drinking.
Excessive trace elements and metals in water will do harm to human body. Although the initial content is small, it will eventually cause irreparable harm to the human body over time. This is why people will process billions of years of non-perishable water into bottled water with a shelf life of 1 year even if it is easy to expire. The purified water does not contain microorganisms, bacteria and excessive minerals, so it is safe for people to drink.
Water is a non-renewable energy source, not inexhaustible. At present, the world water consumption situation is not optimistic, and many countries and regions are still in a state of extreme shortage of water resources. In this case, it is everyone's responsibility to protect water resources and improve the utilization rate of water resources. If water, known as the source of life, disappears from the earth, all life raised by water cannot survive. Don't let the last drop of water on the earth become people's tears.