There is no doubt that water is essential for life, but the problem is that regular tap water is loaded with hazardous contaminants and impurities. Consuming these can be dangerous to human health.
Due to this reason, people all around the globe, especially in the US, they have started purifying their tap water to make it clean and safe. For this, they use different purification methods, and one of the most widely known and used one is boiling.
However, the question is, does boiling water actually purify water? Or it’s just a misconception. In this Frizzlife blog, we are going to address this question in complete detail.
Also, read our blog about Does Drinking Tap Water Dehydrate The Body
Does Boiling Water Purify It?
The answer is almost “yes,” boiling water removes viruses, bacteria, pathogens, and other toxic microorganisms from the water, making it clean and safe for consumption. Wondering how this process works? There is no need to look around; we are here to explain.
When the water is heated to its maximum boiling point, which is 100 degrees Celcius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This increase in temperature efficiently kills all the microorganisms including bacteria, parasites, pathogens, and viruses also. And then results in water that is not only safe to consume but also tastier to drink due to the removal of harmful substances.
Now, one question that appears here is how many minutes you should boil the water at the above-mentioned temperature. However, the answer to this question depends on the amount of water you are boiling. Generally, it is suggested to boil it for around 3-5 min.
Spoiler Alert: For proper purification, it is highly necessary to boil the water according to the recommended time.
However, it is important to note that if your home’s water is polluted with heavy metals or sediment, then boiling will never be able to eliminate them.
Benefits of Boiling Water For Purification
Apart from killing or removing common contents from the water, there are multiple other benefits of boiling the home’s water; some of the major ones will be discussed in this section.
1. Highly accessible and simple:
This is obvious that, boiling the water to make it clean and safe requires minimal effort. All you have to:
· Just collect the water container.
· Put water into it.
· Place it on fire for heating.
· Done.
This quickness makes boiling water a highly suitable option in terms of emergency cases. Additionally, it does not require any kind of strong knowledge and can be easily done without requiring any specialized tools or equipment.
2. Highly cost-effective:
As compared to other ways or methods of purifying water, boiling is highly cost-effective. Not just this, it is also cost-effective as compared to chemical filtration systems. This cost-effectiveness makes boiling the go-to option for common individuals.
3. Widely recognized & used method:
Due to less cost and ability to kill most of the hazardous contaminants in the tap water. Boiling is widely recognized and used by the public, big organizations, and especially water suppliers as well.
So, these are some of the major benefits of boiling water. However, apart from the benefits, it also has some limitations as well that are covered in the heading below.
Some Downsides of Boiling When It Comes to Purification
As we already mentioned, boiling does not remove all the contaminants from the water. So, the very first downside will be its in-effectiveness.
1. Do not eliminate all contaminants/impurities:
Severe toxic contaminants and impurities such as chemicals, heavy metals, and sediment are usually found in tap water. If your water is also polluted with these and you are trying to purify it through boiling, then unfortunately, you will never be able to remove it.
As high-temperature during boiling will only kill viruses, bacteria, and pathogens in the water.
2. Take too much time:
Do you know? Boiling the water in order to purify it can be quite a time-consuming process, especially when the water is a large quantity. This is so because, you have to wait for a while until the water reaches its maximum boiling point. This does not stop here; you then have to leave the boiled water open so that it can cool down for easy consumption.
3. Require energy:
To boil water, you will require a good amount of energy (heat). This can also be a downside if you live in an area where gas facilities are highly expensive or too limited, then you may not consider boiling your home’s water for purification. Instead, you can consider going with the filtration techniques or methods that we have discussed in the sections below.
More Effective Methods For Purifying Water Rather Than Boiling
Below are some highly effective water filtration methods that will eliminate a number of impurities and contaminants from the water.
1. Water Filtration Systems:
Water filtration systems are specially designed systems that work to filter out a wide range of contaminants and impurities from the water. Apart from making water clean and safe, these systems also enhance the overall taste and odor.
There are different types of filtration systems that you can use to efficiently purify water. These types include undersink filters, reverse osmosis (RO) filters, pitcher filters, and many more. Each of these systems makes use of different technologies to deal with contaminated water.
The good thing about water filters is that they provide a consistent supply of purified water on demand.
2. Use chemical treatments:
Apart from filtration systems, you can also use chlorine treatments to purify water instead of boiling. Here, chemical treatments refer to the use of disinfectants such as chlorine, iodine, and others.
When you add chlorine disinfectant to the water, it will efficiently kill or remove bacteria, viruses, etc from the water.
However, while adding disinfectant, whether it is chlorine, iodine, or any other, be sure about the amount. An increase can also be dangerous.
3. Consider UV purification:
Ultra-violet purification can also help you efficiently treat contaminated water. This purification method involves using UV radiation to kill toxic microorganisms and impurities in the given water.
The UV radiates greatly and causes damage to the DNA of bacteria, viruses, etc, resulting in clean and safe water.
Wrapping Up
Boiling water does purify the water, but not completely. It only eliminates bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. In this article, we have explained the procedure behind purifying water through boiling. Along with this, we also discussed some more effective options that you can consider using.