A Method Development to Enhance Water Alkalinity for Reducing Health Risks Associated with Unsafe Water
Aram Dawood Abbas 1*
Journal of Angiotherapy 8(8) 1-7 https://doi.org/10.25163/angiotherapy.889849
Submitted: 02 June 2024 Revised: 08 August 2024 Published: 10 August 2024
Abstract
Background: Water is essential for life, sustaining both biological and human activities. It plays a crucial role in the physiological functions of the human body and shapes human civilization. Water’s unique properties and its pH, a measure of its acidity or alkalinity, influence its quality and impact on health. The pH of drinking water is particularly important for microbial activity and human health. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of increasing water alkalinity, with a focus on improving pH levels in tap water through the use of clay pots. Methods: The study was conducted in Sulaymaniyah city, with tap water sourced from the Dokan Dam. Ceramic clay pots, selected for their availability and affordability, were used to treat the tap water. The experiment measured the pH of untreated tap water and compared it to water stored in clay pots over a 24-hour period for 12 weeks. A paired t-test was used to analyze the difference in pH levels between untreated and treated water across two seasons, autumn and winter. Results: The results showed a significant increase in the pH levels of tap water after treatment with clay pots. In autumn, pH values rose by an average of 2.86, while in winter, the increase averaged 2.66. Statistical analysis confirmed highly significant differences in pH between untreated and treated water for both seasons (p = 0.000002), demonstrating the effectiveness of clay pots in raising water alkalinity. Conclusion: The study concluded that clay pots offer a simple and cost-effective method to increase the alkalinity of tap water, improving its quality. This approach can benefit public health, particularly in regions with limited access to advanced water treatment technologies. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects and broader applications of using clay pots for water treatment.
Keywords: Water Quality, PH Levels, Clay Pots, Alkalinity, Public Health
References
ALadwi, M., S., 2005. Water Supply Engineering - Sanitary Engineering 1. Issam Jaber Press, Alexandria, 2005, p:167-168.
Alkhrabya, S., Alfarhan, Y., 2003. Introduction to Environmental Sciences. First Edition, Al-Shorouk House for Printing and Publishing, Amman. p.290.
Altorkmany, J. F., 2005. Geography of Water Resources Contemporary Study on the Foundations and Application. First Edition. Saudi House for Publishing and Distribution, Saudi Arabia, p.20.
Al-Shayea, N. A., 2001. The combined effect of clay and moisture content on the behavior of remolded unsaturated soils. Engineering Geology, 62,4, 319–342. doi:10.1016/s0013-7952(01)00032-1
ALzawi, K., M., 2004. Blue Gold Water in the Arab World. First Edition, The Arab Nile Group, Cairo ,2004, p.149-150.
Aplay, S., Veillette, J. J., Dixit, A. S. & Dixit, S. S., 2006. Regional and Historical Distributions of Lake-Mater PH Within a 100-km Radius of the Horne Smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 6, 179-186.
Atya, M., A., Alsaedy, H., M., Alnasr, M., M., Alsakran, M., A., et al., 2012. Human and Environment. First Edition, House of Hameh for Publishing and Distribution, Amman, p56.
Belevantser, V. I., Ryzhikh, A. P. & Smolyakov, B. S., 2008. Diurnal and Vertical Variability of PH (O2), and Eh in the Novosibirsk Water Reservoir. Russian Geology and Geophysics, 49, 673-681.
Bermúdez , B., Pacheco, Y. M., López, S., Abia, R., Muriana, F. J.G., 2004. Digestion and absorption of olive oil. CSIC Research, 55, 1-10. https:/doi /10.3989/gya. 2004.v55.i1.141.
Brini, E., Fennell, C. J., Fernandez-Serra, M., Hribar-Lee, B., Lukšic, M., Dill, K. A., 2017. How Water’s Properties Are Encoded in Its Molecular Structure and Energies. Journal of Chemical Reviews, 117, 12385-12414.
Health Canada, 2015. Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality: Guideline Technical Document — pH. Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. (Catalogue No H144-28/2016E-PDF).
Carr, G. M., Neary, J. P., Bhardwa, R.M., Chilton, J., et al., 2008. Water Quality for Ecosystem and Human Health, 2 Edition. United Nations Environment Programme Global Environment Monitoring System - Water Program. p16. GEMS
Chartres, C., Varma, S, 2011. Out of Water: from abundance to sacarcity and how to solve the world's Water Problems. FT Press. Retrieved 22 November 2013, p3.
Coops, H., Buijse, L. L., Buijse, A. D., Constantinescu, A., Covaliov, S., Hanganu, J., Ibelings, B. W., Menting, G., Navodaru, I., Oosterberg, W., Staras, M. & Torok, L., 2008. Trophic gradients in a Large-River Delta: Ecological Structure Determined by Connectivity Gradients in the Danube Delta (Romania). River Research and Applications, 24, 698-709.
EPA, United state Environmental Protection Agency, 2007. Secondary Drinking Water Standards: Guidance for Nuisance Chemicals. Available online on, https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/secondary-drinking-water-standards-guidance-nuisance-chemicals.
Hansen, T. H., Thomassen, M. T., Madsen, M. L., Kern, T., Bak, E. G., Kashani, A., et. al., 2018. The effect of drinking water pH on the human gut microbiota and glucose regulation: results of a randomized controlled cross-over intervention. Scientific Reports, 8(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-34761-5.
Grafton, R., Quentin, K. H., 2011. Water Resources Planning and Management. Published in United States of America By Cambridge University Press. New York.
Grave, P., 2009. New Directions in Archaeological Science, Chapter: Melting Moments: Modeling archaeological high temperature ceramic data. Publisher ANU Press, p, 215-232. DOI: 10.22459/TA28.02.2009.15.
Grubmüller, H., 2001. Aquaporins - the perfect water filters of the cell. Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science Press and Public Relations Department. Accessed on 13-DEC-2001.
Joseph, H., 2013. Water Resources: An Integrated Approach. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. London and New York. p6.
Khalil, M., Ahmad, A., 2005. Water in Industry - Processors for Water Purification Industrial and Boiler Feed. House of Scientific Books for Publishing and Distribution, Cairo, p 223.
Laine, T. M., 2016. Development of Ruthenium Catalysts for Water Oxidation. Printed in Sweden by Holmberg, Malmo. Distributor by Department of Organic Chemistry, Stockholm University.p6-13.
Lampert, W., Sommer, U., 2007. Limn ecology, The Ecology of Lakes and Streams. Second Edition, Oxford University Press, New York.
Liu, L., Johnson, H. L., Cousens, S., Perin, J., Scott, S., Lawn, J. E., et al., 2012. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000. The Lancet, 379, 9832, 2151–2161. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(12)60560-1.
Maslanka, W., 2009. Alypical Summer Vertical Diversity of Physical-Chemical Properties of Lake Waters. Limnological Review, 9, 91-96.
Mihu-Pintilie, Alin, Romanescu, Gheorghe and Stoleriu, Cristian. 2014. The Seasonal Changes of the Temperature, PH and Dissolved Oxygen in the Cuejdel Lake, Romania. Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences 9,2, 113-123.
Mîndrescu, M., Cristea, I. A. & Hutchinson, I. A., 2010. Bathymetric and Sedimentological Changes of Glacial Lake Stiol, Rodna Masiff, Carpathian. Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 5, 57-65.
Mitchell, H., H. 2010. The Water in You Water and the Human Body. The Nature of Water: Environment Canada. USGS, Water Science School, p14.
Moundiotiya, C., Sisodia, R., Kulshreshthg, M. & Bhatra, A. L., 2004. A case study of the Jawwa Ramgarh wetland with special reference to physico-chemical properties of water and its environs. Journal of Environmental Hydrology, 12, 1-7.
Nienie, A. B., Sivalingam, P., Laffite, A., Ngelinkoto, P., Otamonga, J.-P., Matand, A., et al., 2017. Seasonal Variability of Water Quality by Physicochemical Indexes and Traceable Metals in Suburban Area in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 5,2, 158–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2017.04.004.
Oram, B., 2007. Water Quality and Pathogenic Disease Laboratories: The Drinking Water Testing Laboratory and Education/ Resource Center. Water Research Center. Center for Environmental Quality, Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Wilkes University. Available at https://www.water-research.net/index.php/about/19-water-library.
R Core Team, 2013. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL http://www.R-project.org/.
Saeedy, H. A., 2015. The Aquatic Environment. Al-Yazouri Scientific House for Printing and Publishing. Amman. p 43, 30.
Stephen, G. T., Martin, R., 1995. "Definition of Clay and Clay Mineral: Journal Report of the AIPEA Nomenclature and CMS Nomenclature Committees", Clays and Clay Minerals, Vol. 43, No. 2, 255-256, 1995.p.255. doi:10.1346/CCMN.1995.0430213
Guggenheim, s., & Martin, R. T. (1995). Definition of clay and clay mineral: joint report of the AIPEA and CMS Nomenclature Committees. Clay Minerals, 30(03), 257–259. doi:10.1180/claymin.1995.030.3.09
Sterling, T. M., 2004. Transpiration – Water Movement Through Plants, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science. New Mexico State University, p3-4.
Sun, Ke, Saadi, F. H., Lichterman, M., F., Hale, Wi. G., Wang, H., Zhou, X., Plymale, N. T., et al., 2015. Stable Solar-Driven Oxidation of Water by Semiconducting Photoanodes Protected by Transparent Catalytic Nickel Oxide Films. Journal of PNAS, 112, 3612-3617.
Vennesland ,B., Stotz, E. H., 2019. Chemistry. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. https://www.britannica.com/science/biochemistry. Accessed date, June 5 2020.
WASH National Programme, 2016. Urban Water Supply, One WASH Plus Learning Module in Support of the One WASH National Programme. Available at https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/pluginfile.php/172417/mod_resource/content/1/Urban_Water_Supply.pdf
Water Systems Council (WSC), 2007. Information for you about pH in Drinking Water. Well care® publications. www.wellcarehotline.org. Published by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed on 5 June 2020.
WET Foundation, 2010. Aqua Bodies, what is the difference between a raisin and a grape? Water! Healthy hydration. Available at, https://www.projectwet.org/sites/default/files/content/documents/hydration-activities.pdf.
World Life Expectancy, 2015. ‘World health rankings, Ethiopia: diarrhoeal diseases. [Online], Available at http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/ethiopia-diarrhoeal-diseases.
Zhang, T., Wang, C., Liu, S., Wang, J., Lin, Wenbin, 2013. A Biomimetic Copper Water Oxidation Catalyst with Low Overpotential. Journal of American Chemical society, 136, 273-281.
View Dimensions
View Altmetric
Save
Citation
View
Share