Mineralization of Drinking Water as Indicator of Water Quality and Factor of the Influence to the Human Health

Abstract

Purpose. The hygienic aspect of drinking water safety and quality can be defined by the indices of epidemic safety, sanitary, chemical and radiation indices, as well as the optimal content of mineral substances, i.e. a mineral composition adequate to the physiological need of a human body: total hardness, total alkalinity, the content of iodine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, fluorine and solid residual (mineralization) Assessment of drinking water mineralization as indicator of water quality. Possible impact of mineralization level to the health of population in urbanized territories of Ukraine. Methods. Assessment of drinking water mineralization level is based on water supply organizations providing the investigations in the different urbanized territories of Ukraine. Results. The estimation of drinking water mineralization from surface and underground sources for water supply of local urbanized territories of Ukraine had been done. Also the analysis of water quality indicator in this content and possible influence on human health had been presented. Conclusions. Fluctuations of mineralization and indicators of the physiological usefulness of the mineral composition compared with the range of optimum had been marked as a distinguishing. After clearing underground waters in pumped-out complexes, their mineralization is usually reduced to an optimal value, but also significantly reduces the concentration of calcium, magnesium and other essential elements. Numerous literary indications indicate a connection between the level of mineralization (composition) of drinking water and the state of health of the population. There is a correlation between the level of mineralization (balance of mineral composition) of drinking water and human health. Long-term consumption of drinking water with an imbalance of essential mineral components can be one of the negative impacts on public health.