Importance of pH in our lives
No, you don't often hear your local news broadcaster say "Folks, today's pH value of Kuala Lumpur is 6.3!" But pH is quite an important measurement of water. Maybe for a science project in school you took the pH of water samples in a chemistry class... We always overlook on pH with our surroundings. Not only does the pH of a stream affect organisms living in the water, a changing pH in a stream can be an indicator of increasing pollution or some other environmental factor.
pH (potential Hydrogen) is a definition and measurement units to measure of how acidic/alkaline water is. The range goes from 0 - 14, with 7 being neutral. pH of less than 7 indicate acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates alkaline.
pH is a measure of the relative amount of free hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in the water. Water that has more free hydrogen ions is acidic, whereas water that has more free hydroxyl ions is alkaline.
Since pH can be affected by chemicals in the water, pH is an important indicator of water that is changing chemically. pH is reported in "logarithmic units". Each number represents a 10-fold change in the acidity/alkalinity of the water. Water with a pH of five is ten times more acidic than water having a pH of six.
pH in our living systems
Compartment pH
Gastric acid 1.5 - 3.5
Lysosomes 4.5
Granules of chromaffin cells 5.5
Human skin 5.5
Urine 6.0
Cytosol 7.2
Blood 7.34 – 7.45
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 7.5
Mitochondrial matrix 7.5
Pancreas secretions 8.1
As you see, pH is everywhere, even within our body. We have different pH from different organs, and blood is the most directly involve our health because it flow through our whole body. If the blood pH is below or above 7.34 – 7.45, you will feel dizzy or tired. Out of many options to maintain the pH level, drinking water is the most direct & convenient way.
pH in drinking water
R. O. 6.6 - 6.8
Bottle drinking water (white cap) 6.6 - 6.8
Distil water 7.0
Bottle mineral water (blue/green cap) 7.3 - 7.6
Multi stages filter (new) 7.2 - 7.8
Multi stages filter (filter expired) 6.6 - 6.8
Ionized water (alkaline) 7.5 - 10.5
Ionized water (acidic) 3.5 - 6.5
So make sure your filters are periodically replaced, otherwise the bacterial content of the water may actually increase due to the growth of bacteria and substance within the filter unit, and will lower your drinking water pH.
