The qualities of different waters

Excerpt from the book "Hidden Nature - The Startling Insights of Viktor Schauberger" by Alick Bartholomew

The qualities of different waters

Although good water is tasteless, without colour or smell, it quenches our thirst like nothing else. In order to be healthy, we need to drink, according to some authorities, 1-2 litres (5-9 pints) of good quality water a day. Some types of water are more suitable for drinking than others. In Chapter 12 we shall consider some of the choices we have of improving the quality of the available water before we drink it. High quality water should contain elements of both geospheric (female) and atmospheric (male).

Distilled Water
Considered physically and chemically to be the purest form of water. Its nature is to extract or attract to itself all the substances it needs to become mature itself, and therefore absorbs everything within reach. Such water is really quite dangerous if drunk continuously long-term. The 'Kneipp cure' uses distilled water for its short-term therapeutic effect, where it acts to purge the body of excessive deposits of particular substances.

Rainwater
If it has not been affected by industrial pollution (acid rain), rainwater is the purest naturally available water. Slightly richer through the absorption of atmospheric gases, it is still unsuitable for drinking in the long term. When drunk as melted snow-water, it also gives rise to certain deficiencies and if no other water is available it can on occasion result in goitre, the enlargement of the thyroid gland.

Juvenile Water
Juvenile water is immature water from deep underground sources, like geysers. It has not mellowed sufficiently on its passage through the ground. It has not developed a mature structure and contains some minerals (geospheric elements), but few gases (atmospheric elements), so as drinking water it is not very high grade (cf most spa waters which arise from mineral rich depths).

Surface Water
Water from dams and reservoirs contain some minerals and salts absorbed through contact with the soil and the atmosphere. Its quality deteriorates through exposure to the Sun, to excessive warming and to chemicals and other pollutants. Although most urban communities now depend on this source, generally speaking it is not good quality water.

Groundwater
Groundwater has a higher quality due to a larger amount of dissolved carbons and other trace salts. This is water emanating from lower levels, seeping out at the surface after passage along an impervious rock surface. Often this is now polluted by the chemicals of industrial agriculture.

Spring Water
True spring water has a large amount of dissolved carbons and minerals. Its high quality is often shown by its shimmering, vibrant bluish colour. The product of infiltrating rainwater (full complement of atmospheric gases) and geospheric water (full complement of minerals, salts and trace elements), this is the best water for drinking, and it often retains this quality in the upper reaches of a mountain stream. Commercially bottled 'springwater' is unfortunately not always of the best quality — many are not from true springs — even if it is bottled in glass rather than the plastic which impairs its quality.

Other Groundwater
Artesian water is obtained from boreholes and is of unpredictable quality. It may be saline, brackish, or fresh. Water from wells can vary from good to poor, depending on how deep is the well and what stratum of water is tapped, and they can be polluted by nitrates and herbicides.