We have all been schooled in the importance of water consumption. We’re told too many times to drink about 8 cups per day, but too little about the quality of water we drink and how to ensure we’re getting healthy drinking water.

So even if we are getting enough water, we might not be getting enough hydration. In some cases, we could even be harming ourselves with the water we drink. Learn why you should avoid some waters and embrace others.

What Not To Drink

The following common drinking water options lack the minerals your body needs to properly hydrate itself and may even contribute to disease:

1. Tap water is treated, processed and disinfected by the local sewage treatment center. It is purified with chlorine and treated with fluoride. Tap water has also been linked to cancer.

2. Distilled water is water that has its impurities removed by boiling water and then condensation the vapor into a clean container. However, this process rids the water of important minerals.

3. Developed more than 40 years ago, reverse osmosis involves forcing water through a semi-permeable membrane, moving from a stronger saline solution to a weaker one. The membrane blocks the passage of salt particles and some contaminants. However, this process does not remove small contaminants and removes alkaline minerals from the water, leaving it relatively acidic, which is dangerous to the body’s acid-alkaline balance.

4. Bottled water is something you should avoid, and for very good reason. It is often simply purified municipal water and is devoid of essential nutrients. The plastic containers also leach toxins into the water. If drinking bottled water, make sure it comes from a natural source and is stored in a glass container.

What To Drink

For truly healthy drinking water, stick to water from a natural source that contains inherent, essential  minerals. Well water, artesian or spring water, and mineral water are the most promising options. Well water comes from a hole dug deep in the ground that taps into a water source and then pumps it to the surface. Usually, if you don’t have access to city water, your source is from a nearby well. Natural spring water is bottled at the source while artesian and spring waters, albeit natural, are bottled off-site. Mineral water may be your best bet for healthy drinking water. It is derived from an underground source and has dissolved solids, much of which includes minerals and trace elements, such as magnesium, potassium, and sodium. If buying bottled water, make sure that it is in a glass container to prevent toxins from plastic getting into your water.

Photo Credit: rwhgould

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A bath or drink of water is indeed refreshing, but around the world, water has been reported to do far more than just hydrate and clean. In fact, certain wells and springs are praised for their truly healing waters.

The following 6 of the world’s greatest healing waters give you a glimpse into some of the most major discoveries of medicinal waters around the world.

1. Tlacote, Mexico

Since May 1991, Maitreye has been producing “miracle water,” which is believed to have the cure for just about every ailment, including AIDS and cancer. The well is visited by approximately 10,000 people per day. Visitors trek to the quaint town and wait in a line that can reach more than a mile long, winding down a dusty road, just to get their share of the water. The well was discovered by Jesus Chahin, who observed its healing properties and has since been giving the water away.

2. Pamukkale, Turkey

An impressive sight to behold, the thermal waters on the hillside in Pamukkale, Turkey have created travertines from white calcium deposits that coat a hill like a cotton blanket. Rich with calcium oxide and hydrogen sulfide, the bluish waters are incredibly healing and are among the areas most frequented tourist attractions. It is said that Cleopatra herself bathed in these springs.

3. Nordenau, Germany

Reported to have cured blindness, debilitating back problems, and high blood pressure, a German spring bubbles in a cave located just 100 kilometers east of Dusseldorf. Nestled in a former slate mine in Nordenau, a district of the popular ski resort region of Schmalenberg, the spring was discovered in 1992. So many miracles were reported that the Nordenau springs caught the attention of the scientific community, which went on to acknowledge the water’s healing properties.

4. Nadana, India

In September 1992, water began to flow from an abandoned tubewell. After bathing in the water, villagers in Nadana noticed that it possessed medicinal and so-called “magical” properties. Reported to have healed skin diseases and cured polio, the water attracts major attention. But, despite being offered large sums of money to purchase the well, the town’s mayor refuses to sell the well, saying that it is for the people not for business.

5. Liaoning, China

Zhou Lianghua and his wife Li Guirong, a Chinese couple living in China’s Liaoning province, reported in 1994 that they had disovered the “fountain of youth.” The couple, both more than 80 years old, said that the formerly balding Zhou and graying Li had regained their thick black hair and both developed smooth, wrinkle-free skin by drinking water from the well

6. Yankalilla, Australia

South of Adelaide in South Australia, Yankallilla is site of purported healing water. In 1994, parishioner Susan Fehlburg noticed the image of the Madonna and Child on the wall of the church. In 1996, the incident was reported and soon after, a stream of water was discovered. The water was declared to be the work of the Master who was the Madonna, and that it had healing powers. Two meters from the wall, in line with where the apparition was found, a bore was drilled and the source of the water was found and declared magical and capable of curing illnesses.

Photo Credit: Eleephotography

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The bottled water industry has branded itself by importing water from pristine streams and mountain springs in some of the world’s most exotic places: Fiji, Tahiti, the Swiss Alps. Now you can go ahead and add North Korea’s Demilitarized zone to that list.

If you weren’t seduced by bottled water companies touting the natural, spiritual and physical benefits of wherever their H2O comes from, now you can down a beverage originating in one of the most guarded and protected areas on earth.

DMZ 2km is South Korea’s newest brand of bottled water, selling water from a spring that runs under the Demilitarized Zone, the 4 kilometer-wide buffer zone South and North Korea. What benefits does DMZ 2km water have over the competition? Apparently it’s all about branding, or as some might call it, greenwashing.

“We decided on water from the DMZ because it’s different and the environment there is untouched, so many people think it’s clean,” says Lee Sang-hyo, a spokesman for the company, quoted in the Guardian.

Even if people think the source water is cleaner, you have to wonder what DMZ water will do that others don’t. Make you more skilled as an international negotiator? Make you sleeker and stronger so you look better in an army outfit?

No matter its purported incredible qualities, DMZ 2km is just another brand of bottled water contributing to the industry’s overall impact. Seduced by water from far-off springs and streams, and the convenience of bottled beverages, consumers easily forget about the real effects of bottled water and the industry behind it.

In 2007, the U.S. bottled water industry alone accounted for $11.5 billion. On a global scale, in 2008, over 53 billion gallons of bottled water were consumed. These are not small numbers. Marketing another hip brand of bottled H2O promotes consumption and further waste, so stick to drinking tap water in a reusable bottle.

Photo credit: Guardian

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