Healthier eating and drinking.
It's a commitment that many of us make.
Drinking more water is a great start.
The benefits of drinking water are numerous.
But with all of the options available,
which water is the best water to reach for?
(water pouring)
Here at the Texas Water Development Board,
we're huge fans of water. It's what we do.
So, we thought we'd go on a hydration exploration
and ask Texans about types of water
and what's behind their labels.
Then, we sat down with our in-house expert,
to find out the facts.
I'm Larry French.
I'm the Director of the Groundwater Division
at the Texas Water Development Board.
Do you think that tap water is as good for you
as bottled water?
I don't know if there's necessarily a difference
in benefit-wise.
I think they're about the same.
They're not necessarily better for you.
Generally, tap water is perfectly safe.
It's from a municipality (water running)
or water supplier that's adhering to the state standards.
Bottled water, similarly,
is water that's often from the same source
and just undergoes some additional treatment processes,
maybe to remove impurities.
What is purified water?
Water that has been cleaned in some fashion.
Purified water is water that has undergone
various levels of treatment to remove impurities,
and that can be through reverse osmosis,
or distillation, or other processes, basically
to reduce the mineral content of the water.
So, what type of water do you drink and why?
Distilled water.
Distilled, all right. Yup.
Mostly because I have a CPAP machine,
and it's just cheaper for me
to just buy a whole bunch of it at one time
and not have to distinguish tap water
from any type of other water
before I just stick it into my machine.
What is distilled water?
I want to say it's water
that's been purified by boiling it or something.
It's just a different means of cleaning the water
so it's safe to drink.
Basically, distilled water is when you boil water,
collect the steam,
then condense the steam,
and then that's the water;
that is distilled water.
So, it's basically pure--pure water,
only water, no mineral content at all.
Where does sparkling water come from?
From factories or something. I don't know (laughing).
Sparkling water is water that's basically carbonated.
It can be naturally carbonated
or it can be injected with carbon dioxide
to give it that bubbly feel to it.
What is tonic water?
I don't know.
I know people use it to mix drinks,
and that's about it.
It's supposed to have some kind of alkalines in it.
Yes, he's correct.
Tonic water does have an alkaline substance added,
typically quinine.
What is mineral water,
and where does it come from?
A spring?
And or minerals being added to water from springs.
Yeah. Mineral water
is simply water that has minerals added to it.
It may be natural occurring
or it may be some additionals,
but it has calcium, magnesium,
maybe other salts that can be added for flavor.
You know, many people think that the,
for health reasons,
mineral water can be beneficial.
And certainly at the right levels,
it can be just fine.
But there isn't any particular advantage of mineral water
over other sources of water.
So, there are many options available
to help you stay hydrated.
But which type of water is the best?
I'd say the water that you enjoy the most
is the best one,
and that can be tap water, sparkling water--
whatever water it is, just drink it.