Knowing the pH of your drinking water may be the difference between good health and harm.
By Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director, Kosi India, a TSPL Group Company
Be it from the designer water dispenser, a bottle of plastic, or the local borewell down the street, there is one thing that must remain constant—purity. One of the most telling indicators of water quality is its pH level.
pH effectively quantifies a solution’s acidity on a scale of 0 -14. For tap water, the ideal should be somewhere between 6.5 and 8.5. So why’s it important? Because water that is overly basic or acidic adds undesired flavour and may also have an impact on one’s health in the long run.
What is pH and Why Should You Care?
pH is the measurement of how many hydrogen ions are present in a solution. pH may ask. What’s so bad if the water has high acidity of below 6.5? For one, it would corrode pipes and leach heavy metals like lead and copper into your water. Alkaline water (>8.5), although stylish, is not for all, especially those with kidney ailments or on certain medications.
“pH is a kind of vital sign for water,” explains Dr. Meenal Kapoor, a water chemist and environmental scientist. “It does not reveal everything, but it provides a critical hint regarding the chemical equilibrium and possible impurities.”
Case Study: When Groundwater Goes Rogue
A recent study by the Central Ground Water Board raises alarm bells. In urban areas of Delhi and many more, groundwater pH levels have dipped below 6.3—signaling rising acidity. What’s behind it? Industrial waste and unchecked urban runoff. This acidity doesn’t just corrode pipelines; it opens the door to dangerous metal contamination, quietly seeping into the very water we drink.
The RO Dilemma: Is Too Pure… Harmful?
Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems, which come advertised as the gold standard for water purification, indeed pull out unhealthy contaminants, but at times at the expense of valuable minerals. RO systems are common to leave water with a pH level as low as 5.5 to 6.0, or even more acidic.
Lab tests by the Consumer Safety Forum revealed that three out of five home RO systems produced water outside the recommended pH range.
Brand Insight: What Kosi India Is Doing Right
Some bottled water brands are taking pH and mineral content seriously. One such brand is Kosi India, which prioritizes quality assurance in every batch.
“At Kosi India, we maintain our water within the optimal pH balance—neither too acidic nor artificially alkaline,” says Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director of Kosi India. “We aim to give water that quenches thirst as well as contains a balanced level of minerals for complete well-being.”
Conclusion: Time to Test What’s in Your Glass
Clean water isn’t as much about what’s removed—it’s also about what remains. Adequate pH level can be the distinction between water that only quenches thirst and water that helps your body.
In an era of health tracking and conscious living, it’s well past time that we paid more attention to something as simple—and vital—as the pH balance of the water we all consume on a daily basis.