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Access to clean drinking water is essential for human health. In this lesson you will learn what makes water potable, how potable water is produced in the UK, and how processes differ between regions with plentiful rain and those where fresh water is scarce. This is a key topic in AQA GCSE Chemistry: Using Resources.
Potable water is water that is safe to drink. It is not the same as pure water in the chemical sense.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Pure water | Water that contains only H2O molecules and nothing else; boils at exactly 100 degrees C and freezes at exactly 0 degrees C |
| Potable water | Water that has sufficiently low levels of dissolved salts and microbes to be safe for drinking |
Potable water still contains dissolved substances — small amounts of dissolved minerals are actually beneficial and give water its taste. The key requirement is that the levels of dissolved salts and harmful microorganisms are low enough not to cause illness.
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