Le fake news about water are a growing problem in the digital age influencing crucial health decisions. The water sector is particularly vulnerable to misinformation for two main reasons: water is an essential good that generates universal interest and it represents a billion-dollar market with strong commercial incentives. Social media accelerate the spread of false news before experts can disprove it.
Various categories of disinformationfrom misleading marketing of mineral water (with slogans such as 'water that eliminates water') to false beliefs about dissolved minerals, from the pseudoscientific alkaline diet to groundless innovative technologies such as hydrogen-enriched water. Particular attention is paid to 'vitalisers' and unfair business practices, including outright scam attempts such as the manipulated electrolysis test.
Defending against misinformation requires always checking sources, favouring peer-reviewed scientific publications, distrusting miracle promises and consulting qualified experts. DKR, a leading company in water dispensers since 1983is committed through its 40 years of experience to providing accurate information based on solid scientific evidence. The fight against fake news about water is a public health issue that needs coordinated efforts.
In the contemporary digital communication landscape, the fake news about water pose a growing threat to accurate scientific information. We at DKR, a leading company since 1983 in the water dispensers for offices, educational institutions and Horeca sector, we decided to dedicate this blog post to a topic that we touch upon daily in our professional activity. Our long experience in the sector has in fact led us to be constantly confronted with the numerous hoaxes and misinformation circulating about water, making it necessary to always take an approach based on solid scientific evidence.
We have referred to the valuable contribution of the "The Handbook on Water' by Giorgio Temporelli, technical advisor and scientific popularizer expert in hygiene, regulations and water treatment technologies. When it comes to water, the vital element par excellence, the spread of false or misleading news takes on particularly worrying dimensions, influencing decisions that directly affect people's health and well-being.
The water sector constitutes an ideal environment for the proliferation of fake news about water for several strategic reasons. Firstly, water is an indispensable element for human life, naturally generating global interest and widespread concern about everything related to it. Secondly, the water market moves substantial economic capital, from bottled mineral water to domestic treatment plants, creating strong commercial incentives for aggressive and sometimes misleading marketing practices.
The speed of information dissemination through social media has exponentially amplified this phenomenon. Today, fake news can reach millions of people in a matter of hours, often before experts have time to verify its reliability and provide evidence-based denials.
The advertising world of bottled water presents numerous examples of misleading communication that feed fake news about water. Catchy slogans such as 'Water that eliminates water', 'Helps you feel young' or 'Health waters' suggest miraculous properties specific to certain brands, when in fact many advertised benefits are characteristics common to any good quality drinking water.
Particularly misleading is the tendency to emphasise the 'diuretic power' of some mineral waters. This characteristic is not exclusive to specific brands, but represents a physiological property of water in general: any water suitable for human consumption, taken in the right quantities, naturally promotes hydration, thermoregulation and diuresis.
Another category of fake water news concerns the minerals in water. Sodium, for example, is often demonised through advertising campaigns that emphasise its absence or low concentration, even using specific units of measurement to make values seem lower. However, sodium is an essential element for the proper functioning of the body, and the amount taken in through water is generally negligible compared to that from food.
Similarly, calcium and magnesiumwhich determine the 'hardness' of water, are wrongly associated with the occurrence of kidney stones. Scientific research has never demonstrated direct correlations between the consumption of water rich in these minerals and stone formation. On the contrary, these elements perform vital functions for bone and cardiovascular health.
Among the most popular but scientifically unfounded fake news about water is that of the alkaline diet, according to which the consumption of alkaline foods and beverages alters the pH of the blood, conferring greater resistance to disease and infection. This theory completely ignores the physiological mechanisms of blood pH regulation: the body's buffer system, coordinated by the respiratory and urinary systems, constantly maintains the blood pH around 7.4, regardless of diet.
The water ionisersexpensive devices that promise to produce alkaline water with beneficial properties, commercially exploit this false belief. These devices subject mains water to filtration and electrolysis processes, separating the acid and basic streams, but there is no scientific evidence to show any health benefits from consuming water treated in this way.
The market is constantly coming up with new technologies presented as revolutionary. Molecular hydrogen-enriched water, also marketed as 'diatomic water'is proposed as a solution to increase antioxidant levels and reduce oxidative stress. However, the very low concentrations of hydrogen attainable (about 1 mg/L) do not present scientific evidence of benefit to the human body.
Similarly, the oxygen-enriched waters promise improvements in physical and mental performance. A simple calculation demonstrates the inconsistency of such claims: even if we drink 2.5 litres of enriched water per day, the oxygen supply would be about 7000 times less than that obtained naturally through breathing.
Of particular concern is the area of 'unconventional' water treatment technologies, which is one of the most fertile fields for fake water news. This includes the so-called vitalisers or water 'computerisation' systems. These devices promise to impart special properties to ordinary water through processes that have never been scientifically proven, improperly using physical terminologies such as 'energy', 'field' and 'resonance'.
The theoretical principles behind these technologies, such as Masaru Emoto's 'positive resonance' or Jacques Benveniste's theorised 'memory of water', have been repeatedly disproved by the scientific community. Despite this, they continue to be commercially exploited to justify the sale of products of high cost and non-existent effectiveness.
Some business practices reach the level of outright fraud. The electrolysis testused to discredit mains water by comparing it with the osmoticis an emblematic example. The coloured precipitate formed during the test does not result from pollutants in the tap water, but from corrosion of the iron electrode, a phenomenon that does not occur with osmosis water due to its low electrical conductivity.
Recently, even more unfair practices have spread, such as the sale of water treatment equipment passed off as medical devices, with false promises of tax relief from 80%. Such equipment is governed by specific regulations and cannot be marketed as medical devices.
Protecting against fake news about water requires a methodical and critical approach. The first step is to always check the sources of information, favouring peer-reviewed scientific publications and official communications from recognised bodies. È important to be wary of of extraordinary claims that are not supported by solid scientific evidence and of products that promise miraculous benefits without providing adequate technical documentation.
Consulting qualified experts and requesting factual evidence are key tools to distinguish between scientifically based information and misleading marketing operations. In an age of information overload, critical discernment becomes an essential skill to protect one's health and wallet.
The fight against fake news about water is not only a matter of correct scientific information, but a public health imperative which requires the coordinated efforts of institutions, media, experts and aware citizens. DKR, through its 40 years of experience, acts as a careful observer of this phenomenon, always striving to provide accurate information and evidence-based solutions; if you have any doubts or questions about our activities, please contact us.
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