Introduction

There has been a raging debate about the place of ethanol and bottled water at the public realm. Ethanol has been condemned not to be in full supply to the public while bottled water has been seen as the safest way of accessing water when in urgent need.

Composition of Water and Ethanol

Water is a familiar composition basic for life of human beings. It is made up of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. It is found in two ways namely; tap water and distilled water. Tap water is not highly purified and hence it contains amount of Salts, Nitrates, Chloral, Fluoride and microorganisms. Moreover, we have Bottled water as the second type of water. Bottled water also is known as Distilled water is prepared through purification of boiling water and water vapor that results into separation of impurities and distilled water leaving water in its purest form. This is achieved by condensation of steam (Darlene, 2010).

However, Ethanol is a colorless liquid with pleasant smell of agreeable odor. It is made up of two mixtures of Alcohol and water at a percentage of 95% and 5% respectively. In its nature is a chemical compound prepared in a special way containing molecules of hydroxyl group. A solution of ethanol and water is prepared through distillation of fermented sugars. This fermented sugar provides raw materials of Zymase, an enzyme from yeast that changes simple sugars into Ethanol and carbon (IV) oxide. This fermentation process is represented by a simple equation as shown below.

C6H12O6   → 2 CH3CH2OH + 2 CO2

According to the form of preparation, Pure Ethanol is not obtained through only distillation method hence a dehydration agent is added to remove the remaining water producing pure Ethanol. It is used in making synthetic Rubber, as an automotive fuel, Provides gasohol when mixed with gasoline and forms chloroform and many other organic chemicals (Adela, 1983).

Ethanol, bottled water and politics

Ethanol is a chemical therefore; people in authority have been debating about its supply to people without proper education on the effects of ethanol. Politics have influenced the distribution of ethanol to the public since it is said that it should not be accessible to every body without approval from physicians.

For many years, bottled water was not recommended by governments of different nations because it was believed that it can be easily contaminated with chemicals like chlorine that could affect the health of a person but it has been a big debate on whether to approve it to be distributed to people at affordable rates or not. Bottled water is preferred than tap water because it is pure and easily potable than tap water. More so, during emergency it is easy to supply bottled water to the victims like the case of Haiti where many people in need of water after the disaster (Adela, 1983).

Conclusion

All in all, Politics have influenced the use of ethanol and bottled water both positively and negatively as discussed above.