# Penta bottled water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113 "2005-06-27T23:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/1 "2005-06-27T23:48:16Z")
I was just watching an episode of Unwrapped which featured bottled liquids. Now I know that cable is generally a fount of truth, but there was on claim that made me go :dubious:. The president or spokesman of the company that makes Penta bottled water described the processes that improve yucky, bug and anthrax infested water from the Colorado river. In addition to things like filtration, ultraviolet light, and reverse osmosis, they use a special molecule-changing procedure. The water is subjected to ultrasound waves for a period of 8 hours. This rearrages the water molecules, and “makes the molecules into more of a single-line format so that they can enter the cells more easily.” This rehydrates you more quickly. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/2 "2005-06-28T00:09:11Z")
[Bullshirt!](http://www.chem1.com/CQ/clusqk.html) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/3 "2005-06-28T00:17:11Z")
They’ve been making unproven claims for years. Here’s one comment from James Randi: ‘Penta recently got another heavy comeuppance. On March 2, justifiably startled by advertising that Penta had published in the UK saying that “Penta is proven to hydrate more efficiently due to its unique structure,” and quoting “scientific research” done at the University of California at San Diego and at Moscow University that “Penta improves the environment within your cells,” the UK Advertising Standards Authority looked into all the hyperbole and concluded that the information submitted was not sufficient to prove Penta water had health benefits over and above those of ordinary water or was structured any differently from ordinary water. The Authority told Penta to amend their advertisements and to not repeat claims that implied their product was chemically unique, had been restructured or molecularly redesigned, or that it “hydrated cells” and “improved physical performance” better than ordinary tap water.’ [http://www.randi.org/jr/060305be.html#12](http://www.randi.org/jr/060305be.html#12) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/4 "2005-06-28T00:29:31Z")
[Wikipedia article on Penta Water](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penta_Water) ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/5 "2005-06-28T00:45:05Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I was just watching an episode of Unwrapped which featured bottled liquids. Now I know that cable is generally a fount of truth, but there was on claim that made me go :dubious:. The president or spokesman of the company that makes Penta bottled water described the processes that improve yucky, bug and anthrax infested water from the Colorado river. In addition to things like filtration, ultraviolet light, and reverse osmosis, they use a special molecule-changing procedure. The water is subjected to ultrasound waves for a period of 8 hours. This rearrages the water molecules, and “makes the molecules into more of a single-line format so that they can enter the cells more easily.” This rehydrates you more quickly. :dubious: Their process obviously doesn’t work. It doesn’t magnetize the water before, and after, and during processing. OTOH see [\*\* Healing Water \*\*](http://www.oculusis.com/indexflash.html) Then check our "Microcyn.: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/6 "2005-06-28T03:09:41Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Here’s one comment from James Randi: Good catch. I don’t remember seeing anyting on P&T’s Bullsh!t about this particular claim, but it seems more like right up Randi’s alley. And here I was thinking that Food Network was The Truth’s last battlefied on cable. Marc Sommers is a :wally ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/7 "2005-09-08T16:29:05Z")
One of my jobs at the TV station I work at is sorting faxed press releases and passing them on to those who might find a story-kernel in them. This morning, we got such a release that purports to be a stock tip about a company which is marketing ‘structured water’ worldwide. The release has sentences like, “It is actually absorbed into human cells!” and “Studies have shown that when drinking normal drinking water the body, the body (sic) becomes hydrated but the cells of the body do not.” and “The benefits from thorough absorption are being examined more closely but initial beliefs include; Health Benefits, improved Mental Clarity, Increased Athletic Performance, Increased Metabolism, Improved Cellular Health and overall Proper Hydration.” It is such obvious crap. I wonder how many people will get rich off this stock and how many will lose out once the flim-flam people bail. I expect the second number will be a lot larger than the first. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/8 "2005-09-08T16:50:16Z")
On reread, I realize I didn’t make it clear that this is a different company and a different product name. It is not Penta. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/9 "2005-09-08T16:57:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And here I was thinking that Food Network was The Truth’s last battlefied on cable. Marc Sommers is a :wally Marc Sommers is a TV bubblehead whore just like any other TV bubblehead whore. They dress him up, turn on the lights, and he dances for the camera like a good little monkey. Then he collects his paycheck and goes home. Remember back in the 80s, when he seemed to be hosting every Nickelodeon game show there was? ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/10 "2005-09-08T19:26:10Z")
I can’t believe they’re calling it “Penta”. Some time ago, I worked in the construction industry, and “Penta” was widely know as a pesticide/wood preservative. Short for pentachlorophenol. Nasty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/11 "2005-09-08T19:40:06Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Marc Sommers is a TV bubblehead whore just like any other TV bubblehead whore. They dress him up, turn on the lights, and he dances for the camera like a good little monkey. Then he collects his paycheck and goes home. > > Remember back in the 80s, when he seemed to be hosting every Nickelodeon game show there was? Calling him a whore is completely unfair. Whores provide a service that people value and appreciate, and they work hard to do so. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penta-bottled-water/310113/12 "2005-09-09T12:39:53Z")
At one time I worked for a research organization with many chemists who demanded plain pure _distilled_ water with all traces of contaminants removed. The distilled water used was originally made with commercial laboratory stills which had to be cleaned and delimed on a regular basis. The services department modifided these steam heated stills to redistill the condensate. This resulted in double distilled water. The chemists were elated as they claimed that this was the best water they had ever encountered for chemical analysis work.