Requested by protectingourfuture and imsodonewiththisflipsatablebye
Water at its basis is only hydrogen and oxygen: H2O. The water from your faucet, however, has tons of minerals dissolved and mixed in, like calcium, magnesium, and iron. These minerals are generally good for you, but other water can be filled with all sorts of contaminants, from dirt to bacteria to oil. Contaminated water can sicken, poison, or even kill whatever drinks it, and the ecosystem around it. Suicune runs the countryside and purifies contaminated water, saving pokĆ©mon across the land.Ā
Purifying water is not as simple as throwing it through a filter; it takes several steps to remove contaminants and make the water safe to drink. The first step in water purification is usually pHĀ adjustments. pH is a measurement of how acidic something is; pure water has a pH of 7. Salty seawater can have a pH as high as 8.4. If a waterās pH is too low, a baseĀ (such as lime, soda ash, or sodium hyrdoxide) can be added to adjust.Ā
Some contaminants are small or so well dissolved that they can be difficult to remove. The next step in water purification, called coagulation orĀ flocculation, makes particles easier to remove by clumping them together into larger particles. This is typically done by the addition of iron salts or aluminum sulfate, which cause a reaction that changes the charges of the ions dissolved. Mix it up a bit and precipitates can form and clump together.
Now that the particles in the water are larger, they can start to settle and sink through sedimentation. The larger particles succumb to gravity and form a sludge near the bottom, leaving the much purer water on the top. The sludge can then be more easily removed and treated.
Particles still left in the water are often removed using dissolved air flotation. Tiny air bubbles will be pumped into the water, and will catch onto the remaining sludge particles in the water as the float to the surface, form a film and can be removed that way.
The water should now be disinfected, to kill any harmful microbes and bacteria that might be swimming around. Adding iodine or chlorine will do it, as well as boiling or exposing the water to ultraviolet rays. The heat and radiation, or chemicals will poison and kill the microbes, cleaning the water.
Only now is the water ready for filtration. Water can be filtered through coarse material like sand or through permeable membranes, the idea being that any larger particles will be left behind as the tiny water molecules can flow freely through the tiny holes.
This whole process is how water is purified in the industry, so letās use what weāve learned to figure out how Suicune performs its magic.Ā
In the fourth pokĆ©mon movie, suicune purifies the Lake of Life by jumping across it. Itās clearly based on direct contact, so we can assume the aura (and the particles flying off of suicune) create some kind of chemical reaction which purifies the water.
Thereās no visible filtration happening here, so based on what we know, Suicune is probably causing the contaminants in the water to coagulate, clump together and sink to the bottom very quickly. Additionally, it likely kills the harmful microbes in the water, either through another chemical or through the energy that suicune gives off.
To purify water, suicune releases a chemical which causesĀ contaminantsĀ in the water to clump together and sink to theĀ bottom, leaving only pure water on the surface.
