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Variation in Tap Water Mineral Content in the United Kingdom: Is It Relevant for Kidney Stone Disease?

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Summary

Survey of publicly reported water composition data for 66 of 76 UK cities, examining calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sulphate concentrations in relation to kidney stone disease risk. The study reports median values by country (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) and demonstrates statistically significant regional differences. England had the highest mineral concentrations overall; Scotland had the lowest.

Key numbers

From Table 1 (p. 2 to 3):

  • England: median magnesium 4.65 mg/L (range 1.30 to 31.80 mg/L)
  • Scotland: median magnesium 1.59 mg/L (range not extracted from abstract)
  • UK overall: median magnesium 4.65 vs. 1.59 mg/L comparing hard and soft water regions
  • Pairwise comparison showed statistically significant differences across the UK for water composition (p. 2 to 3)
  • Male recommended intake for magnesium: 300 mg/day; female: 270 mg/day (UK reference values, cited at p. 7)

Evidence Fitness

Modeled or limited evidence. Data compiled from publicly reported utility figures for 66 cities; not independent analytical measurements. Single country. The regional variation finding is well supported, but the absolute concentration values depend on the accuracy of the utility-reported figures.

Methods (brief)

Compilation of publicly available annual drinking water quality reports from UK water providers for 66 of 76 cities. Unpaired t-test for regional differences. No independent laboratory analyses. Data year not specified in extracted text.

Implications

  • Courses: illustrates the within-country regional variation in tap water magnesium and the difference between hard-water (England) and soft-water (Scotland) regions.
  • App: no contamination_profile implication; magnesium is a nutritional analyte here, not a hazard analyte.
  • Microbiome: no direct connection.

Provenance notes

Open access (PMC OA subset). Retrieved from PMC Open Access (pmc-oa-opendata S3). SHA256 verified against MANIFEST.csv.

Update history

No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.

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