water pollution?

Question

how to ditect whether the water is pure or potable without knowing its pH value

Answer 1

To determine whether water is pure or potable, some methods would include:

1) color (the clearer the better)
2) smell (looking for the lack of an odor)
3) presence of material in the water (known as turbidity - generally the more visible material in the water the more contaminated)
4) knowing the water source (i.e., a lake that has birds & other animals in/around it is more likely to be contaminated)

Answer 2

Triple distill it.