Better Water Solutions

Weight loss and the water connection.

Whatever diet you choose it will inevitably mean cutting out many things that add to weight gain, whether you are on a low fat diet, calorie controlled diet, GI, GL, meat free, fat free, combination, etc, etc, but cutting out water must not be one of the things that you reduce, it is pointless and can be dangerous.

Most people on a controlled diet to lose weight are also chronically dehydrated

Too many people who are attempting to lose weight end up in a state of chronic dehydration because they don't want to drink water for fear that it will add water weight to their bodies, so they deliberately restrict the amount of water and other fluids that they drink, and this is a very big mistake indeed, admittedly they will lose some water weight in the first few days but then they will stall, for lack of water! they haven't lost any body fat at all but they have managed to put themselves in a state of chronic dehydration

By not drinking enough water you will slow your weight loss down signicanly

Dieters who reduce their water consumption actually impair their body's ability to metabolize fat In reality; being fully hydrated is a prerequisite to weight loss. If you want to lose weight, you have to give your body enough water so that it's no longer in a state of emergency. When the body is in a state of chronic dehydration, (or a state of emergency), it will not let go of fat supplies easily. It wants to hold on to everything it can eat or drink.

The only way to convince your body to let go of body fat, and start metabolizing body fat, is to drink a lot of water - enough water so that your body feels safe in letting go of unneeded calories

Caffeine is also another water-depleting drug. Consuming caffeine in any form, whether soft drinks or coffee or pills, creates a diuretic effect in your body, which means your body begins to eliminate water through urination, so before you ever start your diet you should make your mind up to stop taking in caffeine in any form and to cut out all Cola type drinks and sweet fizzy drinks of any kind, and replace them with water, drinking enough water will also reduce fluid retention.

Drinking water may be the most important ally to losing weight

Without enough water  kidneys cannot function properly so as a result, some of their  workload is diverted to the liver, and because metabolizing fat is a primary function of the liver, and because the liver can't function at peak levels when taking on the added workload from the kidneys, less body fat is metabolized and more is stored. This leads to either weight gain or reaching a plateau of weight loss (stalling). Also by restricting your diet and eating less you are restricting your water intake further, since about 30% of the average person's water intake comes from the food they eat, so that's even more reason to raise our water intake.

When you consider water is calorie free, fat free, cholesterol free and is low in sodium it is nature's appetite suppressant, and it helps the body to metabolize fat. Current research shows that low water intakes yield an increase in fat deposits; conversely, a high water intake reduces the amount fat deposits.

But do not take this as a reason to drink more water in place of food, it can be dangerous, drinking enough water whilst following a sensible diet will work in harmony with each other to help you reach your goals.

Lack of water and your brain.

Here is another important thing to consider 85% of brain tissue is water and it must be kept hydrated at all times, if not it can lead to depression, give you headaches, cause confusion and have  muddled thoughts, just a 1% drop in water to the brain can lead to a 10% drop in concentration and learning abilities, although you may not make the connection between your weight loss and lack of water to the brain, it can have a devastating effect on your diet, as many dieters connect their feeling of depression and headaches onto their diet and either give up or suffer unnecessarily.

Water and Constipation

Constipation is a fact of life for most dieters because of their lack of water intake, as the body becomes more and more dehydrated, digestion slows down and as the body doesn't get enough water, it takes what it needs from internal sources, he colon is a primary internal source. When this happens, constipation usually follows, if you increase your intake of water accordingly normal bodily functions will return: constipation and headaches are closely related when you are dehydrated.

Don't overdo the drinking of water, but aim to drink 8 to 10 glasses a day, and space them out throughout the day, don't wait until you feel thirsty, if you wait this long damage has already started. Start the day with litre of water before you do anything else and wait an hour before you eat anything, but always have a good breakfast, this is not the time to starve yourself!

Try to eat five times a day instead of the normal three times and drink a glass of water 10 minutes or so before your meals, this will help your stomach to feel satisfied and aid digestion and keep you internal organs functioning, and all of this will help with your weight loss. If you are contently hungry on your diet, change it, you should neither be hungry or thirsty whilst dieting, it's bad for you mentally, It's bad for your body and it's bad for your health.

Compare Water Softeners

Compare Water Softeners     

Purchasing the right water softener for your household circumstances can be confusing, because of the many different makes and types on the market, and of course every company claims that theirs is the best!

So, we at Better Water Solutions decided that it was time for an explanation and a comparison, and in doing so try to be impartial.

 

There are a few things that will help to determine what softener is best for you, whilst remembering that the cheapest may not always be the best choice, and on the other hand the dearest may be costing unnecessary  money.

 

So to start with it will be necessary to determine how many people live in the property, and thereby  using the water,  the actual size of the house is not a real consideration, because two people (for instance) living in a 2 bedroom bungalow will use the same amount of water as if they lived in a 5 bedroom house.

 

Next it is important to know the degree of hardness in your water, 250mg of Calcium Carbonate is considered hard water, but can easily go up to 400mg in different parts of the country, so it is important to match the water softener to the conditions in your area.

We also need to know what flow rate is needed in your house? This is a very important question because if you end up with the wrong water softener, you may need to buy a new one later on.

 

Knowing the type of hot water system that you have in your house is also very important. Do you have a traditional plumbing system, where you have a boiler, hot water storage (cylinder, normally in an airing cupboard) with an Immersion Heater fitted, and a cold water tank in the roof space?

Or do you have a Combination boiler (combi) that heats the water directly as the tap is being run? with this type of system there will be no hot or cold storage tanks,Combi boilers are normally fitted for households with a low water usage.

You may have an Un-vented system (Megaflow) with a large hot tank, (normally white) again situated in an airing cupboard, this type of system does not require cold water tank in the roof, but instead is supplied with water directly from the cold water supply pipe from the street, and requires a much higher flow rate than the two previous systems described, and does require a boiler,so unless you buy a water softener that can deliver 50 lites of water a minute in real life terms ( not just on a test bench) you may be in for a disappointing time ahead.

 

  “There is an estimated 1.36 billion cubic kilometres of water or ice covering the World”

 

Single tank (traditional)   twin tank, split tank, block salt, non electric, timer, and meter operated, these are some of the confusing terms used to describe water softeners.

Some are cheaper than others and some are more economical to run and some last longer than others, some are easy to service and some are hard, and with prices running from £450.00 to £1100.00 it's important to know why, obviously, it starts with the build quality (and what part of the world it comes from,) is it made cheap just to make a quick sale, are the components reliable, will it last, if it lasts can service and spare parts become a problem, is its life expectancy 20 years plus?

 

We have no more and no less water on our Planet than there was at the beginning of time, it is the ultimate recyclable product, but only about 1% of it is available for our use, the rest of it is in the Oceans and locked up (currently) in the south and North Poles

 

Why is water hard?

 

When rain falls it is naturally soft, having been evaporated from the earth's surface, rivers, lakes and the sea as well as plants and trees, it leaves behind contaminants and eventually forms water droplets and again falls to earth as rain again completing the water cycle, but as it percolates through the limestone and chalk layers in some parts of the country (approximately 60% is hard) it dissolves and collects these minerals as dissolved solids of calcium and magnesium.

As water slowly passes through the strata it collects more and more scale until it finally reaches our underground storage caverns, or aquifers, it is from these deep aquifers that the majority of our hard water is drawn from by our water supply companies and is delivered to our household supplies as hard water.

 

How does a water softener work?

 

 A water softener is specifically designed to remove the damaging Calcium and Magnesium salts from your incoming water supply that deposit themselves as hard water scale in your plumbing and heating systems, washing machines, showers, hot tanks etc. Calcium and Magnesium causes scaling and rusting, when water is heated this process is accelerated and can in some cases block water heaters and heat exchangers in as little as 2 years

 

 

The basis of all water softeners is a medium called ion exchange resin it changes calcium and magnesium salts that cause hardness to sodium salts and is then termed soft. Hard water is passed through a sealed column filled with millions of tiny beads of the ion exchange resin, as it passes through the resin, hard water minerals are attracted to the beads and  are locked to them. 

 When a water softeners has collected all of the hardness it can it has to be cleaned, this is done automatically by a salt brine solution and is known as “regeneration.” A small amount of the salt brine rinses off the accumulated hardness and it is washed harmlessly to drain, the sodium from the salt remains on the resin to be “exchanged” for the hardness minerals and is again ready to soften the water again.

 

All water softeners work in the same way as described above, and all water softeners (should) give perfectly softened water, the main difference in water softeners is quality of manufacture and quality of materials, some require electricity or batteries to operate a timer, and some rely solely on water pressure. A traditional single tank softener is built for longevity and normally tailored to suit individual households.

 

 

Electric (Timer) operated water softeners.

This type of traditional water softeners use either batteries or 12v mains power to run a simple time operated softener, and is programmed to initiate the regeneration (cleansing) cycle of your water softener after a predetermined time, for example a 4 person household in an area with 300ppm of hardness, will set their water softener for every third day, for two people that would probably mean every 4/5 days.

These softeners were the main types used until recent years, and are great softeners for those people who have a fairly constant and predictable water usage, however if you increase the amount of people in the household, you will exceed its capacity and you will run out of soft water, so you must reset the softener to suit the new circumstances, or if it's just for a few days there is a manual over ride button to give an immediate extra regeneration. On the other hand if you don't use all of the available softened water between your pre set times, you will be wasting salt and water, because your softener will regenerate regardless, the same applies if you use no water at all when you are away.

 

 

Electric (meter) operated water softeners

During the past few years Meter operated water softeners have grown in popularity and are now the water softener of choice for most people, although they are (initially) more expensive to buy (about a £100.00) they really come into their own when it comes to salt economy and the savings that they make on water used.

Unlike a timer operated softener there is no clock to set, instead there is a turbine at the entry point of the softener that actually measures the water being used, and automatically adjusts the water softener to the conditions at any particular time so that there is no unnecessary regeneration, and means no wasted water and no wasted salt, and because the turbine only turns when water is being used, it will not work whilst you are away, on the other hand if you have guests staying for a few days, it will sense the extra demand on water used and automatically adjust itself so that you don't run out of softened water. With the combination of the turbine and microprocessor control, this type of water softener is very accurate in its operation.

 

 

Will a magnetic or electrical scale reducer do instead?    

 Although this type of equipment is sometimes marketed as a water softening devise and are sold very cheaply, they merely keep the hard water scale "in suspension" in the water, so the water will still be hard, to soften water the calcium and magnesium minerals that cause hardness must be removed, there is no other way.

These minerals are removed by ion exchange, and are the only way that will remove all hardness completely from your mains water supply, and as an added bonus any existing scale will be dissolved leaving the system clear of deposits.

 Gadgets that claim to soften water by electrical current or magnets just do not work, the treated water remains hard but may not form into the same crystal structure as before, however it is still hard and will have little or no affect on soaps, shampoos, and detergents and will revert to its former state when the water is stored, they may have some beneficial results when directly connected to a cold tap for filling a kettle, as it may leave a less harsh form of scale that can more easily be cleaned out.

If you are at all concerned about the increased level of sodium in your drinking water, one of these devises may be of benefit to prevent your kettle scaling up and may be a handy addition to having a water softener fitted where a concerned householder want a separate hard water supply for drinking water purposes, leaving the rest of the house totally protected from the damaging effects of hard water.

 

 

Water with a hardness of 300 ppm contains approximately 75mg of sodium per pint, so if you drink the recommended amount of water a day as tea, coffee or just plain water that amounts to just 9% of the average daily intake of sodium (3500mg) from all sources.

To put it in perceptive,

      1 pint of water    = 75mg of sodium.

  1 slice of bread      = 375mg of sodium.

      1 glass of milk   = 175mg of sodium.

  1 rasher of bacon  = 1500 mg of sodium.

Almost all manufactured and natural foods and drinks contain higher levels of sodium.

 

 

Block salt or non electric water softeners

This type of  water softener has been about for twenty years or so, and have two distinct advantages (and some disadvantages) over a traditional softener.

In the unlikely event that your house doesn't have an electrical supply, this type of softener comes into its own.

Whilst their "foot print" size is about the same as a traditional softener, they tend to be shorter.

With this type of softener there is a restriction on where you can buy the salt, and "shopping about" for more competitive prices is difficult, and they tend to cost about twice as much to run.

You will need to put more salt in your softener at more regular intervals, about 2/3 weeks as opposed to a traditional softener, every 6/8 weeks.

Because they are very low capacity, they need to regenerate much more often, sometimes 3-4 times daily instead of 2-3 times weekly.

Because they rely heavily on water pressure to operate they can be susceptible to variations in the water supply, and may not regenerate when they should.

 

 

To sum up all good quality water softeners will produce the same softened water, but it is advisable to make sure that you buy from a reputable company with a proven track record and be prepared to pay a reasonable price for the right product. A softener should be built of good quality components, look for Fleck and Autotrol control systems (found on many brands) the most reliable that are currently available, if you want to be sure ask, but if you choose another system, "buyer beware" and look for missing brands on this website.

 

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Why Hard Water can be harmful to Eczema sufferers

It is generally accepted that there is no cure for Eczema and that it mainly affects children who mostly grow out of it by their teens.

There are still many hundreds of thousands of adults who suffer in varying degrees with seemingly no hope of prolonged or permanent relief. A quote worth reporting from the National Eczema Society states

“One in five children and one in twelve adults suffer from Eczema in the UK alone and one in five families are affected by Eczema to some degree”

Most people find that they need a variety of methods to try and reduce the condition and the holistic approach may be the most suitable one to take, in my understanding of Eczema and other skin conditions there are three areas that affect and aggravate the condition, and they are:

· 1 The food we eat

· 2 The water we drink, bath, shower and wash our clothes in. 

· 3 The increasing amount of chemicals that we come into contact with in our daily lives around the house, and mostly they all seem to be connected.

That is not to say that there are hereditary causes of Eczema and allergies, but they are dealt with elsewhere.

Everybody that suffers or has a family member that also suffers from Eczema or other related types of skin condition know how very distressing and traumatic it can be and how difficult and frustrating it is to deal with, one thing certain is that no one leaves it to fend for itself and at some point will have tried (or use on a regular basis) the ever increasing army of creams, lotions, wraps, remedies , oils etc, etc on the market  many of them are very useful in helping to reduce some of the symptoms, but as yet there is no single product that will ease the condition to such a low level that it is no longer a problem!

So the Holistic approach is a very good way of covering most possibilities of finding the most likely way of controlling and reducing symptoms but it will take a lot of effort and determination. I do not propose to talk about the Creams, Wraps, or special clothing because they are specialist products that are applied to help ease Eczema sufferers symptoms “after the event” what I will be talking about is what may cause irritation and flare ups to occur, and because we are a company that produce water softeners and filter system we will start there.

The addition of a water softener should be very high on the list of priorities in a house hold that has Eczema sufferers, not only for its superb ability to totally remove damaging and aggravating hard water scale from water but also (and almost as importantly for an Eczema sufferer) its ability to remove the harmful effects of Chlorine from your drinking and washing water.

Water is the most important and natural skin moisturiser and works from outside and from within the human body

Without water we dehydrate, without water we die, without water we do not exist.

This is what the National Eczema Society says:-

“Some people with Eczema find that their skin improves when they move to a soft water area, or if they install a water softener. Hard water contains high levels of calcium and magnesium salts that have the potential to irritate skin; however the amount of people that this may affect is unknown”

Yet we take it so much for granted that we fail to understand its importance in our daily lives, for instance any water soluble substance can (and will) be dissolved and taken into solution and become part of the water itself, and that includes all of the good things that water collects on its way to your kitchen tap such as minerals and all of the bad thing such as farm residues, factory pollutants, heavy metals etc, and Chlorine.

There are numerous scientific studies that report that Chlorinated tap water is a skin irritant and is associated with conditions such as Eczema.

Chlorinated water can destroy polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E in the body while generating toxins capable of free radical damage, this may well explain why supplementing the diet with essential fatty acids i.e. evening primrose oil, flax seed oil and borage oil together with vitamin E, selenium etc can help with so many cases of Eczema and other dry skin conditions.

We will look at vitamins and minerals together with food later.

Drinking Water

Water softeners and specific drinking water filters can remove Chlorine from drinking and cooking water and in the case of filtration can reduce or remove harmful chemicals to a very high degree and help to keep your skin hydrated and naturally moist, and as water becomes a much more pleasant drink it helps to promote more consumption.

 Freshly filtered water also is critical in flushing toxins from the body and eases the load on your kidneys, it is also vital for optimum brain function and aids concentration and learning, even moderate dehydration can cause feelings of dizziness, light headiness and headaches especially if occurring in the afternoon or evening, a glass or two of water can give remarkable results without the need for headache tablets.

 Research has shown that just a 4 to 5% reduction in body fluids can cause as much as a 30% loss in work performance, concentration and learning.

Do not under estimate the importance and power of good water, after all without it you would not exist! Keeping your body and especially your skin hydrated with fresh filtered water can be an easy and very cheap weapon in your new Holistic approach to Eczema control.

Washing Water.

 As a water softener dramatically reduces the amount of harmful Residual Chlorine coming into contact with sensitive skin, and removes calcium and magnesium salts also, it is found that a high percentage of water softener owners find their condition greatly improves, and coupled with the 50-75% reduction in harsh soaps and detergents used, it makes a water softener well worth considering. Because softened water requires such a little amount of soap, shampoos and detergents it may well be worth having the added advantage of using some of the much milder, natural alternatives that are so much kinder to dry skin conditions, and as you will use so little the price difference will hardly be noticed.

Chlorinated water destroys much of the intestinal flora, the friendly bacteria that help in the digestion of food and which protect the body from harmful pathogens. These bacteria are also responsible for the manufacture of several important vitamins like vitamin B12 and vitamin K. It is not uncommon for chronic digestive disorders as well as chronic skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, seborrhoea and eczema to clear up or be significantly improved by switching to un-chlorinated drinking water and supplementing the diet with lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus.

“Free residual chlorine in bathing water reduces the water holding capacity of the Stratum Corneum in patients with Atomic dermatitis and is known to exacerbate the conditions"

Chlorine has been documented to aggravate asthma, especially in those children who make frequent use of chlorinated swimming pools. Several studies also link chlorine and chlorinated by-products to a greater incidence of bladder, breast and bowel cancer as well as malignant melanoma. One study even links the use of chlorinated tap water to congenital cardiac anomalies.

Hard Water Scale

You will know if you are living in a hard water area, but you may not know whether it is mildly hard, medium hard, very hard or even extremely hard so it may be very worthwhile having your household supply tested to determine its hardness.

What is the difference between hard and soft water and why it may affect delicate skin?

 Rain water is naturally soft but after it has passed through Chalk Downs or Limestone it becomes hard as it dissolves the rock and takes it into suspension. When it is heated the microscopic particle in suspension are released from the water and bond together to form into rock particles again, if you get scale forming in your kettle your are in a hard water area. Soft water by definition has no dissolved solids of Chalk (or Limestone) in it, and hard water has varying levels of dissolved solids (Calcium and Magnesium salts) in it and this amounts to about 60% of the country.

When hard water enters your household plumbing system your problems begin, and there are many of them! Blocked pipes, increased water and heating bills, more soaps and shampoo to use, up to 75% more detergent in laundry, damage to washing machines to name a few, but for the time being our main concern is how does hard water effect delicate (or otherwise) skin.

Hard water scale and the scum (caused by its reaction with soap etc) will not rinse from your clothing and bed linen properly so you have the added disadvantage of these residues being in constant contact with your delicate skin 24hours a day, rubbing, chafing and irritating, it’s a continual process, added to that it does not rinse from your body properly after bathing or washing leaving blocked pores and harsh dry skin.

Softened water is similar to rain water and will rinse soap, shampoo and detergents etc from your laundry and your body keeping your skin naturally moist as nature intended, remove the twin culprits of hard water scale deposits and sticky curd like scum from your water and see the benefits that beautifully soft water can have on delicate skin, and by using up to 75% less soap, shampoo and harsh detergents this can further enhance the benefits of soft water.

The combined effects of Chlorine, Scum and Hard water scale on your skin can be very damaging to any one with (otherwise) healthy skin, but if you are one of the many thousands of sufferers of dry skin, Eczema or Psoriasis it can to your suffering without realising what it is.

Water the Soft connection

Hard water and your skin.

Hard water scale is hard on your heating bills and on your plumbing, but did you know it is equally as hard on you personally? in particular your skin.

 

Unlike soft water, hard water scale will not rinse properly from your skin, in fact it is the tiny particles of dissolved chalk deposits ( hardness)present in your water that systematically  and relentlessly lodge into the pours of your skin blocking them and drying out your skin, hard water and soap also create soap curds (scum) that also lock out the natural oils in your skin causing drying out and irritation.

 

With soft water however, there is no scale present in the water, as all of the hardness has been removed, by being converted into beautifully soft water that does not react with soap to cause sticky and hard to remove scale and scum.

 

A water softener helps in so many other ways too.

No more scale and scum stuck in clothing and bedding  (after washing them with hard water ) to irritate sensitive skin, soft water can also relieve problems associated with dry skin, eczema and psoriasis and having a water softener fitted means that you will use as little as 25% of damaging detergents that you are used to with hard water, so clothing, laundry and bedding remain free of scale and scum and are so soft you will immediately notice the difference on your skin.

Your water will really be "as soft as rainwater" as it is reverted back to its original softened state, your newly softened water will be so good for your hair too, and will help to keep it in tip top condition, your scalp will not dry out as much when you stop using hard water, and the natural shine will return once again with soft water.

No more hard water means a "softer life for you"

Fluoride News

November 2009

Fluoride Causes Premature Births, Brain Degradation, Bone Loss, Cancer and Hormone Disruption

by Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
See all articles by this author
Email this author


(NaturalNews) A recent study conducted by researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) found that fluoride ingestion may be responsible for causing premature births. Presented to the American Public Health Association at its annual meeting, these findings ratchet up yet another detrimental consequence of ingesting this toxic poison that is added to most American municipal water supplies.

Sodium fluoride, a waste byproduct of the aluminum industry, is touted by most mainstream health bureaucracies as one of the greatest public health achievements ever discovered. The American Dental Association praises the medication of the public through fluoridated municipal water supplies, claiming that it has done wonders to prevent tooth decay. A simple investigation beyond the glaringly false rhetoric, however, reveals the dirty reality behind fluoride and the incredible harm it inflicts upon those who ingest it.

Contrary to popular belief, fluoride is not a natural substance; it is the byproduct of the aluminum and nuclear industries' use of fluorine gas. The Merck Index lists fluoride's primary use as rat and cockroach poison and it is a known carcinogen. It wasn't until the 1950s that the FDA was somehow convinced that the poison allegedly helped protect teeth.

Fluoride used in Nazi death camps
The first known instances of deliberate water fluoridation were in Nazi Germany ghettos and prison camps. Sodium fluoride was added to the human inmates' water to sterilize them and to cause them to become docile, subservient subjects willing to comply with orders.

Charles Perkins, a research chemist, wrote a letter to the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research in 1954 about fluoride. In it, he stated that repeated ingestion of low doses of fluoride over a long period of time will destroy the areas of the human brain that trigger resistance to tyranny and unlawful coercion and control.

Conditions caused by fluoride ingestion
Fluoride ingestion is responsible for causing thyroid dysfunction. The National Research Council (NRC) warns that ingestion of .01 - .03 mg/kg/day of fluoride, which is easily achieved by drinking fluoridated water, can severely inhibit proper thyroid function.

Other problems caused by fluoride include dental fluorosis, a disease of the teeth, weakening of bones and bone loss, bone cancer, kidney problems, and hormone disruption.

Many communities have succeeded in removing fluoride from their water supplies through local campaigns and ballot measures. Since medical professionals and organizations are increasingly becoming opposed to fluoride use, the momentum is stronger than ever to rid the nation's water supplies of toxic fluoride.
 Remove Fluoride
Sources:

Study Links Fluoride to Premature Births - The Batavian

About 'Fluoride' - Truth Every Mother Should Know - Greater Things

Fluoride Action Network

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About the author

Ethan Huff is a freelance writer and health enthusiast who loves exploring the vast world of natural foods and health, digging deep to get to the truth. He runs an online health publication of his own at http://wholesomeherald.blogspot.com.

 

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All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml

Save money and Energy

How to Stop Hard Water damage in your home

Having beautifully soft water in your home is no longer just a luxury; the energy that hard water scale wastes is a serious issue, now you can save money, energy, time and enjoy beautifully soft water throughout your home, just ask someone who has a water softener and hear what they say about the benefits and convenience of owning a water softener.

Now you can make Genuine Cash Savings on:
Energy - Water heating costs - Plumbing repairs - Cleaning Chemicals, Soap and Detergents and Shampoo.

With a water softener fitted there will be no more scale or hard water spots on showers  screens and doors, no more showerheads blocked with scale, no more white deposits on the shower tray. No hard to clean scale formation around the chrome or gold taps and wastes.

With soft water there is no more damaging scale deposits on baths that aggressively remove the shiny surfaces.

When you fit a water softener you will have no more scum in your bath water. Just pure, simple and gentle water leaving your skin clean and silky smooth with no scale or scum blocking your pores.

A water softener means no more build up of scale and blocked water pipes because your household supply will be 100% softened water.

With a water softener fitted there will be no further scale to damage your Immersion Heater, and to fill your hot water tank with rock particles, otherwise known as hard water scale or Lime scale.

Softened water will give 100% protection from hard water scale in kettles, coffee makers, dishwashers, washing machines, boilers, pipes and anything else that water touches.

Save money – Save Energy – Save Time – Save Plumbing

You save on running costs and replacement costs
Once a Water Softener is installed it will stop scale forming immediately and start to work on the scale already in your household plumbing, systematically dissolving it and removing it from the system leaving it in an "as new" condition.

There is no known cure for eczema

It is widely recognised in scientific and medical professions that there is currently no known cure for Eczema, so while we wait for something to turn up it is all about managing the ailment the best way we can, more or less on a trial and error basis to give as much relief as possible.

There are many online sites that offer help and advice such as:

The National Eczema Society : www.eczema.org

The National Eczema Association : www.nationaleczema.org

Talkeczema:    www.talkeczema.com

Talkeczema stands out from the rest because of how it started and the online comumity that it has built up over the past few years.

In 2000 a young mother of one litle girl and a five month old baby, also a girl unfortunitly the baby developed Atomic Eczema and Deborah her mother was faced with the agonising task of looking after her baby daughter, who was understandingly distressed much of the time and was suffering what seemed like endless misery.

TalkEczema is born.

During Deborah's struggle to come to terms with her baby daughters suffering, she researched, questioned and researched again to find ways of helping her, and about now Talk Eczema became a twinkling of an idea and Deborah soon realised that if she was in this posion there must hundreds and even thousands of other people in a similar position, so there and then she decided to see if she could set up e web site (Talk Eczema) so that she could give help and support to others and to find products and treatments for managing Eczema.

Talk Eczema soon became a firm favourite, not just in th uk but also from around the world

Wickes Water Softeners

Cheap end Water Softeners at Wickes.

As water softeners become more and more popular it is inevitable that many people will be searching for the cheapest economy unit that they can buy, after all not every one can afford the £600.00 to a  £1000.00 price tag for the higher end products, many people are (understandably) prepared to buy from such places as Wickes and B&Q and fit on a DIY basis.

Caution should be taken when buying such a product that it is compatible with your style of plumbing system standard, for intance if your house is modern and you have un vented high flow (megaflow) plumbing system, then the Wickes water softener may not allow enough water through it to work with such a system, However if you have a traditional plumbing system where you have a cold water storage tank in your roof space and a normal copper hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard a Wickes water softener may be satisfactory.

On the Wickes site it claims that their water softener is a five person sized unit, but they do not state at what degree of water hardness that it is rated at, if the water in you area is 300 part per million of calcium carbonate, this unit may well struggle for five people, if your local hardness is 350 or even 400 it would have to work very hard indeed to keep pace with the water that you use, so "buyer beware"

Wickes only offer one water softener, but do not state how much Ion Exchange resin it has in it, judging by its physical size it suggests to me that it has a 10 litre capacity meaning that it suitable for a family of four with a water hardness of 300 part per million.

So the Wickes water softener (on line) would not cope, or be suitable for a larger family or heavy water usage, so it would be necessary to look elsewhere for a suitable softener, and it would probably be best to have your water tested to determine the degree of hardness of the water in your locality before you buy.

Another point about the wickes softener is that is advertised as a six day timer model, and that's fine for an "economy" buy but is no so economical on a day to day running basis!

With a timer model the Wickes softener has to be set to "regenerate" that is to back wash, flush and take in a salt water brine solution to continue the process of softening, and this is fine if you have a steady water usage pattern and you do nort exceed its capacity, if it does it will not produce soft water until its preset time comes around again. The reverse can also happen, if you do not use up the predetermined amount of water, for example you have been away for a couple of days, the water softener will not know and will continue to operate, thereby wasting salt and water!

The control system used on the Wickes softener is a good American made product called Autotrol, so spare parts, should (you need them) are available by specialist water softener companies, but not apparently from Wickes!

Better Water Solutions are able to advise you about your water softener needs, or if you have a problem with your Wickes softener and we are able to supply spare parte when you need them.

BRAIN HYDRATION

  

Brain Hydration

By Gregory Kellett, a cognitive neuroscience researcher at SFSU and UCSF, and science writer for Lumos Labs.

Your brain is made up of 60% water and many of us may not be drinking enough of the clear wet stuff to keep our thinking “juicy”.

Not drinking enough water has detrimental effects on our brains. When your body lacks water, brain cells and other neurons shrink and biochemical processes involved in cellular communication slow. A drop of as little as 1 to 2% of fluid levels can result in slower processing speeds, impaired short-term memory, tweaked visual tracking and deficits in attention.

With proper hydration however, neurons work best and are capable of reacting faster.

What constitutes proper hydration is controversial. Some say that it is important to imbibe 8 tall glasses of water daily, while others claim that one should only drink when thirsty.

In fact, there is no one golden rule to staying well hydrated. The amount of water each of us needs varies from person to person as it depends on each individual’s physiology and lifestyle activities like diet and exercise.

Experiment and see what feels good. In today’s world of infinite distractions however, it is best not to leave hydration to your sense of thirst alone. It is also important to note that your ability to notice thirst typically diminishes with age.

Also of note:

    * Sweating from exercise or high temperatures can result in more than 3 liters an hour of fluid loss.

    * The maximum amount of water the body is capable of absorbing is 1 litre an hour or 330 millilitres every 20 min (the ideal amount to drink under high sweat conditions).

    * Although good for energy, foods high in protein and sugar increase the body’s need for water.

Warning!

Drinking TOO much water is very dangerous! Over hydration causes a sodium imbalance that can be fatal. It is common for marathon runners to be hospitalized because of overzealous hydration during the race.

Approach fluid consumption with moderation.

B&Q, along with Tesco seem bent on ruling the world, they just seem to want to get in on anything they can!! I don't suppose it will be long before you can wheel out your very own flat pack coffin, well they do seem to want a piece of every part of our lives, so why not our deaths as well!

Enough rambling!  

Want a spare part for your B&Q (Permutit) water softener, want to know how it works, want to know how to service it, or do just want a product manual? No problem, just pop into your local B&Q store to see the full range of blank looks from the staff when you ask for these simple after sales support questions, I doubt very much if you'll find a single person who will be able to help you!

Your Permit water softener from B&Q can come with a Fleck control system or an Autotrol control system on it (neither being Permutit) that's just a sales name.

You can down load Fleck or Autotrol manuals here free of charge.

We can help you to identify your softener for spare parts if you can send us a picture to info@betterwatersolutions.co.uk or you can also give us a call on 01233 645688 and we will do our best to help you

B&Q sell water softeners - B&Q do not give any back up support or sell spare parts, they do not offer any technical help or telephone support, so once you have purchased your softener from them you are on your own!

Be aware that if you do telephone us we may not always be available, so be prepared to leave a message, or contact us at info@betterwatersolutions.co.uk 

If you have the capabilities, take a digital picture of the controller (clock) so that we can readily identify the model that you have, we will then contact you.

Water and it's part in learning

 

 

Schools are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of frequent intake of water to enhance learning and many schools now have formal school hydration policies

 

Mental performance can fall by 10% when your pupils are thirsty and it will also add to tiredness, headaches and irritability. Having water readily available to children links well with learning programmes as well as promoting healthy lifestyles in your school. Frequent small intakes of water are better for learning than limiting drinks to breaks and lunchtimes, with children needing to drink a total 8 glasses of water during the day.

 

St Michael’s Primary School near Lincoln encourages all pupils to bring their own water container into school, with unlimited access to water during the school day. Here are their main findings and suggestions to help make this a successful initiative in your own school.

 

    * To launch the scheme a water bottle was bought for every child in the school – consider having the school logo on water bottles. Parents now provide the water containers.

    * A letter was sent to all parents explaining the health and learning benefits of having water freely available during the school day.

    * Occasionally during the day pupils are asked to put their bottles down, especially when delivering key information to the class.

    * There is a tap in every classroom for filling up the water containers. LSAs do this for the youngest children with set times for filling up bottles for the older pupils.

    * Spills are surprisingly not an issue and all pupils (even the infants) manage the situation well. Pupils are encouraged to bring sports bottles, which helps minimise leakage.

    * Pupils rarely fiddle with their bottles and they have not proven to be a distraction to either the pupils or the teachers.

 

An alternative to allowing pupils to bring their own water bottles is to provide water coolers with disposable cups. Disposable plastic cups can add to the litter issue, especially in a large secondary school where schemes using bottles may be much more practical. Dauntsey’s Aided Primary School in Wiltshire has overcome this by purchasing cheap and cheerful plastic cups and marking each one with the names of the children. These are kept on a shelf outside each classroom and pupils help themselves during the school day. Using water coolers and cups does require more maintenance, whereas keeping bottles clean is the responsibility of parents. And finally, contrary to popular belief, drinking more water won’t result in more toilet trips during lessons. The urinary health of pupils will actually improve. If your school has a hydration policy let us know the impact it is having!

 

Good websites with resources and advice for water in schools include:

 

    * Water is Cool in School

    * Health Ed Trust

    * Learning Wales

The importance of water on brain activity

Brain Hydration

 

By Gregory Kellett, a cognitive neuroscience researcher at SFSU and UCSF, and science writer for Lumos Labs.

 

Your brain is made up of 60% water and many of us may not be drinking enough of the clear wet stuff to keep our thinking “juicy”.

 

Not drinking enough water has detrimental effects on our brains. When your body lacks water, brain cells and other neurons shrink and biochemical processes involved in cellular communication slow. A drop of as little as 1 to 2% of fluid levels can result in slower processing speeds, impaired short-term memory, tweaked visual tracking and deficits in attention.

 

With proper hydration however, neurons work best and are capable of reacting faster.

 

What constitutes proper hydration is controversial. Some say that it is important to imbibe 8 tall glasses of water daily, while others claim that one should only drink when thirsty.

 

In fact, there is no one golden rule to staying well hydrated. The amount of water each of us needs varies from person to person as it depends on each individual’s physiology and lifestyle activities like diet and exercise.

 

Experiment and see what feels good. In today’s world of infinite distractions however, it is best not to leave hydration to your sense of thirst alone. It is also important to note that your ability to notice thirst typically diminishes with age.

 

Also of note:

 

    * Sweating from exercise or high temperatures can result in more than 3 liters an hour of fluid loss.

    * The maximum amount of water the body is capable of absorbing is 1 litre an hour or 330 millilitres every 20 min (the ideal amount to drink under high sweat conditions).

    * Although good for energy, foods high in protein and sugar increase the body’s need for water.

 

Warning!

 

Drinking TOO much water is very dangerous! Over hydration causes a sodium imbalance that can be fatal. It is common for marathon runners to be hospitalized because of overzealous hydration during the race.

 

Approach fluid consumption with moderation.

 

References:

 

Armstrong, L. E., & Epstein, Y. (1999). Fluid-electrolyte balance during labor and exercise: concepts and misconceptions. International Journal of Sport Nutrition, 9(1), 1-12.

 

Kleiner, S. M. (1999). Water: an essential but overlooked nutrient. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 99(2), 200-6.

 

Lang, F., Busch, G. L., Ritter, M., Völkl, H., Waldegger, S., Gulbins, E., et al. (1998). Functional significance of cell volume regulatory mechanisms. Physiological Reviews, 78(1), 247-306.

 

Lieberman, H. R. (2007). Hydration and cognition: a critical review and recommendations for future research. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 26(5 Suppl), 555S-561S.

 

Maughan, R. J., Shirreffs, S. M., & Watson, P. (2007). Exercise, heat, hydration and the brain. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 26(5 Suppl), 604S-612S.

 

Murray, R. (1998). Rehydration strategies–balancing substrate, fluid, and electrolyte provision. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 19 Suppl 2, S133-5.

 

Suhr, J. A., Hall, J., Patterson, S. M., & Niinistö, R. T. (2004). The relation of hydration status to cognitive performance in healthy older adults. International Journal of Psychophysiology: Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 53(2), 121-5.

Legionaires disease Newbury

Family to make formal complaint after wrong diagnosis kept her from hospital

 

 

A WOMAN died from Legionnaires’ disease after her symptoms were mistaken for swine flu, the Newbury Weekly News can reveal.

Carol Rowe, of Thatcham, died on Sunday, August 2, aged 46.

Now her husband Kevin, a Detective Inspector with Thames Valley Police, has vowed to make a formal complaint about her treatment.

Mr Rowe claimed that the South Central Ambulance Service initially refused to take his wife to hospital because her symptoms resembled those of swine flu.

He said that only following a third call hours later did they take her to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, where she died.

He said: “I’m pretty angry about it. I'm going to be asking them questions about why they thought it was not necessary to attend.

“My wife died in terrible

circumstances but it does seem to me that swine flu has got in the way of making a better

diagnosis. That’s a heck of a price to pay if they could have done something about it.”

He added: “If someone else has it and they don’t ask the right questions are we going to have the same thing again?”

He said that he, his son Jack and daughter Rebecca were “going through hell”.

Following Mrs Rowe’s death, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) launched an investigation into how she contracted the deadly, infectious disease.

HPA spokeswoman Teresa Cash said that its responsibility was to protect the health of the public and if it found Legionella bacteria at sufficiently harmful levels in one place then it would be its duty to inform the public.

She said that as part of the investigation, they would take a two-week history of the patient, tracking her every movement to find out where the disease was contracted.

She said: “In this case she worked in London so we are also working with the assistance of environmental health officers in the council area in which she works.

“Thus far we have not had anything positive come back from any of the places we have tested.”

She also confirmed that samples from the family home had come back negative and they would continue sampling until they had exhausted all their sources.

NHS Berkshire West spokeswoman Corrine Yates said: “NHS Berkshire West has notified the Health Protection Agency of a case and subsequent death from Legionella.

“At this stage this appears to be an isolated incident and there is no cause for public concern about any possible spread.”

In 2002, Barrow-in-Furness suffered the UK’s worst outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.

Six women and one man died as a result of the illness and another 172 people also contracted the disease. The cause was found to be a contaminated cooling tower at the town’s arts centre.

A statement from the ambulance service said that it could not comment on individual patients but pointed out that the service dealt with an average 300 calls daily and added: “Patients are encouraged to call back immediately if the situation worsens.”

South Central Ambulance Service said that they could not comment on a patient’s clinical condition.

However, a statement later released said: “When we receive an emergency call, the call taker takes all the relevant details relating to the incident and enters them onto the Computer Aided Dispatch system.

“An emergency care practitioner may also speak with the patient or caller and offer additional clinical advice and assess the best care pathway for the needs of the patient.

“A patient’s care pathway is based on the assessment by our clinically trained staff.”

 

B&Q -Permutit

B&Q, along with Tesco seem bent on ruling the world, they just seem to want to get in on anything they can!! I don't suppose it will be long before you can wheel out your very own flat pack coffin, well they do seem to want a piece of every part of our lives.

Enough rambling!  

Want a spare part for your B&Q (Permutit) water softener, want to know how it works, want to know how to service it, or do just want a product manual? No problem, just pop into your local B&Q store to see the full range of blank looks from the staff when you ask for these simple after sales support questions, I doubt very much if you'll find a single person who will be able to help you!

Your Permit water softener from B&Q can come with a Fleck control system or an Autotrol control system on it (neither being Permutit) that's just a sales name.

You can down load Fleck or Autotrol manuals here free of charge.

We can help you to identify your softener for spare parts if you can send us a picture to info@betterwatersolutions.co.uk or you can also give us a call on 01233 645688 and we will do our best to help you

                                                                                                 

B&Q sell water softeners - B&Q do not give any back up support or sell spare parts, they do not offer any technical help or telephone support, so once you have purchased your softener from them you are on your own!

Be aware that if you do telephone us we may not always be available, so be prepared to leave a message, or contact us at info@betterwatersolutions.co.uk 

If you have the capabilities, take a digital picture of the controller (clock) so that we can readily identify the model that you have, we will then contact you.

Legionaires Disease

Legionnaires disease William Harvey

 

A patient has died and two other people were seriously ill with Legionnaires' disease. A spokes person for the East Kent NHS Trust said an elderly patient had developed the disease while at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

 

Health officials are already undertaking an inquiry after a former guest at a Pontin's holiday camp developed Legionnaires Disease and is currently fighting for her life in a hospital in Birmingham.

 

One case was admitted to the William Harvey Hospital from the community already ill with Legionella infection.

 

The person had not been a recent in-patient, but had visited the hospital for an outpatient appointment during the previous two weeks.

 

 

Legionnaires Disease is a killer so when it gets into our hospitals it is a very serious problem indeed.

 

So how does it get there, where does it come from and how do people catch the disease?

 

It’s much simpler than most people imagine, firstly legionaries disease is in the soil and in a our water courses and even in our water supplies that come into our houses, offices, schools and of course hospitals, but it is normally in very little amounts and does little if no harm at all.

 

The problems start when water is stored at ideal temperatures for the bacteria to proliferate, and these temperatures are between 40 degrees Celsius and 60 degrees Celsius (and ideal breading ground. Below this temperature there is no evidence that the bacteria is in enough concentration to cause any harm, above the temperature range it is simply killed off.

 

Even in the range (40 – 60c) it is not normally a problem, and it cannot be caught by drinking it, in either case if you have a cold drink anyway it is likely to be below 40c and if you have a hot drink it would have been killed off.

 

So where is the problem?  Luke warm water (ideal breeding temperatures), bad plumbing design, and in the case of hospitals and commercial premises, bad management. The problems are known and it is simple to control.

 

In the case of water borne disease, it may be hard to imagine how it can survive in our water supplies after going through intensive cleaning, disinfecting, and the high doses of the deadly poison Chlorine that is dosed into our water supplies! But survive it does, along with many other lesser known contaminants and chemicals that we happily drink every day.

Peter Allen 11th August 2009.

 

So, presuming that there is a proliferation of LD in a water supply and it cannot be caught by drinking it, nor can it be caught by contact with other people, how is it caught? The answer to that is very simple, by breathing it in. When water droplets are small enough (aerosol size) they are easily breathed in and enter the lungs, where they develop into a very serious, and life threatening pneumonia type disease, Legionella Pneumophila, this would most commonly be from air conditioning, hot tubs, spas, and showers, or anywhere where the right conditions are in place and water droplets are small enough to be breathed in.

 

Hospitals generally have specialised water purification systems installed, similar to the type of Reverse Osmosis systems fitted into many thousands of homes throughout the country, that successfully, filter out Bacteria and give a very high quality of water, with a very high level of other water borne contaminants also.

 

People, who are most likely to catch the disease, are likely to be middle aged and the elderly.

Stop The Rot

For everyone living with hard water the costly damage is wrecking their plumbing systems and ruining their washing machines, dishwashers and hot water systems.

Fuel heating bills are getting bigger and bigger, just when we should (and could) save money!

But that's not all, as hard water scale deposits form they not only block up systems and hot water tanks, they actually displace water so that you have less to use, leaving rock like deposits on every surface that it clings to. Hard water is a real menace, and very costly

Water softeners are not just a luxury item, they are a necessity, just look at the Calgonadvertisements that are run on a regular basis "washing machines last longer with Calgon"that;s a fact, they do last longer, but Calgon has no effect on Dishwashers, boilers, hot water tanks, Immersion heaters, radiators, pipes and other plumbing equipment.

Calgon won't help with the systematic cleaning out of all of the above mentioned items, and free them of costly hard water scale, only a water softener can do that.

Calgon can't make your hair cleaner and softener, it can't help with the relief of dry, itchy skin conditions, or help reduce your water heating bills, it can only help your washing machine!

You can now stop hard water damage in it's tracks and reverse the build up of scale within your plumbing system, your hot water tank and boiler, you can clean out your washing machine and dishwasher of calcium rock and return them all to "as new" condition.and reduce your fuel bills at the same time.

Save energy, Save money, save costly breakdowns, save time and expensive cleaning chemicals.

A water softener works superbly efficiently in three ways to benefit you for a possible working life of 20 years plus, and work to make all water related equipment last longer as well.

Aqualyze Cascade

Pure water "on tap" 24/7 -no fuss, no jugs, no bottles just  fresh sparkling clear water, simply turn on the special "faucet" styled tap and enjoy pure great tasting water for the whole family, safe in the knowledge that up to 99% of tap water pollutants are removed and the great taste of real water is there for you just when you want it.

The latest addition to our range of fine water improvement products the Aqualyze Reverse Osmosis Drinking water purifier is the neatest and easiest to fit and use unit available, its compact design and easy change filter cartridges makes for an unbeatable combination

The ultimate in pure drinking water.

The Aqualyze Cascade is a very modern well-designed Reverse Osmosis water purifier capable of supplying a constant flow of fresh, healthy purified water direct from its own stylish tap fitted directly to your kitchen worktop or sink.

How it works.
Behind the technology of the Aqualyze water purifying process there has been many years of continuous development by one of the worlds leading manufactures of water improvement products.
Raw water from for household supply is directed into the first of the removable housings  (pods) to filter out contaminants in the first stage of purification that then passes it on to the second stage (and pod) to remove a very high level of contaminants such as fluoride, nitrate, calcium, Sodium, lead, iron, pesticides and much more, leaving your drinking water comparable, if not better than most bottled water and at a fraction of the cost per litre.

How pure is your water?

How pure is your water?

Water when it falls from the sky is as pure as it gets, so why is pollution such a problem, and why do our water authorities need to work so hard to give us safe drinking water?
If the natural order of life is for us to drink naturally pure water to maintain our health and flush toxins from our bodies whilst at the same time carrying nutrients into our cells, why is it that certain “safe” permitted levels of agricultural and industrial pollution are allowed in our drinking water?

It’s simple really if you can’t reach your goals move the goal post! So by setting a level at which the water companies could manage seemed a good compromise, but as with all of these “safe” levels it is more about profits than it is about our health.

Water companies simply cannot keep pace with continual onslaught of the chemical and agricultural invasion of our water course and rivers, during the early 1960,s when artificial fertilizers and Pesticides became more widely and easily available it was recognised that the ground was becoming sodden with pollution and the general view at that time was it was dangerous and potentially lethal, and if continued at the (then) current rate it would percolate down through the ground to the lower water courses and aquifers there by contaminating our drinking water supplies. At that time a suggested period of thirty years was “guessed” at before that would actually be a serious problem, so instead of doing anything about it, the amount of agricultural fertiliser pollution was  increased between 1960 and 2000 by a staggering 450%

The department for environment, food and rural affairs (defra) states, “ Nitrate levels in many English waters, both ground and surface waters, either remain high or are increasing. Nitrate pollution is of concern because it has to be removed before water can be supplied to consumers, and it can harm the water environment. Over 60% of nitrate enters water from agricultural land” and that is just one of the many hazardous poisons invading our drinking water systems!

No one knows the accumulative effect of the individual myriad of agricultural chemicals on the human body or the environment, but what about the totally unknown the “cocktail” effect when all of these chemicals are allowed to mix and form more dangerous forms of untested toxins, there can be no safe permissible levels allowed, but in the name of profit it will continue.
One known result is that your system becomes over burdened with a new range of toxic substances that it cannot naturally deal with, as well as unbalancing the minerals in your body, upsetting your metabolism, it also diminishes your vitality and creates new excretory problems.

So if agricultural (and industrial) pollution are allowed to be left in our water supplies at “safe” levels with unknown long-term effects what can the concerned consumer do about it?

The very least that you can do is to run your cold tap for two minutes every morning before drinking from it, as this helps to clear contaminants from your domestic pipework that has dissolved and accumulated over night, (although this will have limited effect on Chlorine) then fill a jug (or jugs) and let it stand for an hour to allow chlorine to vaporise from it and then store in your refrigerator, using it in rotation over a 24 hr period.

You can also use a jug filter if you don’t mind the inconvenience of filling it at regular intervals and then waiting for it to filter every time it runs out, they are low capacity and still take up room in your fridge.

You can also choose to buy bottled water for drinking purpose helping to fuel the fantastic growth in sales over the past decade, proving how concerned million of people in the UK have become about the safety of our drinking water and how little they trust the word of the regulating authorities about safety, but that of course bring a whole new set of problems!

A proper “plumbed in” drinking water filter greatly improves the taste and quality of your existing tap water supply and are very reasonably priced, giving you a continuous supply of great tasting drinking water on tap and just when you want it 24/7 and with no inconvenience.

Why is Reverse Osmosis better than filterd water?

Reverse Osmosis purified drinking water systems.
For the highest quality drinking water Reverse Osmosis is unsurpassed its advanced filtration and TFC membrane gives the highest quality of drinking water available in a home system, comparable and mostly better and certainly fresher than bottled water.
The Reverse Osmosis System is an excellent way of removing the vast majority of water contaminants, the taste of good RO water is first class and makes better tea and coffee and other beverages because it really “lets the flavour flood through” Normally contaminants in the water mask the flavour and mix with your tea and coffee etc; to produce a different tasting product, for the true taste of your beverage Reverse Osmosis water is the best.

The same is true for cooking and baking, no “extra flavours in the water means a better end product and no more scum and scale in saucepans etc; and for crystal clear and untainted ice cubes RO cannot be beaten. If you are serious about water quality then a Reverse Osmosis system will give you total peace of mind.

Why it is so much better than normal filtered water?
Filtered water whether a single unit or multi-stage does just what its name suggests it filters contaminants from the water within its capabilities using different grades of activated carbon, and for most purposes is an excellent choice for the vast majority of people, it is cheap, easy to install, takes up the minimum of space, removes a wide selection of contaminants and improves the taste and odour of water to a high level.

A Reverse Osmosis system does all that the best multi-stage filter system does, but much more, by the very nature of its advanced design it will remove to a very high level other contaminants that Activated Carbon cannot do, if an R.O. system is installed correctly and has adequate water pressure it can remove up to 99% of pollutants.
Reverse Osmosis really is for the purist.

If you have a Water Softener fitted to your house a Reverse Osmosis system is a natural and complementary addition to give very high quality household water, when fitted after the water softener it will remove the Sodium added to the by the Ion Exchange process and give a very high level of purification leaving you with crystal clear water for all of your drinking and culinary purposes.

Can I remove Softened water from my system for drinking purposes?

Can I remove Softened water from my system for drinking purposes?

Yes, if you already have a water softener and you do not have a hard water drinking tap separated from the soft water system you can “bypass” the softener by branching off with a separate pipe “before” the softener and take that directly to any taps that you do not want softened i.e. the kitchen tap, a separate drinking faucet also on the sink unit and a garden hose tap.
All bypassed taps will of course be untreated and will continue to form scale in kettles, coffee makers etc; that’s a good idea for the garden hose but not such a good idea for your kettle etc.
If you have a good quality water filter system in with a Scale Reduction installed you could quit easily have all of the benefits of a water filter without all of the disadvantages of scale and of course no sodium.