We have all heard the stories about people having date rape drugs slipped into their drinks while out at bars and nightclubs, but how many have heard of THIS? A male co-worker put his own…. ‘seed’…. into a female co-worker’s water bottle. Twice.

Just… Wow. What a flippin’ disgusting individual!

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — A 31-year-old Fullerton man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly ejaculating twice into a co-worker’s water bottle.

Authorities said Michael Kevin Lallana was linked through DNA to the crimes.

Lallana allegedly entered the victim’s office and deposited his ejaculation into a water bottle that was on her desk in January. Police said the unsuspecting victim later drank the water, which made her feel sick, so she threw it away.

In April, investigators said Lallana did the same thing, but this time, the victim saved the water bottle and sent it to a private lab for testing. She then reported the results to the Orange Police Department.

Lallana is charged with two misdemeanor counts each of releasing an offensive material in a public place and assault, with sentencing allegations for committing a crime for sexual gratification.

If convicted, Lallana faces a maximum of three years in jail with mandatory sex offender registration. He is free on $500 bond and will be arraigned next month. ( source )

If this little bit of news does not make you want to take proper precautions to guard your water, whether in the bottle you leave on your desk at the office or as the drinking water that comes up from the aquifer and into your home, then perhaps nothing will.

Do you have control over the quality of the water in the aquifer supplying your well? Most likely not, but you always have the chance and opportunity to test the quality of water for unwanted contaminants. Periodic use of a well water test kit helps to ensure that no changes in the quality of your well water have taken place.

What sort of well water testing should well owners consider? At the very least we suggest they test for naturally occurring contaminants such as bacteria, nitrates/nitrates, heavy metals like mercury and lead, arsenic, etc.

Huh? Test for arsenic? Why? Is someone trying to poison us? Most likely not, but we have good reasons to suggest well owners test their water for arsenic. If you want to know why arsenic testing for well owners makes sense, take a look at Arsenic-Test-Kit.Com and ArsenicQuick.Com.

Getting back to the topic of well water testing, the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as public health officials on State and Local levels urge private well owners to have their well water tested by a certified water testing laboratory annually. Qualified water testing labs like National Testing Laboratories typically provide reliable test results in under two weeks.

Oh, and before we forget, you paranoid folks out there may want to invest in a Cyanide in Water Test Kit… ‘cuz you never know. Maybe your neighbors really ARE out to get you!

Looking for a way to supply your office or home with safe, clean drinking water… but don’t want the hassle of changing bulky, heavy and otherwise cumbersome 5 gallon tanks all the time?

If so, then the Sharp Ultrafiltration Bottleless Water Cooler may solve your dilemma. It contains four replaceable filters that have an average lifespan of approximately 2 years and hooks up directly to the cold water line in your home or office.

Able to provide an office of thirty people with a continuous supply of safe, clean and thoroughly filter hot and cold water, this unit works well, looks good, and will NOT require you to sign any monthly or yearly service contracts with water delivery companies. Also keep in mind that monthly service contracts will run upwards of $50 per month and you will have change the heavy 5 gallon jugs each time one runs dry. Each jug weighs approximately 50 pounds. Not fun!

The Sharp Ultrafiltration Bottleless Water Cooler can provide freshly purified hot water for teas and other warm drinks on command… something many water coolers using bottles simply cannot do!

4 Stages of Water Filtration

In this unit drinking water travels through 4 separate water filters, each designed to remove specific contaminants. This intense amount of filtration produces crystal clear, fresh and tasty water on a continuous basis – with no bottles to buy!

• Stage 1 – A sediment filter which removes 99.99% of microbiological cysts, cryptosporidium, giardia, and ‘particles’ from the water.

• Stage 2 – A granulated activated carbon (GAC) cartridge effectively absorbs a wide variety of organic contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals linked to cancer (such as THMs and benzene), pesticides (like atrazine and simazine), herbicides, PCBs, and chlorine (removes 99.9%).

  The activated carbon cartridge also reduces MTBEs and removes bad taste and odor from drinking water.

• Stage 3 – An UltraFiltration (UF) membrane removes synthetic organic compounds ranging in size from 0.0001 to 0.005 microns in size, bacteria, viruses, colloids, and waterborne parasites. This stage also removes and/or greatly reduces salts and water hardness.

• Stage 4 – A multi-stage filter which removes hundreds of other potentially harmful or aesthetically displeasing contaminants (if present in the water) and puts a final ‘polishing’ on the water.

Additional Details About This Water Cooler

Before shipping to a customer, each unit gets tested for a period of 72 hours, the unit as a whole carries a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty (excluding replaceable filter cartridges), the unit’s compressor carries a 3-year warranty, and the unit comes with a set of filter cartridges.

With regard to replacement costs for the filter cartridges, as of the date we posted this blog entry a full set of replacement cartridges, which ought to last 2 or more years, cost approximately $160 for a complete set of 4.

Bottled water back in the news… again. This time in Canada.

A Montreal laboratory is raising worries about bacteria in bottled water, noting they’ve found “revolting” levels that could put certain vulnerable people at risk.

Researchers from C-crest Laboratories in Montreal decided to randomly test bottled water for bacteria after a fellow employee complained of a foul taste from some bottled water and became ill.

They tested a handful of popular brands (which they did not name) and found that more than 70 per cent of the samples contained bacteria at levels that far exceed recommended limits in the U.S.

Some of the bacteria were at levels dozens of times higher than those permitted by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).

“There were so many that at first, we couldn’t count. We had to dilute the samples,” Sonish Azam, one of the researchers in the study told CTV News.

…

The types of bacteria they found were heterotrophic, a category of bacteria that includes those that survive by consuming organic matter.

Regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Health Canada have not set limits for the heterotrophic bacteria counts in bottled drinking water.

According to the USP, no more than 500 colony forming units (cfu) per milliliter of bacteria should be present in drinking water. The C-crest team found counts in some of samples at 100 times those levels. In comparison, the average count for different tap water samples was 170 cfu/mL.

…

The researchers stress that the bacteria they found “most likely” do not cause disease, but Azam says that’s still unclear. She suggests it’s possible that the bacteria they found could be pathogenic and pose a risk for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, pregnant women, infants, and immunocompromised patients.

“I cannot rule out that these organisms might be harmful, but I do not know,” Azam said. “But in microbiology there is a rule: guilty until proven innocent.”

…

Michel Lavelle, of the Canadian Bottled Water Association, calls the study “unnecessarily alarming.” He says commercial bottled water is not meant to be sterile, so the presence of bacteria in itself is not news.

“When you say the word bacteria it sounds like it is dangerous. But you eat bacteria on salad and fruits all day long. And these are the same bacteria found in the water,” he told CTV News.

He notes that the bacteria detected are non-coliform and non-pathogenic and don’t do any harm, which is why regulators haven’t set limits on these bacteria.

…

Still, Azam’s team concedes that while bottled water is not expected to be free from microorganisms, they were stunned at the high levels of bacteria they found. ( source )

So… Should Canadians rally at the Courthouse and demand that bottled water companies make restitution for distributing bacteria-laden product? Nah. We don’t think so.

We do, however, all agree that an independent group needs to take a closer look at the bottled water industry’s overall bacteria levels and set some guidelines defining acceptable and unacceptable bacteria levels — regardless of whether or not science currently deems a particular type harmless.

Remember: ‘Germs’ and ‘bugs’ that scientists originally thought harmless have killed plenty of people throughout history because we simply didn’t know any better… yet.

Testing for Potentially Harmful Bacteria

The following test kits can help you test well water, tap water, spring water, pool water and even bottled water for potentially harmful strands of bacteria.

Once upon a time, as in just a few years ago, the water division of Nestle boasted some of the largest sales numbers of any bottled water company in History — until opponents of bottled water began asking questions about claims made by bottled water companies that bottled water offered health benefits that tap water could not.

It also did not help that other folks started pointing out (and publicizing) the growing problem of what to do with the billions of empty water bottles winding up in landfills.

Needless to say Nestle’s sales plummeted and ever since then the company has struggled to regain marketshare by creating lower-priced, more environmentally conscious bottled water products such as its Pure Life product whose .5L container claims to use approximately 35% less plastic than an earlier .5L water bottle made by Nestle.

Nestle has not stopped there, though, it seems. In fact, they started an interesting experiment whose results they hope will change the public’s opinion of bottled water… and it involves trout.

You read that correctly. We said, “Trout.”

Nestle is testing the health of fish – trout, to be exact – in Cascade Locks, Oregon, in an effort to prove that municipal water can replace spring water in their Arrowhead brand. Key to the year-long test is showing that the Idaho Sockeye, an endangered species, can survive in hatcheries supplied from municipal wells.

Resistance from local environmentalists is so strong – Nestlé put the 1,700-gallon tank under lock and key and added security cameras. So far, three of the fish have died and will be autopsied. ( source )

We don’t know if we really have much to say after that. Nestle wants to know if municipal water from a well can sustain the health of trout and somehow if the water can keep the fish healthy for a year, this proves… What exactly?

Undoubtedly we missed the point of Nestle’s 1,700 gallon trout experiment, but regardless of the results their product will require bottles for packaging that will clutter landfills and deplete the planet’s dwindling resources.

While we applaud Nestle’s creativity in trying to revive bottled water’s image, we think they will fall short of the mark… and most people will not switch from their very economical refillable water bottles, sports bottles w/ built-in water filters, etc.

According to a recent press release from the IBWA (International Bottled Water Association — www.ibwa.org) dated 3/10/2010, a company called Zero Water Technologies, LLC has become the defendant in a lawsuit filed by the IBWA.

Alexandria, Virginia — On March 10, 2010, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) filed a lawsuit against Zero Water Technologies, LLC, the seller of at-home water filtration devices, for repeatedly engaging in false, misleading and unsubstantiated advertising designed to confuse consumers about its products and about how they compare to bottled water products. IBWA’s complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, notes that Zero Water has improperly disparaged the quality, safety, and cost effectiveness of bottled water in comparison with its own products and has made false and unsubstantiated claims about the capabilities of its products.

Zero Water claims that its products “remove 100% of detectable dissolved solids” and falsely suggests that the absence of all total dissolved solids (TDS) creates a healthier, cleaner, tastier water. In its lawsuit, IBWA points out that TDS is not an indicator of water quality or contamination, as Zero Water insinuates. Rather it is an innocuous collection of minerals commonly found in water. According to IBWA President Joe Doss, “Total Dissolved Solids mainly affect the taste of water and have not been shown to produce adverse physical health effects. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that certain concentrations of TDS may even have beneficial health effects.”

Contrary to their advertising claims, Zero Water filters do not remove all impurities or contaminants from water. Furthermore, Zero Water filters only remove certain organic contaminants for a short period of time before its low-capacity carbon filter is exhausted.

Zero Water’s ads make repeated references to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and FDA definitions for purified water that mislead the consuming public into thinking that Zero Water and its products have been tested, regulated, or approved by the FDA. However, Zero Water’s products are not regulated by the FDA and there is no evidence to suggest that Zero Water’s products have been tested to determine whether they “meet the FDA definition for purified bottled water” as stated in Zero Water’s ads. Rather, water filtration systems such as Zero Water’s are for the most part unregulated. This leaves consumers particularly vulnerable to claims like the ones made by Zero Water: unsubstantiated, false, or misleading statements about the safety, health benefits, and taste qualities of water treated by at-home water filtration systems.

In contrast to Zero Water’s claims, bottled water products sold by IBWA members and other bottled water companies are comprehensively regulated by the FDA to ensure their safety, quality, and proper labeling. Section 410 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) requires that the FDA bottled water regulations be at least as stringent and protective of the public health as the federal Environmental Protection Agency requirements for municipal drinking water. In addition, the FDA mandates that bottled water products comply with comprehensive requirements, including Standard of Identity regulations, which provide uniform definitions for various types of bottled water (such as spring, distilled, mineral, and purified water), and Standards of Quality, which limit the amount of certain substances that can be present in bottled water products. In particular, the FDA Standards of Quality for bottled water set maximum allowable levels for physical, chemical, microbiological, and radiological contaminants.

The cumulative effect of Zero Water’s misleading, false, and unsubstantiated claims in its advertisements is that consumers are deceived as to the quality and efficacy of Zero Water’s products, as well as the claimed superiority of Zero Water filtered water over bottled water products. Moreover, Zero Water misrepresents its products’ capabilities and makes misleading comparisons to purified bottled water products. As a result, IBWA members have been substantially harmed and this lawsuit was necessary to correct this untenable situation.

[Reporters seeking a copy of the full complaint should use the contact information below.]

Contact: TOM LAURIA
703-647-4609 office / 703-887-4056 cellphone (source )

Water Testing Blog’s Opinion

For years the bottled water industry has taken violent beatings from opponents, sometimes over some very good points and other times because public opinion had swayed away from it, but now someone has (allegedly) crossed the line and made some (allegedly) false claims about the bottled water industry — and IBWA now believes payback time has arrived.

We cannot say that we blame the IBWA one bit for filing the lawsuit. If a competitor in ANY industry makes (allegedly) false claims about another company’s products/services and causes that company to lose money, then naturally a lawsuit will follow.

It looks to us like Zero Water Technologies, LLC jumped on the bottled water bashing bandwagon, got caught up in the hype, took some liberties w/ the English Language and/or interpretation of scientific data, and now may have to pay dearly for their marketing indiscretions if the IBWA can make its case in Court.

No matter what side you have taken in the Battle Over Bottled Water, you have to agree that the facts and information destined to come out in Court as this lawsuit moves forward will give us all a great opportunity to learn some things we may not have known about the water filter industry AND the bottled water industry — with all combatants bound by Law to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth… or face perjury charges.

What Does This Mean for the Average Consumer?

Immediately we can expect to see a general ‘cleaning up’ of the language and claims made by water filter manufacturers and distributors in their advertisements. If things go well for the IBWA with this lawsuit, one can safely assume lawsuits against other companies will follow in short order if those companies fail to learn from Zero Water’s (alleged) mistakes.

Water Testing Blog does not expect that either industry will have to fold up shop as a result of this lawsuit, no matter which way it goes, but the less reputable companies in BOTH industries will either clean up their advertising practices or face prosecution. This means, hopefully, that consumers will have better, more accurate information available to them when deciding whether they wish to continue using bottled water or switch over to a water filtration system.

Best of Both Worlds?

What about some kind of bottled water cooler that actively filters the water as it gets dispensed… and doesn’t actually have bottles that need replacing? Sounded like an interesting idea to us so we researched the concept and found a number of office-style water coolers that come equipped with various types of water filtration systems including granulated activated carbon filters and reverse osmosis filters.

Bottleless 4-Stage Filtration  |  Bottleless 4-Stage Filtration incl. Reverse Osmosis

A person, if so inclined, can also add an Ultraviolet Water Sterilizer to bottleless water coolers. This technology reportedly kills and/or renders bacteria sterile using light of a very specific frequency and results in a 99.99% reduction of bacteria, virus, and protozoa. ( source )

Crystal Quest Ultraviolet Water Sterilizer

Additionally, we also found a Bacteria Test Kit for Water Coolers that may come in handy for offices and factories where cleaning the water cooler does rank as a high priority.

In the End…

Drinking water can get contaminated in so many ways that to count them all would take way longer than any person could reasonably spend — and not lose their mind. For that reason, and because YOUR health matters, take the time to test your tap and well water every once in a while.

You may find out you have great water and don’t need a filtration system or, on the other hand, you may discover that your water contains dangerous levels of arsenic or lead that could shorten your life.

As we always like to say, “It’s your water, your health… and your LIFE.“

Whether you have just celebrated the birth of a new baby or have already gone through a few sleepless nights with a young one that arrived a few months ago, you know you need to keep your baby safe from danger… so you have car seats, plugs for electrical outlets, gates by the stairway, childproof locks on the lower cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, etc. You may have even stopped smoking and/or invested in a better air filters for your furnace and/or air filters for your air conditioning unit to make sure your baby has clean air to breathe at home.

Now think about this: The last time you made bottles for your little one, did you give any thought to the quality of the water you mixed in with that nutrient-rich, and usually very expensive, formula or cereal?

Even if you boiled the water before use, which would effectively kill off most microorganisms, contaminants such as heavy metals (i.e. lead and mercury) will remain in the water and actually become greater in concentration.

So if boiling the water first may not make the water safe, then what will?

If you take a stroll down through the baby section of your local Wal-Mart or Kmart you will see that you can buy purified ‘baby water’ in various bottle sizes… which means purchasing the products would a support the bottled water industry and many people do NOT want to do that.

With pretty much all other options exhausted, it looks as though point-of-use water filtration systems such as countertop, faucet, and undersink water filters may provide the most economical, convenient, and environmentally friendly solutions.

How Do Know If I Have Good/Bad Water?

We get emails asking that question in an email at least three or four times a week and we answer the same way each time: TEST YOUR WATER or HAVE YOUR WATER TESTED.

Another good place to start involves requesting a copy of your local water system’s most recent Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). If your local water system serves more than 100,000 customers the Federal Government requires that it make its CCR for the previous year available on a public web site by July 1st.

Keep in mind, though, that the CCR reports the quality of water as it exited the water treatment facility, not the quality of water as it came out of your tap. Only testing water at your tap will tell you the full story about the quality of your tap water.

For assistance with drinking water testing, take a look at the following links:

• EPA List of State Certification Officers for Drinking Water Laboratories
• National Testing Laboratories Test Kits
• SenSafe Water Test Kits
• WaterSafe Test Kits

Who would have ever thought that an international water tasting event would take place… in West Virginia? Certainly not anyone here at Water Testing Blog, but then again, we never claimed to know everything… and we never will.

February 27, 2010 – A municipal water from the Ohio was named Best Municipal Water in the World during the 20th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting.

Tap water from Hamilton, OH, beat out 43 global competitors to win first place. Last year Hamilton’s water was named best in the United States.

Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days. 12 judges spent Saturday afternoon and evening tasting finalists in four categories: municipal, bottled, sparkling and purified drinking water.

About 200 people attended Saturday evening’s competition at Berkeley Springs’ The Country Inn. Audience members voted on which waters had the best packaging.

Best Municipal Water 2010

• Best in the World — Hamilton, Ohio
• 2nd place – Beaver Falls, British Columbia
• 3rd – Greenwood, British Columbia
• 4th – Lansing, MI
• 5th – Daytona Beach, FL (gold medal winner in 2005)

Best Bottled Water 2010

• 1st–Ecoviva, Roscommon, MI
• 2nd – Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado Springs, CO
• 3rd — Almost Heaven, Manassas,VA bottling Berkeley Springs water
• 4th – Denton Spring Water, North East, MD bottling Berkeley Springs water
• 5th – Real Water, Las Vegas, NV

Best Sparkling — 2010

• 1st– Dobra Voda Sparkling, Kratovo, Macedonia
• 2nd — Canadian Gold, Marchand, Manitoba, Canada
• 3rd – Touch Sparkling Spring Water, Marchand, Manitoba
• 4th – Antipodes, Whakatane, New Zealand
• 5th – Pian della Mussa, Village Baime, Italy

Purified Drinking Water — 2010

• 1st – Kittiwake Pure Water, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• 2nd – Crystal Mountain Water, Huntsville, Alabama
• 3rd — Berkeley Springs Purified Water, Berkeley Springs, WV
• 4th — Claire Baie, Oak Creek, WI
• 5th – Ultra Pure Reverse Osmosis Purified Water, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Best Packaging — 2010

• 1st – Bling H2O, Los Angeles, CA
• 2nd – Deep Origin, Whakatane, New Zealand
• 3rd – Climax Spring Water, Huntsville, Alabama
• 4th – Ecoviva, Roscommon, MI (a 100% biodegradable bottle and winner gold medal as best bottled water in the world.)
• 5th – Callaway Blue Spring Water, Hamilton, Georgia

( source )

For those of us not able to find products from the aforementioned winning companies in our local grocery stores, and/or people who refuse to support the bottled water industry, other ways to get safe, clean drinking water exist.

Suzanne from Temecula, CA wrote in and asked,

Shortly before leaving me, my ex-husband installed a monstrosity of a water filter for the whole house that he claimed would remove 99% of this, that and the other thing. He said we needed it. Too bad I still have to pay it off… But anyways, I now travel a lot and have noticed that the water tasted funny everywhere I go — and i really don’t like it very much at all. I’ve started carrying bottles and 1 gallon jugs of water with me on my trips but I think there has to be a better option. Do they make a travel-sized whole house filter? Thanks for your time and I look forward to reading your response. — Suzanne

We thank you for your question, Suzanne, and sorry you got stuck paying for that ‘monstrosity’ of a whole house filtration system. At least you have safe, clean, and good tasting water at home, though, right?

We completely understand your not wanting to carry jugs of bottled water around in your car, assuming that you drive everywhere. Although one can usually pick up gallons of purified water for small amounts of money from the local grocery store, the inconvenience of lugging them around all the time definitely sounds like a miserable experience.

You could pick up travel-sized sport water bottles with built-in filtration units, but those typically work better for short trips, hiking trips, etc. and that does not sound like what you want. It sounds to us like you want a portable version of the ‘monstrosity’ you have at home.

After doing a little research, we came across a Countertop Portable Water Filter made by Crystal Quest. It has multiple filtering stages (like your monstrosity at home) and claims to remove hundreds of contaminants (like your monstrosity at home most likely does).

Stage 1 — Water passes through a 5 micron filter pad which remove suspended particles such as silt, sediment, cyst (Giardia, Cryptosporidium), sand, rust, dirt, and other un-dissolved matter.

Stage 2 — Water passed through a specially blended bed of high purity media known commercially as KDF-55D ®, and KDF-85D ®. This media uses an oxidation-reduction process to effectively neutralize chlorine and remove metals.

Stage 3 — Water passes through through granulated activated carbon (GAC), a compound known for its ability to adsorb a wide variety of organic contaminants such as chlorine (99.9%), chemicals linked to cancer such as trihalomethanes (THM’s) and benzine, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), PCB’s, MTBE’s and many of other chemical contaminants which if present in water may also cause bad taste and odor.

Stage 4 — Water passes through a final 5 micron filter pad to filter out suspended particles such as silt, sediment, cyst (Giardia, Cryptosporidium), sand, rust, dirt, and other un-dissolved matter.

Unlike the ‘monstrosity’ you have not, yet finished paying for, the Crystal Quest Portable Countertop Water Filter has a pretty good price (around $70) and will supposedly last for up to 5,000 gallons.

Compare that to paying $1 per gallon for purified water from the store…

Worried about a time-consuming installation? From the looks of things, the Crystal Quest Portable Countertop Water Filter attaches to a common sink faucet via an adapter that screws into where the aerator goes. Should take less than a few minutes, though instinct tells us you may want to carry a pair of pliers in your travel bag — in case no one has removed the aerator in your cabana, cabin, or hotel room in a while.

We talk all the time about the importance of having safe, clean drinking water available for consumption but we seldom address another point: Drinking ENOUGH safe, clean water.

Water: indeed you are what you drink and should take care of your body of water. A baby is almost 90% water but this % reduces continuously to almost 60% and even less as we truly age. Our blood is 92% and our brain is 75% water just to name these. So avoid dehydration at any moment of the day and of your life. Good health is determined by the cells’ ability to receive water. When the cells walls are no longer flexible – aging begins. The amount of water you retain has nothing to do with the amount of water you drink. When the body is forced to retain water, as it is getting less than needed, it will do this at all costs. If the fluid intake is insufficient to provide all the water required, the body withholds water from the kidneys and the urine becomes scanty and highly concentrated, imposing a certain strain on the kidneys. If that is insufficient, excessive water will be with-drawn from the intestinal tract, with the result that the feces become hard and dry. On the other hand if you drink more than your body requires, the surplus is promptly and easily eliminated. Trying to prevent the body from retaining water by drinking less is therefore not only futile but even harmful and will provoke among many other troubles and diseases edema formation, cellulites and obesity. Drink daily enough pure water! For details consult our ‘Enjoyvity, your full spectrum of life’. ( source )

Athletes and athletically inclined people drink water all the time while exercising and many of them drink water all the time when not exercising, too. Why? Because they realize how heavily their bodies rely upon water to function properly not just in time of stress, but also in everyday life.

One could wager that people who drink a lot of water for their health also make sure the water they drink gets filtered properly at some point before it touches their lips. Whether drinking water at home that has gone through a whole house water purification system, undersink water filtration system or countertop filtration system… or at work drinking water that comes from a bottled water cooler of some sort, those people want to make sure the water they drink does not contain harmful contaminants like lead, bacteria, copper, pesticides, or other substances known to harm the human body.

News of BPA-laced water bottles, environmental woes caused by people not recycling or empty bottled water bottles, revelations that some bottled water comes from municipal water systems and other tidbits of information have put the bottled water industry on its heels… and now this.

A town in Australia banned bottled water AND London has decided to install chilled water vending machines on a trial basis in several highly trafficked locations.

London may soon follow in the footsteps of Bundanoon, the Australian town that last week banned bottled water and set up drinking fountains for thirsty locals.

The capital’s first water stations will be set up this month in a move that could have serious repercussions for the £1.5bn-a-year bottled water industry, with companies finding it increasingly difficult to justify their carbon footprint as the quality of tap water improves.

Thames Water, Britain’s largest privatised water company, with 13.6 million customers, has had talks with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London to install water machines in the capital. In the first trial, Hydrachills will be installed at Hammersmith bus station and at the Tower Bridge museum. The machines can fill bottles of up to 500ml with chilled water for a 20p charge. All proceeds will be donated to Waste Watch, a charity working to change the way people use natural resources. ( source )

This means a whole lot of thirsty commuters will soon have the option of filling up personal water bottles at home and then refilling with clean, chilled water on their way to the office for a much less money than they would normally spend on bottled water.

So the question becomes, will London commuters take advantage of this fantastic money-saving opportunity? We think that will depend upon the quality of their water at home and the quality of the water dispensed by the machines.

So, as usual, we suggest people test their drinking water for contaminants on a periodic basis with a test kit such as the SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit which tests for contaminants commonly found in drinking water.

Testing procedures in the kit come from recognized water testing methods, the kit contains no harsh chemicals (liquids, tablets, etc.), it comes with clear, easy-to-follow instructions, and best of all it provides accurate results without the need for expensive testing equipment.

The SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit includes:

• Sulfate Test Strips (2)
• Chloride Test Strips (2)
• Nitrate Test Strips (2)
• Nitrite Test Strips (2)
• Iron Test Strips (2)
• Copper Test Strips (2)
• Free Chlorine Test Strips (2)
• Hydrogen Sulfide Test Strips (2)
• pH Test Strips (2)
• Total Alkalinity Test Strips (2)
• Total Chlorine Test Strips (2)
• Total Hardness Test Strips (2)
• Pesticide Test (1)
• Bacteria Test (1)
• Lead Test (1)

  Table SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit also includes a handy table record and compare your results against USEPA recommended levels for drinking water.