Thanks for your inquiry, Amandee, and you have asked a VERY good question… that has somewhat of a confusing answer.

Should you rely on bottled water? In our experience bottled water presents itself as a great option for drinking and the brushing of one’s teeth BUT you must use caution when selecting a brand of bottled water.

Not all brands of bottled water go through the same filtration and some come from local water supplies (i.e. tap water) that may contain unwanted local contaminants. Therefore we suggest that you choose your bottled water brand carefully, avoid fresh fruits, and avoid ice cubes.

One last thing…

With so many travel web sites out there that go into ridiculous amounts of detail regarding hotel and resort amenities, perhaps you can find reviews/postings from previous visitors that discuss the water quality at the places you intend to stay?

We had an ‘issue’ with dehydration one hot Summer afternoon in 2011 while digging out the area for what would eventually become a recessed fire pit. Despite drinking a lot of water before and during the afternoon’s outdoor activity the Summer heat in South Carolina coupled with the tremendous amount of sweating resulted in the onset of heat exhaustion and dehydration.

What did it feel like? In a word, HORRIBLE. Lightheaded, dizzy, exhausted, shaky, weak, headache, nausea, and a few other symptoms. It took three days of steadily drinking liquids (electrolyte-rich sports drinks and plenty of water) in small amounts before all the ill effects of dehydration went away.

How much water does a person really need?

As a basic rule of thumb most average-sized people leading average lives (i.e. not being stupid and digging a pit in the middle of Summer in Sough Carolina!) require an estimated 64 ounces of water a day. That may sound like a lot of fluids to drink in a single day, but in actuality some of that amount we take in through the foods we consume and in other beverages like coffee, tea, milk, juices, etc.

Obviously smaller framed folks could require a bit less water on a daily basis and larger framed folks could require a bit more water on a daily basis. Additionally, other factors such as temperature, personal health conditions, and activity level change a person’s daily water requirement.

What does water do for the body?

According to the Mayo Clinic web site, the human body contains approximately 60 percent (by weight) water… so it definitely behooves us to keep our water content correct!

Water…

• Regulates body temperature
   
• Moistens key areas of the body such as the nose, ears, mouth and throat
   
• Lubricates joints to make movement easier
   
• Aids in keeping bodily organs and tissue functioning properly
   
• Helps keep the kidney functioning correctly by flushing out toxins
   
• Dissolves mineral and nutrients to make them usable by the body
   
• Helps in the transport of oxygen and nutrients to all areas of the body

With all of the useful benefits that water offers us it makes total sense that the human body WILL SHUT DOWN if it does not stay properly hydrated.

Does chugging water or sports drinks help?

Unfortunately, NO. The human body processes (passes through and excretes) liquids at a faster rate than it can absorb them for actual use so continuously sipping liquids tends to work much more better and efficiently than taking huge gulps every once in a while.

The ‘frequent sipping’ method should also help to keep you from having to use the bathroom as often, too! 😉

Ways to keep water handy

Obviously the answer of ‘bottled water’ springs to mind… but what if you, like more and more people each day, dislike the idea of having to throw away (or better yet recycle! Please!) plastic bottles all the time, then products such as the Austin Springs 18-ounce Drinking Water Bottle may work quite well for you.

Simply fill a batch of the bottles (they come in a pack of six) with fresh, clean drinking water and refill as needed. Better for the environment and definitely better on your wallet/purse in the long run!

Today we read an article called “Water testing for uranium expanding in Juliette” that described how recent testing had detected higher than acceptable levels of uranium in drinking water samples pulled from various residential water wells in the region.

A few highlights from the article:

• Testing over the past few years has detected unsafe levels of radon in the air and water in a higher than normal number of Juliette residences.
   
• As a result of past findings, University of Georgia graduate students have started a program of heavy metals testing in some homes and the Georgia Department of Public Health has started a broader radioactivity sampling recently at locations previously found to have contained uranium in the water or radon in the air.
   
• Some feel the uranium problem may have come from the burning of certain types of coal at a nearby coal-fired power plant.
   
• Uranium occurs naturally in bedrock and a lot of that material lies under the area.
   
• Information obtained from voluntary health surveys so far does not indicate the presence of illness or symptom clusters — except for 50% of respondents reporting high blood pressure and 25% of residents mentioning breathing/respiratory concerns.
   
• Half of the wells tested so far contained levels of uranium in excess of levels considered unsafe by government agencies.
   
• Eating or swallowing uranium can result in kidney problems — USEPA.
   
• Inhaled radon ranks as the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers — USEPA.

Pretty scary stuff regardless of where the uranium and radon came from. But, as the article did point out, at least government and health officials have taken an interest in the matter and additional testing will take place.

In the meantime, however, and also as the article pointed out, local residences have had to abandon the use of their wells and rely on bottled water until the necessary funds to pay for the expansion of a nearby public water system to areas currently affected by tainted well water.

Testing for uranium in drinking water?

We suggest leaving this sort of testing to the experts since you will most definitely want third party evidence in court if you ever need to go after a company for negligence or damages. Most water testing laboratories with proper certification can perform that sort of testing or recommend one that does.

Testing for radon?

Concerned citizens with worries regarding radon can purchase radon in air and radon in water test kits from a web site ( TestProducts.Com) operated by National Safety Products.

Both tests require laboratory analysis of the test kits after use BUT the cost paid for either of the kits includes the cost for lab testing. The basic radon in air test kit costs around $12 and the basic (short term) radon in water test kit costs around $25.

Moral of the story?

Like arsenic, another naturally occurring well water contaminant that can appear seemingly without warning in one’s ground water, you will not know of their presence without testing since neither of the unwanted contaminants has a distinct taste or odor — potentially making them silent killers if their presence goes undetected for too long.

We should all take steps to reduce the amount of plastic we consume and eliminating bottled water from our daily lives would certainly help us achieve that objective.

Manufactured from 18/8 food grade stainless steel, this 1.0 liter reusable water bottle has no liner to worry about and comes with a durable, BPA-free and phalate-free screw top that seals tightly in the bottle’s mouth to keep your portable water supply secure.

Also check out the slim, sleek design of the bottle which allows it to fit into a wide range of traditional water bottle holders.

Saving the best for last?

Whether at school, at the gym, just walking around town, or maybe even simply hanging out with friends, the clear message that you believe the world has too many Slackers in it will get through to even the most inattentive dimwits around you.

So… who do we think belongs on the list of slackers? We’ll start with anyone who refuse to recycle their plastics, metals, etc. Their desire not to at least make an effort to help this planet last longer (i.e. survive mankind’s abuse) speaks volumes about that person’s true slacker nature.

If enough people get the message and stop acting like shiftless and otherwise useless slackers when it comes to cutting down on bottled water we believe the world will become a much better place.

More Slacker merchandise?

Yes, it exists. Everything from sweatshirts, mouse pads, clocks, t-shirts, pajamas, and messenger bags to… Christmas stockings? Find the perfect slacker item for your favorite Slacker right here

Chloramines? What are chloramines? Take a look at this earlier Water Testing Blog entry on Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine and Total Chlorine and get a quick education on the topic!

Whether created as a byproduct of disinfection via free chlorine or the intended disinfectant in a water system, most people do NOT like the taste and odor of chloramines in their water.

Thankfully Pentek has come out with a product called the Pentek ChlorPlus 10 Chloramine Removal Water Filter Cartridge that fits in standard 10″ (x 2.5″) filter housings used in filter sytems produced by companies such as Pentek (obviously!), US Filter (recently acquired by Pentek!), Cuno, Filterite, Keystone, US Water, Water Resources, Harmsco, and many other popular brands of water filtration systems. If your system uses a standard 10″ x 2.5″ housing, the Pentek ChlorPlus 10 ought to fit just fine!

Having said that last bit, please check the dimensions of your current filter and/or housing before ordering this product!

Looking for a 10″ replacement filter with NSF Certification? The Pentek ChlorPlus 10 uses a component tested certified to NSF Standard 42.

What does the Pentek ChlorPlus 10 remove/reduce? Using 1 micron carbon block technology this product (255416-43) should seriously reduce chloramine concentrations in drinking water and in doing so remove the (offensive) taste and odor associated with chlorine while also helping to pull out unwanted sediment, if present.

We’d heard about water generators that pull water right out of the air but until recently we had not found a whole lot of information worth relaying to our readers. Today, however, we’d like to take a few minutes to discuss some of the features of the DewPointe AD6W Water Generator, a CE, ETL, ISO-9000, WQA, ROHRS, and FDA certified atmospheric water system.

Scientists estimate that our planet’s atmosphere holds approximately 3.1 quadrillion gallons of water at any given moment. Additionally, this amount does not, as far as current scientific methods can tell, ever seem to change all that much.

What does that mean? In simple terms, we have a gigantic supply of fresh water all around us pretty much all the time — and devices such as the DewPointe AD6W Water Generator make it possible for the average home or business owner to extract water from the air and quickly make it suitable for human consumption.

About the size of a small office water cooler, the unit condenses moisture from the air and filters collected water using something called a Four Stage SLO FLO water filtration system with patented continual water recirculation filtration system. Below you will find a quick explanation of how the DewPointe Atmospheric Water Generator operates.

• An electrostatic air filter removes dust, pollen, mold and other airborne contaminants (solids) as air enters the unit.
• A cooling unit quickly chills the air to the dew point — the point at which water changes phases from a gas to a liquid — and a collection tray harvest the condensate.
• The water then passes through a sediment filter, pre-carbon block filtration and post-carbon block filtration.
• To render harmless any waterborne bacteria, microorganisms and/or bacteria, the AD6W uses a powerful 11-watt UV light source.

• The filtered water then gets routed to hot and cold water storage tanks.

Worried about having another appliance drawing power, adding to your utility bill, and possibly resulting in a large added expense? Well don’t. According to the device’s manufacturers, the unit will produce a gallon of pure drinking water at a cost of around 60 cents per gallon. That means you’ll spend quite a bit less money on bottled water products AND not have to deal with disposable water bottles ever again.

What if we don’t use all the water in the unit? Won’t it spoil?

Not according what we’ve read so far. The unit apparently contains a built-in (patented) refresh cycle that forces any water in the unit to get re-filtered every 24 hours.

How much water will the AD6W produce?

According to product literature, at 70 F and 60% relative humidity, the DewPointe will create more than 4 gallons of pure water each day.

At 85 F and 80% humidity, the Dewpointe will produce more than 9 gallons of purified drinking water each day.

In most areas the unit will produce an average between 2 and 5 gallons of clean drinking water a day.

Difficult to install or set up?

Not at all. Simply plug the unit into a standard 110 V electrical outlet and within 24 hours the DewPointe will have its reservoirs filled with pure drinking water.

How will this device affect the environment?

On this point we think the following quoted material does a pretty good job of describing the unit’s environmental footprint:

“The DewPointe is environmentally friendly and uses less energy to produce water than standard bottling or desalination processes and it eliminates plastic bottle waste. The DewPointe also reduces carbon emissions caused by the transportation and production of bottled and packaged water. It uses a completely renewable source of water without depleting natural resources or damaging the environment. ( source )

Oh, but you still want the convenience of having bottled water with you at all times… Not a problem! Several companies manufacture reusable water bottles (in a variety of shapes, colors, capacities, materials, etc.) that you can use over and over again without ever worrying about contributing to the billions of water bottles currently clogging our landfills.

The Filtrete Water Station uses a recyclable filter to reduce levels of sediment and the taste and odor of chlorine from water… and then puts the filtered water into four reusable 16.9 ounce bottles.

Does this unit remove EVERY possible drinking water contaminant? No, but since some bottled water companies take tap water, filter it, bottle it, and then sell it… don’t you think you could do the same at home for a lot less money?

Granted many of those companies may use more sophisticated methods of water purification such as reverse osmosis, but not all of them.

Also, please don’t forget about the space in landfills you would not take up with all the disposable, empty water bottles you would no longer throw out.

“Oh, but I recycle my water bottles….”

Good for you! Too bad not ALL of the material that goes into the production and packaging of most bottled water can get recycled. The fact that the bottle and (sometimes) the caps can get recycled does NOT mean the plastic coated cardboard boxes used to ship the product will break down nicely in nature or get recycled.

And what about the fossil fuel used to cart all those bottles from the factory — and yes, we said factory. The image that a group of people sit around a remote location secretly bottling pure, safe and pristine drinking water is exactly that: an image — to the distribution center and from there to countless locations before it finally ends up in the cooler for you to grab as you head off to another meeting, to the gym or out for an afternoon of frantic Christmas shopping.?

Don’t get us wrong

We LOVE that (many) people have committed themselves to recycling the waste from various products they use on a daily basis. We just hope that more people will start bottling their own water at home instead of paying outrageous prices for filtered water that has an ecological footprint extending well beyond its trendy, recyclable container.

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 the Arsenic section of this blog.

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.

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.