Figuring The Facts About Water

If around 97% of the Earth's water is salty or otherwise undrinkable, and another 2% is stored in the ice caps and glaciers, that leaves only 1% for we greedy humans to use. So it's hardly surprising that around 25% of the world's population doesn't have access to safe drinking water.


What about our water here in the UK?

Our mains water supply is stored and treated for us, providing us with some of the safest drinking water in the world. Amazingly, we only use about 1% of this supply for drinking and cooking - the rest is for bathing and toilet flushing, laundry, cleaning the car or watering the garden.


We care so much about what we drink that we buy bottles of water from the supermarket for home, while at work we have bottle-fed coolers. The water purchased in these ways costs approximately 1000x MORE than the same volume delivered to us through the mains water supply by the water authorities!


But what water actually goes into those bottles we purchase?

Well if the bottle isn't clearly labelled "mineral water" or "spring water", then it probably actually contains tap water that's filtered prior to bottling. Filtered tap water is perfectly fine - most of the chlorine taste and odour have been removed with an activated carbon filter. And it's the chlorine taste that is the predominant reason why people reject tap water in favour of bottled water - a premise that the entire bottled water industry established itself in the 1980's and 1990's when we were all being flash with our cash and very naive about the adverse effects of bottled water on the environment.

Activated Carbon is a wonderful filter, handling many chemicals found in water and a wide range of chemicals that should NEVER be present in the main water supply. At the end of its life, it is 100% biodegradable (unless coated in plastic or some other material); the carbon filter blocks sold by Just Water Now Ltd for their cold-water filtration systems and water coolers are just carbon (no coatings) so is 100% bio-degradable - beware of expensive, non-biodegradable substitutes!

In addition to removing ~98% chlorine taste and odour, the Just Water Now carbon filter will also remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs), organic impurities including insecticides, pesticides and herbicides as well as particulate matter. But don't panic these chemicals (apart from chlorine) are not necessarily found in our tap water, it's more that activated carbon will remove under test. How does it do this? The chemicals are adsorbed onto the carbon surface (they get stuck to the carbon as the water passes through the pores of the block) and large particles are physically trapped as they try to pass through the smaller pores. Thus the crud you might have seen swirling in your glass of tap water is now kept back in the filter not in your glass.

Food for thought...or is that drink for thought? Maybe not - I'm assured that beer is best for thinking...but did you know that water quality, both purity and hardness, is an important factor in the ultimate quality of the pint? So all those home-brewers out there need to consider whether the chlorine and impurities found in tap water is the ideal starting ingredient for their endeavours. If chlorine makes a glass of water taste yuck, and a cup of tea taste somewhat yuck, then surely something as sensitive as a pint of beer needs to be chlorine-free to really taste good.

Wine-making is another home pastime that might possibly benefit from chlorine-free water. In the world of fine wines, do connoisseurs ever say they can taste the chlorine? I've certainly heard them on the TV talking about oak, apple, pepper, vinegar and paint-stripper...

Whilst I'm writing about beverages, what do people who buy organic fruit and veg. or grow their own, do to rinse them off before eating/cooking? If they just rinse them under the kitchen tap, then great! that's all nicely chlorinated now ready for eating - Just Water Now's Unit Filter would at least make sure that your expensive organic choice (or thrify grow-your-own and know where it's been) is then getting the final "green" treatment prior to eating. And moving onto my greatest pleasures in life - home-baking and chocolate. Filtered tap water means no cruddy "bits" in the water (nor chlorine nor chemicals) that goes into the recipe - so that cake, biscuit, bread may turn out tastier and lighter and your chocolate even yummier and greener.


So go on, visit www.justwaternow.com today or email us at enquiries@justwaternow.com to see how our products can enhance your day-to-day life...

Something Fishy To Think About?

I found out something today about keeping fish.

Fish are supposed to be very therapeutic as they swim gently around their tank, gliding in and out of ruined towers, over and under bridges and through the forests of weed...

Sounds great, but the death rate can run quite high and that can't be fun for your kids or your pocket.
So what are the killers in the tank?

• Cannibalism (nice!)
• Infection (bacteria, fungal, you name they can get it...)
• Over-feeding with the sprinkle food (just a pinch is all they need!)
  
• Other reasons include Poisoning from the water itself.

Yes, funnily enough it can be the water that's killing off your little fishies.

Here's the science bit:

Chlorine in your tap water can be harmful to your fish. Chlorine is put into the mains water supply at the water treatment works as a disinfectant so our drinking water is free from harmful organisms. As a result of chlorinated tap water, we no longer get cholera and other water-borne diseases. Whilst the chlorine in drinking water isn't harmful to us (it just doesn't taste great), it can actually be harmful to fish and other aquatic creatures. So you need to remove the chlorine before adding any water to your fish tank, or even your fish pond.

Here's the marketing bit: Just Water Now sells a great-value DIY kit to filter your tap water.

The JWN Unit Filter:

• Costs only £75.00 to buy
• Fits through your existing kitchen tap (or to a Triflo tap)
  
• Any vaguely-competant DIY-er can install it themselves following the step-by-step instructions (or our installers will come to your house if you prefer)
• The carbon filter block removes ~98% of chlorine taste and odour (so the water tastes great and is safe for fishies)
• The carbon filter also removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chlorinate hydrocarbons, other organic impurities and particulate matter found in drinking water (the cruddy bits sometimes seen swirling around your glass)
  
• The carbon filter lasts 6 months or 6,000 Litres (and costs only £7.50 to replace)
• The carbon filter is 100% biodegradable - crumble it into your compost or use it for fuel on your BBQ!
  
• We send you an email reminder when the filter change is due (very easy to do) and we'll post the new filter out to you

So for £15.00 a year, you can drink all you want from your kitchen tap and your pets will prefer it - not just your fish, but your dogs, cats and furry friends will all prefer the chlorine-free water from your tap.

The proof? My mutts always preferred to drink the rain-water (or ice) from puddles or out of the flowerpots in the garden rather than their drinking bowl. I never really thought about it until I installed my JWN Unit Filter at home and changed the water in their bowl. Rufus came to have a look, tasted the water and immediately tanked down half the bowl! Chloe then pushed past him and finished it off, so now my fussy pooches love their water bowl. My morning cuppa tastes infinitely better now too...

So visit www.justwaternow.com to see more of our products and services or email us at enquiries@justwaternow.com to order your JWN Unit Filter today and improve your pets' health and well-being today.

A picture paints a thousand words: POU saves a thousand pounds

We can talk until we are blue in the face (or write until the text turns blue!) about how bottled water is an unnecessary expense, but here is the truth in a picture:

JWN product is a POU (Point-of-Use) water cooler or POU water fountain supplied and installed by Just Water Now (buy it at the beginning and then only have to pay for servicing after that).
POU rental is the cost of renting a POU cooler for a year, rather than buying it - you're paying for rent and servicing. Is it worth your while?
1, 2 or 4 Bottles per week is the cost of having to buy that number of those huge plastic bottles for bottle-fed water coolers every week for a year. Then there is rental of the cooler itself and servicing on top (4 times a year rather than twice a year for POU). Did you know a bottle should be changed when it's been open for a week? Did you know that the water in these bottles has a shelf-life? Mains water doesn't...

The average lifetime of a POU cooler or fountain is 10 years if it is cared for and serviced properly. So what is the TOTAL accumulative cost over 5 years or 10 years? Lets look at another picture...



Why pay twice for your water - bottled and mains supply? Why not filter your main supply to remove the chlorine taste and odour as well as the particles and organic impurities sometimes present? Food for thought...

Why don't you find out today how to turn an expensive overhead into a tangible asset?

Visit www.justwaternow.com for more details of Just Water Now Ltd products and services for homes and businesses or email marie-louise@justwaternow.com if you have a specific enquiry. We look forward to hearing from you.