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.

"Some like it hot"

"Some like it hot" is a classic film comedy by the great Billy Wilder starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. I've seen it many times over the years and it's always guaranteed to raise a smile and a laugh. Stella Artois screened it at Inverleith Park in Edinburgh back in the 1990s and it was a magical evening enjoyed with friends, wine and chips sitting on a rug.

Why all the nostalgia for a film made long before I was born? Well, at Just Water Now we have found some really do like it hot - their filtered water that is...


Our steaming hot taps provide instant filtered hot water that makes the perfect hot drink, even a cup of tea. All without having to wait for the kettle to boil (and some sneaky work colleague or house-mate emptying the kettle whilst your back is turned). Kettles make (unnecessary) clutter on the worktop and also use a lot of energy each cycle. They are just about the most dangerous item in a kitchen:

• Scalding accidents happen easily by touching the outside of the non-insulated hot kettle, spills of hot liquid or knocking a full kettle
• The kettle still has to be picked up to decant the boiling liquid
• Even the so-called "cordless" variety still need to be plugged into the wall, so that the flex is simply waiting to be caught
• They need to be emptied regularly and cleaned to prevent bacteria growth

The Just Water Now range of hot taps are safe, eco-friendly and the working parts are tucked away neatly under the kitchen sink so all that's on show is a stylish tap.

Why are hot taps safer than kettles?

• The insulated neck and spout may become warm to the touch but will never get hot enough for discomfort or scald. The tap lever/knob is designed to switch off the minute it is released and is child-proofed.
  
• The parts below the sink are also insulated and there is a venting feature to prevent pressure building up above safe levels.
  
• Some units also dispense water as a fine mist to prevent scalding by splashes while others dispense a thin low-pressure stream to reduce splashback. This is an advantage for people with arthritis or an injury who find lifting a kettle difficult.

Why are hot taps greener than kettles?

• Simply put, they use less energy to provide far larger amounts of water around the clock.
  
• The average kettle produces 2500-3000W per boiling cycle - irrespective of how much water is in it - and the more water, the more power used.
  
• Our hot taps can operate for less than the cost of running a 40W lightbulb, dispensing 100 cups of boiling filtered water every hour.
  
• Standby power consumption is very low, around 10W and boiling water requires as little as 1300W. Oh yes, and their long manufacturers' warranties indicate their long-life.

How do these appliances provide instant hot water?

The water is drawn off the main cold supply from under the kitchen sink (via a junction in the pipe) and enters the unit under the sink. There the water is filtered then boiled and stored in a pressurised, stainless-steel container and so that less energy is required to produce the end product. The steaming hot filtered water is dispensed through a dedicated tap sited on the worktop over the sink. The tank capacity range includes 2.5L, 3L, 7L and 11L, catering for every domestic and commercial circumstance from smaller households to even the busiest of restaurants and yet they are more energy-efficient than traditional kettles and urns!

What maintenance is required?

The filters last from 6 months to as long as 5 years (depends on the make and model) and are recycled by returning to Just Water Now. There is no other maintenance required, they have long warranties and once fitted, you'll wonder how you ever endured a kettle for so many years!

There are variety of tank sizes to suit you, but as these are tucked neatly out of sight under the worktop, you may be more interested to know that there a a good range of stylish modern taps to complement your existing sink tap.

• Planning a new kitchen? No problem, simply include a hot tap in your design and get the extra hole for the dedicated tap pre-drilled into your stone worktop when it is made.
  
• Got an existing kitchen? Again, no problem as we can retrofit these units: virtually any worktop can be drilled to accommodate the dedicated tap, though stone worktops like granite and Corian need a specialist to make the hole - that Just Water Now will arrange for you and will incur an additional charge - but it will be worth it!

So why not call Just Water Now today on 01435 872 184 and arrange for a free, no-obligation survey. We will listen to all your needs and advise you on the best appliance for your situation.

You can also visit our website at http://www.justwaternow.com to see the other products we market: water softeners, low-cost cold water filtration kits and POU water coolers.

Being "hard" isn't so clever...

What is hard water?
Hard water is mains water that has a high content of dissolved minerals in it. Water is a good solvent, picking up impurities easily but when (rain) water reacts with carbon dioxide from the air to form very weak carbonic acid, it becomes an even better solvent. Water seeps down through soil and rock, dissolving very small amounts of minerals, holding them in solution throughout all the treatment processes that turn it into our drinking water supply. Calcium and magnesium dissolved in water are the two main components that make water "hard". As the concentration of these minerals increases in water, the degree of "hardness" also increases.

Does hard water effect our health and well-being?
Hard water is certainly not a health risk but it can exacerbate some skin conditions (or maybe its all that extra soap and detergent required to make a good lather to clean us and our clothes). There is evidence that dry skin and even eczema and psoriasis can be alleviated to some degree by bathing (and also washing clothes) in softened water. You may even leave those "bad hair" days behind forever as hair can be properly cleaned and rinsed in softened water, leaving it easier to manage.

In the past all that calcium in our hard water was regarded as "better for our teeth", but it is a huge misconception that we obtain the minerals we need from our drinking water - we would have to drink a bathful of water a day to meet the recommended daily amounts for minerals! In reality, we obtain our minerals mostly from food stuffs and what we mix with our drinking water.

What effect does hard water have around the home?
The most obvious is visible to the naked eye: unappetising scum on the surface of liquids (especially hot drinks); an unsightly build-up of stains in kitchen sinks and bathroom suites that is difficult to remove; and poor soap/detergent performance when bathing and washing clothes or dishes. Increased use of expensive soap, detergent and household cleaning agent adds unnecessary pressue to the household finances.

Unfortunately, the worst effects are often invisible until it's too late: mineral build-up in water pipes and household appliances leads to their early demise and costly replacements. The hotter the water output from an appliance, the more limescale is deposited. Boilers, radiators (even underfloor heating systems), washing machines and dishwashers, as well as shower heads and heating elements, can all become clogged with limescale and will under-perform increasing energy costs before they fail completely. In addition to all that cost, we need to consider the adverse effect on the environment with the disposal of broken appliances and high use of powerful cleaning products.

What is the answer to hard water?
Move to a soft water area is one radical answer, but not very practical for us all. Better alternatives combat the hardness of water itself:

• convert the water from hard to soft with a water softener, or
  
• prevent the minerals from aggregating to cause limescale with a water conditioner
  

What is a water conditioner?
These work by altering the crystallisation behaviour of calcium and magnesium ions so that they loose their ability to aggregate as limescale in household pipes and appliances. There is scepticism about how effective water conditioners are, but manufacturers do claim that clients have found them to be very successful. The most effective are electromagnetic systems that fit around the mains water pipe like a jacket as the pipe enters the property (the pipe is not penetrated) and create a magnetic field around the pipe to alter the ions and prevent aggregation into limescale.

What is a water softener?
These appliances are plumbed into the mains water pipe as it enters the house, intercepting the water so that it must pass through an ion-exchange system (a resin bed coated with sodium salt). The ion-exchange works by swapping the "hard" calcium and magnesium minerals in the water with the sodium from the resin so that the hard minerals are left on the resin and the "softened" water can pass into the house giving soft silky water that is a pleasure to live with! When all the sodium on the resin has been exchanged, the resin is regenerated by washing with a highly concentrated salt solution: the excess sodium in the wash swaps the hard minerals back off the resin and that is all sent off directly down the waste pipe. The salt must be periodically replaced when the machine's display indicates (the salt comes as large blocks or smaller tablets/pellets that are added to the machine by the user). Importantly, in modern water softeners, only a tiny fraction of the salt that a water softener uses actually enters the softened water (most is used during the resin regeneration) so that the softened water is safe to drink and legislation has recently been changed to reflect this. From May 2008, all household water can be softened without the need for a bypass of unsoftened water to a single drinking water tap.

Fitting a water softener will prevent any more limescale accumulating and will even slowly improve existing scale from household pipes and appliances. The softened water gradually dissolves the limescale throughout the house, improving the flow of water and restore the efficiency of appliances, reducing energy-consumption and prolonging their lifespan. However, it is impossible to give a timescale on the reserval process as it depends on the degree of scale and how long it has been accumulating.

What happens to the waste salt wash from the softener? It is run off into the household waste either into the mains sewage system or into a septic tank. This can be problematic for septic tanks as its concentration will kill off the bacteria in the tank that treat the sewage. Older septic tanks are basically huge boxes with an inlet pipes, an overflow and a manhole access for maintenace/emptying. Although the brine affects the bacteria at the inlet, it is mixed quickly enough and diluted with the rest of the tank's contents so bacteria easily recolonise the area around the inlet within a few hours. Modern septic tanks are designed differently as a series of interconnected chambers with a small separate colony chamber at the inlet that gets flooded with the brine killing off virtually all the bacteria there, rendering the septic tank ineffective for up to 2 months whilst the decimated bacterial population regenerates. It's best to see what kind of septic tank you have and then check directly with the manufacturer about its ability to tolerate water softener waste.

What to choose?
Water conditioners are a maintenance-free, single-purchase, relatively low-cost choice that may still not prevent hard water problems and there is no evidence to suggest they can reverse existing limescale.

In contrast, water softeners are proven to soften in ALL hard water situations and help wash away pre-existing limescale over time. Water softeners are long-lived machines (10-20 year lifespans are common) with little/no maintenace, low running costs and salt can be bulk purchased to reduce costs. These low on-going costs are by far exceeded by the mounting cost of tough household cleaning agents with which we combat hard water, not to mention the huge financial impact of the broken household appliances that we find essential in today's world.

Visit www.justwaternow.com to view water softeners and other products available from Just Water Now Ltd.

Chlorine in drinking water

Why do we have Chlorine in drinking water?

Chlorine is added to the Mains water supply by the Water Authorities to reduce or eliminate bacteria, viruses and algae that can be present and has greatly reduced the risk of water borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Chlorine is easy to add to water and enough of the chemical remains in the water from the treatment plants through the distribution network to the consumer's tap so that re-contamination by micro-organisms cannot occur after leaving the treatment plant.

Why remove Chlorine from drinking water?

Chlorine adversely affects the taste and smell of tap water and the release of chlorine vapour from chlorinated water is associated with respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, and some allergies. A simple carbon filter fitted through the kitchen cold tap that is used for drinking and cooking, will remove up to 98% of chlorine taste and odour, also reducing the acidity of water, making food and drink more palatable and could reduce the incidence of respiratory problems.

Chlorine in the water supply may also contribute to bleaching of clothes during washing machine cycles. There are also concerns for vapour released from hot water during bathing and showering and from appliances such as dishwashers, affecting the air quality within the home. Whole-of-house filtering systems are available where a filter is not attached to a single tap but at the Point-of-Entry into the property to remove chlorine before water is distributed throughout the house. These are expensive systems as they must treat a huge volume of water, million(s) of Litres rather than the few thousand Litres of a single tap filter system.

Consumers with serious respiratory ailments could benefit from whole-of-house filter systems, removing the potential for chlorine vapours in the atmosphere. However, adequate ventilation of a property could be argued to be adequate to maintain air quality: opening windows and doors regularly to let the fresh air in is certainly a simple and cheap option. Also, if chlorine-free water is stored anywhere within the household, for example within a hot water cylinder or in toilet cisterns, the lack of chlorine could constitute a health risk over time as these are not sterile systems and there is potential for micro-organisms to contaminate the supply.

Filter systems can be adapted for removing a wide range of contaminants, including limescale, lead, heavy metals, hormone and herbicides and insecticides.

Why Just the Water business Now?

POU vs bottled water

The bottled water industry is worth £2 billion a year in UK alone. This is unbelievable: we are the lucky ones - we probably have the safest drinking water in the world piped through the mains right into our homes and workplaces - but we still prefer to buy bottled water! This is a 'luxury' that we have been conditioned to regard as a 'right' but in the current economic climate, it's becoming a luxury again as we all want to save money.

Bottled water is an incredible form of recurring revenue for the water industry and it has many disadvantages in expense, health and safety and environmental impact:

• for a water cooler, a 19L bottle of water for a water cooler costs from £3.99; if you use 1000L a year, it costs over £200 every year and this will only go up
  
• from the supermarket, a 1L bottle of water costs ~£0.75; if you use 1000L a year, it costs £750 and this will also only go up in the future
  
• water is used and wasted in the manufacture of the plastic bottles themselves
• water is shipped around the world from places like Fiji by plane, boat, train and truck (what a carbon footprint...)
• unless its clearly labelled 'spring' water then it's probably mains-water that is filtered and bottled so it doesn't taste of chlorine (if it is 'spring' water - there are fewer regulations governing its quality compared to mains water - so undetected contamination is possible in 'spring' water)
• storage is an issue - sitting in sunlight, bacteria and algae love to grow in it!
• it has a limited shelf-life even if stored correctly, again due to all that lovely bacteria and algae
• these huge water cooler bottles are HEAVY... and you certainly don't want to drop one on your toe when it's full!
• expensive servicing costs - they are supposed to sanitised 4 times a year
• recycling all that plastic is NOT going well here in the UK: currently less than 20% waste plastic is recycled in the UK - just think of all that landfill...

There are two answers to saving money: be rid of the luxury by going back to tap water or find a more cost effective way of keeping the 'right' by using a cheaper alternative. The water industry knows this and is developing and marketing Point-of-Use appliances now - we just need to get the message across to the consumer.

Point-of-Use is an appliance plumbed directly into the mains-supplied water to filter tap water in a more hygenic 'closed' system. It advantages are many compared to bottled water:

• cost of water reduced by 100% as POU filters mains-supplied water that consumers are already paying for
• servicing costs are reduced by 50% as sanitisation and filter changes are only necessary twice a year (half as often as bottled water) as its a 'closed' system
• consumers won't run out of POU water as it is always 'on tap'
• no expensive deliveries of water (lower carbon footprint)
• no storage issues of quality and shelf-life as it is available on demand
• no heavy lifting required
• the filters are either 100% biodegradable (carbon cartridge) or 100% recyclable through the supplier

Visit www.justwaternow.com to see how you can save money by paying less for water