by Fern Shaw | Jan 16, 2014 | Health and Hydration
Water Cooler Tales – Volume I
The primary difference between distilled water and spring water is the purification process, though there may also be differences when it comes to where the water comes from or how it is processed. In general, spring water has been pumped from a natural spring, and usually contains a number of minerals. Manufacturers filter it for impurities like dirt and bacteria, but typically leave the minerals and other naturally occurring elements in to improve the overall taste. Distilled water, on the other hand, is boiled for so long that the water molecules become vapour, essentially shedding both impurities and minerals. The result is a very pure product that contains basically nothing but hydrogen and oxygen.
People can typically drink both versions, though distilled water is not usually designed for hydration. While spring water is often marketed as a natural way to hydrate the body, distilled versions are more commonly used in settings that requite ultra-pure water, like heavy industry or scientific labs. It may also be recommended for use in household appliances since the lack of minerals means there won’t usually be any build-up over time.
Lack of Minerals
Distilled water has had all of the naturally occurring minerals in tap or well water removed. If you only drink distilled water, you may not consume enough of the minerals present in tap water, such as magnesium or calcium, according to the World Health Organization. Consistently drinking distilled water may cause a deficiency in one of the 14 micronutrients WHO identifies as necessary for your health.
Sourcing
One of the first things to think about when discussing distilled water and spring water is where each comes from. Spring water originates in natural ‘springs’, which are freshwater pools and streams that come from underground aquifers and are present in varying sizes in most parts of the world. Some springs are more renowned than others for their drinking water, and the mineral content can vary dramatically from place to place.
Distilled water might come from a spring, but it could just as easily come from a river, a reservoir, or even the ocean. Where distillation is concerned, the process is much more important than the source.
In the next volume, we’ll talk about further differences between spring water and distilled water and the best uses for both.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 16, 2014 | Health and Hydration, Water Boilers
I often read about bed warmers in books and wondered what they were exactly. Then I saw some period drama and lo and behold, the mystery was solved. Thankfully we’ve moved on since then.
Again, my intentions were pure! The intent was a straight up, C for serious blog about hot water bottles and which clever clogs (as me mum used to say) invented these little marvellous body warmers.
It started off pretty well; an olde metal warmer (see middle image) – I can imagine you weren’t meant to get into bed when that was still in it. Then the image on the left caught my eye (only one of my eyes responds to silly or unusual – if it were both – you’d never get a straight reading blog out of me). All I could think was ‘what is that man doing to those poor harmless bits of rubber?!’
How did we progress to the cat lying on the rather shiny red blankie ask you? Wellllllllll…. cats are fantastic hot water bottles; they’re furry and purry, just one could probably get you all through winter, no problem (just watch out for those damnie claws though, when you try to move unannounced). Plus, I happen to like cats and this is a blog I’m writing, so the cat pic stays in. KO?
From Wiki:
Modern day conventional hot water bottles were invented in 1903 and are manufactured in natural rubber or PVC, to a design patented by the Croatian inventor Eduard Penkala. They are now commonly covered in fabric, sometimes with a novelty design.
By the late 20th century, the use of hot water bottles had markedly declined around most of the world. Not only were homes better heated, but newer items such as electric blankets were competing with hot water bottles as a source of night-time heat. However hot water bottles continue to remain as a popular alternative in Ireland and the United Kingdom, developing countries and rural areas. For example, it is widely used in Chile, where it is called a “guatero“. There has been a recent surge in popularity in Japan where it is seen as an ecologically friendly and thrifty way to keep warm.
Some newer products function like the older bottles, but use a polymer gel or wax in a heat pad. The pads can be heated in a microwave oven, and they are marketed as safer than liquid-filled bottles or electrically-heated devices.
Take note: None of the above examples are to be confused with water boilers. AquAid’s range of water boilers are for keeping your insides warm, not your outside, see? A slight distinction, but a distinction nonetheless.
During the brrr winter months we’re now experiencing; when you ‘ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o’clock at night and lick road clean wit’ tongue before heading off to work, at least you know when you get into work, (depending on how savvy your employer is), there’s always the hot water boiler available, keeping your water at an even hot temperature of 98 °C, ready, reliable and able to ensure a constant supply of all your hot drinks . Just don’t try using the hot water boiler as a hot water bottle; if nothing else, it’s an unsightly mess to be cleaning up after.
Happy keeping warm and toasty this winter. No, you may not borrow the furry purry, get your own.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 16, 2014 | Health and Hydration
I’ve schlubbed my way in from my ‘olidays and am gearing myself up for the AquAid Drink Water Daily Challenge and all of a sardine, it strikes me – what am I going to be drinking out of? I can’t just drink out of any old thing (actually I can, but being a tactile sensitive person, I’m fussy – deal with it), I need something that screams (softly) ‘DRINK FROM ME BECAUSE I’M JUST TOO GORGEOUS NOT TO’ or something thereabouts.
Bearing in mind that despite what the head honcho’s would like, I’m not chained to my desk 24/7, which means that during the hours I’m not in the office drinking from our water cooler, I’m going to need an alternative, thus the great internet search commenced. Great galloping grannies did I come across some doozies, as you will see from the images.
I’m very into glass containers at present; however, I doubt it’s very practical lugging an unusual glass water bottle like the one pictured above just to gain some style cred. Uh-uh.
I did quite like the ‘wrist-bottle’, but being rather co-ordination challenged, it’s likely that seventy percent of the water would end up splashed all over my keyboard, which would pretty much defeat the object of the keeping well hydrated part of the challenge.
Rather like, ‘What differences are noticeable after four weeks of three litres per day?’
‘Well, nothing noticeable on me, mate, but my keyboard’s sprouted a few potatoes’…
I also came across this rather ‘take me to your leader’ type container, very reminiscent of the green creatures from Toy Story, but common sense prevailed, as I’d probably spend more time playing with the water bottle than actually drinking from it.
After exhaustive research, I decided that I’d just use my plain Jane, weather beaten water bottle, because the focus here is drinking the water and seeing the result and not how ‘stylish’ I look while drinking the water.
I have had a little word with the office though and asked them if I can decant the water from the water cooler for after hours, to which they agreed. Good for me! (Initially I did ask if I could borrow the water cooler bottle, but that didn’t get the desired response.)
If you’d like more information about what the AquAid Drink Water Daily Challenge is all about, drop us a line or telephone our HQ, we’d love for you to participate with us – the results can only be good!
by Fern Shaw | Dec 18, 2013 | Health and Hydration
Many people mistakenly believe that wine, spirits and even beer, for example, contain no kilojoules and that this is reserved solely for food. Not true according to the below comparisons.
So you may see a lot of people who will eat sparingly, but sip away at the wine and spirits (and even beer) and wonder why they’re not losing weight.
Here are a few examples of wines vs. spirits in the kilojoules department:
- 225ml glass of white wine = 659 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of red wine = 641 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of full strength beer = 341 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of vodka (30ml tot) and soda = 266 kilojoules
- 225ml glass of gin (30ml) and tonic = 545 kilojoules
Two large glasses (450ml) of white wine (1 318 kJ) are equivalent to:
- Five chocolate chip biscuits – 1245 kJ
- Seven jelly snakes – 1 292 kJ
- Four medium apples – 1 354 kJ
- Twelve squares of milk chocolate – 1 350 kJ
- Five large, hard boiled eggs – 1 283 kJ
- Seven chicken nuggets – 1 353 kJ
- One toasted ham and cheese sandwich – 1 244 kJ
225ml glass of soda water = 0 kJ
225ml glass of water = 0 kJ
Doubtful though that anyone would want to spend the rest of their weight conscious lives calculating kilojoule content per mm of lettuce or dollop of mayonnaise (lots!), however these comparisons should give one pause when embarking on a liquid diet in the hopes of staving off the pounds from eating.
Rather chug-a-lug the soda or spring water with your next packet of jelly snakes. J
And if you don’t already have a water cooler in your office, speak nicely to the office manager and perhaps they’ll get one in for you (ask them to speak to us to arrange this). Then you can chug-a-lug as much water as you like!
Perhaps you can even join us in our Drink Water Daily Challenge and really see the results. We’d love to have you on board with us.
by Fern Shaw | Dec 2, 2013 | Health and Hydration
See, this is the difference when it comes to a passion. Or, as the French say, ‘une grande passion’. Just sounds so much more appealing when coached in those terms, doesn’t it?
Because in water cooler supplier terms, water of life means what it says – an absolute necessity – without water, not much life going on. But-t-t-t-t-t-t to a whisky drinker, ‘Water of Life’, means pretty much the same thing, but there’s an incredible history and la passion behind that expression too!
So, for your eddication:
‘*The Gaelic “usquebaugh”, meaning “Water of Life”, phonetically became “usky” and then “whisky” in English. However it is known, Scotch Whisky, Scotch or Whisky (as opposed to whiskey), it has captivated a global market.
Scotland has internationally protected the term “Scotch”. For a whisky to be labelled Scotch it has to be produced in Scotland. If it is to be called Scotch, it cannot be produced in England, Wales, Ireland, America or anywhere else. Excellent whiskies are made by similar methods in other countries, notably Japan, but they cannot be called Scotches. They are most often referred to as “whiskey”. While they might be splendid whiskies, they do not captivate the tastes of Scotland.’
As you may have gathered at this point, I have a slight yen for the usquebaugh – the single malt variety that is. The more peat, seaweed and evocativeness, the better.
Many people (more for me I say) don’t ‘get’ whisky (or whiskey for that matter), probably in a similar manner to me not ‘getting’ brandy. You must understand (ooo! Tina Turner!) when I was introduced to whisky and for a number of years thereafter, I had no concept of the multi-billion pound industry that whisky is. All I knew is that I really liked the stuff. Pretty simple really.
Anyhow, water for you may be a little different to the water for me.
What I do think is worthy of a mention though, is that were you aware that a lot of the water that AquAid supplies to its customers is from Scotland – more specifically, that the water is drawn from 120 metres beneath the ancient, unspoiled Lammermuir Hills, where it is naturally filtered by deep layers of hard basalt rock and red sandstone?
Now, add into the mix the fact that the first process in whisky making is finding a plentiful supply of water. Scotland has some of the purest water in the world. Most distilleries are built on good reliable water sources, which can be springs or boreholes. Each unique water source adds to the character and flavour of the whisky.
Hmmm, don’t know about you, but that’s an easy parallel to draw there and I think credit must be given to me for my superlative good taste in the ‘water of life’!
*Excerpts from – A Brief History of Scotch Whisky
by Fern Shaw | Nov 25, 2013 | Health and Hydration
I don’t like to burst that ‘I am in an island’ of yours bubble (yes, yes, I’m paraphrasing) but being waterwise is pretty importante if you’re part of the human race.
Here are a few reasons why:
- The amount of water we use in the UK is not sustainable; we have to use less on a daily basis to ensure our supply doesn’t run out. Water consumption is also linked to climate change – because treating, pumping and heating water produces carbon dioxide – which is a greenhouse gas.
- Water isn’t running out – the water cycle is continuous, but with the increasing population there are more of us to share the water supply.
- The average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water a day. This takes into account cooking, cleaning, washing and flushing. Again, this is not sustainable and we are not the only ones with a water scarcity problem. According to the BBC 2/5 of world population already faces water shortages, and 1.1 billion people in the developing world do not have access to a minimal amount of clean water.
I know that it seems as if this information coupled with all the hydration and health information is all a bit too much, but it really isn’t. All it means is just being sensible – rather to think in terms of what we have, rather than what we ‘may not have’. And if there’s anything that we do know, it’s that being British is the epitome of sensible.
I’ve blogged long and hard about sensible ways with water, so please feel free *pointing here, there and there* to have a gander:
https://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/super-duper-ways-to-save-water-part-v
https://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/supercallafragalistic-ways-to-conserve-water-part-iv
https://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/more-simple-practical-ways-to-save-water
and
https://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/super-simple-practical-ways-to-save-water
Here, at AquAid, we really, truly are more than just your water cooler supplier – we’re pretty much all things water. If you’d simply like an idea of what water cooler is best for your environment, whether it be for work, sports, school or home, let us know.
Some information from http://www.waterwise.org.uk/
