by Fern Shaw | Oct 14, 2013 | Charity, Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Remember the heat wave? You must – it was only a month or so ago. Now, take those temperatures and turn up the heat, so to speak, by a good 8 °C. Or for that matter, another 10°C.
Now, take a good 38°C and couple it with scant shade … and … no water.
Then, to this rather sweltering image, add this: If you want drinking water, you need to walk to go and find it. And not just down to the corner caf, but a few miles. When you get there, you can’t just buy a bottle of water (or any liquid for that matter); you have to fill the bucket that you brought with you and walk back home, carrying the now full bucket.
Not enough Bear Grylls for you? The water that you’ve just fetched is most likely, not fresh, and not clean and may be so full of bacteria, that even while trying to hydrate yourself, you may very well be making yourself ill without even realising it.
Remember, this is just water for you (and possibly, members of your family) to drink. This is not water that is needed to wash your clothes or your dishes or to water your meagre food crop with. This is just water to drink to keep you going. This is basic human survival type of stuff.
This is the day to day existence for many communities throughout the Third World and in the summer months, lack of potable water is amplified by the heat.
That’s just one of the reasons that AquAid chose to work with sustainable charities like The Africa Trust.
Because although we’re always tooting our horn about being one of the top water cooler providers in the U.K. we also (truly) believe in helping others less fortunate to help themselves. So, while we have you to thank, most valued customer, for your support and through your purchases making it possible for others to help themselves; isn’t it rather nice to know that when you’re sipping cool spring water from one of our water coolers, there’s another Elephant Pump being built in Africa, bringing fresh, clean drinking water to yet another community in need?
I think so. Good on yer. Toot toot!
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Who among us doesn’t just love jetting water? Think about it – from those rather absurd, no-flow control drinking water fountains of yesteryear, to magical musical fountains which lit up in all the rainbow colours and the quintessential exploding water bombs and pranking someone with an unexpected squirt of water …
In the early 19th century, London and Paris built aqueducts and new fountains to supply clean drinking water to their exploding populations.
Fountains became a decorative feature of the English country house as early as the end of the 17th century. These baroque fountains were influenced by the fountains of the Italian Renaissance garden and the Garden à la française, particularly the fountains of Versailles. Chatsworth House in Derbyshire featured a cascade and fountains (1696-1703) in the style of French baroque gardens. It had a seahorse fountain and a willow tree fountain, which sprayed water on unsuspecting visitors.
In 1843 the Duke of Devonshire, the owner of Chatworth House, learned that the Tsar Nicholas of Russia was planning to visit his home. To mark the occasion, the Duke commissioned the architect Richard Paxton to construct the world’s highest fountain on his estate. Paxton built an eight-acre lake as a reservoir for the fountain, 350 feet above the level of the fountain, to provide water pressure. The Emperor Fountain was finished in just six months, and could jet water 296 feet high. Unfortunately the Tsar never came to see fountain, but it still functions today.
In the nineteenth century, the development of steam engines allowed the construction of more dramatic fountains. In the middle of the century the Earl of Stamford built the Great Fountain, Enville, which jetted water 150 feet above the surface of a lake on his estate. He used two steam engines to pump water to a reservoir at the top of the hill above his estate. The fountain could spout water for several minutes, until the reservoir was empty.
In the early 21st Century, Lord Neidpath (now Earl of Wemyss and March) commissioned a giant, gravity-fed fountain at his family’s ancestral home of Stanway House, in the Cotswolds. The fountain is driven by two reservoirs over a mile from the Canal in the gardens of the house, and the custom-made bronze nozzle in the lake can produce a plume of water 300ft tall. The fountain is the tallest gravity-fed fountain in the world, and the second tallest fountain of any kind in Europe.
Now that we have your attention, in a water fountain manner of speaking, in the next instalment, I’ll be telling you all about AquAid’s super functional (and pretty darn decorative) drinking water fountains, most especially effective when placed in schools to optimise healthy hydration habits for children.
If you’d like a preview, please do follow through here.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 30, 2013 | Health and Hydration
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
The term ‘running water’ has so many permutations as to be almost infinite. Running water can mean wastage. It can mean advancement in the distribution of water. It can also, as wise old Winnie-the-Pooh said above, teach us patience. As we know, patience is ha ha, not my strongest suit.
There are many schools of thought as to who first invented piped in water for bathing, I came across this while researching the running water topic:
Ancient Baths
Roman Baths
The Romans were famous for their baths, and they brought them even into Gaul and Britain. While Roman manors often had their own smaller private bath-houses, the Roman public generally frequented relatively inexpensive public baths. By the peak of their popularity, they included hot and cold rooms, and medium-temperature lounging rooms with a variety of extra services such as food, wine, exercise and/or personal training being offered. At different points in the history of Rome, baths were gender segregated by place or time, while at other times the bathing was mixed. (Fagan, Bathing in Public in the Roman World)
Judaic Ritual Bathing
Ritual bathing is also part of ancient (and modern) Jewish culture. Ritual cleansing baths (mikvot) from the classical period have been found in archaeological digs at multiple sites, including Masada.
The distinctive nature of mikveh structures causes them to be regarded as archaeological markers of Jewish communities at classical and medieval sites. A mikveh dating from around 1150 has been uncovered by archaeologists in Bristol, England (Aldous, p. 27), and another in Cologne, Germany dates from around 1170 (http://www.thetravelzine.com/ejht3.htm).
Early Christians
In the 4th and 5th centuries CE, ‘fathers of the Christian Church’ such as Clement and Jerome condemned excessive attendance at the public baths, and attendance for pleasure. Because bathhouses had mixed facilities, church authorities condemned women’s attendance at mixed gender bathhouses.
Eastern cultures
Roman-type baths were continued and/or re-established in Islamic countries through the medieval and Renaissance periods, and bathing was endorsed by Islamic writers. The hammam, referred to in modern times as the ‘Turkish Bath,’ was a major feature of Islamic culture, and preserved the Roman traditions of cleaning the body first, then soaking and socializing. Due to the Islamic religious requirements for frequent washing (when water was unavailable, dust or dirt could be used for ritual ablutions), baths and washing equipment remained popular. Some historians believe that the habit of the baths return to Western Europe from the Middle East with the Crusaders, but documentary evidence suggests that the resurgence of public baths in Western Europe may have been more a function of political and economic stability.
Japanese baths are of similar if not greater antiquity. Western writers claim that the soaking baths of Japan originate from the extensive use of Japanese hot springs. From A Short History of Bathing before 1601
Fascinating stuff. So, whether running water means wastage (tighten that tap!) or a gently burbling (not burping!) brook that teaches you Tao type patience, remember that we don’t recommend, nor suggest, that you use the AquAid water from source (3 of them, mind you) for bathing (yes, I know it’s been hot), but rather to refresh and hydrate your children at school and your staff in the office. As we all know, drinking sufficient water keeps you healthy both inside and out – it will even keep your skin looking plumped up and ramp gorgeous (even if you’re not into that type of thing). Cheers!
by Fern Shaw | Jul 26, 2013 | Charity, Health and Hydration
AquAid is all about water, hydration and water coolers, and most importantly, supporting sustainable charities.
Kidney Research UK is all about funding research aimed at finding better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for kidney disease. They have over £10.1 million invested in research at any one time, awarding grants to doctors, nurses and researchers across the UK. They also campaign for better patient access to renal services and are dedicated to raising awareness of kidney disease.
As AquAid is constantly looking at ways to increase awareness about how important keeping our vital organs hydrated is, we chose to supply this year’s Kidney Research U.K. London Bridges Walk with a rather fabulous bank of bottle fed water coolers – to keep the energetic walkers well hydrated! This amazing walk covers a route of approximately 7 miles, and takes you over some of London’s most famous bridges.
There were 1 190 people who took part in this year’s event on 14th July 2013 and understandably, with the glorious sunny weather, there was many a thirsty walker whose eyes lit up when they saw the cool drinking water.
The event was a great success and they were joined by celebrities Nina Wadia and Nadia Sawalha, both well known for having starred in the popular soap EastEnders, along with DJ Oliver Scott from Star Radio, Cambridgeshire and fitness instructor Julia McCabe.
Have water, will walk!
by Fern Shaw | Jul 24, 2013 | Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Too Much Salt (High Sodium Levels)
The most common form of sodium imbalance is a blood sodium level that is too high. Excessive blood sodium levels mean that your body lacks enough water to cope with the amount of sodium it contains.
Contrary to popular belief, the primary cause of high blood sodium levels is not consumption of too much salt, but dehydration (not enough water intake).
Lack of adequate water intake is a very common condition in the United Kingdom due to the fact that most people fail to drink enough water each day, while also eating foods that are high in sodium. Other possible causes of dehydration include diarrhoea; vomiting; fever; excessive sweating (particularly during hot weather); abnormal kidney function; diabetes; head trauma or surgery involving the pituitary gland; imbalanced calcium and/or potassium levels; sickle cell disease, and use of drugs such as corticosteroids or diuretics.
When the amount of sodium in your body becomes too high, your body’s blood volume increases. When this happens extra fluid accumulates in the space surrounding your body’s cells. Such an accumulation of fluid around your cells can cause a variety of problems.
The most common symptoms of high blood sodium levels are confusion, depression, fatigue, fluid retention, irritability, lack of coordination, muscle cramps or twitching, nausea, restlessness, and general weakness.
Another common symptom of high sodium levels is oedema, which is characterized by swelling of body tissues, especially in the feet and ankles.
More serious symptoms of high sodium levels can include changes in blood pressure and heart rate, coma, seizure, and death.
A check-up by your physician is necessary to determine if you suffer from high blood sodium levels. If you are found to have this problem, then by all means you should avoid eating salty foods. But you should also beware of drinking salty beverages, such as sports drinks. And you should also increase your daily intake of water, especially following exercise or if you are taking medications.
It really is up to you to ensure that you take as best care that you can of the rather marvellous body that you’ve been given. If you’re already doing so, bully for you – perhaps you can share your knowledge with others less in the know.
So be especially careful in this heat, remember to keep hydrated and spread the water word as you’ve gathered around the water cooler.
