We all know that to stay healthy we must drink plenty of water so having access to good quality drinking water is vital. With several different options available however it can be hard to know which is best. So what are the benefits of drinking water and what is the best drinking water option for you?
We all know that to stay healthy we must drink plenty of water so having access to good quality drinking water is vital. With several different options available however it can be hard to know which is best. So what are the benefits of drinking water and what is the best drinking water option for you?
It’s no secret that the benefits of drinking plenty of water are numerous yet many of us still don’t drink the recommended amount of 8 glasses per day. Water is important for brain function and energy levels and even mild dehydration can be detrimental to your performance, both mentally and physically. Dehydration during physical exertion can lead to altered body temperature control, reduced motivation, and increased fatigue. Muscle is about 80% water so this is hardly suprising. This is why it is particularly important to up your intake of drinking water when you have been sweating more, be that from exercise or from hot weather. Dehydration can also trigger headaches with research showing that a headache is actually one of the most common symptoms of dehydration. Drinking water also helps to maintain as healthy digestive system as your body needs both water and fibre to move waste along the digestive tract.
Of course, the easiest and most convenient way that many of us can get a drink of water is via the humble kitchen tap. Whilst it is definitely the easiest option, tap water isn’t always the most appealing when it comes to flavour or appearance. Due to the treatment it undergoes before entering your home, tap water can tend to taste and smell like chlorine which isn’t particularly pleasant. You can find out more about what is in your tap water here.
Another popular option for drinking water is to buy bottled mineral water. Whilst there is no arguing that bottled mineral water tastes great, there are several downsides to having this as your main source of drinking water. It’s certainly not as convenient as being able to simply turn on a tap, can be expensive and can also take up a lot of storage space. The main issue however is environmental impact that drinking bottled water has. Packaged in single use plastic, bottled water is a source of pollution as it takes the plastic bottle 300 years to degrade. A lot of the plastics which we dispose of unfortunately end up in our oceans where they degrade, leaching marine-toxic chemicals into the water and proving harmful to wildlife. Not just that, a vast quantity of water is wasted due to it taking three times as much water to produce the bottle itself than it does to fill the bottle. When you consider all of this, it’s definitely a better choice to go down the filtered water route instead.
These are the kind of water filters that you find in in the water jugs manufactured by companies such as Brita. The filters found in these jugs work by retaining any coarse particles from your pipes, remove some of the limescale creating minerals as well as chlorine and other odour impairing substances.Whilst these are a better option than bottled water in the sense that can be filled up from your kitchen tap, there are certainly some negatives to using them. Not only do you always have to keep filling up the jug to have a supply of drinking water on hand, the filters have a short lifespan and are also fairly expensive to replace.
These are the catridges fitted under your sink which filter the water coming into your household to either a stand alone or a 3 in 1 tap. They provide a reasonable level of filtration to give you great tasting drinking water straight from the tap, without the need for separate water filter jugs. Filtering water removes a variety of impurities whilst leaving in the minerals that make water taste great. Carbon block filters are made of a solid block of compressed carbon and are extremely effective in filtering out a variety of contaminants, including those of a very small size, leaving you with great tasting drinking water. Many carbon block filters also come with a 1 Micron scale inhibitor, a high capacity filter which will remove chlorine (smell and taste) and sediment down to 1 micron as well as reducing scale in hard water. This style of filter comes as a small cartridge which can easily be installed under your sink. Many water softener installers fit this type of drinking water filter along with a mini tap as standard when installing a water softener in your home.
Saving the best until last, for the purest, clearest glass of drinking water you really cannot beat a Reverse Osmosis drinking water system. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a simple water filtration process which works by using pressure to force water through a semipermeable membrane in order to remove any impurities. The contaminants which are filtered out are flushed away and you are left with clean, great tasting drinking water. RO systems will remove common chemical contaminants such as lead, chlorine sodium, chromium and copper and can reduce fluoride, calcium, magnesium, arsenic, radium, sulfate, potassium, nitrate, and phosphorous down to a size of 0.0001 micron. There are many different models of Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems available on the market. Most of these are non electric and will fit neatly under your kitchen sink, only requiring filter replacements every year and RO membrane replacement every 3 years.
When it comes to drinking water, an AIWSE expert is always the best person to answer questions and find the best solution for you and your family. Find your local expert and get in touch to find out more.
