When the early humans weren’t busy not watching television, they were busy plotting ways to clean their water.

By 500 B.C, the Greek scientist Hippocrates had already invented one of the first domestic water filters. In 1627, seawater desalination was attempted by removing salt particles through an unsophisticated form of sand filtration. It wasn’t a raging success but it paved the way for further experimentation. In the 1700′s, the first water filters for domestic application were applied. These were made of wool, sponge and charcoal. In 1854, chlorine was applied to purify the water; this paved the way for water disinfection.

As you can see, water purification is not a new age concept.

MIND YOUR MINERALS
Often we get asked: “Tap water can be a source of minerals such as calcium and magnesium.  If I use a water filtration pitcher to filter my tap water, am I removing these nutrients?”

Some minerals are lost as a result of purification and for this reason it has been suggested that there may be adverse outcomes from reliance on desalinated or demineralized water as a result of the loss of mineral nutrients. Some treatments in fact have been designed to replenish the mineral nutrients that were removed.

However, to determine whether the loss of mineral nutrients from water constitutes a nutritional problem, it must first be determined whether drinking water plays a significant role in the total dietary intake of trace minerals.

We took an anonymous brand of 500ml bottled ‘natural spring water’ and tabulated some of the mineral content:

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Calcium is an estimated 1000mg/day. You would have to consume 500 liters of water every day to meet that recommendation. The daily intake for Magnesium is estimated at an average of 400mg/day depending on your age, sex and number of other factors; you’d have to consume around 244 liters of water per day. The RDA for Potassium is around 3500mg/day; so have yourself around 1750 liters of water every day.

Although the above calculations are specific to the particular anonymous brand of water, the bottom line is this: drinking THIS MUCH water would be dangerous, impossible and you’d have to have an under-active bladder that floods for nothing.

BOTTLED WATER IS SO LAST YEAR! PIMP YOUR TAP OUT!
One of the greatest downsides of bottled water is its effect on the environment which is littered with emptied plastic bottles; only a small fraction of these bottles can be recycled. Bottled water requires large amounts of energy to produce and transport, taking a further impact on the environment.

Bottled water also has the potential to be more harmful to your health due to the chemicals leaching from the plastic bottles into your water.

According to a study, bottled water does not always taste better than tap water. ABC News did a blind taste test of five bottled waters and tap water and people were asked to rate their favorite and least favorite among all the water.

Tap water came in third and Evian, one of the most expensive brands of bottled water, came in last. Coca Cola, reportedly owners of 60% of the market share in South Africa, were recently under pressure to answer allegations that some brands of the water that it is responsible for selling are bottled from municipal supplies. This left a “bitter taste in the mouths of bottle loyalists”- said tap drinkers with a mouthful of humble pie.

Bottled water is more expensive than tap water or a water filter. Hell, it’s even more expensive than beer and who can compete with that. Economists estimated that the year 2011 would bring the bottled water market to be valued at R628.7-billion.

A 500ml bottle of water averages at about R6, the same amount of tap water costs less than half a cent. The real long-term solution is to ensure that your supply of tap water is as safe and purified as possible.

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH
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But what’s in tap water? Can you trust it simply because it “looks” clean?

Being a curious little sod as well as an avid water drinker, I started doing some research about tap water a few years ago and found some shocking articles suggesting the quality of drinking water was going bad all over the country.

Since then, I have constantly researched the matter and similar stories often surface suggesting the same thing. Conversely, government only acknowledge the problem when they have no other choice yet insist that for the most part, we still have a high pedigree of drinking water.

But I think government’s shooting at the wrong target here. Is it really the end of the world for them to admit there’s a problem?

In reality, I believe the best government could hope for is to deliver water that won’t kill us. Sounds harsh but the reality is, we drink and cook with a very small amount of water compared to the quantity we use to wash our dishes and clothes, take a shower and water the garden, etc. If you consider the process water goes through to be cleansed and purified, it doesn’t make sense for government to deliver that quality of water so that you can wash clothes or spray it into the ground.

Add to that the rate at which the world’s population is booming and I think it’s understandable that demand is exceeding supply.

Truth is, most people have intuitively decided against tap water and turned to bottled water. It’s supposedly clean and convenient but I’m not so sure I buy into that either. Don’t get me wrong, I have spent more than my kids’ college fund on bottled water but that’s exactly the problem. It comes with a hefty price tag compared to tap water and the truth is the industry is poorly regulated at best. We simply assume that what’s in there is good for us too (a blog post for another time).

But here’s a reality check. It’s the 21st century. We have wireless cellphones and electric cars. We’ve moved from the industrial age to the information and technology age. Why don’t we take charge of the situation? Surely the technology allows for it?

Being a business owner, I have always had one of those water coolers in my office with the big bottle on top. We all know what I’m talking about. It’s one of the first things I did when I moved into my first office but one day I got seriously frustrated. I won’t mention the company but when my water didn’t arrive again and I decided that’s it. So I got onto Google and by chance, found a little company called Waterboys who claimed to have a solution to my problem. Their answer was reverse osmosis.

I won’t bore you with the technical detail but the concept works around pushing water through a series of filters so small that eventually all you’re left with is pure H2O. The process was refined as scientists tried to remove salt from sea water and eventually succeeded.

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I had a dispenser installed at my office. It looks like your usual dispenser except it doesn’t have a bottle on top and it connects directly to your water supply.

Having tried it for a month, I found it to be superior on the following basis:

1. I used to pay per bottle of water and as my staff compliment grew, it became quite expensive. Now because we used our own water supply, our cost is capped at the monthly rental price.
2. Using the old system, sometimes the water I ordered wouldn’t arrive on time and we were stuck with no water. Problem solved because we use our own water supply.
3. Using the old system, someone had to invariably replace the empty bottle with a full bottle. If I didn’t do it, the ladies in my office certainly weren’t going to. No bottles, no fuss.
4. Being that I had a small office, I had nowhere to store the empty bottles. It can become quite a sight for sore eyes toward the end of the month. No bottles, no fuss.

It can potentially sound too good to be true but really, we’re talking about a water dispenser not a cure for cancer.

A few months later, I bought Waterboys and I’ve never looked back since. The client base is steadily growing and we still have a record in tact that I am very proud of – In 18 months, we have not had a client cancel on us.

So I ask you again… Does it still make sense for someone to deliver your drinking water to you in the 21st century?

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