With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.
Many of us are now forced to spend more time at home for health reasons. Ironically, this can have a negative effect on our health due to a lack of exercise, overindulgence in snacks, and a lack of hydration. When we’re bored, we tend to eat more and drink less, and it seems hard to make good choices for our health. In this article, we will demonstrate four ways that you can maintain and even improve your health when you’re spending more time at home.
- Make a Conscious Effort to Drink More Water
The best way to maintain your health at home is to drink adequate volumes of clean and fresh water. Men and women should drink at least 3.7 and 2.7 liters of water, respectively each day. This can be expensive if you only use bottled spring water, and you need to factor in the delivery and storage costs. A better way to get great quality drinking water is to install a water filtration system in your home. That way, you can access cleaner and fresher water straight from your tap. There are many types of filtration systems on the market, and they are designed to remove contaminants that are prevalent in your area.
- Take Some Time for Yourself
It’s easy to neglect your own needs when you’re stuck at home for a prolonged period of time. It’s incredibly easy to fall into bad habits when it comes to eating, drinking, sleeping, relaxing, and other aspects of daily life. Don’t forget to take some time out for yourself. Even stretching or making your favorite meal from scratch can help. If you’re feeling down, physical activity and drinking clean water can have a remarkably uplifting effect.
- Upgrading Your Water Filtration System
If you don’t have a water filtration system in your home or you want to upgrade your current system, it makes good sense. After all, we rely on a supply of clean and healthy water every day, and getting ready access to great quality water must be a priority. In general, there are two types of water filtration system that you may want to consider, they are:
Point-of-Use: As the name suggests, this is a localized water filtration system that supplies cleaned water to a single tap. This would typically be located at the kitchen sink with the associated filtration technology located underneath. This is a great option if you’re on a tighter budget, and it gives you higher quality water for drinking and cooking only.
Whole House: This type of water filtration system cleans all of the water coming into the home. So, you get cleaner water at each tap and plumbing fixture. This is a fantastic option because you can shower, bathe, and carry out other tasks using water that is better for you and your home.
Different Types of Water Filtration
As we mentioned earlier, the type of water filtration system you choose may depend on the water qualities in your local area. If you get your water from a private well, it’s advisable to get it tested regularly by a lab. If you receive public water, check with the local authorities, and they should have a water quality report that you can read. If you’re in any doubt about which filtration type you need, contact your local water treatment specialist and ask them for advice. Let’s take a look at four effective water filtration and treatment options in more detail:
Reverse Osmosis (RO): This is a purely mechanical filtration system that adds no chemicals to the water supply. The incoming water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure. The membrane has very small apertures that trap most contaminants on the surface. This cleans the water to a very high standard, and afterward, it’s usually conditioned with an active carbon filter. The contaminants are flushed away from the surface into the drain. The only real drawback with a RO system is that it takes some time for the water to pass through the membrane. For this reason, the water is usually collected in a tank for later use, which means a storage tank needs to be installed.
Water Softeners: If you have hard water supplied to your home, you’re not alone. Most homes now receive water that has an elevated level of mineral content, including calcium, magnesium, and less often iron. This is the cause of scale that you find in your water using appliances, and it can cause other problems in your home. When the water evaporates or dries, it leaves behind the mineral content. This is why skin dries, and hair becomes tangled after washing with hard water. Hard water is also tough on your water using appliances leading to more frequent repairs and an earlier than expected replacement. Installing a water softener removes the mineral content and makes your water easier to use. The most effective type of water softener uses an ion-exchange system to remove the mineral ions and replace them with benign sodium or potassium ions.
Iron Removal Filtration: If you have high levels of iron in your water supply, it doesn’t represent a threat to your health. But, iron in high concentrations can cause other problems such as staining that are certainly annoying. If you’re trying to drink more water, iron is a problem because it can impart a metallic taste that many people find unpalatable. An iron filter can be added to a water softener or installed as a separate system as needed.
Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration: UV light works at a frequency that’s lethal to microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and cysts. The light destroys their ability to replicate at the DNA level, and this prevents them from becoming a threat to your health. This process is entirely safe for humans, and this is all achieved without adding any chemicals to your water. All that’s needed for the system to work is a UV light bulb; the bulbs last for a long time, their inexpensive and easy to replace without any technical skills. If you want to ensure that you don’t have any unwanted guests in your drinking water, a UV system is a great investment.
If you want to learn more about improving the quality of your water at home, contact your local water treatment specialist today.