Water Purification

Nick-H

... !

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Noodle

Why the shy smiley?

__________________
If in hole
stop digging.

Indian saying

Nick-H

Embarrassed! You caught me out

camelgirl

Not true....Nick, you are not only rehydrating, you are doing your body a favor, according to this BBC article from last year it's a myth about tea deydrating. The tea council funded the study but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5281046.stm

There are a lot of myths connected to drinking water, especially here in the USA. Here is another link about water myths. It also says tea does not dehydrate you. It says the body retains 2/3 of the liquid.

Here in the US it has become a habit to walk around constantly carrying a bottle of water, as though passing out from dehydration is imminent. Since we all got along just fine not doing this until about10 years ago, I've decided it's a fashion accessory! Or it has replaced cigarettes as something to do with your hand and mouth!

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

BTW this site is excellent for all things myths and urban legends.

Nick-H

Yes, that's happened in London too!

I think it looks ridiculous. I also proudly (in London) drink tap water, believing that London water, naturally filtered through sand, is actually quite good. OK.... its got some chlorine in it...

Here, of course, it is a different matter.

Whether or not tea is de-hydrating depends on if it is a diuretic. IIRC, coffee is, and alcohol is powerfully so.

Yes, I vaguely remembered seeing that BBC article.

camelgirl

In the second link, near the bottom of the article, it says coffee is not dehydrating. That only alcohol is. And for me (a coffee drinker) that's good news also. In fact, the study it mentions says that people who regularly drink caffinated drinks become accustomed to it and lose very little fluid.

I also drink most tap water (unless it tastes like chlorine bleach or I'm in India). My 94 y.o. aunt has never had a drink of bottled water in her life! She also loves salami. And she's definitely on her way to 100 since she has no illnesses at all. Oh, she's very muddled in her head Must be the water

Noodle

Ok ok. Maybe I'm backwards with my water obsession! But I do like to drink lots of water, maybe cause I'm a sweater (now my turn to look embarrassed !), and I do feel dehydrated (dry lips, headaches) when all I had was coffee and nothing else that gives me fluids (which happens too with me).

I think with me it's definietely the climate, like I said, I sweat easily, and in the hot season positively drip. But when I was in Germany last month, although it was warm there, I didn't sweat much and felt much less need to drink water (or juice). Same here in the winter when temperatures are 'normal'.

But I guess when you're a very active person your needs for fluids is greater.

Remains to decide whether Nick is a very active person ...

Yes, camelgirl, that snopes site is excellent! There have been many nights when I settled down and browsed the stories!

Nick-H

That would explain my mental state! The tap water!

Noodle, I have a mental picture of you as a pullover!

Noodle

Yes, I thought the same when I wrote that.

I'm wooly

vistet

I feel less enthusiastic about the snopes site : I realise that it is not meant as a serious suggestion , but the the no water argument , just food is seriously flawed .

One liter of water intake can never be enough for the mentioned averaged sized adult. Monitoring fluid balance is something we do in the ICU not on a day to day basis , but every hour and fluid loss just by perspiration , breath and faeces is typically close to a liter every day. Add urine output to that , and you have a guaranteed negative fluid balance.

Another point is that there is a difference between water content in food and actual uptake. How big water loss is thru feces depends on what you are eating : it should be greater with indian food , with the dhal , bhat and more binding more water than the meat pre-dominant US menu. Even on a .. lucky day

__________________
high road to ..

Dilliwala

Ok, since u asked me

We've been using Aquaguard I-nova for over 4 years, an earlier model a decade before that. Aquaguards are absolutely safe for Delhi water. They may be more expensive than the others, but that's becos they are the best, makes sense I think? The candle is replaced once a year and is covered by an annual contract of Rs. 900 or thereabouts (when the guarantee runs out). It's best to go for the contract becos individual parts, candle etc are expensive on their own.
In the long run this will be cheaper and hassle-free than having to buy/order the 20 l's. The machine can be hooked up to an inverter line as well, so u don't have to worry if the power supply goes.
RO systems are much more expensive and what I know is that there is a lot of waste water produced (unles that's changed in newer models) which u can use for washing, etc, but u'll have the hassle of storing it in buckets, etc. The system basically produces what one wud probably call bottled mineral water with that bittery taste, which I for one don't like. Of course it's 100% safe/pure. But I can tell u from personal experience that Aquaguard is perfectly safe to use in this town.

There are no side-effects of using Potassium permanganate long-term. I remember my mom using it regularly when I was a kid. U use it in very small quantities only.
Over the years it wasn't required any more, certainly not since we got Aquaguard. And no I don't think you're paranoid, with the kind of illnesses u've had, better safe than sorry.

Od course u cud boil drinking water in large pots (degchis) which wud kill every germ beyond redemption. But u'd have to be boiling upto 30 litres a day depending on your family size, which may not be practical if u don't have domestic help.