A home filtration system is going to offer your family the best drinking water available but what if you have other issues with your home’s water? The addition of a water softening system might be something you are interested in.

To understand why you would want a softening system, you should understand what “hard water” does. Hard water is water that has a high mineral content, such as magnesium and calcium.

Hard water is the culprit in leaving behind soap scum in your showers and tubs and is also responsible for the scale build-up on sinks and faucets. Because of the scale build-up, appliances have to worker harder and become less energy efficient over time. If the water is softened, there is less corrosion and the life of your dishwasher, washing machine and heaters can be prolonged while lowering your energy bills. This is a huge cost savings.

Tubs and toilets will no longer have rust stains making cleaning much more simple. Your clothes will no longer have that dingy look to them. They will come out of the laundry cleaner, brighter and softer.

When showering you will notice that your soap and shampoo is more effective and is able to form a nice rich lather. This allows your skin to get well cleaned and your hair to be more manageable.

A softening system used exclusively for drinking would be a Reverse Osmosis Purification System.

Because you use a lot less soap, shampoos and detergents, this is another great savings passed down from your water softener to your family!

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The National Park Service has approved a plan to eliminate the sales of bottled water inside the park within the next 30 days. Similar bans are already in effect at Zion National Park (Utah) and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

With the intent to reduce 20% of the park’s waste as well as degradation of the landscape, $290,000 was spent installing 10 “water stations” inside the park and park concessionaires chipped in with an additional 3 stations.  Park concessionaires can still sell other bottled beverages and outside bottles can be brought in and re-filled using the water stations.

This ban was proposed in late 2010 but was delayed. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility charged Coca-Cola Co. applied pressure to postpone the ban. The National Park Service denied the claim.

Read the full article here.

Get on board too, check out our "Water Stations": home water filters and office water coolers.

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I think a lot of us strive to live a little “greener” these days. Whether it’s turning off lights when not in a room or not letting the water run continuously while we brush our teeth.  Another very small thing to do is to use reusable shopping bags for our groceries. What a great idea, it gets lots and lots of those disposable plastic bags off the streets (literally too!). One dirty little secret is that those reusable bags can get awfully dirty….with bacteria.

Now, Pure1 doesn’t subscribe to the philosophy that bacteria are the anti-Christ. Realistically, there are bacteria EVERYWHERE and we have been living peacefully with them since the dawn of time and will continue to do so. In fact, we can't live without them, i.e. digestion. However, there are some bacteria such as E-Coli that can cause some problems if ingested.

A recent study by the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University shows that 97% of test subjects’ bags didn’t get washed on a regular basis and 75% use their bags for carrying both meat and produce. You can’t have it both ways and you will have to expend some energy and resources to wash your bags periodically. The good news is that the study found that simple soap and water does the trick.

You can learn a little more about this here.

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A recent viral video has been sweeping the Internet, and just be warned: it is disturbing.  It shows a homeowner, quite literally, lighting his tap water on fire – a result of natural gas drilling in which surrounding drinking water supplies are contaminated by natural gas.

Of course, this is an isolated incident, but it underscores a perennial question posed by American families: just how safe is my drinking water?

Well, the short answer to that question is that the safety of your drinking water is contingent on a host of factors, including the source of the water, the treatment process, and the quality of the pipes in your home. But it needn’t be that way if you install a top quality water filter like the Pure1 Model 100.

Generally speaking, all tap water is tested according to the Environmental Protection Agency rules, and homeowners can contact their municipality directly if they have the time and wherewithal to examine the data.  That said, many homeowners aren’t taking any chances – with a home filtration system, you can not only get environmentally-friendly and cost-effective water, but something that money can’t buy: peace of mind.

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More and more, consumers are realizing that bottled water just isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.  For starters, it’s an environmental disaster: according to the Food and Water Watch, bottled water creates close to two million tons of plastic waste per year.  And despite good-hearted recycling efforts, close to 80 percent of bottles are thrown away.

Then there’s the fact that bottled water isn’t any healthier than tap water.  That’s because close to 70 percent of bottled water never crosses state lines, and as a result, isn’t subjected to federal Food and Drug Administration oversight. 

Then there’s the cost consideration.  For consumers, purchasing bottled water has been just that – an unneeded expense.  And the same can be said for offices who insist on offering employees bottled water.  Just do the math: a bottle of water sold in a vending machine, for example, can cost five cents an ounce.  But even then, the employer needs to purchase crates and crates of them, leading to – you guessed it – a recycling nightmare. 

Which bring us to our “bottleless” office water cooler systems – the cost-effective, environmentally-sound, and healthy solution.  Our self-filling bottle produces fresh water than hasn't been sitting in the cooler for weeks (if not months), eliminates bottle usage, and is bacteria and algae-free.

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It is an old cliché that the office water cooler is the primary location for office gossip.  It has traditionally been the place where employees could take a quick break, and as such, it became the place to meet and discuss the current power struggles in management, the latest news story, or last night’s television episode.  As small businesses have become large corporate entities, the water cooler has become part of a larger kitchen space, and water cooler culture has become “break room” culture.  More importantly, the rules surrounding the water in that water cooler have changed. 

It is now more necessary than ever, for employers to provide an adequate water filtration system for their employees.  An undersink water filter is standard in the construction of most public buildings now, and older buildings are being retrofitted every day.  The water cooler, or “break room” sink, is still the best place to hear the latest news in most offices.  Now, in many cities, it is also the best place to get a great class of clean drinking water.

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Winter is upon us, and with it, the dreaded cold season.  And the only thing worse than having a cold is coming to the office to find your co-workers coughing and sneezing all day.

The fact is that the typical office is a breeding ground for germs, and companies that fail to create the healthiest environment possible run the risk of losing money.  Because after all, sick workers equals unproductive workers.

So what can office managers do?

A good place to start is installing an environmentally-sound office water cooler.  A hydrated workforce is a healthier workforce, as germs tend to proliferate more in dry environments.  Pure1 office water coolers contain safe, great-tasting water, ensuring your workers will actually drink it.  

Office managers can also let employees know they needn’t be heroes.  If they are sick and contagious, they should stay home; worst case, they can telecommute.  But having sick employees stubbornly come to work and risk infecting others can only make matters worse.

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What is the least common term you’ll hear used by filter manufacturers? The word is “ABSOLUTE”!

The most common word you’ll hear is Nominal.

The attached link to the EPA tutorial explains the difference and it is like night and day.

Pure1 manufactures a 0.5 micron ABSOLUTE water filter, which,  once you read the attached message from the EPA, will give you great comfort in knowing you have selected the very best available; Pure1.

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Clean water is a major concern in many parts of the world. If you are worried about the purity of the water coming out of your tap, invest in a quality under sink water filter. This type of device filters only the water you drink. Best of all, once it's installed, you don't have to deal with filtering water pitchers anymore and the capacity is much, much higher.

A home filtration system gives you peace of mind for you and your family. The system can also filter the water in your ice machine so that you have clean ice. It's harder to tell if your water has ingredients like heavy metals or excessive particulates compared to excessive Chlorine. In addition to Chlorine, a sub-micron filter gets rid of 99.9 percent of unwanted particles in the water (that are 0.5 micron and larger).

Generally, you should change your water filtration system's filter every six months. You can easily keep track of this by enrolling in the Safe Water Club, which automatically delivers a new filter biannually. You will actually save money by having the filters delivered!

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If you are considering buying a newly constructed home, there are going to be quite a few decisions you will have to make both before the construction crew breaks ground and while they are building. Many people love the idea of having everything to their exact measurements and love that all the choices are theirs to make.

While it really can be a fun opportunity to get exactly what you want for your home before moving in, there is, however, something that many people don’t get to choose before they move in… that is the air and water quality of their home.

Builders and realtors are not necessarily required to test for radon when they are building or selling a home. So, it is your job as a buyer to make sure the realtor and builder understand that if the inspection shows unsafe levels of radon in the air or the water that it will be expected of them to put in both a radon air mitigation system and a whole house water filtration system.

You wouldn’t move into a home if the roof was unsafe or there were termite nests discovered, so why would you move in if the air and water quality of the home was sub-par. Safe air and water should be part of the overall safety of the home and should not be something you have to add after moving day whether the home is new or not.

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