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Water purification units may seem like gimmicks to some people. After all, Americans have unlimited access to treated H20, and people are not dying from cholera like they were a few centuries ago. But this does not mean that what you drink today is completely safe...quite the contrary!

Home water purification units remove many dangerous substances that do exist in our drinking supply today. Chlorine is the number-one problem. Used because it is a cheap sanitizer, chlorine has been linked to cancer and other serious health problems. Additionally, chlorine is not the most effective at what it does; pathogens manage to find their way into your glass, and you still can become sick from drinking "treated" water.

Home water filtration units also remove sediment, which can contain five different types of contaminants. Additionally, agricultural waste, lead, and pesticides regularly contaminate our drinking supply, all causing significant health problems. All of these substances need to be removed by water purification units.

However, drinking is not the only activity that can be jeopardized by unsafe H20. The human body absorbs twice as much chlorine through bathing than it does from drinking. Another health concern is this: when chlorinated H20 turns to vapor, it produces chlorine gas. Additionally, chlorine drys out hair and skin and can accelerate the aging process. Aside from Cl contaminants, sediment can clog up faucets and make toilets run. All of these reasons make home water purification units a wise investment.

Filters exist in small, pitcher-style systems up to systems that attach directly to your water main and treat everything that flows in from that pipe.

Point of use (POU) home water filtration units attach to a faucet and provide treated H20 every time you turn that faucet on. Then there are whole house water purification units are that treat the entire house. The negative aspect of a large-scale system is that treated H20 could possibly pick up some contaminants as it moves through your pipes to your faucets.

While having several POUs means more maintenance and possibly more cost, the benefit of a POU system is that the H20 is used the second it leaves the POU instead of being stored in a tank, thus eliminating any risk of new contamination.

However, the more important consideration is not what size home water purification units you want to use in your home, but what type is best. Distillation and reverse osmosis home water filtration units are often used, but both types do not remove all contaminants from your drinking supply. Ceramic-based strainers work better at removing harmful substances, but all three types generally do not process H20 very quickly.

Carbon-based water purification units are the best at both removing unwanted chemicals and contaminants and processing H20 quickly enough to meet all your needs. However, a cheap, one-filter system is not enough; home water purification units that contain only one carbon strainer become clogged over time, and contaminants can easily slip into your drinking supply.

Multi-step home water filtration units with more than one strainer ensure that all pathogens and chemicals are prevented from ending up in your glass.

Because of the many dangerous elements your family can drink or bathe in, water purification units are a smart investment. Make sure your family stays healthy and vibrant by further treating the H20 that flows from your faucets.

Martin Spencer is a health researcher who has been studying water filtration for over 25 years. He is a regular contributor to Water Treatment Guide, a site dedicated to various methods of treating and purifying water. Learn about the best home water filtration units on our site.

# posted by 34435 : 3:04 PM  0 comments

The beauty of keeping reptiles is that once you've set up their caging requirements and learned a few basic skills, there are many species that can be safely and efficiently kept within the home and should live out a full, healthy life.

Fortunately the vast majority of the suitable snakes one might choose to keep, such as corn snakes, king snakes or milk snakes, require very little special treatment and soon become very low maintenace captives.

Quiet, well-behaved, not requiring regular walks and virtually scent-free whilst being unusual and fascinating, snakes can be an ideal pet for today's ever-busy lifestyle.

At it's simplest, a glass fish tank with a specially-sold reptile hood or one of the specially made reptile cages (such as those available from http://www.petsmart.com) may be used, and these are often available for sale second hand in local papers.

Wooden cages should be avoided unless they are treated so as to avoid any spillage from the water bowl (many snakes like to bathe) and ventilation should be good as moist cages often lead to skin complaints or respiratory problems.

A length of around 30-45 cm is suitable for a hatchling snake whilst an adult will require a length of 60-90 cm so it can stretch out.

The cage should be furnished with one of the reptile-safe substrates such as beech chippings or corn cob granules and should be placed 1/3 - 1/2 over a safe, specially-sold, low-wattage heat mat to gently warm the substrate for the snake.

These cost just pennies to run each day and generate a gentle background warmth for your pet.

In particularly cold situations such as bad weather, during night-time or in a room which doesn't warm up appreciably during the day an additional form of heat is recommended, such as a gauze-encased lightbulb, to warm the warmer end of the cage (the "hot spot") to around 24-26'C.

This temperature should be maintained at one end of the cage throughout the day though this may drop by a few degrees at night without worry of danger to your pet. If using a bulb a thermostat is recommended to enable you to accurately control the temperature and prevent the cage overheating.

A hide should be included as snakes are often quite reclusive and like to hide away for much of the day, showing themselves early in the morning and later in the evening.

This could be a specially-sold reptile hide but I often simply use a box - like an old cereal box - as they're free and easily replaced when they get dirty.

A solid waterbowl - ideally a terracotta dog bowl - large enough for the snake to submerge itself in (bathing is good for the skin) but difficult to tip over should be filled with fresh water and changed daily as in a warm environment plenty of water is likely to evaporate, and in addition many snakes like to deficate in their water bowl.

And apart from some food you're now all set up!

As you can see keeping the smaller, more docile snakes *doesn't* have the break the bank, nor do you these days need to "make do" with substandard products. Companies like ZooMed make high quality, specialist hardware for just this purpose, and make it available for a very reasonable cost.

Now all you need to do is to convince your girlfriend/wife/mother to let you have the snake itself ;-)

Copyright 2006 Richard Adams

Richard Adams is the owner and founder of http://www.aboutsnakes.com. About Snakes is one of the most popular sources of free reptile information online.

# posted by 34435 : 8:17 AM  0 comments