Londonontap water competition

http://www.londonontap.org/competition/the-winner/

Launched in May 2008, the competition ran for three months and received over 115 entries. Ten designs were shortlisted for final judging in September 2008 and on December 1, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson announced ‘Tap Top’ as the winning design. Click here to see the shortlisted designs

The winning carafe, designed by London-based designer Neil Barron, will be used to serve tap water in restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels throughout the capital – underpinning the city’s commitment to providing high quality drinking water whilst reducing the environmental impact of packaging and transporting bottled water.

The competition was aimed at London based designers, to showcase the quality of design and craftsmanship associated with a city, which enjoys a reputation as the design capital of the world.

The winning designer received a one-off award of £5,000, sponsored by Thames Water.

Profits made from the sale of the carafe (after costs for set-up, manufacturing and distribution) will go to leading charity WaterAid – who provide vital water resources to some of the world’s poorest people. The minimum donation to WaterAid per carafe sold will be £1. Thames Water, The Mayor of London and the Crafts Council will make no profit from the project.

The design
The carafe design is derived from a stylised tap to subtly reinforce the tap water message. It has four pouring spouts which are drip-free and instinctive to use. The form produces a waistline with four exits which helps to trap the ice when pouring. The carafe is tall, tapered and elegant, yet quirky and contemporary.

The designer
Neil Barron is a London based industrial designer and part-time senior tutor at the Royal College of Art. He has produced many mainstream commercial products for clients including; Intel, Boots, Thulé, Body Shop, Lego, Escada, Unilever and E.ON. Neil thrives on the challenge to create the new, but tries to think and act responsibly regards environmental, cultural and social issues.

For more information regarding high quality drinking water visit www.revivedwater.com

Bottled Water-Facts and Figures

Understanding the differences
Bottled water costs 500 times more than tap water (CC Water), the equivalent of paying £1,500 for a pint of beer or glass of wine.

70% of people say the price of mineral water in restaurants is ‘too expensive’ and want to see free tap water readily available. (NCC 07)

One in five people are ‘slightly nervous’ or ‘too scared to ask’ for tap water (NCC 07)

92% of people say they should have the right to free tap water (NCC 07)

The average Briton drinks 37.6 litres of bottled water each year (Bottled Water Information Office)

2.7million tonnes of plastic are used to bottle water each year worldwide (EPI, 2006)

A quarter of all bottled water is produced for export markets (EPI,2006)
22million tonnes of bottled water are transferred each year from country to country (CIWEM)

Three out of four plastic bottles are still not recycled (WRAP 2007)
In 2006, 1.5million barrels of oil were used to make the 26billion litres of bottled water sold in the US. Enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year. (EPI, 2006)
Globally, nearly a quarter of bottled water crosses national borders to meet consumers (EPI, 2006)

Bottled water has a higher carbon footprint per litre than tap water - more than 300 times the CO2 emissions per litre in the case of some imported brands.
One tonne of CO2 is equivalent in volume to 6 double decker buses.

According to the Container Recycling Institute, 90 percent of PET bottles end up in landfills, at a rate of 30 million a day, where they take 450 years to break down.
In 2006, the UK consumed 2275million litres of bottled water (Bottled Water Information)

According to Dr. Gina Solomon, senior scientist at the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council), about 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) - a major greenhouse gas -are emitted during the transportation of bottled water from France, Italy, and Fiji to the U.S. (Quoted on www.greenerchoices.org)

Notes:
EPI (Earth Policy Institute)
CIWEM (Charted Institute of Water)
WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme)

Visit www.revivedwater.com and discover alkaline water

The poison lurking in your plastic water bottle

By JO KNOWSLEY, Daily Mail

Bottled water: Health fears
A Potentially deadly toxin is being absorbed into bottled mineral water from their plastic containers. And the longer the water is stored, the levels of poison increase, research reveals. As the sell-by date on many bottled waters is up to two years, scientists have now called for extensive further studies.
The research by world expert Dr William Shotyk - who has vowed never to drink bottled water again - will be published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal next month. It is sure to revive concerns about the safety of bottled water, the world's fastest-growing drinks industry, worth £1.2billion a year.
The tests found traces of antimony, a chemical used in the making of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, used by most mineral-water sellers.
Small doses of antimony can make you feel ill and depressed. Larger quantities can cause violent vomiting and even death. The study stressed that amounts of antimony were well below official recommended levels. But it also discovered that the levels almost doubled when the bottles were stored for three months.
Professor Shotyk, of Heidelberg University in Germany, said: "I don't want to shock people but here's what I know: Antimony is being continuously released into bottled drinking water. The water in PET bottles is contaminated."
He tested ground water and 15 types of bottled mineral water in his native Canada. The ground water contained two parts per trillion (ppt) of antimony. Bottled water had an average 160 ppt of antimony when opened immediately after bottling. But ground water stored in a PET plastic bottle had 630 ppt of antimony when opened six months later.
Professor Shotyk then tried the experiment in Europe, collecting 48 brands of water in PET bottles and water from its source in the ground at a German bottling plant. The water had four ppt of antimony before being bottled, the contents of a new bottle had 360 ppt and one opened three months later had a staggering 700 ppt.
Antimony finds its way into water by 'leaching' from the plastic in the same way that water absorbs flavour from a teabag. Health authorities said even the higher levels of antimony found are way below official safety guidelines, set at around six parts per billion by international environment agencies.
Elizabeth Griswold, director of the Canadian Bottled Water Association, added: "The levels do not pose a risk to humans. They are simply trace elements."
But David Coggan, a Southampton University-based epidemiologist who works with the Medical Research Council, called for further research into the findings.
He said not enough was known about the effects of antimony and how much had to be consumed before it became dangerous. Last year naphthalene, which can cause liver damage in high doses, was found in two bottles of Volvic mineral water. Bacteria which could leach into bottled water has been cited as a possible reason for rising levels of food poisoning.



Add your comments View all
Comments (22)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below?
People need to wake up and start taking some action against these companies. Isn't it obvious that ANY amount of antimony or other chemical is poisonous to the body? Why are so many people brainwashed into believing that "trace" amounts are not problematic?
Toxic chemicals do not belong in the body PERIOD because they make us sick and disease stricken. The same problem is happening with our food. We shouldn't be accepting this and many people just tend to sit back and do nothing and actually argue in favour of these companies. Shame on you!
- Linda Brokopp, Toronto, Canada, 22/3/2006 15:40

I believe none of us really know the effects food and drink containers may have on our bodies because there just isn't enough research into it. The reason for the lack of research is possibly due to the potential effects of such manufactured products on the body taking many years to have any impact, therefore it being very hard if not impossible to tie any particular product/chemical to a specific illness.
Lots of people still have lead water pipes on their properties which isn't desirable, but even if they have the more modern plastic pipes can anyone honestly produce evidence of how much research has gone into ensuring the safety of these.
- Darren Milburn, Redcar, 21/3/2006 18:05

For the healthier alternative to bottled water visit www.revivedwater.com and discover ionised water filters

Why Bottled Water is Bad

http://environment.uk.msn.com/green-living/article.aspx?cp-documentid=8691948

http://environment.uk.msn.com/interactive/BottledWater.aspx must check this


Buying bottled water used to be a sign of water shortages. Now we buy it come rain or shine, no joke intended.

Unfortunately, for something as simple as water there is a huge environmental waste associated with it and one which campaigners are asking us all to help to reduce.

The waste of water

• Graphic: How Bottled Water is Bad for the Environment

Water quality in Britain amongst the highest in the world and yet despite rising water bills we fork out an extra £1.5 billion on buying even more water every year. That equates to an average of 41 litres per person every year.

It was not always like this though. Only a decade or less ago, if your supply had been cut off or there was a drought then you used to have a bit of a search to find bottles of water in your local store. Now our supermarket shelves are now jam packed with water from the Peak District, Wales or as far afield as the Alps.

So why is bottled water so bad?

• There is enough oil used in the production process of water bottles in the UK to keep 17,000 cars on the road for a year.

• About 1.5 million tons of plastic are expended in the bottling of 89 billion litres of water each year.

• The total amount of energy used to produce and deliver one bottle of water is the equivalent of filling the same bottle a quarter full of oil.

• Bottled water for UK consumers produces about 33,200 tons of CO2 emissions each year.

• Only 10% of water bottles are recycled - most go to landfill. In total we have discarded more than 3 billion empty containers.

• A quarter of bottled water bought travels up to 16,000km to reach UK consumers.



Tap water versus bottled water

In an effort to help turn consumers away from bottled water there has been a growing amount of publicity about its negative impact. However, it is difficult to argue against people drinking water because of its health benefits.

A recent campaign attempted to get round this by trying to get people to carry on drinking water but just not the branded bottled variety. The DIY Bottled Water campaign focused on the difference, or lack of, between tap water and its branded and bottled alternatives. If you could not tell the difference then it was surely time to stop buying it.

In essence it was asking consumers, why are you paying all this money for another bottle of water when you could just refill your own from the tap?

"The bottled water industry is a triumph of marketing over common sense," said the campaign's founder Joshua Blackburn. "It has become a symbol of our disposable culture at its dumbest."

"In countries such as Britain, where high quality water is literally on tap, it's time to bin the bottle."

And that is where the arguments against bottled water become so strong for environmental campaigners. We are told that we have an abundant supply of safe drinking water which we are fortunate enough to have available to us all, yet we are consuming millions of bottles of very similar water.

Are you willing to give up the bottle?

Further reading links
• Graphic: How Bottled Water is Bad
• Graphic: How to save water in your home
• Energy Saving Trust: Water Saving Tips
• London Tap: Campaign for tap water in London
• Message Board: Are you willing to give up bottled water?

The qualities and properties of the water we drink can determine the quality of our health.

Dr. Otto Warberg received the Nobel prize for discovering the cause of cancer
This being lack of oxygen (or low alkaline pH). Scientists have found that healthy people have systems that are alkaline.

An acidic body is a breeding ground for disease but no disease can exist in an alkaline environment. Japanese medicine has proven this over the last 15 years. ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER can restore proper alkaline pH in the body within weeks.

WATER FOR VITAL HEALTH
Water sustains all forms of human life. Your body is 70-80% water. Water adjusts the body’s temperature and assists in digestion. It removes toxins from the body, and also makes necessary body fluids. The qualities and properties of the water we drink can determine the quality of our health.
Without enough fluids, your body panics and clings to fluid, resulting in: loss of thirst, weight gain, swollen hands and feet, and constipation (the body will remove needed water from the colon). Diuretics can force out retained water, but will take essential nutrients with them. Water is a natural diuretic (prevents fluid retention). Water is responsible for transporting nourishment to every living cell and is the key to all bodily functions. Water is a “magic potion” for optimal physical fitness. About three quarters of the human brain is water.
Did you know that a headache may just be your body’s way of asking for more water?

Try a glass next time WITHOUT THE ASPIRIN and watch your headache disappear!

35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND 10 YEARS OF MEDICAL RESEARCH HAVE PROVEN TO THE JAPANESE THAT ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER NOT ONLY HELPS TO PREVENT BUT ALSO TO REVERSE CHRONIC ILLNESS.


HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD I DRINK?

Under normal conditions, the average person requires 1.5 to 2.5 liters of water a day. Optimally, you should consume 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. For example, a 100 lb. person needs 50 ounces (seven 8-ounce glasses) every day.


BUT I DRINK LOTS OF OTHER FLUIDS, IE. TEA, JUICE, POP, ETC. DO I STILL NEED THIS MUCH WATER?

When you consume water that has added flavors and ingredients, your body must first filter out these additives before it can use the pure water to detoxify and nourish your cells. This means extra work for your liver, kidneys, and intestines. By starting with pure clean alkaline water, you ease the strain on these organs and free them up to work on cleansing and filtering your food - not to mention the highly acidic nature of carbonated drinks ! !

Did you know . . . It takes 32 glasses of alkaline water to neutralize the acid from one 12 ounce cola!!!

WHEN SHOULD I DRINK WATER?

There are three times a day when drinking water is most efficient: not with food, but twenty minutes before or twenty minutes after eating. You don't want to dilute the potency of your digestive enzymes by drinking water with your meals.

The best times to drink water are:
• four glasses over a 30-minute period in the morning
• four more glasses over a 30-minute period in the afternoon
• another four glasses over a 1-hour period in the early evening.
That’s 12 glasses of water - see how easy it is!!


WHY ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER?

Ordinary tap water has 11 to 13 molecules per cluster. ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER molecule clusters are half that size, with 6 or 7 molecules per cluster. This makes microwater a “wetter” water. Due to its smaller clusters, ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER is superhydrating and readily absorbed by your body. When your body has more water to work with, it is better able to deliver nutrients to all the cells, tissues, and organs.
ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER transports nutritional substances to the cells and eliminates waste within 25 minutes, unlike standard water that takes approximately two and a half hours. And perhaps, most importantly, electron-charged ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER readily gives up its electrons to stabilize oddball oxygen free radicals, thus protecting our body cells and making them less susceptible to infection and disease.

ALKALINE ANTIOXIDANT WATER has 3 significant, health-enhancing benefits not shared by standard or filtered water:


About Ionized Water


Ionized Water, Antioxidant Water, Microclustered Water, Live Water, Alkaline Water, Living Water, Energized Water, Structured Water, and Microwater are different names of the water produced by Water Ionizers.

There are FOUR main benefits to Ionized Water.

1 and foremost, it is a powerful antioxidant. People spend hundreds of dollar a month purchasing antioxidants because they are anti-aging and anti-cancer, which they accomplish through neutralizing free radicals. Free Radical damage causes us to age and causes diseases. Since Ionized Water is a liquid antioxidant, it is easily absorbed into the body which makes it much more effective and powerful antioxidant. Once the Ionized Antioxidant in the form of Hydroxyl Ions (oxygen molecule with an extra electron) donates its extra electrons to free radicals (oxygen molecule that is missing one electron) you are left with lots of oxygen. Ionized Water gives you Energy by providing your body with lots of oxygen! This is one of the most incredible aspects of Ionized Water!

2, Ionized Water Balances body pH because it is very alkaline. Our diet is often extremely acidic. Soft drinks, fast foods & processed foods deposit acid waste in our bodies that builds up over time and creates an ideal environment for diseases of all kinds to thrive. Look at any cancer patient for instance and their bodies are invariably acidic to some degree. This is, of course, true even with children. Chronic soft drink consumers such as children put themselves in grave danger by allowing their bodies to build up acid waste. Many end up with serious diseases at a very young age. Maintaining an alkaline pH (6.9-7.2) helps us to maintain an environment in our bodies that is NOT conducive to disease. It may take years depending on how acidic your body is, but Ionized Water, because of its alkaline properties, will flush acid waste from our bodies. Ionized Water is meant to work as a preventative measure, however if you are ill with any disease it always helps to stay Alkaline.
Raising the pH level of your body will assist your immune system to fight off bacteria, viruses, fungi, and degenerative illnesses such as:
• candida
• cancer
• diabetes
• cirrhosis
• pancreatitis
• nephrosis
• colds
• flu
• arthritis
• indigestion
• leg cramps
• high blood pressure
• poor circulation
• migraines
• obesity
• osteoporosis
• psoriasis, etc.
• chronic fatigue


3, Ionized Water has a different molecular cluster size. It contains only five to six water molecules instead of the ten to thirteen that conventional water molecule clusters have. It has changed from an irregular shape that is 10-13 molecule to a hexagonal regular shape that is half the size. This smaller or "reduced" water is much more hydrating than conventional water. There are two consequences of this. First, Ionized Water is much more hydrating than conventional water and, second, it is extremely detoxifying.

4. The extra oxygen molecules present in ionized water gives you lots of energy and boosts alertness and memory. It is this quality of oxygenated water that improves athletic performance and is sought after by sports enthusiasts and casual exercisers as well. Ionized water may improve your weight lifting, biking or aerobics performance and recovery time. And, it is a well-known medical fact that disease (particularly cancer) cannot live in an oxygenated alkaline environment.