Shower Head Water Filter – Dr Oz Tells the World on the Oprah Show

Two In One Shower HeadsShower Head Water Filter – Dr Oz Tells the World on the Oprah Show

On a recent Oprah Show, Dr. Oz said, “The best thing you can do for your hair costs less than 9 cents a day. Get a charcoal filter and put it in your shower head.”

However, I would like to add that when you shop for a shower head water filter, be sure that it also protects you from cancer causing chlorination byproducts, commonly called THMs. Most of the showerhead filters on the market reduce chlorine, but only a couple of them reduce the disinfection byproducts.

The same is true of purifiers for the kitchen tap. Most companies focus on chlorine reduction, because it is easy and inexpensive to accomplish. In addition, people recognize the taste and smell of chlorine, but THMs are tasteless and mostly odorless. In other words, manufactures know that you would know about chlorine, but they assume that you don’t know about the byproducts.

Originally, a shower head water filter was only recommended for people with allergies or skin conditions. Chlorine and copper are common allergens.

Eventually, beauty experts began to recommend them for their customers who wanted better looking hair colors and fewer broken ends. A number of the contaminants present in tap water can strip the skin and hair of their naturally protective oils. In addition, they dull color and cause bleaching.

For years, Dr. Oz has been a leading proponent and well-known expert in the efforts to educate the public on health and wellness. In this same Oprah show, Dr. Oz also mentioned that the chlorine can be drying for your hair. Dr. Oz also suggested that for additional protection that you cover your hair when you are in the sun.

Finally, showerhead water filters are being recommended for anyone who wants to reduce their risk of cancer by reducing their exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, primarily THMs, which become airborne whenever you turn on the faucet.

At one time, it was thought that THM consumption was only a risk through drinking. Researchers have proven again and again that bloodstream levels are higher after 15 minute showers, than they are after drinking an eight ounce glass.

When you do go shopping, you will see that there is a broad price range with one model costing nearly 0. There’s no need to pay that much.

The claims that the company makes, imbuing the water with health giving qualities through the use of rare Japanese stones, are unsubstantiated. They say that they have scientific studies to back those claims. The studies they refer to were performed by their own R & D team. You have to look at those studies with serious skepticism.

You can get the best shower head water filter on the market for less than . You can even get one with a removable wand, to make it easier to fill the tub. But, be warned. Once you start bathing and showering in filtered waters, it becomes harder to leave home!

That’s just a joke, but I do hate staying in a hotel now. The water feels “harsh” and somehow unclean. I never really noticed that feeling until we installed a shower head water filter.

Oprah’s show has always been a favorite, and I was so glad to hear what Dr. Oz had to say about shower head water filters. I hope that because of his incredible wealth of knowledge and the fact that he is held in such high regard it will prompt more people to seriously consider a showerhead water filter for their own home. Thank you Dr. Oz.

My favorite company offers a package deal for customers who buy both a kitchen purifier and a shower head system at the same time. They also offer automatic shipment of replacement cartridges and a discount program for customers who choose to use it.

I suggest that you shop for products that are guaranteed to satisfy. I know of at least one system that tends to break down just after the 30 day replacement period passes. The best shower head water filter provides years of effective service and protects your family’s long-term health.

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How to Choose Which Size iPhone to Get

Two In One Shower HeadsHow to Choose Which Size iPhone to Get

One of the more confusing parts of buying an iPhone is choosing how much capacity to buy. The original iPhones were 2 and 4 gigabytes, and now they are available in up 32 GB. Typically the larger of the available phones costs 0 more than the smaller version so if you don’t need the space, it can be a substantial savings. The first thing to know is that the amount of storage has no bearing on your ability to use the iPhone as a traditional phone or to browse the web. Even the great majority of applications that you can download and use don’t take up a meaningful amount of space.

The main reason to choose a larger iPhone is if you are replacing an iPod or plan to use our iPhone as in iPod. The larger capacity phones will allow you to store a larger quantity of music. They can also allow you to store photos, videos and podcasts. If you plan to make extensive use of these multimedia functionalities, the additional space will probably be useful. For example, I went from an 80 GB iPod and felt cramped by even a 16 GB iPhone. I had to be selective about which music and movies I loaded onto the phone. If you don’t plan to take advantage of the multimedia features, the extra space is more than likely going go unused so you can easily opt for a cheaper version of the phone. 0 is not much to double the storage of your phone, but it’s wasted if you don’t use the space.

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Trihalomethane Shower Filters and Drinking Water Filters That Remove THM & THMs

Two In One Shower HeadsTrihalomethane Shower Filters and Drinking Water Filters That Remove THM & THMs

The Threat of Trihalomethane (THM)
It’s been proven that all public water systems contain some level of at least one unhealthy chemical. But in study after study, it turns out that the norm is for your city or municipal water to have dozens of dangerous contaminants. Society literally adds hundreds and hundreds of dangerous chemicals every year and many of them make their way into the water we use to drink, shower or bathe in, and cook with. Current EPA regulations only require testing for about 90 of those chemicals.

One geological study in Southern California found that the groundwater contained traces of almost 40 industrial chemicals and 20 pesticides. The reality is that you’d be lucky to have just one chemical floating in your water. Most people are aware of the hazards of chlorine, but a chemical called trihalomethane (THM) is making news because studies have shown that it may be more dangerous than chlorine. Recently, the Frankford Water Department was notified by the Delaware Division of Public Health that their water exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum allowable level of THM. The residents were upset and wondering what you probably are. What is it and how do I get rid of it.

How THM Is Created
Trihalomethanes are caused when a disinfectant, mostly commonly chlorine, interacts with bacteria or other organic material. These other substances can include hair follicles, skin particles and also substances like sweat. The resulting reaction creates trihalomethane, a very powerful carcinogenic threat that ends up coming out of your sinks and shower heads. Chloroform is an example of this harmful toxin. Exposure means putting yourself at risk for serious health conditions like asthma and cancer. THMs can build-up in the body and women with breast cancer have shown a higher level of these chlorinated compounds (or organo-chlorines) in their tissue.

A Water Filtration Solution
Fortunately, advances in water filtration technology have made it possible to filter out THM and render your water safe. The US EPA recognizes Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) as the best available technology for filtering out the dangerous chemical, along with other Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) and synthetic chemicals.

The best home water filtration methods for removing THM and other chemicals are a whole house water filter, shower filter and drinking water filter. In fact, these are the exact three products that Dr. Mehment Oz said were vitally important to your health on his show. Dr. Oz noted that the Rhino whole house water filtration system was the most effective but also the most expensive. Most interestingly was his emphasis on the importance of the AQ-4105 shower filter. In the next paragraph, I’ll discuss why a shower filter system is so important for purifying water contaminated with THM and other pollutants.

What Type of Water Filter Products to Consider
When taking action to eliminate the threat of THMs and other synthetic and organic chemicals, you need to treat either your whole house or your faucets and showerheads. A quality whole house water filter will offer the best filtration effectiveness, but does not come cheap. The next best solution is a point-of-use drinking water filter and shower filter. While filtering the water coming from your sink is incredibly important, research has shown that your shower may pose a greater threat. In a hot shower, the pores of your skin open up and cause the absorption rate of chlorine and chemicals like Trihalomethane to accelerate. The alarming reality is that the steam you inhale can have concentrations of THMs that are several times higher than unheated tap water.

Since THM is only one chemical, it doesn’t make sense to only have one filter media that specializes in its removal. Therefore, look for two stage or multi-stage water filtration systems for both your shower and sink. A dual filter that combines KDF and carbon media is widely recognized as the most effective filter technology for showering.

For your drinking water, a carbon filter is also a necessity. However, some companies are taking the approach “better safe than sorry” and no longer use KDF-55 in water filters for drinking. The reason is that KDF uses a natural copper / zinc mineral media and consuming high levels of copper is not good for the brain. Instead, look for a drinking filter like the counter top AQ-4000 that uses multi-stage filtration and combines the most effective technologies currently available: mechanical filtration (filtration down to.5 microns), adsorption (contaminants bond chemically or physically to the surface of the GAC filter medium) and ion exchange (replaces harmful lead ions with healthful potassium ions).

Fortunately, dual stage shower filters and multi-stage water filters are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. For less than 50 cents a day you can enjoy the convenience and safety of both types of filters! And the peace of mind that you are inhaling or drinking water that is safe and free or virtually free of organic and inorganic contaminants. Another reason for an under counter or countertop drinking water filter is that THMs are gases and can become airborne in the steam from cooking with water. Just like with a shower, we inhale the chemicals and they enter our blood stream at a more rapid rate than if we drank the water.

Conclusion
In recent years, the threat of chlorine and studies showing its health consequences was enough motivate many people to purchase a chlorine shower filter and drinking water filter. However, Trihalomethane and other contaminants are causing the media and health experts to tout them as a necessity for most everyone. While some shower and water filters only utilize one filter media, a high quality two stage shower water filter and multi-stage water filtration system offer the best overall protection for price, quality and performance.

Just remember, when searching for a water filter, a single carbon filter isn’t enough. There are literally thousands of cancer-causing chemicals that may be in your water. Trichloroethylene (TCE), used for cleaning metal parts, is another hard to pronounce chemical that finds its way into water supplies. The link between long-term exposure to unhealthy carcinogenic substances in your water is only getting stronger, so look into purchasing a whole house filter or shower and drinking water filters. They are very inexpensive compared to the potentially devastating health problems and costs of using unfiltered water.

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Chlorine Shower Filters

Two In One Shower HeadsChlorine Shower Filters

Why do we need chlorine shower filters? What can chlorine filters for shower heads do to improve our health? You’ll find the answers here.

There are a number of different contaminants that can find there way into the water we all use for our showers and baths. Whether chemicals, sediment, certain elements, microbiological agents, it is important to identify the source of the problem and then to find the proper method to deal with the problem. One of the more prevalent, insidious and potentially dangerous contaminants, chlorine is added by public water treatment facilities.

The treatment facilities need to disinfect prompts our need for chlorine shower filters. More and more people are using chlorine filters for shower heads.

It’s probably safe to say that most know that salt is also known as sodium chloride. That chloride is the element chlorine, in it’s most abundant natural form, bound to the element sodium. In it’s natural state, it is commonly found in water and is not dangerous. If it were only natural water that we had to worry about, we would not need chlorine shower filters.

Commercial chlorine is produced by passing an electrical current through the two elements. The chlorine, now in it’s natural, gaseous form, is then used mainly as a disinfecting agent in swimming pools and drinking water as it is highly effective against microbiological agents. Since, in it’s natural state, it is not harmful, it was believed to be safe for drinking and bath water. If that were the case, the popularity of chlorine filters for shower heads would be difficult to understand.

But, now we know that the caustic nature of commercial chlorine can have harmful short and long-term effects on our health. Making the water in any bathroom unsafe, unless we use chlorine shower filters.

You may think that if you have a well, you don’t need chlorine filters for shower heads, but this type of contamination is particularly prevalent in well water. Chlorine used commercially finds it’s way to this water source by seeping through the ground. Most people probably don’t think twice about emptying their pools into the ground where chemicals within the pool water are absorbed into the soil, eventually finding their way to the underground well. Rain is also an unwilling culprit, pulling contaminants from the air or from industrial sites to runoff into the soil.

Chlorine shower filters have become more prominent as of late as people have become more educated as to the dangers of these contaminants in their shower water. Chlorine, as stated before, is poisonous. Dissolved in water, it can cause dry skin, irritation, and damage hair. Used in a hot shower, it can regain it’s gaseous form and be inhaled. The potential dangers to one’s health are numerous.

Faced with all of this, it might be a wise choice to protect you and your family with chlorine filters for shower heads in your home. There are many choices on the market. Doing a simple online search for chlorine shower filters will yield page upon page of options. It is imperative to find chlorine shower filters that can effectively purify your shower water, so take your time to make the best choice. Many sites have independent user ratings that may help you in your search.

Chlorine filters for shower heads will significantly reduce your exposure to this harmful irritant. Be sure to follow all instructions for installation and replacement. You should purchase chlorine shower filters for all of the bathrooms in your house that have showers. Should problems with odor, skin or bronchial irritation persist, check for proper installation, as well as the life-expectancy of the filters, it may be time to replace them.

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Spotless Bath-Shower Stalls – An Easy Way to Keep Them That Way Without Future Cleaning

Two In One Shower HeadsSpotless Bath-Shower Stalls – An Easy Way to Keep Them That Way Without Future Cleaning

The problem.

Cleaning a bathtub or shower stall is unpleasant work that must be done too often. Because such stalls are fairly compact, painful bumps and bruises can happen during this work. Then, after all the cleaning and wiping is done, the grout, plastic, glass, and metal-parts of the stall can still become permanently spotted, soiled or corroded. Replacing these stalls is expensive and unnecessary. Here is how to prevent all of that.

Avoid the problem.

This condition can be avoided completely by installing a portable wrap-around plastic-curtain liner within the stall to keep its walls and accessories sparkling clean all the time with little or no further cleaning, even under heavy use by it occupants. It is time to say goodbye to a gritty, grimy, scummy, corroded stall, forever.

In general, first assemble and install a rectangular plastic frame within the stall at the shower-head height, and then hang shower curtains from it all the way around the inside of the stall. This frame stays in place by the pressure exerted from the flexible crutch tips used in making it, similar to the way an adjustable bathtub curtain rod stays in place, by tension. That is, the frame fits into the stall tightly. Once installed, the disposable and  washable curtain-liner takes all of the soiling abuse while the walls, doors, and faucets stay spotlessly clean. 

How to make the curtain-liner frame.

See the lists below for the parts list and directions for making the frame. Then install it within the stall at a height just under the shower-head, and just behind the top frame of the stall’s entry curtain or door, if one exists. That positioning will put the frame about 1-inch from the walls and 73-inches above the stall-floor.

At this point, hang 2-3 overlapping shower curtains from plastic hooks around the frame, letting the curtains overlap away from the shower head. Allow a portion of the curtain-liner behind the entrance to slide open and shut for easy entry and exit. If no door exists, set the sliding portion over wherever the common entrance is.

The initial cost to make this laborsaving device from scratch is about . However, it can be made for less than that with prudent shopping and leftover parts from other projects.

Materials needed for a 29×48″ stall.

two 10-foot rods of ¾-inch white PVC plastic pipe; .50 each
four ¾-inch white plastic-pipe T’s; Body.50 each
four ¾-inch light-colored rubber crutch tips; Body.50 each
36 shower-curtain hooks (plastic); box/12
three 72-inch tall household shower curtains; -10 each

Note: for the large rectangular stalls, two real twist-adjustable bathtub curtain rods with their plastic caps removed can be used in place of the two longer precut plastic-pipe rods, which saves on measuring and cutting these pipe-rods precisely. However, four one-inch washers might be needed to let the bare ends of these curtain rods fit into the T’s correctly.

Still, an even faster shortcut is simply to install a real bathtub curtain rod on each of the longer two sides of the stall. And then, run a piece of nylon rope or aluminum wire across the far ends of these two rods to complete the frame. For this rapid setup, nothing needs to be measured precisely.

Standard-sized shower stalls range from about 29-inches square to 48×30-inches rectangular or larger. Bathtub-shower combinations range from 60×29-inches to larger. Thus, before cutting the frame’s two end-rods for the narrow sides of the stall with a fine-cut saw, measure each distance separately, allowing space for the transversely attached T’s on each end of each rod. See the directions below.

1. For standard stall widths, cut two plastic-pipe end-rods to 25±1/4-inches in length, each, as measured. Scrape the rough ends smooth.

2. Insert the ends of these two rods into the side ports of the four plastic T’s (no cement needed).

3. Insert a crutch tip into one end of each T on each rod, letting the tips face the same direction. The two end-rods  with the T-assemblies attached are now completed for the stall.

4. Carefully measure the approximate length of each of the two longer pipe rods separately for each side of the stall, allowing for the combined length of the T’s and crutch tips. The stalls are not always perfectly plumb and square. Thus, cut these rods slightly longer than the calculated measurement by about 1/4-inch each. Then, by trial-and-error fitting attempts, gradually cut these two rods to their precise lengths so the frame will hang by itself under the right amount of  tension on each side. 

5. Install the curtain hooks onto the rod frame around all four walls.

6. Hang the curtains by overlapping them away from the shower spray or any potential splattering. Overlap them by 10 to 16-inches depending on the size of the stall and the width of the curtains. Allow the overlap on the sliding portion at the entrance to be about 10-inches when closed. Tip: hang an extra unused hook at that 10-inch distance for the open-hole at the corner of that sliding curtain to be attached to.

The liner now covers the entire inner perimeter of the stall from the floor up to the top of the curtains. The bottoms of the curtains will barely touch the floor. If not, raise or lower the frame slightly by sliding it into a new position at each corner. The crutch tips will protect the walls from being scratched at each end of the stall.

To adjust the water flow while bathing or showering, manually adjust the faucets and other controls by letting the curtain wrap around them like thin hot-pads in one’s hands. That is, to keep these parts clean and protected, holes for them need not be cut in the curtains.

Steam and mist from the hot water does not adversely affect the cleanliness of the stall walls and other accessories behind the curtains. It evaporates cleanly as it does from a bathroom mirror. Also, to prevent unnecessary buildup on the curtain-liner itself, use soft soaps, and minimize the force of the shower spray and its subsequent splattering. Additionally, the floor of the stall is self-cleaning most of the time from the swashing of the user’s feet.

Summarized advantages of the frame and curtain-liner.

The stall’s walls and metal/glass accessories stay clean and spotless all the time
After a bath or shower, a squeegee or wipe-down rag is no longer needed
The perimeter-shaped stall liner gives adequate room to bathe or shower comfortably
The liner curtains themselves are machine washable, or can easily be replaced as desired
Coloful or designer curtains can be used if desired
A shower rack can be hung from the shower-head pipe to hold soaps, shampoos, brushes etc
The liner frame is removable, i.e., it is not permanently fixed to the walls with glue or screws
The appearance of the frame and liner is neat and practical

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