Hard or Soft?

Hard water has a significant mineral content, which makes it difficult to create suds when using soap.  It causes mineral deposits to accumulate which can damage clothes washers, coffee machines, and other water-using equipment.  Water lacking in minerals is called soft water, and it causes excessive suds with detergents or soaps, and it can leach minerals right out of our bodies when we drink it.  Ideally, humans want something right smack in the middle.

Why a RO Filter is Good for Your Colorado Springs Office Breakroom

Hard Water

When we think of the Roman aqueducts, built beginning in 350 BCE, we think of masonry waterways crossing valleys, because that is the most popular image.  Most people don’t know that only about 30 miles, of aqueduct were above ground.

The remaining 500 miles or so were buried between two and four feet underground for protection.  The water of Rome was very hard and high in mineral content.  This portion of the German Eifel aqueduct shows the massive build-up of calcium-carbonate (in yellow) due to uncharacteristically poor maintenance.

Though some remaining sections are over 2,000 years old, portions of them remain in use to this day.  That is what happens when you build something particularly well.

Pure Colorado Water

The majority of Colorado water is harder in the winter and softer in the summer—that is not particularly remarkable—it’s just a fact of life.   This phenomenon is primarily due to the fact that in the wintertime the lakes are frozen and we’re relying on ground water and stored water in the aquifers which have a higher concentration of minerals.

Once the lakes thaw in the springtime, and all the collected snow and ice begins to melt, there is a large influx of relatively pure water which hasn’t had a chance to absorb many minerals. As a consequence the water is comparatively soft.

To attain the consistency humans need in their water, we recommend any of the Wellsys™ bottle-free water cooler systems for your office use, or the EcoSpring™ Home Water Purifier for residential use.  The key factors here are that they are bottleless to reduce the environmental impact and needless fuel-waste because of truck delivery; that they’re very easy to maintain; that they are connected to your city supply so that you get water on-demand; and that they produce tasty, delicious water with the proper mineral balance for good health.

EcoSpring

The EcoSpring System has a six-stage filter system.  It is suitable for residential or small office use and removes more than 95% of contaminants including metals, chlorine, pesticides, and more.  It’s tiny and will fit even in small cabinets, under your sink.  Just replace one cartridge per year, with no mess, no spills, and no tools.

Wellsys

We carry multiple models of the Wellsys System, such as the WS 5000 providing reserves of 1.3 gallons of hot water and 0.7 gallons of cold water, or the reverse in the WS 7000 with 1.3 gallons of cold water and 0.7 gallons of hot water.  The WS 9000 CT (countertop) has a very small footprint, provides 1.4 gallons of cold water, and 0.48 gallons of hot water.  The standard WS 9000 and WS 11000 provide 2.1 gallons of cold and 1.3 gallons of hot water, which is suitable for even the largest offices.

The Reverse Osmosis (RO) Filter

Reverse Osmosis removes the worst of the worst in your drinking water including protozoa, bacteria, viruses, metals, dissolved salts, and chemical contaminants.  The pollutants accumulate during the fill cycle, and after the tank of clean water is full, the RO filter is flushed, and the unwanted material is sent down the drain, never entering your clean water supply.

What’s the best choice for your Colorado breakroom?

The EcoSpring has a built-in Reverse Osmosis filter as part of its six-stage filtering system.  The Wellsys System has a nine-stage filtering system for the purist, cleanest, best tasting water that you can obtain.  Either unit is an excellent choice.  Let’s look at the Wellsys filter design and its various stages:

  1. Rust & clay 10 micron
  2. Carbon filter for chlorine, solvents, pesticides & Organic compounds
  3. Reverse Osmosis/UF membrane
  4. 4-stage Bio-Sure filter eliminates
    1. Free radicals
    2. Low minerals
    3. Acidity
    4. Bacteria
  5. A final filter removes any remaining chlorine, and the last portion enhances the taste by remineralizing the water to its ideal state.

Stage three, the Reverse Osmosis/UF membrane, let’s you make a choice.  The Ultra Fine (UF) choice uses a nano membrane which removes metals, pharmaceuticals, and other solids down to the 0.01 micron level, which includes large bacteria like E.coli.

On the other hand, you can choose the reverse osmosis membrane for water purification in your Colorado Springs office.  This removes all metals, particularly lead and mercury, as well as arsenic, pharmaceuticals, and 99.9% of all bacteria with its 0.0001 micron filter.

We always advocate the reverse osmosis filter.  RO is the best way to protect your family, your employees, and yourself from any potential nastiness that might be in your water supply.

The Takeaway

Water is essential for everyone. Provide clean, healthful water, ice, and coffee for your office.  Make sure you get exactly what you need every day.  It is your ticket to good health, a strong immune system, and peak productivity.