Water

[Guest guest]

Jaen,

I just went and looked at your site. Oh my God...I am totally in love

with those beautiful cats. While I was growing up my mother got me a manx

kitten who grew up to look almost just like a bob cat. He was almost as big

too but totally different than your regular house cat. He would drape

himself over my shoulders like he was a living fur stole. He was the most

amazing, adorable cat. But now that I see your beautiful cats I really am not

going to be happy until I get one too. Fortunately I live near the bay area

so when I am ready I'll get ahold of you. Thanks for adding your site link

to your post otherwise I would never have known those cats existed. By the

way, take a look at my site listed below my name, the front page shows a

drawing I did of a snow leopard, so you can see how much I love cats (and all

animals) too.

Arizona

-----------------------------------------

Please stop by and visit my Website listed below

http://members.aol.com/artistdesigner/Arizona_/Page_1x.html

> Jaen Treesinger

> Bengals from the RainForest

>

> .......amazingly smart, incredibly fast and just gorgeous!

>

> Check out new pictures on our website at:

[Guest guest]

Your body many cries for water is suppose to be one of the best books on this

subject. I was told to drink half in ounces of my body weight and use 1/4 tsp

celtic sea salt to about a quart I think is what it said. I have read on a water

cure site that I can't think of right now some wonderful testimonials on water

and the right type of salt, not refined.....Tonya

[Guest guest]

I have read this fact before, but it seems like a lot of water.....for

example if you weigh 200 lbs, then by this calculation, you should be

drinking.....200 x .3 = 60 liters which # x 1.58 = 95 quarts = 380 cups/

day

Similarily, a 100 lb person would need to drink 100 x .3 = 30 liters which

= 47.4 quarts = 189.6 cups / day

anyone can see the fallacy of this.

>Each person has different needs for water per day. To calculate your

>own requirements :

>Take your weight and multiply by 0.3 = liters water/ day

>60 tons of water should be consumed during a lifetime !!

>

Jaen Treesinger

Bengals from the RainForest

........amazingly smart, incredibly fast and just gorgeous!

Check out new pictures on our website at: http://www.bengal-cat.com

[Guest guest]

>>>>>>You know, I've seen this one before, too. But in my memory it

was .03, not .3. This would mean that the 200 pound person needs 9.5

qts., and the 100 pounder needs 4.74 qts. Much more reasonable, but

still a lot more than anybody I know drinks.>>>>>

Perhaps the weight was in KILOs not pounds. That would be 46 Kg/100

lbs meaning 46 times .03 = 1.38 Litres. And 92 Kg/200lbs meaning 92

times .03 = 3.74 Litres.

Rod

[Guest guest]

A Little Secret About Bottled Water

Containers Say It Expires,

But Evidence for That Is Scant;

Blame It on New Jersey

By sen

Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

It's rough enough that the millions of Americans who buy bottled

water are paying for something that used to basically be free. But

even harder to stomach is the message that comes on the bottle: Like

milk and eggs, water now " expires. "

Most commercially produced water comes stamped with expiration dates -

- typically within two years of when it was bottled. On most Poland

Spring bottles there are tiny, white letters advising consumers to

drink up within two years. Most Aquafina bottles sport two-year

expiration warnings on their caps. In general, the dates on bottled

water include the prefix " EXP, " meaning " expires. " Fiji brand water

has a slightly different approach: Its bottles say " Best by " followed

by the date. Coca-Cola Inc. puts a one-year expiration date on its

Dasani brand water.

The message that water has a shelf life has been further amplified in

the wake of Sept. 11. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security urges

people to stockpile water in their disaster-preparedness kits. On its

Web site (www.ready.gov), it instructs people to change their stored

water every six months.

The American Red Cross also advises people via its Web site to

replace their stored water every six months. But when contacted, the

organization's manager of disaster education, Rocky Lopes, says

people should replace their bottled water before its expiration

date. " The water should be replaced if the manufacturer determines

there is a reason for it, " he says.

But does water really spoil? Despite the labels reminding consumers

to drink up, there is virtually no evidence that drinking water

beyond the expiration date has any health impact at all. The Food and

Drug Administration considers bottled water to have an " indefinite

shelf life. " Even the bottled-water industry is hard-pressed to

justify the labels.

" There's no real rationale, " says Jane Lazgin, a spokeswoman for

Nestle Waters North America Inc., a division of Nestle SA that

bottles brands including Poland Spring and Ice Mountain, and imports

European waters such as Perrier and Vittel. The practice " is not

health-based, " she adds.

Still, some shoppers are heeding these directives. If bottled water

is past its expiration date, " there's probably something wrong with

it, " says Bohan, a 39-year-old father of three in Los Angeles

who drinks only bottled or filtered water. " I would drink bad tap

water over post-dated bottled water. "

Expiration dates are just one example of how shifting tastes and

successful marketing have complicated what was once one of life's

simpler acts -- drinking water. This year, for the first time,

Americans are expected to buy more bottled water than beer or coffee.

Sales of bottled water reached $7.7 billion in 2002, up 12% from

2001, according to Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York-based

consulting company. Even dogs now have bottled-water options -- K9

Water Co. makes chicken- and beef-flavored waters.

Store shelves are filled with a baffling array of options,

from " spring water " and " artesian water " to " purified water "

and " drinking water. " (The latter is often industry code for filtered

tap water.) And, for all the popularity of bottled water, there is

little evidence that it's any better for you than what flows from the

faucet.

Some bottled water makers say that they use expiration dates for

taste, and not health reasons. A Coca-Cola spokeswoman,

McDermott, says the company has done research on its own Dasani brand

showing that the taste of its bottled water changes after its one-

year expiration date. But, she adds: " It is probably not something

the average person will notice. " Manufacturers also say most people

drink their water well short of the industry average two-year mark.

The government says that the recommendation on the Department of

Homeland Security Web site is really directed at people who bottle

their own tap water. Unsealed containers could allow bacteria or

other contaminants into the water that could multiply, experts say.

It's unclear, however, how many people take the time to fill milk

jugs or soda bottles with tap water and store it as part of their

disaster-supply kits.

The issue of expiration dates is a long-running one that extends

beyond water. Though government regulations require expiration dates

on certain foods and medicines, critics say some prompt consumers to

unnecessarily toss things out and re-stock. A study by the U.S.

military in the 1980s found that 90% of the prescription and over-the-

counter drugs it studied were effective well past their expiration

dates.

To some degree, the fact that bottled water carries expiration dates

can be blamed on New Jersey, the only state that officially requires

it. That regulation dates back to 1987, though it's not completely

clear what prompted it. The New Jersey Department of Health and

Senior Services says only that: " The intent of the law was to protect

the safety and quality of drinking water. "

The industry says that, given the New Jersey law, it's easier -- and

cheaper -- for water companies to stamp dates on every bottle,

whatever the destination, than to do it selectively. " That's why

you'll see it, so you don't have a hodge-podge of labels going to

different states, " says Kay of the International Bottled

Water Association, an industry trade group. (A handful of other

states, including New York, Michigan and Louisiana, require

manufacturers to stamp packages with the bottling date, but don't

insist on expiration dates.)

Some consumers don't take the expiration dates on bottled water all

that seriously. Rosenblatt, a 35-year-old television producer in

New York, has stashed a five-gallon jug of water and a couple of

cases of Poland Spring along with the canned food, gas masks and

money he says he might need in an emergency. He plans to keep the

water after its expiration date -- and drink it.

Others outside of the industry back the notion that the taste of a

bottle of water can shift slightly over time. One explanation,

according to some, is that the minerals that either naturally occur

in some bottled water or are added during manufacturing may settle.

The result can be water that tastes stale. " I don't think it would be

a safety problem, but more of a quality issue, " says P.

Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of

Georgia. " We've had some water that tasted like stale milk. "

For that reason, some big grocery chains say they won't let old water

sit on their shelves. Albertsons Inc., which operates 2,300 stores

across the country, says it sends water that is past its stated

expiration date back to the manufacturer.

The type of bottle used can also be a factor in the taste. The

cheaper kind of translucent plastic used for milk jugs and some

gallon containers of water can eventually leach a plastic tinge into

the water. (Most bottled water, however, is packaged in a higher

grade of plastic that is much more resistant to leaching.)

As for the expiration dates on bottled water, a renaming may be in

order. The expiration date on the bottles of Dasani water, for

instance, " isn't really an expiration date, " says Ms. McDermott, of

Coca-Cola. " It is more of an optimal taste date. "

A Bottled-Water Lexicon

Labels sport all sorts of vague terms that can make it difficult to

figure out what you're drinking. Below, a guide to some of the more

popular varieties:

Mineral water: Unlike some waters, this contains a minimum amount of

dissolved minerals and other elements. Water is derived from a

protected underground source.

Spring water: Retrieved from a natural spring. With the exception of

fluoride, no minerals are allowed to be added.

Artesian water: From a well that taps an aquifer, an underground

layer of earth that contains water.

Purified water: Water has undergone a process to remove minerals,

metals and other substances. The source is usually tap or spring

water.

Drinking water: General term means the water is intended for people

to drink -- but the term doesn't tell you anything about where it's

from or how it's been processed.

Sources: FDA, International Bottled Water Association