Water filter jugs are a good introduction to filtered water, but to be honest they are not always the most stylish, convenient or practical long-term solution.

Because once your family has fallen in love with the taste and health benefits of filtered water they’ll want to drink more. And you’ll find yourself constantly having to refill your water jug and change your filter cartridges.

So what’s your best alternative for your family once you’ve outgrown your water filter jug?

The stylish, space-saving solution

Your kitchen is the heart of your home and when you’ve invested money into building or renovating a beautiful kitchen you don’t want to clutter your bench top with a water filter jug or drill unnecessary holes in your bench top for an additional filter tap.

A dedicated inline water filter discretely connects underneath your bench to your existing tap, eliminating the need for a separate filter tap or filter jug. Easy to install, either horizontally or vertically, an inline filter allows you to enjoy your filtered water without impacting on the aesthetic of your kitchen design.

The long-lasting solution

The problem with filter jugs is you are continually having to refill them from your kitchen tap.  And if you’ve got children or teenagers in your home it’s more likely than not that when you go to enjoy a glass of filtered water yourself you’ll find the jug empty again.

With an inline water filter system you’ll never have to refill a filter jug again. Because your kitchen tap becomes a 24/7 water filter, eliminating the need for a jug that constantly needs to be topped up.

The healthy solution

Sure, filtered water from a jug tastes good, but does your family always remember to drink the water from the jug? Or is it simply quicker and easier for them to use the kitchen tap?
When you replace a filter jug with an inline water filter system you know your family are getting the health benefits of filtered water every single time they turn on the tap. And when filtered tap water tastes this good, you know they’re more likely to stay hydrated, as well as getting the protection and health benefits of fluoridated water, without any of the nasties that spoil the taste, odour and colour of tap water.

A dedicated inline water filter also provides an easy, tasty alternative to high-sugar drinks, which makes it easy for you all to make the healthy choices that really add up. Healthy choices that protect their teeth and their waistline.

The safe solution

Filtered water has so many health benefits for your family…but only if you remember to change your filter regularly.

If you forget to change your filter cartridge the build-up of trapped contaminants will not only block your water filter and slow down the flow…they can also begin to rot in the filter and grow mould. This not only makes your water taste bad…it can actually make you very sick!

And because the filter in a filter jug is so much smaller than a dedicated inline filter attached to your kitchen tap, a filter jug cartridge needs to be changed far more frequently, making it very easy to forget when you last changed it.

However, with an inline filter system, you only need to change your cartridge once a year. And each cartridge comes with its own inbuilt alarm, or an email or phone call to remind you as well.

So you’ll never forget when it needs changing.

Ensuring your water is always tasty, healthy and as pure as can be.

The easy, environmental solution

A dedicated inline water filter system is the easiest way to enjoy filtered tap water. No more refilling water jugs. No separate tap required. And no constantly having to change filter cartridges or remember when they need to be changed.

And when you only use one cartridge per year you not only save time and money…you also save the environment, because you’re simply using less stuff, less often.

Never run out of filtered water again

If you’ve fallen in love with the taste of filtered water but your family’s outgrown your water filter jug, the best solution is to install an inline water filter system to your kitchen tap.

Because when you make it this easy to enjoy drinking water your family’s going to want to drink a lot more.

Pure, filtered, great-tasting water on tap 24/7, without having to constantly refill an unsightly water jug?

It’s a no-brainer for your family’s health, teeth, waistlines and your wallet.

If you’re a woman of childbearing age, menstruation, pregnancy and breastfeeding can all contribute to dehydration.

During your period, fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone influence your level of hydration, and if you also have excessively heavy periods the amount of blood you are losing will also affect your fluid levels. The good news is if you are also prone to headaches and tiredness during your time of month then increasing your fluid consumption may also help alleviate these symptoms.

For most of us, if we remember to drink our 8 glasses of water a day we’ll keep ourselves hydrated and healthy.

But did you realise you only need to lose just 1.5% of your body’s water content to put yourself at risk of becoming dehydrated?

And although it’s a no-brainer to drink more water when you’re exercising or it’s extremely hot, there are some other surprising reasons why you might need to drink more than the standard eight glasses of water a day.

Women have to be especially vigilant

If you’re a woman of childbearing age, menstruation, pregnancy and breastfeeding can all contribute to dehydration.

During your period, fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone influence your level of hydration, and if you also have excessively heavy periods the amount of blood you are losing will also affect your fluid levels. The good news is if you are also prone to headaches and tiredness during your time of month then increasing your fluid consumption may also help alleviate these symptoms.

When you’re pregnant your body goes into overdrive to protect your growing baby, retaining water in an attempt to offset dehydration. Your overall blood volume and cardiac output increase, which increases your fluid requirements. And if you are suffering from morning sickness you will be losing a lot of fluid as well.

Breastfeeding mothers also need to drink a lot of extra water because of their breast milk production and if your milk supply is dropping or you’re having trouble producing enough sometimes the solution is as simple as drinking more water.

Medical reasons for dehydration

Diabetes

Of all the illnesses that might necessitate additional consumption of water to prevent dehydration, this is the most dangerous. In fact, being unable to quench your thirst and excessive urination are “red flags” signalling the possible onset of type 2 diabetes.

If you have diabetes—especially if you don’t yet realise you have it—you are at increased risk of dehydration. Diabetes raises your sugar levels in your blood too high, so your body tries to get rid of this excess glucose via increased urine output, rapidly removing fluid from your body and causing dehydration.

Illnesses that cause nausea and chronic diarrhoea

Whether you just have a nasty bug or you suffer from long-term illnesses such as Chron’s disease, coeliac disease or irritable bowel syndrome, both nausea and chronic diarrhoea will very quickly deplete your fluid levels if you are not careful.

And although it’s hard to keep water down when vomiting, sucking on ice cubes or ice chips can help you get some fluid into your system until you’re well enough to start drinking water again.

Prescription medications

When you’re prescribed a new medicine, always check the list of side effects. Many medications act as diuretics, making you urinate more, and thereby increasing your risk for dehydration. Drugs such as blood pressure medications are a common cause of dehydration if you don’t increase your fluid intake.

Stress and ageing

Even when you’re not sick, on medications or suffering from a disease, did you realise the effects of stress and ageing can also contribute to dehydration?

When you’re stressed, your body reacts by your adrenal glands pumping out stress hormones. After an extended period of stress your adrenals become unable to produce the hormone aldosterone, which helps regulate your body’s levels of fluid and electrolytes. So when your body’s production of aldosterone drops, dehydration is triggered.

And as you age, your muscle mass reduces, which means your body’s ability to conserve water as well as its sensation for thirst declines. So it’s easier to become dehydrated and more difficult to recognise when your fluid levels are dropping.

Other surprising causes of dehydration

Drinking other fluids

It may seem counterintuitive, but drinking fluids other than water can actually dehydrate you as well.

Alcohol not only causes dehydrating hangovers (think vomiting and diarrhoea) … it also inhibits an antidiuretic hormone, so it sends fluid to your bladder that would normally have gone back into your body. This is why you need to wee more when you’ve had a few drinks.

And many drinks that contain caffeine, such as sports drinks, teas and coffee, may also have the same diuretic effect, which can lead to dehydration.

High altitudes

Don’t forget that when you travel to higher altitudes, there’s less oxygen in the air. Your body adjusts to this by speeding up your breathing (which causes you to exhale more and lose fluids via water vapour) and by increasing your urine output.

When you are breathing more rapidly and urinating more you will lose fluids out of both ends of your body so you will need to drink more to prevent dehydration…especially if you are also sweating from pounding down the slopes on your skis or your snowboard.

And although it’s tempting to take advantage of the free booze on international flights, the combination of high altitudes and plane air conditioning creates a “perfect storm” for dehydration. Which is why tap water is the sensible choice if you want to arrive at your destination feeling great and you want to minimise the effects of jet lag.

So what can you do to prevent dehydration?

The easiest, safest, tastiest and most affordable way to increase your hydration levels is to install a home water filter system that turns your kitchen tap into a 24/7 water filter. And because it tastes so good, you’ll want to drink more.

But if you find it hard to remember to drink enough water, there are some great ideas here to motivate and inspire you. But if you think you might be at risk of dehydration, it’s always wise to talk to your GP.

And finally, if in doubt, just start drinking more water, because it’s actually quite difficult to “over hydrate”. You’ll not only feel and look better…your body and wallet will also thank you.

Do you find it hard to remember to drink enough water? Well, you’re not alone.

Drinking water is one of the best things we can do for our health and wellbeing on so many levels, but we often find it hard to remember to drink the amount we need to stay hydrated.

Luckily for you, there are some really simple ways you can trick your body into:

• WANTING to drink more water,
• REMEMBERING to drink more water, and
• ENJOYING drinking water again

Ways to create your daily habit of eight

Here are our favourite and most effective ways of tricking yourself into developing a healthy habit of drinking lots of water every day.

Invest in a good quality home water filtration system

When something tastes this good both you and all of your family will want to drink more. And nothing is as tasty, refreshing or as thirst-quenching as pure filtered water.

Investing in a good quality home water filtration system is cheaper and easier than you think. And the modern inline filter systems don’t require a separate tap or a plumber to install them…they simply attach, out of sight, under your kitchen bench, to your existing pipes.

Make it part of your daily routine

Do you always start your day with a cup of tea of coffee? Have a bath or a shower, morning or night, and brush your teeth twice a day? Well why not have a glass of water at the same time!

When you wake up have a glass of water. Add another one in when you have your morning coffee, and so on and so on. When you brush your teeth in the morning and again at night. After your shower, and before or after every meal. There’s eight extra glasses there…and we’ve only just scratched the surface.

Once you’ve include drinking water to your existing daily routine you’ll be surprised just how quickly 8 glasses a day becomes second nature.

Get a high quality water bottle (or two)

When you invest in a good water bottle you can take your water with you anywhere, anytime, avoid the expense and environmental impact of bottled water and keep track of your daily water intake.

Invest a high-quality bottle, one that you can easily clean and will last for years, and if you are on the go a lot get two of them, so you always have a clean one filled with pure filtered water, ready to go in the fridge.

If you’ve worried about drinking water from a plastic bottle that’s been sitting in the sun you can also choose from stainless steel or glass water bottles.

Use your mobile phone

If you still keep forgetting to drink enough water, use the timer on your phone. Set it to go off throughout the day and each time it does, drink one glass of water.

Or you could download one of the many apps specifically designed to remind you to drink more—there are plenty of free ones that remind you when to drink and also record how much you’ve drunk.

Pimp your drink

Perhaps you’re not drinking enough water because you prefer the taste of sugar-laden soft drinks, fruit juices or mineral waters?

Well you can still add some flavour without adding sugar by pimping up your water with pieces of fresh fruit (strawberries, lemon or lime slices), veggie slices (cucumber, ginger, celery) or fresh herbs (basil, mint, lavender) to your water jug.

Another great idea is to invest in a soda siphon to add fizz without calories to your filtered water.

Eat your drink and drink before you eat

Not all water needs to be ingested in liquid form. There are many fruits and vegetables choc-full of water which can all help boost your water intake, such as: watermelon, rockmelon, grapes, cucumber, lettuce, celery, tomatoes, citrus, spinach, strawberries, cherries and zucchini. But keep in mind that cooking fruit and veggies reduces their water content, so they are best eaten raw.

Drinking before you eat not only helps you create a habit, but it increases your water intake by at least three glasses of water a day, and fills you up before meals, which can also help you lose weight.

What goes in, must come out

Every time you go to the bathroom, remember to drink a glass of water.

This will not only remind you to drink more, but also make you go to the bathroom more, which in turn makes you drink water more. Which is a win/win for your hydration.

Bottoms up

Even a night out on the town can be a boost for your hydration if you remember to drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink you consume.

Not only will you stay hydrated, but you’ll save money…and you’ll probably thank us in the morning!

Learn to love the taste of water again

Creating new habits take time and what works for others, might not work as well for you.

But we can guarantee whatever tricks you use to create your habit of eight, you’ll feel better at every single level.

Creating your daily habit of eight isn’t as hard as you think…you’ve just got to know how.