Monthly Archives: January 2013

What’s in your water? Part 1

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zerowater

I never thought about how good water filters were until I ordered a ZeroWater filter and it included a water testing tool.  They claim their filter results in water with 0 PPM (parts per million).  The higher the number means more particles and contaminants that not only make water taste bad but can also be bad for your health. It’s time for an experiment.

 

I tested my tap water, a bottle of spring water, and the ZeroWater filter:

Tap Water - 159 PPM

Tap Water – 159 PPM

Acadia Bottle Water - 24 PPM

Bottle Water – 24 PPM

ZeroWater - 0 PPM

ZeroWater – 0 PPM

 

 

 

 

 

My tap water clocked in at 159 PPM.  Is that a good number?  Apparently the World Health Organization says that water with a TDS (total dissolved solids) of 1,000 PPM is “acceptable” and under 600 PPM is “good.”  Yeah, maybe if you’re living in a tent in Africa it’s good but for us fussy Americans we want crystal clear drinking water without any off-flavors.  The higher the PPM number means the worse it will taste.  The bottle of Acadia Natural Spring Water was much better at 24 PPM.  And my new ZeroWater filter, as promised, clocked in at 0 PPM.  Guess it’s not marketing fluff after all.

I have two other water filters in my house–My refrigerator’s water filter (uses a PUR filter) and a Dr. Mercola filter that was pretty expensive.  In full disclosure, the refrigerator filter was replaced 2 months ago and the Dr. Mercola filter has about 5 months of use on it.  The refrigerator filter definitely gets more use than the Dr. Mercola filter.  The results really shocked me:

Refrigerator Water

My Refrigerator

Fridge Water - 171 PPM

Fridge Water – 171 PPM

My refrigerator PUR water filter is worse than my tap water at 171 PPM! How can that be?

Shouldn’t it be removing something?

 

 

Dr. Mercola Water Filter

Dr. Mercola Water Filter

Dr. Mircola's Pure & Clear - 178 PPM

Dr. Mircola’s Pure & Clear – 178 PPM

The worse rating goes to the expensive Dr. Mercola Pure & Clear drinking water filter which clocked in 178 PPM. It’s probably only fair to test the filters when they are brand new but I would still think that even if they are a few months old it shouldn’t be adding anything to the water.

I really like companies that back up their product claims, and the fact that the ZeroWater filter included a TDS water testing tool speaks volumes.   The instructions say to replace the ZeroWater filter once it gets to 6 PPM.  Maybe they should tell that to the entire water bottle industry.

Continue reading What’s in my Water – Part 2

Engineers are Worthless

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Dear Engineer Friends,

You are the most worthless class of people I have ever known. I would never hire you. Engineers just sit around and think how great they are that they passed some tough classes in College. I need problem solvers out here in the real world. I need people that can use logic and creativity at the same time. Engineers solve problems recklessly and without concern for the future. If I was going to be plugged into a life support system, I’d make sure the logic behind the machine was created by a computer scientist. That way I’d have a much better chance of survival.

With the invention of the general purpose computer, engineers have been struggling to find their place in life. The sad thing is most of them end up taking our blue collar shit jobs that us computer scientists wouldn’t want–like writing websites, or maintaining someone else’s code– These jobs are perfect for engineers because they can operate like robots doing tedious tasks and not having to think.

The demand for solving math equations, building specific pieces of hardware, or researching better ways to transmit signals is just not there anymore. And if you say that’s not what engineers do, then I apologize because no Engineer has ever been able to tell me what exactly they do. In fact, the only answer you’ll get from an Engineer is that whatever they are working on isn’t what they do. Engineers are a bunch of chickens running around with their heads cut off.

If you Engineers think you’ll be designing the next processor for Intel, think again, you got the same chance to be selected on NASA’s next moon mission. And speaking of the moon, who do you think made it possible to land the LEM3 on it? It wasn’t those puppets Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, it was a team of computer scientists that deserve the credit for designing software that was ahead of its time.

The main thing I can’t stand about engineers is they smell.

Continue reading →