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If you’ve read about the problems with drinking contaminated water you might be getting interested in water filtration. You will have heard of charcoal water filters or carbon water filters or even activated carbon water filters. What are these water filters?

Charcoal is a substance created by heating organic matter to high temperature in the absence of oxygen and a charcoal water filter is one that uses charcoal for the filtration process. The organic material commonly used is coconut husks.

Charcoal has various properties, primarily that it is extremely porous and this is what is necessary for successful water filtration. These pores allow water, and contaminants, to pass through and for the contaminants to be absorbed by the carbon by means of chemical attraction, because many carbon based or organic compounds are chemically attracted to carbon.

That is what charcoal, or carbon, water filters are. So what are activated carbon, or what is known as AC, filters? These filters use a form of carbon that is way more porous than normal carbon, and this is created during the manufacturing process.

It’s so porous in fact that it can have up to 20000 square yards of surface area per ounce of activated carbon. That’s really porous.

You need to replace the filters occasionally in an AC water filter because the filter gradually clogs up with contaminants as they are absorbed by the carbon.

An activated carbon water filter works well filtering a wide range of contaminants, but doesn’t filter all of them, and for this reason the best water filters use a multi stage water filtration process. Not only is the carbon block, or activated carbon filter used but there is a second stage to the process that removes the contaminants that are not removed by activated carbon filtration.

And in the very best water purifiers available there is no reliance on AC filtering only, because very good it is not sufficient on it’s own. There is a second stage to the filtering process and this stage is used to filter contaminants that the first stage leaves behind, like nasty lead. And the removal of lead is achieved by an ion exchange process replacing lead ions with harmless potassium ions.

And the second stage of the best water filters removes tiny organisms that remain in the water after stage 1 like giardia and cryptosporidium through the use of an extremely fine filtration process. These are the most dangerous water contaminants.

There you have the basics of water filtration by use of carbon, or what is known as charcoal water filters, or activated carbon water filters. The activated carbon is not 100% successful in removing all contaminants, but when used in a 2 stage process designed to remove the contaminants that are left behind by the AC filter, it works exceedingly well. You should expect around 99% of lead to be removed, for example.

I spend time discussing the worlds best water filters on my website.

Would you like to learn more about the Best Water Filters? Or about Charcoal Water Filters? Visit Peter’s Website the Best Drinking Water Filters.

Now that summer is officially here, our home gardens are in their heyday. Spring’s greens have already sprouted and given us the first gifts of the season, like bitter dandelion leaves, soft lettuces and nutrient-rich spinach. Now it’s peas and squash, strawberries and raspberries. Last season you risked it and planted watermelon (and oh, what a harvest you had!). This summer you’re branching out to cooking herbs and thinking of buying a backyard composting bin for all of your fertile scraps. No matter what you’re growing in your garden or on your deck, the abundance of summer makes us want to eat healthy and pay attention to the earth, the real root of our nourishment.

Most of the year, we get our fruits and veggies from farms that are states, and sometimes even continents, away from home. Each summer, however, we put on our gloves, pull out the tools and accept the call of the home garden. The fruits of this fulfilling labor let us create dazzling, healthy meals. As anyone who’s ever harvested a basket of summer fruits and veggies from their own garden can attest, these simple ingredients produce the most extraordinary meals. If, however, your summer produce needs an added splash, you can cull a wide range of flavors from a surprising source: your essential oil repertoire.

When buying aromatic oils, you should always strive to use medicinal-grade oils. These oils come from huge amounts of plant material, so it?s wise to use high-quality oils from reliable sources. Of course we already consider this when we buy aromatherapy products for external use. However, committing to therapeutic-grade oils has a secret bonus: you can use these oils in food as well. If you?ve never seen your aromatherapy collection this way, just remember that smell has more control over our sense of flavor than even our taste buds do. Keeping that little fact in focus, here are some fun ways to use essential oils in your summer cuisine.

First and foremost, let’s address the issue of food safety. Essential oils are, obviously, plant-derived substances. While you may not want to eat a hunk of frankincense resin straight from the tree, frankincense is still a naturally occurring substance. It is not poisonous in small quantities, but it may make you want to brush your teeth immediately. Many essential oils are expressly dangerous for internal consumption, such as wintergreen and birch, but other oils can be used in small quantities for internal health as well as for cooking. In fact, the FDA has qualified many of the common essential oils as GRAS, Generally Recognized as Safe, substances. This means that, although they are not categorized as food additives, they can be consumed without apparent side-effects. When considering which oils to cook with, this is a good rule of thumb: essential oils of citruses, spices and other commonly-eaten foods are probably going to make excellent additions to your cuisine. Just be cautious when using essential oils that are known to irritate mucous membranes, such as cinnamon, oregano and peppermint.

How can essential oils improve your summer harvest? Let’s first consider one of the gifts of the Mediterranean region: the citruses. Oils like grapefruit and lemon blend beautifully with olive oil for simple, tangy dressings. All it takes is one drop of oil per tablespoon of oil, and your salad will be transformed. Love guacamole? Try a few drops of lime oil mixed with ripe avocado and serve it with corn chips or jicama slices. Still munching on this spring’s spinach? Mandarin orange essential oil, which smells heavenly, is refreshing drizzled on greens. How about beverages? Oils add dimension to juices and fizzy waters, too. By mixing grapefruit, mandarin and lime in equal parts, seltzer water is transformed into a healthy citrus soda without the sugar found in commercial brands. As with all aromatic oils, though, don’t overdo it. Thankfully, a little bit of oil goes a long way.

What about the bevy of essential oils derived from well-loved cooking spices? Sweet marjoram, basil, ginger, thyme, oregano and bay can all be used to enhance food. Try blending sweet basil oil in with a tomato-mozzarella-Italian parsley pasta, or put a drop of ginger oil in your summer bok choy and carrot stir fry. Like your coffee with cardamom, Arabian-style? One drop of this oil transforms regular coffee into a delectable treat (hint: try this drink iced!). Cooking spice essential oils tend to be surprisingly strong, so again, don’t be lavish with them. Too much oregano or thyme oil will definitely ruin an otherwise balanced dish, so be careful. It’s also usually a good idea to wait to throw the oils in until the food is nearly done cooking, thereby reducing the chance of evaporation before you’re able to enjoy your creation.

Essential oils also work in desserts. Two of the most well-loved dessert flavorings come as essential oils: vanilla bean and cacao. The aromatic oils, however, do not come laden with sugar, nor are they soaking in alcohol, the process used to create extracts. If you find yourself craving a sweet vanilla, try blending your essential oil with honey instead of sugar and see if your craving is curbed. The same can be said for cacao. This bitter, dark essential oil is not a candy bar, but it signals the brain the same way chocolate does. A decadent way of indulging your sweet tooth without jeopardizing your diet is to place two drops of cacao or vanilla into yogurt and eat like ice cream.

Summer food has a way of reminding us of life?s simple pleasures. From a basic family barbeque to a neighborhood feast, the fruits of the season enable us to take care of ourselves while taking care of the earth, too. Essential oils bring new dimension and ease to already simple fare, and often the addition of an oil adds nuance to a dish without the need for an extra trip to the grocery. So remember: if you find yourself the sudden hostess of an impromptu summer get-together and you?re down to soy milk, just toss water, ice and essential oil of lime in a glass and call it a spritzer. This is summer, after all!