Posts Tagged ‘small footprint’

Where to Install an Ionizer

Friday, March 13th, 2009

under counter water ionizer fission

Most times a counter-top is installed on the counter next to the sink, but here are a few other suggestions that may be more convenient and more efficient use of kitchen space.Of course, if you’re lucky enough to have a wide window sill in the sink’s vicinity, this makes a great location – off the counter and still within easy reach. Most have a small footprint and will sit securely on a 4″-5″ windowsill. I used this option when I lived in Florida.

You might have a pass-through near your sink where you can spare some space. If the ionizer fits crosswise in the opening, the back would face the width of the wall. If not, and the ionizer front faces into the kitchen you might like to put a photo of you and your sweetheart, or even your kids to obscure the back view. Or perhaps a photo of your parents who made you so smart that you got a water ionizer! My mother uses this option.

Many water ionizers come with a wall-mount bracket. These work GREAT and often this installation uses unused space. As an alternative, or if your ionizer didn’t include the wall mount option, a sturdy shelf, securely mounted works too. Be sure to mount either option up high enough NOT to interfere with counter use. I have a wall-mounted ionizer in my kitchen.

Another overlooked option is installing the ionizer in the bathroom (on the counter or wall mounted) or laundry room. When my son lived with roommates, he installed his in his own bathroom, and my brother installed his in the laundry room.It all works!My daughter and son-in-law set the ionizer on the counter, BEHIND the drain board – they simply moved the drain board a bit closer to the counter edge. This worked well in a tiny apartment kitchen, where they didn’t even have room for the wall option. They recently bought a house in Philadelphia, and have done a “custom” installation, which brings me to the final option:

You may not be aware that without investing in an under counter water ionizer, you can install the ionizer under the sink. This is what my kids did. This is a bit more complicated than above the sink, but it can work. I carry an Under the Counter Conversion Kit (email or call me) that has an above counter double spout – one for alkaline, with the other just underneath it for acid water. There needs to be an extra hole in your countertop or you’ll need to have one professionally drilled. The ionizer gets mounted on the interior side wall of the cabinet below the sink, or on the door if it’s sturdy enough and the hinges are well crafted. Of course you can always have the water ionizer simply sit on the floor of the cabinet.

A plumber is needed to hook the conversion kit up to your cold water line. (HOT WATER should NEVER be run through an ionizer.) There are several hoses to connect, and depending which ionizer you have, you may need some connectors and/or fittings to make it all work properly. A handy person who knows a bit about plumbing may be able to do this without a plumber.

 

When it’s all hooked up, you choose your alkaline or acid settings from the unit down below, but the waster comes out on top. Choosing the settings from inside the cabinet is the one drawback of a counter top water ionizer installed to be an under counter water ionizer.

The photo above is the Jupiter Delphi Under Counter Ionizer ($2,645). Email me if you’re want more information. With this true “under counter” water ionizer you can choose your ionizer settings from the stem of the faucet on top of the sink.

Anyway you mount it, is the water of choice – and drink lots of it!!!

Our Solar Organic Farm in Beautiful West Virginia

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

I’ve revised this post from the original, as I no longer live on our solar, organic farm in WV, as my sweetheart, Justin Wizard passed away and I’ve moved back to south Florida.

In 2000 I had moved to Florida, from New York, to be in the warm sunshine year-round, and I didn’t think ANYTHING or ANYONE could ever get me north again. But, I was swept away by our “fairy tale” romance and moved to WV in 2007.

We worked on being self-sufficient and sustainable, making a very small footprint on the 167 acres we lived on.  we did use some non-solar electricity, we had the ability to run just about everything on solar when the electric would go out. We also had a very, very low water usage, even though we both drink lots of ionized water! We have the ability to use well-water OR rain water we collect in huge barrels at any of our faucets, and we had point-of-use tankless hot water heaters in each locatdion. We also use composting toilets for our poop, and we disperse our pee outside for the good nitrogen, and, around the garden – it keeps the deer away! During our last year there (2011) we had installed a unique “bio-toilet” designed and patented by a friend. This system works with any normal toilet, and the waste is processed through an outside unit, producing water that the inventor insists is potable! (Write if you want to know more about any of this.)winter tomatoes on the farm  We grew lots of vegetables and fruits, from tomatoes to potatoes, goose berries to goji berries, an enormous amount of strawberries and even free-range organic chickens (although I’m a vegetarian, Justin and Rocky weren’t). We had delicious heirloom tomatoes all winter long in the greenhouse, along with figs and purslane, accompanied by hibiscus, passion vines and geraniums in bloom! We had even started growing dwarf banana trees and papayas in the greenhouse. In the summer we had gooseberries, blueberries, aronia berries, raspberries, blackberries, elderberries and strawberries grown in upright cylinders to get more berries per square foot. We had an almond tree, peach, pear and apple trees, and flowers galore! Over 150 different kinds of iris’ blooming amongst daffodils, tulips, lilies, hollyhocks, dahlias, foxgloves, clematis, and literally, countless others. Here’s a photo of us with the first crop of winter heirloom tomatoes from our greenhouse in winter 2007-08!

Knowing how much I always wanted a meadow of wildflowers (that’s Rocky in the meadow below), Justin created one for me. That’s what we have the most of on our farm – love. We both had to wait until our mid-fifties to find the love of our life, and, I have to say now it was the best years of my life, so far. The only thing we ever argued about is who got the better end of the deal!rocky in the wildflowers