Ingredient selection
To prepare the right water, you will need sea salt. You can buy it at any pet store. Table salt and sea salt intended for baths are not suitable. You only need the one that says “for aquariums.”
Preferred Brands:
- Red Sea is a natural product obtained by evaporating the water of the Red Sea. There are no additives.
- Res Sea Coral Pro - characterized by increased alkalinity, which activates the growth of corals. The price of the packaged product is quite high, so many pet stores offer this salt by weight. So its price comes out much cheaper.
- Prime - made from Mediterranean water. It has two forms of release - for marine and reef aquariums.
- Tropic Marine is a product of synthetic origin. The composition includes microelements that help create a favorable aquarium environment.
- Reef Sea Salt is a synthetic salt that contains iodine, calcium and magnesium.
Selection rules. Which type of salt to choose is a matter of individual preference for the aquarist. The main thing is that the product is of high quality and does not have chemical impurities.
Aquarium salts are sold in different weight packages. What volume of ingredient to choose depends on the size of the aquarium. The greater the amount of salt, the cheaper it will be in the end. Owners of aquariums of 200 liters or more are recommended to buy large jars.
Gargling with salt: children and adults
To relieve the sensation of a sore throat , various treatment methods are used, and the most popular of them is gargling.
Gargling with salt is an effective and time-tested folk method, recognized in traditional medicine. A salt-based solution is a universal remedy for the throat and mouth. Salt rinses are good for relieving symptoms of throat diseases such as discomfort when swallowing, burning, and coughing.
Properties of water-salt solution
Due to the fact that the salt saturation in the water-salt solution is greater than in the tissues of the throat, it is called hypertonic.
A hypertonic solution helps remove excess fluid from cells and reduces swelling. In addition, accumulated mucus is removed, due to which pathogenic bacteria multiply, the throat, tonsils, and oral cavity are cleansed and moisturized.
This solution has an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect.
Sea water, rich in iodine and minerals, brings unconditional benefits. Regular gargling with warm sea water will help get rid of many pathogens.
Gargling with salt: medical indications
Gargling with salt significantly improves the course of diseases such as:?
- purulent sore throat,
- purulent pharyngitis,
- laryngitis,
- tonsillitis.
The composition fights accumulated pus and helps get rid of dead cells from the tonsils and back of the throat. Inflammation, pain and swelling in the throat are reduced.
While there is purulent discharge in the tissues, procedures are carried out every hour .
After the discharge stops, rinsing is carried out no more than 3 times a day , otherwise excessive drying of the tissues is possible.
It should be remembered that rinsing will not help cope with purulent sore throat on your own. It is an excellent adjuvant and should be used in combination with antibiotics.
Gargles are used for acute respiratory diseases accompanied by copious mucus secretions in the throat. Hypertonic solution is used up to 5 times a day.
The positive results of rinsing are evidenced by the results of repeated studies conducted by foreign scientists.
Thus, in one of the foreign journals of practical medicine, the result of a study was published, the essence of which was as follows.
Scientists observed 400 volunteers for two months, during which the peak of colds falls. One half of the volunteers gargled 3 times a day, the other did not take any action. Based on the results of the study, scientists concluded that subjects who gargled were 40% less likely to develop infectious throat diseases. Even when they got sick, the cold symptoms weren't as severe.
Gargling with sea salt
Sea salt is great for treating a sore throat. Unlike table salt, sea salt contains up to 92 microelements, including iodine, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, etc.
Another unconditional advantage of sea salt is that it is harmless to small children. If a child swallows a little water, it will not pose any danger to his body.
During an exacerbation of viral diseases, after hypothermia or contact with an infected person, doctors recommend gargling with salt for the purpose of prevention.
Gargling: recipes
There are several popular recipes for gargling based on saline solutions. All of them are the simplest to make, and every housewife can find the ingredients for them. Let's look at the most popular of them.
Salt rinse
To prepare a salt gargle, you only need two ingredients: table salt and water. Half a teaspoon of salt is dissolved in a glass of warm boiled water. The medicinal mixture is ready. She needs to gargle 5-6 times a day. It is important that the solution is warm, because hot can burn an already inflamed throat, and cold can worsen an already serious condition. When rinsing, you should tilt your head back and try to pronounce the letter Y. According to doctors, this way the solution gets to the sites of infection faster. After the procedure, you should not eat or drink for about half an hour.
Soda rinse
To prepare the mixture, you need to mix a teaspoon of baking soda with a glass of warm boiled water. Baking soda has cleansing and disinfecting properties and effectively fights Candida fungi. To achieve the effect, 3-4 procedures per day are enough.
2% soda-salt solution
The next popular recipe is also simple. For a glass of warm boiled water, take half a teaspoon of soda and half a teaspoon of salt.
Doctors speak positively about the results of this procedure, because baking soda and salt help remove infectious agents, destroyed tissue and mucus from the throat, which promotes rapid recovery.
Sea water recipe
When it is not possible to gargle with natural sea water, there is always an alternative - a “sea water” solution. The solution will require the following components:
• a glass of warm boiled water
• teaspoon of salt;
• a teaspoon of baking soda;
• 2 drops of iodine.
Effective mixture for rinsing with sore throat
There is another interesting folk recipe that can cure a sore throat. This mixture is used much less frequently than the above methods. To prepare the medicine you will need:
• a glass of warm boiled water;
• teaspoon of salt;
• teaspoon of soda;
• egg white.
It is necessary to dissolve salt and soda in a glass of water. Separately, beat the egg white with a fork and combine with the liquid. It is important that the water is not hot, otherwise the protein will curdle. For sore throat, rinse 5-6 times a day. Protein coats the throat, soda and salt relieve inflammation. After several rinses, a significant improvement in the patient's condition occurs.
When gargling with salt is not necessary
For pharyngitis accompanied by a cough and dry throat, gargling with salt and soda will not have any effect. Moreover, in this case, treatment with a soda-saline solution may be contraindicated, since it may dry out the tissues and intensify the dry cough.
Features of gargling with salt in children
Many parents wonder: is it possible to gargle for a small child? This solution is allowed to be used, but with some reservations:
• the child must be at least 5 years old; at an earlier age, children swallow the solution and this may have a harmful effect on their stomach;
• the concentration of soda is halved; for greater effect, salt is added in the same ratio;
• Pediatricians are very careful about adding iodine to rinses, because iodine is a toxic substance and a strong allergen.
Contraindications for gargling with salt in adults
Despite the seeming harmlessness of the components and the general acceptance among the people, gargling with salt has contraindications:
• various stomach diseases, for example, ulcers, gastritis. If the patient accidentally swallows the solution, an exacerbation of the disease may occur;
• heart disease, ingestion of a soda-saline solution can disrupt the water-electrolyte composition of the blood, which can negatively affect the functioning of the heart;
• oncological diseases;
• tuberculosis;
• toxicosis in pregnant women, liquid can cause an increase in the level of the gag reflex. Source
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What water to use
In addition to choosing the right salt, the quality of the water is also important. Three types are suitable for a marine aquarium:
- Tap water – it is recommended to infuse the liquid for 24 hours before using it. It must be filtered. To do this, use a carbon filter. To properly purify water, you can use specialized water conditioners.
- Distilled liquid is ideal for making salt water. Due to high-quality purification from harmful substances and impurities, this water does not need to be defended. It is immediately ready for use.
- Reverse osmosis – using this installation, you can efficiently purify tap water. This method of preparing liquid is less expensive than distillation.
Benefits of Osmosis. Experienced aquarists prefer a reverse osmosis system. You can buy the unit at any pet store.
The reverse osmosis system is small, does not take up much space, is affordable, and provides high-quality filtration and purification of tap water.
Disadvantages of tap water. Using simply settled tap water is strictly prohibited. Without filtration, chemical impurities remain in it, which have an extremely negative effect on the health of aquarium fish.
Need for cleaning
Tap water contains a number of chemical impurities. Their presence negatively affects the fish and does not allow creating the right environment in the aquarium.
To check the quality of water, you need a special TDS meter.
This measuring device is recommended for every aquarist who takes his hobby seriously.
Terms of use:
- The device is lowered into the collected tap water.
- The presence and quantity of harmful and dangerous impurities will be shown on the display as a ppm mark. If this parameter shows a number of 350 ppm, this means that so many impurities are present in the water.
The device must also be used after the water has settled and gone through the filtration process. If the cleaning result is unsatisfactory, the filtration procedure is carried out again.
How to gargle with salt
In order for the procedure to truly bring the desired effect, it is necessary to follow the rules for its implementation. Before each rinse, you need to prepare a new saline solution in such an amount that can be used at a time. The procedure should be 30 minutes before or after meals. The rinsing instructions are as follows:
- take a sufficient amount of solution into your mouth;
- tilt your head back and try to pronounce the letter “y”, trying not to swallow salt water;
- gargle in this way for about 30 seconds;
- spit out the liquid, take a new portion of the solution into your mouth, repeat the steps described above again;
- repeat this cycle for 3-5 minutes.
Rinse frequency
To increase the effectiveness of procedures, they must be carried out regularly. Throughout the illness, it is recommended to gargle at least 3 times a day. On the first day, the frequency can be increased to 1 procedure every hour. On the advice of doctors, rinsing can be done from the beginning of the cold season for preventive purposes. This will help reduce your chance of getting a cold. After gargling with salt, you should not drink for the next 20 minutes. This way, pathogenic microorganisms will not receive a nutrient medium for reproduction.
Duration of the procedure
Most doctors agree that you should not gargle for too long at one time. The optimal duration of the procedure is considered to be 3 minutes. The medicinal solution must be kept in the throat for more than 20 seconds. This time must be increased to 1 minute. The amount of salt water for one procedure is approximately 175 ml.
How to prepare sea water for an aquarium
Packages of salt for aquariums contain instructions that describe the stages of preparing sea water step by step. In addition to the main ingredients, you will need a container. It could be a bucket, a large plastic bottle. Metal containers are absolutely not suitable for this purpose.
Algorithm of actions:
- It is important to maintain the correct proportions of salt and water: prepare a solution at the rate of 35g/1 liter of water.
- Pour the required amount of salt into 1/3 of the required volume of water. There is no need to add water immediately. Add liquid little by little.
- As water is added, it is necessary to periodically measure the density and salinity of the composition. For this purpose, special instruments are used - a hydrometer and a refractometer.
- When the ingredients are completely mixed, measure the parameters of the resulting liquid. You can add more salt or liquid if necessary.
Important! You cannot immediately add the prepared liquid to the aquarium. You need to leave sea water for a day.
During this time, the salt will finally dissolve in the water. After a day, measurements are taken again, if they correspond to the norm, the water can be poured into the aquarium.
Parameters : degree of salinity - 35 ppm, density indicator - from 1.023 to 1.023 g/l. These figures cannot be exceeded.
What's prohibited? When preparing sea water, it is strictly forbidden to use:
- containers made of galvanized material,
- metal buckets and pans,
- enamel and metal containers,
- plastic and plastic products not intended for food products,
- containers that previously contained oil products, chemicals and reagents.
Dishes prepared for mixing ingredients must be thoroughly washed. For 2 weeks, you need to measure the fluid parameters every day.
How to make salty sea water drinkable: a survival hack
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Join us on Facebook and VKontakte. Life can present many surprises. And not always pleasant ones. Hopefully you won't be stuck on a desert island or in the middle of the African desert without access to drinking water. But, nevertheless, we advise you to find out how to desalinate sea water using improvised means. Will it come in handy?
The method described below is very popular among fans of survival hacks. And for good reason: the process is simple, does not require much “inventory” and relatively little time. If you start the distillation process at dawn, the seawater will be drinkable by noon.
To desalinate sea water and make it drinkable, you will need:
1. Bucket, bowl or pan; 2. Dark container (black color attracts solar heat more effectively and heats up); 3. A glass or plastic bottle without a neck; 4. Film, plastic bag or lid; 5. Sunlight
Features of changing sea water
Substitution rules:
- Partial. Water that will be periodically added to the aquarium as a change must be prepared in advance. Experienced aquarists recommend saturating it with oxygen before adding the prepared liquid to the aquarium. An aquarium aerator is used for this.
- Large volume. If a large amount of water is changed, it must be preheated. Otherwise, aquarium inhabitants will suffer temperature shock. The overall temperature after infusion is equalized using special heaters.
Warning. It is not recommended for beginning aquarists to start a saltwater aquarium. The process of preparing such water is not easy, and a beginner or amateur cannot comply with all the parameters of the liquid.
Unfortunately, seawater tanks have not yet found widespread use. Most aquarists completely in vain deny themselves the pleasure of establishing such a marine aquarium. It's easy to prepare water. The necessary ingredients are quite accessible, and the process of mixing them is completely simple, although it requires some experience and having special instruments on hand to measure the parameters of the prepared water.
How to make a saline gargle
An important component of a saline solution is liquid. It is strictly forbidden to use tap water that has not been purified. It includes chlorine, which only irritates the mucous membrane of the throat and mouth. The liquid should be:
- warm, feeling closer to hot, but not burning;
- suitable for drinking - boiled or filtered drinking;
- cooler for children, because they sense temperature differently.
In addition to the correct liquid, it is important to maintain its proportions with salt. Taking this into account, the solution is prepared according to the following instructions:
- take a glass of warm boiled water (200 ml);
- add 0.5 tsp. salt;
- stir, let stand for 5-10 minutes if the crystals have not dissolved;
- if there are still large particles left, then it is worth straining the solution so as not to scratch the oral mucosa.
Water-salt
The classic recipe for preparing the solution is to mix 200 ml of water with 0.5 tsp. salt. You can gargle with it at least every hour, but 5-6 procedures per day would be optimal. It is not recommended to use larger amounts of sodium chloride. It is also important to completely dissolve the crystals in the liquid, otherwise they can damage the mucous membrane, causing even greater inflammation.
Sea salt for gargling
An analogue of table salt in recipes can be sea salt for gargling in pharmacies. There is no significant difference between them. The only difference is that sea salt is recommended for prevention. To prepare the solution, a smaller amount is required, so the consumption is more economical. In addition, it contains no industrial impurities and contains a large number of microelements. The solution is prepared as follows:
- prepare 200 ml of warm water;
- add 0.5 tsp. salt;
- Stir and let stand for a couple of minutes until the crystals are completely dissolved.
Gargling with sea salt - recipes for use
Useful properties and chemical composition of sea salt
Sea salt is formed by nature and only by nature.
Therefore, production, to be precise, is not such a thing.
It is evaporated from sea water rather than produced under natural conditions. Once collected, the white crystals are purified.
As a rule, this is where human intervention ends - no other additional processing is applied in the future.
Chemical composition of sea salt
The composition depends on the place and time of extraction.
There are some salts that contain up to 92 microelements that the body needs, of which the most necessary are:
- iodine
- iron
- magnesium
- sulfur
- calcium
- potassium
- manganese
- silicon
- phosphorus
- fluorine
- aluminum
- copper
- zinc
These elements are vital for a person trying to cure a sore throat, as well as toothache from inflammation or after tooth extraction. Thanks to them, the throat is disinfected, as well as the destruction of viruses and bacteria.
What diseases are rinsing with sea salt useful for?
The healing properties of sea salt have been known since ancient times; it is commonly used for relaxing and healing baths, wraps, and also for rinsing for inflammation of the upper respiratory tract: sore throat, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis. Gargling with sea salt helps destroy microorganisms that cause purulent inflammation, heals wounds, relieves swelling, reduces inflammation, and cleanses the oral cavity of pus and dead cells.
Sea salt for the procedure must be purchased at a pharmacy. Under no circumstances should you use sea water for this purpose, since, in addition to useful substances, it contains undesirable impurities that can cause infection. Therefore, when relaxing at sea, do not use sea water for medicinal purposes, otherwise, instead of benefit, you will get a complication of the situation.
Rinsing is also useful for tonsillitis caused not only by a virus or microbes, but also by fungi of the genus Candida. In addition to sea salt, baking soda is used for this purpose. This procedure has virtually no contraindications, but if used too often, a dry throat may appear, which is extremely undesirable. Therefore, for pharyngitis, which is characterized by excessive dryness in the throat and cough, it is advisable not to gargle with salt and soda; it is better to use medicinal herbs for this purpose. In case of severe swelling of the throat, gargling is replaced with inhalation.
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Distillation of water by boiling
This technique has been used since ancient times. Nowadays, several distillation options are used. The idea is to bring the liquid to a boil and condense the steam. The result is desalinated water.
To produce liquid in significant quantities, two popular technologies are used. One of them is called multi-column distillation. The essence of the technology is to bring the liquid to a boiling state in the first column. The resulting steam is used to transfer heat to the remaining columns. This technique is effective. It can be used to produce fresh water on an industrial scale. However, this technology is very energy-intensive. Therefore, nowadays it is used quite rarely.
Distillation by flash boiling has been found to be more effective. The essence of the technology is the evaporation of salty liquid in special chambers. In them, the pressure indicator is gradually reduced. Accordingly, to obtain water vapor, a lower temperature is needed. That is why this technology is more effective.
There are two more distillation methods: membrane and compression. They arose as a result of the modernization of the first two technologies. Membrane distillation is based on the use of a hydrophobic membrane that acts as a cooling coil. It holds water while allowing steam to pass through. Compression distillation is based on the use of compressed (superheated) steam in the first column.
All of these technologies have the same drawback. They are too energy intensive. To heat a liquid from zero to one hundred degrees, you need to spend four hundred and twenty kilojoules. And to change the state of water from liquid to gaseous, two thousand two hundred and sixty kilojoules will be required. Equipment operating on the principle of the technologies considered consumes three and a half or more kilowatts per hour per cubic meter of desalinated liquid produced.
Distillation by the sun
In southern countries, solar energy is used to carry out the distillation process. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the costs of desalinating salt water. To carry out the distillation process, you can use solar panels or directly the thermal energy of the Sun. The simplest technically is the technology based on evaporators. The latter are special prisms made of glass or plastic into which salty liquid is poured.
As a result, solar energy increases the temperature of the water. The liquid begins to evaporate and falls out as condensation on the walls. Drops emerging from the steam flow into special receivers. As you can see, the technology is very simple. Among its disadvantages, it is worth highlighting the low efficiency indicator. It does not exceed fifty percent. Therefore, this technology is used only in poor regions. With its help, at best, a small village can be provided with fresh water.
Many engineers continue to work on modernizing the technology considered. Their main goal is to increase the output of such systems. For example, the use of capillary films can significantly improve the performance of solar distillers.
Let us note that systems powered by alternative energy sources are not the main tool in obtaining fresh water. Although, their use does not require significant costs for the distillation process.
To remove salts from liquids, other technical solutions can be used. A fairly popular method of water purification is electrodialysis. To implement the method, a pair of membranes is used. One of them is necessary for the passage of cations, and the second is used exclusively for anions. Particles are distributed across membranes under the influence of direct current. This solution is often implemented in conjunction with solar and wind generators.
Reverse osmosis
Water desalination technologies are constantly being improved. These days, techniques based on reverse osmosis are becoming increasingly popular. The idea is to use a semi-permeable membrane. Salty liquid passes through it. As a result, particles of salt impurities remain on the side where the pressure indicator is excessive.
The reverse osmosis method is the most economical. Especially if it is used for desalination of water with non-critical salt content. In this case, one kilowatt-hour of energy may be enough to produce one cubic meter of water. Therefore, reverse osmosis technology is considered the most promising.
Results
Each method of water desalination has its own characteristics. To produce fresh water on an industrial scale, it is necessary to select the most economical and effective option. The reverse osmosis method is by far the most effective.
Obtaining drinking water on a desert island is not easy, but quite doable.
If you find yourself on a desert island
, then with some intelligence and a container made from leaves or sunken fruits, you have a good chance of
getting fresh water
and staying alive for many days. To turn salt water into drinking or fresh water, you need to rely on the principles of nature. As seawater evaporates, clean water is collected, leaving salt behind. The following process is based on the solar desalination method to collect water for drinking in an emergency.
Contraindications and precautions
Nasal rinsing should not be done if:
- individual intolerance to the components of the solution;
- elevated body temperature;
- otitis and sinusitis in the acute phase;
- bleeding in the nasal cavity;
- neoplasms in the nose;
- poor obstruction of the nasal passages due to anatomical features.
Warming up the nose is contraindicated in the acute phase of sinusitis; the procedure is not recommended for people with vascular diseases and tumor pathologies.
Inhalations should not be done if:
- elevated body temperature;
- pulmonary and heart failure;
- nosebleeds;
- high blood pressure.
At high temperatures, you should not rinse your nose or do inhalations.
After inhaling medicinal vapors and gargling, the following precautions should be observed:
- no smoking;
- It is forbidden to eat or drink for 1.5–2 hours;
- It’s better not to talk for about an hour;
- It is advisable to lie down and relax for at least 30 minutes after the procedure.
Is it possible to warm your nose with salt when you have a runny nose: how to warm your sinuses with an adult pouch
Warming the sinuses helps increase blood flow, speed up the removal of mucus and normalize breathing. You can warm it up using heated salt in a bag, but there are a few things to consider. Recommendations for warming your nose:
You should not warm your nose if there is severe inflammation or purulent processes; heating can cause hyperthermia; manipulation with caution is permissible in case of acute sinusitis and polyps.
It is not recommended to warm the nose during pregnancy and for children under 6 years of age. This can lead to burns and internal swelling of the nasal passages. The procedure can be replaced by steam inhalation or using a nebulizer.
To carry out the procedure, the salt can be heated to a temperature of 60 ° C; for convenience, it can be wrapped in cotton cloth or a sock.