I’ve never understood how women in the west can justify drinking litre upon litre of bottled purified mineral water per day for beauty reasons when some children in developing countries are lucky to get any worth drinking at all ’, says Louise Burfitt-Dons of the Hot Women Campaign. ‘But if you must consume ‘the best’ to look good then at least make it yourself.’

The thirst for bottled water has increased to over 150 billion litres of water a year. The mineral water industry is responsible for high bottling costs environmentally as well as the transportation. But what else can you do if you don’t fancy drinking from the tap because of the high concentration of limescale and chlorine it contains.

Charcoal is apparently one answer. It has multi-use, but is a remarkable water and air filter. For a very low cost and with very simple instructions you can set up your own inexpensive, low polluting home mineral-water making plant. A few pounds will buy you four small pieces which will purify a litre of tap water and you can reuse them for several weeks. To learn more about the process or to get your own supply mail order check out the ecotoxing tips on the Hot Women Campaign website.