I want to congratulate Martina Watts and the new Argus on her extended column, now on Tuesdays.

Not long ago Martina mentioned that most people are marginally dehydrated because we don't drink enough water. But she did not say what kind of water she would have us drink.

A letter appeared in a recent magazine where the writer had soaked his runner beans in tap water before planting them.

For two years running, he claims, they did not come up. But when he soaked them in bottled still spring water, they came up and flourished.

What, he asked, is there in tap water that stops seeds germinating? And if it stops seeds growing, what does it do to humans? I wonder if readers have any answers or have had similar experiences?

-Hans Lobstein, Brighton