Alternative to city water?

[crunchy_mommy]

Now that DS is starting to drink more water I'm getting concerned about the fluoride & chlorine etc. in our city water!!! But that water is FREE... The thought of buying 'safe' water (how do you even know it's safe anyway?) is crazy to me, especially considering how much water we drink! How do you all deal with this? Do you buy water? Did you have a well dug? Is there some kind of filter that could get rid of all that junk? Do you just not drink water? (can't fathom that ) What's the most economical option? What's the balance between 'safe & healthy' & 'too expensive to consider'???

[SolaSola]

We have a multi-pure brand water filter that filters our tap water. In doing my research this filter had the best reviews. It cost about $500 and requires a new filter about once a year. I highly recommend it.

[annethcz]

We have an undersink filter in the kitchen that we use for drinking and cooking water. It came with the house when we bought it, but I think that in the long run undersink filters are less expensive than other options.

[CarrieMF]

We do not have flouride in our water, there is chlorine though. We buy RO water & use it except for making dh's tea, iced tea & cooking.

Our city water is not free, we do have to pay for it too.

[Denvergirlie]

We have Berkey water filter. Maybe $300 for the big berkey with the black filters. We also added the white hard c ased filters to remove the flouride.

Well worth the investment. have had it for over 2 years now and haven't yet need to replace the filters ($90).

Takes out everything.

[crunchy_mommy]

Well I guess I will have to look into the different filter options, I wasn't sure there were any that would take out the fluoride which is my biggest concern!!

CarrieMF, we do pay for our water, but it's such a minimal cost (maybe $80-$120 a year) compared to bottled water that I consider it "practically free" lol... Guess I shouldn't have said FREE though!!

[belovedofbast]

Reverse osmosis will get rid of the fluoride. Some cities are moving away from chlorination and into UV, or using a mixture of both.

[luv-my-boys]

I would look into a undersink type or even house filtration unit. We ended up going with an undersink one which removes all the *nasties* from our city water. They are a little more expensive but in the long run are WAY cheaper plus it filters all your water from that faucet so its great for cooking, ice cubes and whatnot. We found lots of name brand ones at home diy places like lowes or home depot and most are relatively easy to install.

[pbjmama]

I might be wrong but hasn't most bottled water been shown to be the same/very similar to tap water? Have you looked into the water reports in your area?

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by pbjmama

I might be wrong but hasn't most bottled water been shown to be the same/very similar to tap water? Have you looked into the water reports in your area?

Yes I've heard the same but I was assuming there are certain brands of bottled water that ARE different. Not that I want to buy millions of bottles of water, that would be insane...

I checked out the water reports and the fluoride is at 1.2!!!

I think the under-sink options sound good, I will have to start looking at filters. Stinks that the city adds stuff & then I have to pay extra (filter) to take it out...

[laohaire]

What do people think about drinking rainwater (collected from rain barrel)?

[crunchy_mommy]

Hmm I am interested but reluctant, there's a lot of pollution around here, also everything I've read on it says to use a reverse-osmosis system which would destroy all the good stuff too... Curious if anyone does drink rainwater though!

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by laohaire

What do people think about drinking rainwater (collected from rain barrel)?

I wouldn't do it, but we have regular shingles on our house, which will put asbestos and other ick into the rainwater that falls from the roof into the barrels...

[RainbowTurtle]

I wouldn't drink it from a rainbarrel if that water is coming off a roof. You could drink rain water if it doesn't touch anything else on its way down, and if you don't live in a big (polluted) city.

I'e done this camping: attach a tarp to two trees to collect the rain, have it drain into a container, boil it before using it (don't forget to stir vigorously after it cools down so it tastes better). I'd want to make sure I have a lid for that container and I'd most likely want many containers! I wouldn't store it very long though.

Depending on your climate, this may not be worth it... I'd find it hard to keep up with demand around here!

[Denvergirlie]

You could filter rain water thru a Berkey filter. Berkey's are counter top, no energy, gravity does the work: so works camping backcountry as well as at home.

[elbow]

I have tried a machine that takes air and converts it into water. The water is filtered. The machine has a cold or hot water option. I thought the water tasted good. The brand I tried is no longer available but it is very similar to this one.

http://www.ecoloblue.com/

[elbow]

I have tried a machine that takes air and converts it into water. The water is filtered. The machine has a cold or hot water option. I thought the water tasted good. The brand I tried is no longer available but it is very similar to this one.

www.ecoloblue.com/

[deditus]

You can find a spring where water may be free or cheap:

http://www.findaspring.com/

[Satori]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Well I guess I will have to look into the different filter options, I wasn't sure there were any that would take out the fluoride which is my biggest concern!!

CarrieMF, we do pay for our water, but it's such a minimal cost (maybe $80-$120 a year) compared to bottled water that I consider it "practically free" lol... Guess I shouldn't have said FREE though!!

wow! I'm shocked that people get free water or even $120 a YEAR, here its not uncommon to pay that or more a MONTH. A lot of kids are not even allowed to play in the sprinklers in the summer, the only ones who tend to get to are those renting apts where water is included. Gotta love CA, no honey, I understand its 105F out but water is just to $$$$ to play in! Its going to be 90F today and right now I'm thrilled to be renting because it means we will be setting up the pool this afternoon without worry.

[eclipse]

Water is about $20 a month for us here, but we don't drink it - I live in Mexico, and no one drinks the water. Anyhow, we buy 5 gallon jugs for drinking water.