Storing water

[Phoenix_Rising]

Long story short, we live with my MIL and have well water, which is making us sick. She does not want us to pay to have the water tested so we can find out what is wrong with it, so our other option as I see it is to buy our water
I spent a couple of hours yesterday trying to research the options and find the one that makes the most sense and now my head is spinning between all of the info I found. It looks like what makes the most sense for us is to get a water cooler/tower and a 5 gallon jug to refill as needed. The only problem is that locally the only water jugs I can get are the number 7 polycarbonate jugs, which after researching, it looks like are NOT GOOD! Any ideas? I have been hearing a bit about water bottles made from corn but then I hear that it is GMO corn and that isn't good either (and no one here sells them in larger sizes anyway). I am a bit lost in this and would really appreciate any ideas you've got. . . TIA!

[Denvergirlie]

I would get one of these personally. They use them in 3rd world countries to purify the nastiest water into pure water. Amazing stuff.
http://www.bigberkey.com/

The Super Sterasyl™ filters reduce up to 99.99% of particulates, cysts, parasites and pathogenic bacteria including E. Coli, Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Salmonella Typhi. Additionally, these filters will reduce chlorine, rust, sediment and organic chemicals. With filtration rating efficiencies of >98% down to 0.2 microns >99.9% at 0.5 microns >99.99% at 0.9 microns (Spectrum Labs).

Berkey® water filters are powerful and economical. The unique ceramic filters are impregnated with pure silver, which inhibits bacteria from colonizing within the ceramic. What's more, the durable ceramic filters can be cleaned many times with a soft brush or ScotchBrite® pad.


But good luck on your search for a soultion.

[Anna Rose]

Here is a similar product that is significantly cheaper:

http://www.aquarain.com/index.htm

Does anyone here have an AquaRain filter?

I had been thinking of getting the kind of machine that condenses and filters pure water from the air like this one:

http://www.aquamaker.com/

Does anyone here have that time of water machine?

[Phoenix_Rising]

Originally Posted by Denvergirlie

I would get one of these personally. They use them in 3rd world countries to purify the nastiest water into pure water. Amazing stuff.
http://www.bigberkey.com/

The Super Sterasyl™ filters reduce up to 99.99% of particulates, cysts, parasites and pathogenic bacteria including E. Coli, Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Salmonella Typhi. Additionally, these filters will reduce chlorine, rust, sediment and organic chemicals. With filtration rating efficiencies of >98% down to 0.2 microns >99.9% at 0.5 microns >99.99% at 0.9 microns (Spectrum Labs).

Berkey® water filters are powerful and economical. The unique ceramic filters are impregnated with pure silver, which inhibits bacteria from colonizing within the ceramic. What's more, the durable ceramic filters can be cleaned many times with a soft brush or ScotchBrite® pad.


But good luck on your search for a soultion.

Okay, I C&P this from their website, bolded portion my emphasis:
*****
Inhibiting Mitosis

The Super Sterasyl™ ceramic filter is designed to trap bacteria mainly on the outer surface of the ceramic element preventing them from passing through into the drinking water.

Given favorable temperature and pressure conditions, the accumulated bacteria could proliferate and grow unless prevented by some means. To inhibit this our elements are manufactured with a small amount of silver in the ceramic shell. Silver is a recognized bactericide, so when the bacteria comes into contact with the silver impregnated ceramic, their growth is inhibited.

The silver leach rate from the ceramic is very low and always well below the national recommended limits.******

sooooooo. . . i am going from plastics leaching into my water to silver leaching into my water??? anyone have info on this?

[SusannahM]

You could use glass gallon jars, or jugs. There are sites that sell them, they're expensive to ship. A dozen jars was going to be $70 for me. Apparently, pickles also come in this size jar, so you can ask restaurants if they will let you have theirs when they are done. There are places for us to get a gallon of very filtered water (they use 5 or 6 different kinds of filtering/cleaning) around here, the healthy type or gourmet type grocery stores. We use plastic gallon bottles right now (the old kind, not polycarbonate), but will be getting glass soon.

[Anna Rose]

I think they sell glass gallon jugs at places like Walmart. I used to use those sun tea jars years ago until I shattered several of them and switched to plastic.

From the AquaRain site linked above:

High-Tech Ceramic Filter Elements

At the heart of our natural process micro-filter are patented high-tech ceramic filter elements specifically designed for the AquaRain® system. Our state-of-the-art ceramic elements filter water in a very natural way, using gravity to gently draw water down through our "cultured" ceramic stone in much the same manner as nature processes ground water through the earth. The microfine pore structure of our ceramic media will remove dangerous organisms such as protozoan cysts (Cryptosporidium, Giardia lamblia) and microscopic bacteria (E. coli, Salmonella typhimurium, etc...). Enclosed within the hard ceramic shell we have incorporated a concentrated bed of Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) that contains a self-sterilizing metallic silver. The silvered GAC bed will adsorb various organic chemicals such as MTBE and pesticides, remove chlorine compounds including carcinogenic halogens, and improve the taste and odor of the water. To the benefit of good health, our system will also leave unchanged the naturally occurring electrolytes and minerals in your filtered water.

I'm not sure the silver gets through the ceramic in AquaRain gravity water filter. It seems like the water just passes through it as it's filtered.

Even if it does, I'm not sure it would be harmful. Many people take colloidal silver for its health benefits. I've taken it in the past.

I believe most high quality water filters use a medium that includes silver to prevent bacteria growth.

[Phoenix_Rising]

Originally Posted by Anna Rose

I think they sell glass gallon jugs at places like Walmart. I used to use those sun tea jars years ago until I shattered several of them and switched to plastic.

From the AquaRain site linked above:



I'm not sure the silver gets through the ceramic in AquaRain gravity water filter. It seems like the water just passes through it as it's filtered.

Even if it does, I'm not sure it would be harmful. Many people take colloidal silver for its health benefits. I've taken it in the past.

I believe most high quality water filters use a medium that includes silver to prevent bacteria growth.

The site I C&P from was actually the bigberkey one, not the AquaRain. If we went with one of these that would be what we would go with based on how long the others take to filter the water (about a gallon per hour). And if I went to Wal-Mart buying glass jars there would be a possibility for me, but I have boycotted them for years

[Denvergirlie]

Originally Posted by Susannah M

The silver leach rate from the ceramic is very low and always well below the national recommended limits.******

sooooooo. . . i am going from plastics leaching into my water to silver leaching into my water??? anyone have info on this?

I drink colloidal silver almost everday, it's basically a natural antibotic. Now granted if you goggle colloidal silver you will find "gastly" stories about how people literally turn gray from drinking it, but what they fail to report is the levels of silver they were drinking.

Look into colloidal silver beyond the hype and you will discover a great many things.

Some links for your viewing pleasure (I provided some basic links for both sides of the line on this one - I also tried to avoid the sites that are trying to sell you the product, but one or two might have sneaked thru)


http://www.all-natural.com/silver-1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloidal_silver
http://curezone.com/foods/silver.html
http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery.../silverad.html
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/alerts/silver/index.htm

http://www.soul-guidance.com/health/colloidalsilver.htm

[Anna Rose]

Originally Posted by Susannah M

The site I C&P from was actually the bigberkey one, not the AquaRain. If we went with one of these that would be what we would go with based on how long the others take to filter the water (about a gallon per hour). And if I went to Wal-Mart buying glass jars there would be a possibility for me, but I have boycotted them for years

I realized you were quoting the BigBerkey one. I just thought I would check to see if the less expensive one I linked had the same thing. And then when I read the description, it seemed pretty inert.

Target and Kmart probably have sun tea jugs also. And perhaps you could find them at other stores too.

If you're interested in quart size glass pitchers that fit in most refrigerator doors, you can find some at greenfeet.com