[Past_VNE]

We have city water - chlorinated and flouridated. Beyond tasting terrible, it's obviously not good for us.

Our current solution is a Pur filter. But, of course, that doesn't remove chlorine, only the odor and taste and it doesn't remove flouride. I spoke to a filtration guy and he said the only reasonable way to remove flouride was by reverse osmosis, which he didn't recommend. It removes all minerals and other trace nutrients.

We can buy a cooler service. But, what brands are good? And, what about those pesky, reused plastic jugs?

I feel stranded in bad water. Advice is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[stacyg]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but we have one and it's wonderful. It uses steam distillation to purify water. check out their website...

www.waterwise.com

hth

 

[Past_VNE]

I have always been under the impression that distilled water is not a healthy longterm choice.

 

[tboroson]

I disagree about the osmotic filter. I think it's your best bet. The "minerals" in city water are practically nonexistant. Heck, the minerals in mineral water are extremely negligable... But, city water is highly processed and most of it's mineral content is removed. Many of those minerals, such as sulfur, produce off odors that frighten people; others, like iron, turn the water funny colors which also frightens people. There may be copper, but that's often controlled because it causes blue staining in people's bathtubs which, again, freaks them out. There are often some cations that make the water hard - magnesium, manganese, calcium, oh, jeez, I can't remember them all... but even those are controlled because hard water calcifies in your coffeemaker and veggie steamer and pisses people off. It can also cause damage in your hot water pipes. So, those minerals are present in negligable amounts, just enough to keep your water from being soft (which upsets people because it makes their shampoo go crazy...) You're never going to meet your RDA of calcium by drinking hard water.

So, anyway, getting nutrition from your city water is a laughable idea. Get your osmotic filter, you'll appreciate it

I love mine. We have a well, and have to filter for nitrates and phosphates.

 

[chasmyn]

Culligan. We have an under the sink reverse osmosis filter - if you have one of those sink sprayers it installs really easily, or of course if you own your own home. It's the same as the cost of the giant plastic bottles per month (varies by state), and the amount of ewater is virtually unlimited. Most states have a Culligan, they're everywhere - even in Canada. they have rental options and to buy options. We LOVe them.

 

[PikkuMyy]

We have a "next to the counter" water filter from Paragon Water which does much more than the Pur or Brita ones but doesn't cost a fortune. It could be under the counter except that we rent and I don't want to go through the trouble. It's not as thorough as a reverse osmosis but it does almost everything and costs a lot less.

 

[BinahYeteirah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Past_VNE I have always been under the impression that distilled water is not a healthy longterm choice.

Hmmm... I had always heard that distilled water was the purest. In the raw food nutrition books I have read, it is the recommended form of water (stored in glass containers). After distillation, one adds a pinch of sea salt to add back the minerals that have been taken out and to remove the danger from any ions in the water.

Anyone have any other ideas about this? I was considering getting a distiller, because I thought it would be cheaper in the long term than replacing the reverse osmosis filters.

 

[alamama]

Another option is buying water -- we get ours for .25/gal from a reverse osmosis machine at the grocery store, in reusable 3-gal containers (non-leaching plastic). It's not ideal but is working for us until we're ready to invest in an RO filter for the house.

Re distilled water, I also understood that it was not recommended for long term use because it is "hungry" water. I've never heard about adding salt, maybe that solves the problem?

 

[moss]

"we get ours for .25/gal from a reverse osmosis machine at the grocery store, in reusable 3-gal containers (non-leaching plastic)"

unfortunately, i dont think that there's any such thing as "non-leaching plastic". http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=300053

Are there any cooler/water delivery companies that still use glass storage containers? i know that there are large glass containers available for beer and wine making--they would probably work for a fill it up yourself type of system.

 

[swebster]

we have the water distiller. It makes about a gallon of water in 4-5 hours and you would be surprised at what is left at the bottom of the unit after it has run it's cycle-brown sludgy poison smelling ickiness.

we've also splurged on a big ceramic 5 gallon water crock (similar to this one) that is so lovely and nice to draw water from I find myself drinking more! We'll make a batch of water in the evening before going to bed and do a few extra batches on the weekend to keep the crock full and find that this system works pretty well.

as for the dangers of distilled water-i've done the reading and am not convinced-it feels good to my body and i trust that more than the the online experts.

we'll also add a drop or two of pure lemon essential oil to the crock to give the water a very slight fragrance-it's very nice and makes up for that distilled water empty taste.

 

[RubySweet]

We have a GE SmartWater filter. It's a dual stage filter with the 2nd being carbon block. It filters what goes into the fridge for ice & cold water & we also have a dispenser by the stove for me to cook with.

 

[Dolphin]

What about spring water? Please tell me there's nothing wrong with spring water!

 

[Past_VNE]

We are definitely considering a spring water cooler service. My only reservation is the plastic containers. My other problem with spring water is that the better-tasting waters that I know of, like Poland Spring and Deer Park, are owned by Nestle. I won't support them, no matter how much I like the water....(or the Butterfingers.

)

As far as filters, only reverse osmosis removes flouride, which is a big sticking point for me. I have dental flourosis and don't want to get any more flouride than I have to intake.

I'm still unsure about distilled...though adding sea salt is an interesting idea. And, 'hungry' water...that's what I remember learning. Distilled water desires to have nutrients in it, so it draws them FROM your body. Not cool, definitely.

 

[srain]

Before having water delivered, find out where they're getting it from (is it really much better than what comes out of your tap? Even if you find glass coolers, how long was the water sitting in plastic storage tanks first?) and consider the environmental effects of transporting water via any method other than your pipes.

 

[*solsticemama*]

Anyone hear of the 'envirowave' water filter? It's a beside-or-under counter one and the print states it removes chlorine and lead etc. It costs about $100 and looks pretty easy to install but I'm hesitant to buy it without doing more research. I've heard the RO filters are the best approach but they're pretty $$.