[~ATenthMuse~]

What do you use for drinking water?

A. Do you buy bottled?
B. Do you have a service?
C. Do you use a pitcher or faucet filter?

We have been buying bottled water like crazy and I'm finally just sick of paying for it. Not to mention lugging it out of the car and into the house.

So today I bought a Brita faucet filter. Does anyone have experience with these? How clean is the filtered water supposed to be? I had the Brita pitcher before and would always forget to refill it. I think the faucet filter makes it easier for cooking, too.

Anyone?

Sorry if I left anything out...

 

[heldt123]

We have a deep well and are satisfied with our well water. I love reverse osmosis water, but I'm with you--don't care for the price or the extra lugging. With kids who's got extra arms anyway? My grandparents just got one of those Brita filters that attaches to the sink. It seems to taste OK. It is easy to use and they have the option of having the water either filtered or unfiltered just by moving the switch on the end of the faucet. They used to have some other brand and it was awful tasting water! I had to bring my own water, or, gasp, drink pop (yuck!). Sorry, don't have any data on what any of these filters take out or leave in.

 

[~ATenthMuse~]

Jamie,

That does sound like the one I bought. Trying it out now and it tastes just fine.

 

[xenabyte]

Mmm, neither. I used to have distilled in glass 5 gallon jugs delivered, but I think the delivery guy hated me...they were HEAVY!

In every house we've owned, we install a 'whole house' GAC (granulated activated carbon) filter so there is absolutely no chlorine (or other chemical cocktails) in anything, not even the shower or baths.

On top of that, we have a 5 stage (UV light AND pre and post filtration) on a Reverse Osmosis unit under the kitchen sink, so we can use it for drinking and cooking. It also has a line to our frige for the ice maker.

Some might think this is overkill..but I took an 'Engineering level, water quality class' several years ago, and well...let's just say it's NOT overkill...

Some might also argue there are no minerals left in the (reverse osmosis) water, well, let's just say what IS in unfiltered water is way worse than the tiny tiny amount of minerals you MIGHT get in city tap water. If it's a worry, you can add in a miniscule pinch of celtic sea salt, and presto, it's replaced. Or if you cook or make tea/cofee with it, the minerals are replaced.

A britta filter, replaced as often as the manufacturer suggests is way better than no filtration at all, IMO.

 

[crunchymamatobe]

Can I just check on the Brita pitcher filters... How often do you replace yours? I seem to recall replacing them every 12 weeks when we lived in the US - but in the UK, the package says to replace them every four weeks. How can that be? Wouldn't the filter be the same?

We have always used our Brita pitcher for drinking (the tap water tastes terrible anyway), and after my first visit to my American dentist after living in the UK for 15 months, we *try* to use the water filtered through the pitcher for everything (but sometimes we get lazy about it when filling up a huge pot for pasta, etc.). My dentist told me the water here was making nasty chemical deposits on my teeth. Yuk.

 

[~ATenthMuse~]

Xenabyte,

Wow! You guys really got all the bases covered. Thanks for the information. This Brita does have a light to warn about replacing the filter... thank goodness.

Crunchy,

I can't remember how often we replaced our filter on the pitcher. I just remember it being multi-stepped & a pain in my...well, you can imagine. :LOL I can see already that the faucet filter is WAY easier. You can switch back and forth from filtered to unfiltered by flicking a switch. I paid $29 for it. which was $2 more than the pitcher. May have been less somewhere else but I knew if I waited, I'd do as usual and forget.

Hope someone else can let you know about the filter changes.

 

[root*children]

We have a PUR faucet mount. It seemed to be better quality than the Brita one. Just a little FYI- if you can, buy your replacement filters on ebay. They're even cheaper than places like Walmart!
Anyhow, I think the water tastes fine. Although someday, I'd like to buy a reverse osmosis system. I've never heard of that taking the minerals out. But I have heard of distilling taking the minerals out. My MIL does distilling, and I just don't think it tastes good at all. We used to have the big 5 gallon jugs and refill them at the natural food store, but we live 45 min. from town, and it just became such a drag!

 

[CathToria]

Last mothers day, my dh got me a r/o filter system as a gift. I love it. We got it at Costco for about $200.... IMO it was worth every penney, as I was probably spending $100 per year on replacement PUR faucet mount filters. (the replacement filters for the r/o are $30 per year) It was a difficult install, but worth it.

Our water tastes great, and am so glad to know that everything is removed. We also fill out fish tank with r/o water... and we have to clean the tank much less than we used to.

 

[amnesiac]

We have a dual stage filter with carbon block. It only filters the water that dispenses from the fridge (which is what we drink) and the spout installed next to my stove for cooking.

 

[CarrieMF]

We drink bottled water. I make dh get it.lol I refuse to use city water. There is alot of concern and water bans in various towns around here due to them finding some organism in the water that should not be there. All these towns get their water from the same river. Plus there is way toooooooo much chlorine in it, it is worse when they decide to top it up and it smells like a pool in my house.