Do you filter your water? What do you use?

[Stinky The Clown]

We've been buying filtered water at the grocery store. 47¢a gallon, so cost is not the issue. Its the lugging. Its the running out. We want the filtered water for the espresso makers as much as anything else, so an ideal filter takes scaling minerals out, too.

What do you use?

[AwakeAtLast]

1. Brita

Works great for me!

:hi:

[cbayer]

2. Brita here, too.

We carry our water in steel tanks, so I really just use it to make sure I get the algae and any rust out. Seems to work fine.

:hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Brita pitcher in the fridge,

and a really cool PUR filter on the kitchen sink - it even has a flavor cartridge, which we don't use.

But, the remarkable thing about this PUR filter is that twice I've had the thing malfunction - start to leak - and I've emailed the PUR people, asking them what I should do - and both times, they've mailed me certificates good for a brand new unit - last one had a retail price of something like $60.00!

Very nice people, and the filter does a great job -

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Are pur and britta the same company?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. No ..............

http://www.brita.com/us/

http://www.purwater.com/#/products

[amerikat]

4. I have a water distiller.

The town water has so much sediment that it clogs the coffee pot
in about two months. I have a Kenmore that I bought for 3 bucks at
thrift store. Brand new! I think they are about $200 new.

[MagickMuffin]

7. Aquasana Under-sink Installation Kit For under-sink

We bought this a little over a year now and love it. We had the Pur brand that attaches to the faucet but it leaked, so we took it back and bought the Aquasana.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

17. I have something similar

. . . including the faucet that doubles as a pull-out spray nozzle (because you lose that when the filtered water faucet takes that spot). Can't imagine ever hauling jugs again, and we never feel we have to ration--plants, fountains, pets, everything gets filtered, except for washing. One of the best investments ever! I just checked my electric kettle, which is about three years old, and the heating element still looks like new--no ugly mineral deposits to soak and scrape.

I also found a source online for inexpensive reverse osmosis filters that actually work better than the charcoal ones and last about a year. Much better than having to change every month or two.

[pengillian101]

8. We have well water.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_culligan.htm&usg=__Z9wu40NleusONv_Zl9yrHd3fUsE=&h=251&w=340&sz=13&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=p0hGQXI_8YljvM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhey%2Bculligan%2Bman%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

[HappyCynic]

9. Clear²O Pitcher

This looks like it might only be available in Canada.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8/KitchenBath/Plumbing/WaterFiltration/PRD~0421219P/Clear%253FO%2BPitcher%252C%2B72-oz..jsp
Unlike the Brita (or most other pitchers), it has no top reservoir. It's basically a pitcher with a filter down one side and a hose/connector that fits into the handle. You put an attachment onto your faucet and when you want to fill it, just connect the hose to the faucet and turn the water on. Wait a couple minutes, turn off the water, disconnect, and you're good to go. I used to have a Brita but I didn't like having the top reservoir full of water and having to wait for it to filter down. Also, if the top was too full, some water would always slosh out when I moved it to the fridge. When I saw this pitcher without the top reservoir, I bought it and I've been happy with it.

[Why Syzygy]

33. The best!

It's available in the USA. I got mine at Target.

http://www.clear2o.com/

Much faster than Brita and removes more debris.

[Vinca]

10. Brita pitcher.

[hippywife]

11. We use a Pur 3-stage filter

on our kitchen faucet. :hi:

[Phentex]

12. Same here but honestly I'm not sure we need it...

the water tastes okay most of the time. I can get a minerally taste in my coffee so I will use the filtered for that.

[hippywife]

14. Our water gets to tasting

like algae during the summer. Even though we are in a rural area our rural water district buys water from Tulsa. We get an annual water evaluation from them and there were some things they exceeded the allowable limits on so we didn't want to take chances. Plus the 3 stage is supposed to filter out any latent traces of prescription drugs which the water treatment plants do not remove.

[Phentex]

18. Ew, that does not sound good. I smell chlorine in the shower

water from time to time. That can't be good either.

Every once in a while the water goes brown. It's after they've been checking the hydrants.

I think there was a water boil advisory about a year ago but I didn't hear about it until well after the fact. :shrug:

[sazemisery]

13. Whirlpool system

Easy to install and you always have filtered water. Under $200.00 @ Lowe's.

[kestrel91316]

15. Brita pitcher. I don't think it takes minerals out, though.

For your espresso you could cut it with distilled or deionized water to decrease the mineral content without bankrupting yourself.

[japple]

16. We have a well, Our water has some sediment, though the taste

is excellent. I use a Brita pitcher.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Okay ..... I bought a Brita pitcher style filter.

I looked at both Brita and Pur faucet filters but just don't want their fitting hanging off the end of my faucet.

[eleny]

20. That's what we use - the pitcher

Almost every time I go grocery shopping I peek at the water aisle to see if the filters are on sale. Every once in a while they go on "buy and get one free sale" so I get a couple of boxes of the multiples to keep on hand.

I use it for cooking, drinking and coffee making so we go through a lot.

[Stinky The Clown]

24. Heh! I bought a pack of filters today and they cost more than the pitcher!

I'm sure we'll use lots of them. One 10 cup pitcher fills the espresso maker. But this will still be cheaper than buying the filtered water at the grocery.

[TreasonousBastard]

25. One filter does around 60 gallons, iirc,so...

if you just use it for coffee it will last months.

I've got the big gallon one with the spout, mainly to take out the rust in my ancient well piping for up to two pots of coffee a day, some mugs of tea, and general cooking and drinking water. A filter lasts me several months, and I try to get them on sale.

No filter will take out the dissolved ionized minerals in some water-- you need a water softener for that. What the Brita does is take out suspended minerals. I've noticed that when using my well water without the filter, boiling water leaves a white ring on the sides of the pot. With the filter, I get no such ring.

The Pur filter is supposed to be a little better, they say, because of triple filtration, and both filters list what they filter out. This is supposedly and accurate list filed with various gummint agencies. Besides giardia and heavy metals, if you have public water the chlorine itself isn't so bad, but it forms other compounds that both companies are good at filtering out. This is a good thing because these chlorine derivitives are probable carcinogens.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

29. Only 60?

That bolsters the argument for under-sink filter systems (upthread). I use a reverse osmosis filter that I think cost me $15 last time (no, it's not a reverse osmosis system, but the filters are comparable and filter much smaller particles) and it's good for about 12,000 gallons (this is with tap water, not well water, which in FL is incredibly disgusting and sulfur-y and would probably halve the life of a filter). Seems kind of pointless to only filter coffee, but not everything else that goes into your family (pets included). Filtered water also makes appliances last longer.

BTW, when you're making a sourdough, well water is actually preferable. I've got an amazing whole wheat sourdough that actually will not work at all with filtered or tap water.

[TreasonousBastard]

30. Pretty sure it's 60, but I'd have to dig out the...

instructions to be sure. I think they recommend replacing every 3 months, too. Both recommendations probably have more to do with selling more filters than actual useful life,

Whatever it is, though, the filters do tend to clog up and slow down after a while, and that's when I replace them-- usually in about 3-4 months. And since I have the biggest pitcher they make, it's convenient to use only filtered water for pretty much everything to be ingested, including the cats' water bowl.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

21. The Pur doesn't "hang off" -

it's on the side, and doesn't interfere at all with regular faucet use. You might find yourself getting one, as an adjunct to the pitcher.

We drink a LOT of water here.

That said, you'll love what the Brita pitcher does. And, the best prices on the filters are at Costco and/or BJ's.

Drink deeply and often, amico mio..........................

[Stinky The Clown]

22. I have extra deep and wide sinks. My faucet is a high arc jobbie with a doubdle articulated aerator

Short of dragging out the spray hose, this setup will reach to all rims of the sinks. If I put either the Brita or the Pur on, it appears I can't have the aerator, too.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

23. Oh, yeah ..........

That would never work. We just have a regular faucet, so it's no trouble.

But, that Brita - wait until you see how sparkling the water is once it's filtered. I never get over that.

Enjoy, be healthy and wonderfully hydrated ..................................

[lizerdbits]

26. One more for Brita

I attach one to the kitchen faucet. I never used one until I got this place and the water wasn't drinkable. I can't even make ice cubes with it, it ruins drinks.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. Ya stoopit clown! Ya bought anudder filtah?????

Yeah.

I bought a faucet mounted Brita for the downstairs sink so I could fill the downstairs espresso maker without having to schlep from the pitcher filer in the upstairs refrigerator.

[Lugnut]

28. No filter.

Fortunately, we have our own well. Living in the boondocks has it's perks.

[Coyote_Bandit]

31. Pur

3 stage filter attached to the kitchen sink. Have used it for nearly a decade.

[cali]

32. No. My village water is gravity fed from a spring up the hill.

It comes out of the tap icy cold and sweet- best water I've ever tasted.

[Arkansas Granny]

34. No filter. The water where I live recently won an award for being the

best tasting water in the state. I don't know how it stacks up nationwide, but it tastes fine to me right out of the tap.

http://www.kfsm.com/news/kfsm-river-valley-fort-smith-water-award-best,0,5711317.story