Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
2) Easy to clean filters, if required
3) economical compare to bottle water consumption
Which thing would be a City data thing to do to enjoy filtered water?
Thanks for sharing/guidance.
It isn't that simple. No one can answer your question as written. Get your tap water tested to find out what you might want to filter out and why. Taste or odor? Clarity? Hard water staining? Rust staining? Because you soften your household water to save your appliances and plumbing? Is the problem iron? Sulfur? Chlorine? Calcium/lime? Manganese? Rust? Heavy metals or industrial pollutants? Your water utility may have that information but you can buy a water testing kit and send it to an independent testing lab for yourself. A water utility has to meet local, state or federal standards for basic potability but just because that water is safe to drink doesn't guarantee you'll like the taste or smell. Just because the water tastes or smells bad doesn't mean it isn't safe to use.
There are lots of filters out there and most of them are specific in terms of what they can and cannot remove. If you don't even know what's in the water to begin with or how much of it is present, you can wasted a lot of money trying to get rid of it. You can also pay a lot for a fancy filter you don't need. So, because none of us know what problem you have with your water no one can recommend this or that filter. YOU have to gather information and decide for yourself what you care most about getting rid of.
Don't forget, any filter system will have components that need to be replaced or cleaned periodically. Cartridges end up in the municipal waste stream. The impurities they removed from your water end up back in the soil/groundwater all over again. Little single faucet and countertop pitcher filters have smaller cartridges which will need to be replaced more often. How often they get saturated depends on YOUR particular water source and the level of impurities present. Again, hard to predict without testing your particular taps.
There's no free lunch...if you want to change cartridges less often you'll need larger capacity ones and they cost more. Many people like reverse osmosis filtering systems. The water they produce is almost as pure as distilled water. RO systems can be small (install under the sink you want to filter) or large (filter all the water for the entire house). They are obviously a lot more expensive than a faucet or pitcher filter but they remove a lot more too and usually don't need cartridge changes more often than once or twice a year. If your water in general doesn't contain impurities that cause problems for you the cost to install and maintain an RO system may not be worth doing.
Buying bottled water is obviously wasteful, just in a different way. The bottling industry uses and produces plastic and chemical waste too. If you subscribe to a water delivery service that reuses 5 gallon bottles over and over again that's also an option.
Last edited by Parnassia; 06-27-2021 at 01:26 PM..
Brita is the most affordable but offers less filtration. Not an issue if the water is ok. Higher brands like Pur and Zero Water offer better filtration which is good for really bad water. If you do a faucet mount filter you must be careful not to run hot water through the filter. We had the water filter pitchers until we got a refrigerator with ice and water dispenser and built in water filter. The filter is about $40 but works very good. We use the water for drinking, coffee, tea, dog’s water bowl, and cooking. This leaves the sink faucet free for washing dishes.
I use a Pur faucet filter on the kitchen faucet. Love it. I have to change the filter every 6 weeks. I live alone but with two cats. And I drink a lot of water. I keep a covered glass jar filled with water in the fridge so when I want it really cold it's there. Drink it down, refill it put it back in the fridge. Most of the time I just drink it from the filtered tap.
I don't bother to filter in the bathroom, I brush my teeth with the water straight from the tap.
On the downside, these filters usually don't fit modern pull-out or pull-down faucets since these modern faucets don't have removable aerators where you can screw on the filter. If you have one of these faucets, a filtration pitcher may be a better option.
On the downside, these filters usually don't fit modern pull-out or pull-down faucets since these modern faucets don't have removable aerators where you can screw on the filter. If you have one of these faucets, a filtration pitcher may be a better option.
That's why I went for a traditional faucet. I didn't want to be messing with a pitcher.
Note that faucets with separate handheld side sprayer guns are still available.
Yes, that is what I have. That is what I meant by traditional faucet. I actually have a corner sink, and the sprayer is in front of the faucet rather than to the side. I wasn't sure I would like the corner sink when I bought the house but it turns out I love it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
