Florida Water sucks.

[Harbor Hopper]

Just an FYI... most people with wells here only use it for lawn irrigation. Almost everyone (unless way out in the sticks) is on municipal water. This is why many driveways look rusted. The wells must be drilled VERY deep ($$$) to get cleaner water that has less sulfer. Most are not dug this deep, therefor they stink and stain everything.

[chuckycheese]

Originally Posted by MartyGras

The one that ArmyChief recommends from Ispring looks like a better system more stages of filtration and a much higher volume but $147.00 at the big orange store gets you
the GE Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System. This water filter is installed under your sink for a discreet appearance and filters up to 11 gallons of water daily. The reverse osmosis membrane helps reduce microscopic contaminants such as arsenic, lead and ammonia, for better tasting water for drinking and cooking. The filter indicator reminds you when to replace the filter.

Reduces up to 99% of the contaminants in your drinking water (elements reduced are not necessarily present in your water system)
Reuses water's natural pressure as it flows through the system, allowing the membrane to filter particles almost 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair
Helps reduce microscopic contaminants such as arsenic, lead, ammonia, copper, sodium and cysts
Filters up to 11 gallons of water daily
Valve offers 1 gpm water flow at 125 psi drop
Under-sink installation
Filter change indicator signals you to change the filter
Includes system filters, membrane, storage tank and full installation kit

Gary

I was really serious when I said you've got me thinking about it. From all you've said, it does sound like a very good idea and I wish I would have considered it sooner. Does the water from these systems taste pretty decent? (Mine tastes bad sometimes and worse at other times. Even my dog avoids it so we give her bottled water, too..

[lucknow]

Originally Posted by chuckycheese

I was really serious when I said you've got me thinking about it. From all you've said, it does sound like a very good idea and I wish I would have considered it sooner. Does the water from these systems taste pretty decent? (Mine tastes bad sometimes and worse at other times. Even my dog avoids it so we give her bottled water, too..

What RO water tastes like is very dependent on the feed water. In most cases an RO system produces water almost as pure as distilled. It's basically tasteless. However there are a few things an RO does not handle well. If the water tasted bad because of tannins, basically tea, it will not remove that. ROs do not do sulphur, period. Sulfur water will destroy an expensive RO system in short order. They can handle iron but only up to a certain PPM iron in the water. Check your specs on the equipment. The best time to test your water is on a day when the barometric pressure is a low as possible. That is when the concentrations of all of the stuff you don't want are at their highest. I have seen a lot of people waste a lot of time and money by the misapplication of water equipment. When I was selling water equipment the dealership GUARANTEED the results they promised. For water that was unsuitable for a RO we had an excellent distillation system. It costs a little more than an RO system but it produced perfect water no matter what the feed water was. The system we sold was made by "WESTBEND" and it was a very very high quality system. Some of my customers would use them to run off a few gallons of booze every once in a while. LOL

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by lucknow

Well, I'll tell you something. Well water in this area is usually unusable for anything. It's about 40 grains hard has a couple parts sulfur and a couple iron. You could possibly treat it but the wells are not reliable and you might end up with an expensive well, a pile of expensive water treatment equipment and no water. Most people don't even bother drilling a well. Instead they put in a big cistern when the house is being built. It's a perfect solution. That rainwater is very simple to treat. It's already soft and all you need is a particulate filter , then a large carbon filter and then a UV system. It produces perfect water. When I was selling water equipment I would also attempt to sell them a RO system for all their drinking water.

Guess we're out in what you'd consider the "sticks", and everyone around here has well water, with water treatment systems. Our water system, put in when the house was built ( so it's five years old), consists of an artesian well dug down about 200 feet-according to our contractor. The water pressure from that well is impressive, and we use the water from that well both for the sprinkler system and for our use in the house. The water does have a moderate sulfur smell coming straight from the well, but the water system- aerator, particulate filters, water softener outside does an excellent job of cleaning it up. We seldom notice a trace of any sulfur smell in the house water- and only slightly when there is unusually heavy water use in the house. We never hooked up an RO system under the sink, but just as a long-time habit get our drinking water from a Brita filter. I honestly don't notice any difference between the water directly from the faucet and that from the Brita pitcher- no smell and no taste that I can detect.

[lucknow]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

Guess we're out in what you'd consider the "sticks", and everyone around here has well water, with water treatment systems. Our water system, put in when the house was built ( so it's five years old), consists of an artesian well dug down about 200 feet-according to our contractor. The water pressure from that well is impressive, and we use the water from that well both for the sprinkler system and for our use in the house. The water does have a moderate sulfur smell coming straight from the well, but the water system- aerator, particulate filters, water softener outside does an excellent job of cleaning it up. We seldom notice a trace of any sulfur smell in the house water- and only slightly when there is unusually heavy water use in the house. We never hooked up an RO system under the sink, but just as a long-time habit get our drinking water from a Brita filter. I honestly don't notice any difference between the water directly from the faucet and that from the Brita pitcher- no smell and no taste that I can detect.

You are fortunate that the sulphur level is low enough that a softener can handle it. The levels of sulphur we het around these parts need special sulphur removal systems of one sort or another. They are expensive and high maintenance and just general a pain in the neck.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by lucknow

You are fortunate that the sulphur level is low enough that a softener can handle it. The levels of sulphur we het around these parts need special sulphur removal systems of one sort or another. They are expensive and high maintenance and just general a pain in the neck.

Guess we are. I'm not knowledgeable about well systems, but the contractor who built the house ( finished in 2008) and had the water system put in told us the well was an artesian well about 200 feet deep. I know it's got great water pressure- there is a pump, of course, but when the spigot from the well head is turned on with the pump turned off on the water shoots up at about 5-6 feet into the air.

The part of the system that actually handles the sulfur is an aerator ( spelling?)- which sprays the incoming water into the air inside a tank, and allows it to "trickle" into the tank, from there it goes to a sediment filter and then a water softener, then to storage tanks to be pumped on demand into the house. The sulfur is volatile so aerating the incoming water releases the gas from the water. Does a great job, too.

I don't know how common artesian wells are, but I'd assume most of the folks around this area have them since the water systems all look the same.

[OptimusPrime69]

I agree that the water in FL is crap.

I have a filter hooked up to my tap and keep plenty of bottles of water in my place.
I only use unfiltered tap to shower and flush the toilet and brush my teeth. ewww

[TravelerGirl101]

Yes the water hear smells and tastes bad. I've been here 3 years and noticed it right away - with someone who was watering their yard. I said "smells like sewer"!! To think we're drinking that water is a little nerve wracking!! It also stinks terrible when doing laundry.

We get water refills at Wal-Mart. It's cheap! If you don't want to lug around gallons of water you could also get a sink filter as pp suggested or you could buy one of those pitchers with built in filtering.