Best Tap Water Filter On Demand System?

[seaside]

Honestly I do believe the best way to get "PURE" water is to get Reverse Osmosis Systems. I have used it for years for my salt water aquarium tank.

But for drinking water.... RO system is too slow, sort of expensive, and it produces almost completely "pure" water that does not have any flavor or taste or smell, which I think most people don't want/need.

So, for drinking water, I bypassed RO membrane and ion exchanging rasin parts. Water only flows thrugh two filters. segment filter and carbon filter. By doing that, I still can get the some flaver with no unnecessary particles and nitrogens at acceptable speed.

If I were you, I would add two filters at faucet, and use the faucet soley for drinking water. It does the same thing with what brita and pure does, only in big scale.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

The biggest issue with bottled water is the cooler/bowl + valve to deliver the water and bacteria/etc....

That and the fact that bottled water is held to a lessor standard than even tap water. The standard for bottled water states that a certain amount of fecal contamination is acceptable. No fecal contamination is allowed in the standard for tap water.

Many muni water plants are sixty years old, based on older still technology and designed to serve their cities when they were at much lower population levels. Of course, they should protect the users but they burp quite often. (Perhaps another bodily function would be more discriptive. ) It may take years in court just to find out what you and your family drank during any given 'burp'.

Check out Report Cards for America's Infrastructure produced by American Society of Civil Engineers. Year after year they've been taking the religion out of muni water quality.

We've been using a Katadyn Drip filter every day for ten years. It's the same model used for base camps on Mount Everest climbing expeditions. It requires no pumping, no electricity, no water pressure and with low particulate source water (like tap water) a set of filters lasts three years.

Aside from the obvious advantages to a filter like this one in a crisis (or one of the Berkeys, for that matter) it has the advantage of protecting us every day. Because we use it every day we are very familiar with it and it will not be part of the steep learning curve a family must face to get all of their emergency gear working in a crisis. I wouldn't want to learn how to make clean water in the midst of a crisis.

I also like it for The Geezer Factor. I don't have to carry big water bottles anywhere. The filter is a few feet from the tap and filling it is not much of a stressor.

I did the math on it a while back and was blown away. It has payed for itself over and over each year and we've used it for ten years.

Think about it. It costs less than bottled water and yet it will still work in emergencies where other systems won't. You also won't hurt your back lugging big jugs of water.

 

[springnr]

I have been thinking about buying a emergency siphon setup.

Not sure about hygenyics of the gravity suck start though. :green:

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Cool stuff on that page. I've thought about using some of them as a backup. It's also a cheap, simple way to add a charcoal filter to an existing filter setup for a temporary problem with a particular chemical contaminant.

Nice prices.

 

[TedTheLed]

I'm an Aquarain man. It's just like the Katadyn drip unit but made in USA and less expensive..

The AquaRain® Natural Water Filter is manufactured to meet stringent NSF standards and fully achieves the USEPA requirements of a Cyst and Bacteria Water Purifier.*

http://www.aquarain.com/index.htm

only 2 cents a gallon and will process thousands of gallons (depending on how dirty it is of course)..and no pumping..
keep it on a high shelf and have a tube with a clip dangling over the kitchen sink; convenient.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Thanks for the link. I've never seen the Aqua Rain before. We find drip filters very easy to live with.

 

[bltkmt]

This Aquasana unit claims to be the #1 rated system, and top rated by Consumer's Digest for the last 6 years. I've heard of Consumer's Report, but not Consumer's Digest. They list this comparison chart which does make it look good...and say up front that they have a "relationship" with Sun Water that makes Aquasana. Dubious.

Here is what appears to be a legit rating site: http://www.consumersearch.com/water-filters/best-water-filters which seems to favor Culligan EZ-4.

Pitchers won't be enough for us.

Probably just stick with the bottled delivery.

We use that exact Aquasana system, and have for about a year. It works very well, but you need to change the filters periodically. Also, the spigot is fairly small so it does take a bit to fill up a coffee pot.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I could see using a drip filter for an emergency backup but with flow rates of 1/2 to 1 gallon per hour, or a quart in 15 mins....that won't work fast enough for our needs.

 

[bltkmt]

Not sure if you were replying to me, but I wouldn't classify the Aquasana as a drip filter. The issue is the size of the spigot hole.

 

[TedTheLed]

Lux, you keep the upper tank full, it drips into the lower tank which also holds a few galllons, if you drain off and bottle the excess from the bottom tank, and keep the uppper tank drippin' you have alot of gallons per day..
now if you could devise an auto feed for the top, and put a drain hose to a big holding tank from the bottom, you got a producer..

 

[LuxLuthor]

Lux, you keep the upper tank full, it drips into the lower tank which also holds a few galllons, if you drain off and bottle the excess from the bottom tank, and keep the uppper tank drippin' you have alot of gallons per day..
now if you could devise an auto feed for the top, and put a drain hose to a big holding tank from the bottom, you got a producer..

Oh, now that I did not realize. Holding a few gallons in the bottom would be fine then. I was assuming it only came out on demand at a rate of 1/2 to 1 gal/hour. They only say the model 200 has 1.5 Gallon "when left to work overnight" but nothing on the other models in terms of reserve waiting to be used. Do you know? Also similar to what someone said about the contamination of the bottled water setup, is there a way to clean the bottom & nozzle?

 

[LuxLuthor]

We've been using this model for years. Each unit is supposed to be good for 1000 gallons (I think they say that's a years worth of drinking water for a typical family of 4?).

I've considered trying one of these, but probably have enough filters stocked up for another 10 years! I like the idea of being able to see what's "inside" - then again maybe that's not exactly what I really "want" to see?!

I monitor the flow, taste, & check for chlorine removal effectiveness with a little pool kit (which are all reasons to replace the filter). Last time I ordered I got the larger model (green - I think it's at the bottom of the linked page) but haven't replaced the current filter as of yet.

Certainly makes a noticeable difference in taste!!! I can taste chlorine in a microsecond! Makes better coffee for sure...

I tried this $35 Honeywell model that Sigman recommended, which was certainly easy to install. However, even after running for 3-4 minutes, there was still a significant aftertaste. I would say it was maybe a 30% improvement. I even tried making coffee with it, and again was noticeable enough that it detracted from enjoying it. Two other people I asked agreed.

It might be a case of being stuck with bottled water which has zero aftertaste. Darn.

 

[Sigman]

...there was still a significant aftertaste...

Hmmm, I suppose the quality of the water to begin with could be a factor? You would think the filters would produce similar results, even in different regions...:thinking:

 

[Beamhead]

We use a Pur faucet mount and fill 3 Brita filter pitchers for a double filtered overkill, and the Pur has LED's built in.

 

[LuxLuthor]

Hmmm, I suppose the quality of the water to begin with could be a factor? You would think the filters would produce similar results, even in different regions...:thinking:

If you want this clear unit I bought with an extra filter, send me a PM. I know I won't use it.

 

[Sigman]

Mine are the sealed "throw away" type and I've got a few stashed, so though I appreciate the offer...someone else possibly needs it worse than I.
:thanks:

 

[brucec]

Reverse Osmosis systems, in particular, are very wasteful for home use.

Drinking distilled or RO water over long periods of time is also unhealthy. I'm currently living in Taiwan where the municipal water system does not produce drinkable water, meaning that it may still have bugs in it. It's not so bad that you can't brush your teeth with it, but it's probably not a good idea to drink too much. We are using a 3M system which is a countertop carbon filtration + UV sterilization unit. I haven't seen this in the US before, probably because there is no need to UV sterilize US tap water.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I called the guys at filter direct, and somehow they talked me into a $140 reverse osmosis setup under the sink, with full credit back on that Honeywell sink top unit, so it is really only costing me $105. He wasn't surprised when I told him my city water still tasted bad with the countertop filter. I figure at $60/mo, I have some leeway to explore and find what I want.

 

[Saaby]

and the water from that will taste...tasteless, but that's going to be primarily because it's going to *3* carbon filters...not because of the Reverse Osmosis stage.

 

[Sigman]

I called the guys at filter direct, and somehow they talked me into a $140 reverse osmosis setup under the sink, with full credit back on that Honeywell sink top unit...

"somehow" eh? That's funny! $140 doesn't sound too bad and it's cool that they gave you credit on the other unit!

Maybe, just maybe...I'll give them a call?