What Kind of Water Filter Do You Use?
I’m about to make a sort of serious confession: My water filter broke about six months ago (or has it been a year?) and I have yet to replace it. Hopefully some among you will say “No big deal” but the truth is, it is and we all know it. Tap water beats out bottled every time in my book, and it’s what I drink all day every day unless I’m at an airport. At work, we have some fancy water filter in the kitchen. When I get to the office in the morning, I fill up a pitcher and I drink the stuff all day long. At home, though, I drink straight from the tap. I haven’t died yet, but given how much we know about contaminants in tap water, and how easy it is to filter it, I don’t have much of an excuse other than… Woops!
But I’d like to fix that, and I’d like your advice and so, incidentally, would our reader Leigh, who emailed us just today asking us for recommendations. If Alexandra wasn’t hiding away at a yoga retreat right now (I’m next!), I’d have her handle this one. But I’m at a loss. I’d like to know about a filter that’s BPA- and PVC-free and can get as much crap as possible out of my water without me having to splurge on a reverse osmosis system, which, as a renter, is completely impractical.
And so, we want to know (and pay attention, because this is a two-parter):
1) What filter do you use for your drinking water?
2) WHY do you use that particular kind of filter?
Merci les ami(e)s.
I totally feel your pain. I am renter too and feel extremely frustrated every time I take a shower and smell like I just got out of the pool. Anyway, look into this one: pureeffectfilters.com I believe it’s the best match for what you are looking for. It is not an RO, it does not cost as much as an RO, and removes lots of contaminants. The only con is that it requires a bit of maintenance.
We have a Berkey filter. We rent so we can take it with us when we move. It filters out chlorine, fluoride and other chemicals cant rattle off right now. It takes a lot of junk out but leaves the minerals in.
Downside is you need space counter and is somewhat slow to filter water.
We have had it for years and love it!
Siobhan, not sure if this is helpful info for you, but may be for someone looking for an affordable under-sink option.
I’m a renter and when we moved in, we were lucky enough to find an under-sink filter system in our house. But, when it broke, I was overwhelmed with the fix as well as the options for filters and ended up doing nothing… for two years! (So Siobhan, 6 months is pretty good in my book!). We finally fixed it and just got this activated carbon filter from OmniFilter http://www.filtersfast.com/Omni-Filter-SFM2-undersink-water-filter-system.asp. It filters out VOCs, chlorine, rust and sediment. I’m not sure about pharmaceuticals, though, which I don’t like to think about.
I have a good friend who recently subscribed to Mountain Valley Spring Water delivery from these guys http://www.healthwatersinc.com/. If $$ was no object, I would sign up for their glass bottle delivery in a second!
I’m new to this blog and have loving it. I’m taking little itty bitty green baby steps. So, here’s my question…are there filters I can install at the point where the water comes into my house? So all the water is filtered?
About a year ago there was an expose in the Chicago Tribune about the contaminants in the local drinking water supply—the water taken from Lake Michigan. At the same time there were numerous articles about water filters. The one that was most highly recommended was by Zero Water. You can buy a pitcher size, like the Pur or the Brita. We bought a multi-pitcher size that sits on the top shelf of the fridge, with a spigot to easily fill a glass of water. It comes with a tester so you know when to replace the filter. A really good product.
I looked into this extensively a while back and, because I rent, I came to the conclusion that any water filter I could purchase and install was either too complicated or not strong enough. I live in Washington DC and the water here has both chloramines (which are impossible to remove with any filter that is not a reverse osmosis one or a whole-house one) as well as fluoride (another one that is super hard to get rid off). So, I kept some gallon-sized bottles (6 of them) and ever so often go to Whole Foods and refill them. I pay 40 cents per gallon and they have a reverse osmosis filter which takes out pretty much everything. For the shower, I have 2 filters: a slim charcoal filter (Culligan ISH-100) to remove the usual nasties, plus a Vitamin C filter (Sonaki) since this is the only thing I found that neutralizes both chlorine and ammonia (the two components of chloramine). An expensive solution but it works very well (the vitamin C stings my eyes a little though).
I use the New Wave Enviro Premium 10 stage water filter. It’s on my countertop but I think you can get a kit to mount it under the sink. It is free of BPA and phthalates, according to the company. I mainly got it to use for making almond milk, and tea. There’s pretty good tap water where I am, but I’m used to the filtered now.
I use that particular filter because that’s what I got as a gift a couple years ago! I really like it though. The filters last a long time.
I use Binchotan charcoal sticks in a glass beverage dispenser like this one:
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/7-liter-glass-teardrop-tank.do?fMb=1&green=C8E573C7-BD55-5453-95DD-22579C4C9384&clickid=mybuys_prod_cs
We keep it in the living room of our tiny apartment so we remember to drink lots of water. You can also add lemon or herbs to infuse. The Binchotan is relatively inexpensive, depending on where you buy it (I get it online) and you can reuse the charcoal a ton by just reactivating it in boiling water. Plus, when it’s no longer filtering (based on how the water tastes), it’s naturally biodegradable, compostable, and great fertilizer for houseplants or gardens.
I’ve been using the pitcher style Zero water filter for a little over a year and I’m happy with it. It’s BPA free and they have a recycling program for the old filters. They’ll send you coupons for new filters when you mail them the old filters, and also have coupons on their website..
It uses a 5 stage filter. This link shows what it filters out: http://www.zerowater.com/ion-exchange-filter.html The pitcher comes with a meter that you can use to tell when you need to change the filter, and you can test your water before and after it’s filtered to see the difference the filter makes. A new filter should give a reading of 0 ,and once it reaches 6, it’s time to change the filter. I live in Queens and my water is a 40 before it’s filtered. The filters usually last me about 6 months. I use filtered water to make coffee, and for my pets, and whatever else calls for water. I have to say that I do notice that the water tastes better to.
The down sides for me are that the pitcher is not such an attractive design and it’s a monster. I guess these are technically trivial points but I’m a sucker for pleasant design. I had to lower the top shelf in my fridge so it would fit. It also have a way of dispensing water by pushing a button so you don’t have to take it out of the fridge to get a glass of water, but it’s kind of slow to dispense this way. Also, you can’t pour a glass a water while the water is filtering, but the water filters quickly given it goes through 5 stages. Overall, the good outweighs the bad.
I actually don’t use a filter, but I boil water every night in my electric kettle and drink the water in the morning. Sometimes I’ll pre-make teas or just stock water in large recycled glass containers. I love those GT kombucha glass bottles, they’re super cute to show off as well!
Oh my gosh! I NEVER thought of the BPA thing! Thank you!! I use Brita(faucet mount)and thankfully (I checked) they are BPA free! Phew! Wish I could get a whole house filter, but they are pretty expensive!
I have a Berkey water filter, as well – this size: http://www.morethanalive.com/Royal-Berkey?a_aid=1082f92e&a_bid=g. I love that it filters well, though one of the big reasons is that it filters slowly. You can also read about the various things that it filters out. Pretty impressive! But another big thing is that it leaves in the minerals that are good for the body, whereas the reverse osmosis takes out all the minerals, though some sell minerals that you can add back in. Anyhow, our family of six has been using it for 3 yrs now and we love it! The kiddies so sometimes talk about how they really prefer “our water” to other ppl’s water. ;)
We New Yorkers don’t have as much to worry about as some folks in other parts of the country: The EPA has said the NYC water supply doesn’t need filtration! Champagne of tap waters, indeed!
So, needless to say, I (in Brooklyn) don’t use a filter for my drinking water. I do, however, use a filter for my shower, because my partner and I both have varying degrees of dry skin, and we’ve noticed the water is a little less harsh since we installed a Slim-Line shower filter.
As Michelle #2 said I use the zero water system. Love to use the tester to test all the different waters (here in ATL mine is 63 before filtration…yuck). I don’t like cold water, I instead prefer room temp., so we just leave ours on the counter and fill a regular pitcher with water from the zero water container and keep it in the fridge for those in the house who prefer cold water. I love that it holds tons of water and has a convenient spicket. I learned about it here…http://www.theholykale.com/2012/02/top-healthy-kitchen-essentials/
This was such good timing! My fiancé and I just moved and were discussing our water situation. On the recommendations from this post, we decided to try the Zero pitcher. We are really impressed! Our water goes in smelling like a swimming pool and comes out fresh. Testing the water is fun too, and reassuring. We bought the 10 cup pitcher. It only takes up a little space on our counter and the dispenser feature on the handle means we don’t have to wait for the reservoir to drain to use the water.