Safest water to drink ?

[Dianne]

So I'm on county water. It is known to be unsafe. I called the county two years ago, and they admitted the chemicals in the water could not be boiled out of it. So we immediately went to drinking bottled water (plastic bottles), like Deer Park. I have been reading so much stuff on the dangers of chemicals in plastics now, that I'm afraid to drink any more of that.

Any suggestions? Canned water? It just seems like our water supply is under attack, and the sure way to kill us all. How about the really big jugs of water with thicker plastic. Is that a safer option?

[amy31416]

Not that it applies now, but back in college I tested bottled water vs. tap--and the tap water came out ahead of all others. This was Erie, PA tap water, for what that's worth.

As they started adding more chemicals to the water, I decided to go with an under-sink RO system (reverse osmosis.) It's one of the best filtration systems you can get for your home. Bottled water is usually just tap water in plastic bottles.

They're a bit expensive, but worth it for drinking water: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...em%2Caps%2C190

[pcosmar]

Water yuk,, Drink beer.

[presence]

whole house carbon backwash for chemicals

http://www.amazon.com/Carbon-System-...ck+5200+carbon

added KDF 85 media for metals

http://www.purewatersite.com/kdf85fimefor1.html


Any water can be safe to drink if you treat it appropriately. Mine comes off my pump milky with natural gas; I vortex filter and offgas prior to entering the home. At some point I'm thinking about bottling

[acptulsa]

I called the county two years ago, and they admitted the chemicals in the water could not be boiled out of it.

I should hope so. Heating water to a boil and then letting it cool removes exactly nothing at all from it. It might kill whatever's living in it, but it removes nothing.

But you can remove the water from the impurities by boiling it. It's called distillation, and all you have to do is capture the steam, wait for it to cool, and drink that.

[Dianne]

Not that it applies now, but back in college I tested bottled water vs. tap--and the tap water came out ahead of all others. This was Erie, PA tap water, for what that's worth.

As they started adding more chemicals to the water, I decided to go with an under-sink RO system (reverse osmosis.) It's one of the best filtration systems you can get for your home. Bottled water is usually just tap water in plastic bottles.

They're a bit expensive, but worth it for drinking water: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...em%2Caps%2C190

You may be right. The dogs drink regular tap water, and they are just fine.

[Dianne]

Water yuk,, Drink beer.

I'm a red wino, hope that counts for hydration

[presence]

I should hope so. Heating water to a boil and then letting it cool removes exactly nothing at all from it. It might kill whatever's living in it, but it removes nothing.

It does remove some dissolved gases.

Natural Gas
Chlorine
Ammonia
Carbonation

[Dianne]

whole house carbon backwash for chemicals

http://www.amazon.com/Carbon-System-...ck+5200+carbon

added KDF 85 media for metals

http://www.purewatersite.com/kdf85fimefor1.html


Any water can be safe to drink if you treat it appropriately. Mine comes off my pump milky with natural gas; I vortex filter and offgas prior to entering the home. At some point I'm thinking about bottling

I read the ad, and it looks great; but, doesn't look like anything I could install.

[dannno]

I agree with amy, I'd go with a good RO filter, it will lower the PPM of your water from about 300-400+ to under 30.

The problem is your water will then be lacking trace minerals. You can add some back with concentrace, or make sure you are supplementing all your trace minerals and micronutrients (or both).

I drink RO water and sometimes distilled water (even better) from The Water Store. I used to filter my own back when I was using it for a hydroponics garden as well..

[jj-]

It costs money: Link.

They used to deliver it at home in big containers.



There are some arguments against reverse osmosis water, but I don't remember.

[CPUd]

distilled water
distilled tap water
tap water

[amy31416]

Just another FYI: I tested the waters for heavy metals. RO does remove most of it. I used graphite AA to test it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphi...mic_absorption

I don't know of any issues with RO filtration except that they need maintenance. We always used DI or RO water in the labs. Distilled water, if you add micronutrients might be okay--but you'll probably still have to buy it bottled in plastic unless you set up a still.

[LibertyEagle]

I have a reverse osmosis water filter. Love it. These are what they use all over places like Odessa, Texas where oil has seeped into the water table. Nearly everyone has one of these there. Drinking water before and after there is what really sold me on these things. They're fabulous. Best tasting water I have ever had.

[CPUd]

I think they've finally got beyond the prototype stage with Slingshot:

[Zippyjuan]

Depends on who you ask.

[acptulsa]

You may be right. The dogs drink regular tap water, and they are just fine.

Um, you do realize that she did not say anything about your tap water, didn't pretend to know anything about your tap water, and couldn't know anything about your tap water if you haven't told her where you live, right? You do realize that not all tap water is the same, right? I mean, you do realize that you could put a pump and a tap on your septic tank, right? You do understand that there aren't pipes all under the whole nation delivering us all identical New York City tap water, right?

And you have seen your dog eat $#@!, right?

Don't you dare drink that stuff, get sick, then come here blathering, 'Amy said it was fine!' The lady was talking about testing water. This can be done. You can have it done. No doubt Amy could do it, if she had a sample. But we can't even smell the stuff over this internet thingie.

The most brilliant people in the world can't tell you what pollutants are in water they've never even seen. Get some equally curious neighbors to help you defray the expense and have it tested. Buy a clue. I have no doubt that people here can tell you the best way to get the pollutants out of your water, provided they know what pollutants are actually in your water. Buy us a clue.

[amy31416]

Um, you do realize that she did not say anything about your tap water, didn't pretend to know anything about your tap water, and couldn't know anything about your tap water if you haven't told her where you live, right? You do realize that not all tap water is the same, right? I mean, you do realize that you could put a pump and a tap on your septic tank, right? You do understand that there aren't pipes all under the whole nation delivering us all identical New York City tap water, right?

And you have seen your dog eat $#@!, right?

Don't you dare drink that stuff, get sick, then come here blathering, 'Amy said it was fine!' The lady was talking about testing water. This can be done. You can have it done. No doubt Amy could do it, if she had a sample. But we can't even smell the stuff over this internet thingie.

The most brilliant people in the world can't tell you what pollutants are in water they've never even seen. Get some equally curious neighbors to help you defray the expense and have it tested. Buy a clue. I have no doubt that people here can tell you the best way to get the pollutants out of your water, provided they know what pollutants are actually in your water. Buy us a clue.

Completely agree with the notion of getting your neighbors in on the testing. Very cost effective.

[William Tell]

Buy a Berkey, or similar water filter.

[Cleaner44]

Buy a Berkey, or similar water filter.

For sure!

[DevilsAdvocate]

I've heard plastic exudes estrogen stuff into liquids, and can mess up your hormonal balance. If you smell inside a filled plastic water bottle on a hot day, you can smell it. So the question is, how can you avoid drinking out of plastic bottles? It might not even matter, most liquids are transported in plastic containers anyway. Is there some way to get the pollutants out of the water? It can't be healthy for a guy to be constantly drinking estrogen

[Acala]

I should hope so. Heating water to a boil and then letting it cool removes exactly nothing at all from it. It might kill whatever's living in it, but it removes nothing.

But you can remove the water from the impurities by boiling it. It's called distillation, and all you have to do is capture the steam, wait for it to cool, and drink that.

If you bring tap water to a boil, you will remove most of the trihalomethanes, which are the main organic byproducts of chlorination. Not a bad thing to remove.

[acptulsa]

It does remove some dissolved gases.

Natural Gas
Chlorine
Ammonia
Carbonation

If you bring tap water to a boil, you will remove most of the trihalomethanes, which are the main organic byproducts of chlorination. Not a bad thing to remove.

I stand corrected.

But I also stand on my main point. Boiling don't, for example, get the lead out.

[Dianne]

Not that it applies now, but back in college I tested bottled water vs. tap--and the tap water came out ahead of all others. This was Erie, PA tap water, for what that's worth.

As they started adding more chemicals to the water, I decided to go with an under-sink RO system (reverse osmosis.) It's one of the best filtration systems you can get for your home. Bottled water is usually just tap water in plastic bottles.

They're a bit expensive, but worth it for drinking water: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...em%2Caps%2C190

That does look great !! It's a little expensive initially, but we spend a lot of bottled water. Within a year I'm sure we would recoop what we paid.

[Dianne]

Um, you do realize that she did not say anything about your tap water, didn't pretend to know anything about your tap water, and couldn't know anything about your tap water if you haven't told her where you live, right? You do realize that not all tap water is the same, right? I mean, you do realize that you could put a pump and a tap on your septic tank, right? You do understand that there aren't pipes all under the whole nation delivering us all identical New York City tap water, right?

And you have seen your dog eat $#@!, right?

Don't you dare drink that stuff, get sick, then come here blathering, 'Amy said it was fine!' The lady was talking about testing water. This can be done. You can have it done. No doubt Amy could do it, if she had a sample. But we can't even smell the stuff over this internet thingie.

The most brilliant people in the world can't tell you what pollutants are in water they've never even seen. Get some equally curious neighbors to help you defray the expense and have it tested. Buy a clue. I have no doubt that people here can tell you the best way to get the pollutants out of your water, provided they know what pollutants are actually in your water. Buy us a clue.

Great points !