Bottled Water

[Spudman***]

Here are some other options. http://www.rei.com/category/4500461
I've used the katadyn hiker for many many years with no problems. Getting giardia is the pits.

[Tim]

Not to mention the shipping costs on the enviroment!

I use a brita filter, but will buy bottled water for a road trip or a day out etc.

I am thinking about purchasing a filtering system for the kitchen sink. Then maybe every 4 months or so buy a case of water, but in between cases I would clean and refill the empties with home filtered water. I am not too sure on which system to buy nor if certain systems can be installed buy the home buyer.

[Bloozcat]

I am thinking about purchasing a filtering system for the kitchen sink. Then maybe every 4 months or so buy a case of water, but in between cases I would clean and refill the empties with home filtered water. I am not too sure on which system to buy nor if certain systems can be installed buy the home buyer.

I bought an under sink reverse osmosis unit from EcoWater Systems about 4 years ago, and it works great. Here's some info on a unit that looks identical to mine for $199.00.
http://www.yourwaterneeds.com/DW_WIN445.asp

ETA: I installed it myself, and I don't think it's beyond the skills of most home owners who've done any light plumbing and repairs around their homes.

[Spudman***]

Tim

I've been using one of these faucet mounts for the last 8 years. http://www.purwaterfilter.com/faucetmounted.html
They work great and are cheap as all get out. I found some of the replacement filter elements at a Big Lots store for about $5 each and bought a lot of them so I think if you look around you can find the same deals as well.

The units can be found at almost any of your big box retailers (Kmart, Walmart etc.)

[Tone2TheBone]

Tim

I've been using one of these faucet mounts for the last 8 years. http://www.purwaterfilter.com/faucetmounted.html
They work great and are cheap as all get out. I found some of the replacement filter elements at a Big Lots store for about $5 each and bought a lot of them so I think if you look around you can find the same deals as well.

The units can be found at almost any of your big box retailers (Kmart, Walmart etc.)

Yeah now that's more reasonably priced. Thanks for posting that Voo.

[Mark]

I bought an under sink reverse osmosis unit from EcoWater Systems about 4 years ago, and it works great. Here's some info on a unit that looks identical to mine for $199.00.
http://www.yourwaterneeds.com/DW_WIN445.asp

ETA: I installed it myself, and I don't think it's beyond the skills of most home owners who've done any light plumbing and repairs around their homes.

Ok let me just warn you on these, they work..yes...BUT! Being in the Plumbing business for 20+years let me educate you. Most of these systems use plastic fittings and tubing I cannot tell you how many FLOODED houses I have been to because of these, if fact I went to one this past friday. If they would just use brass and copper...but they dont. Since I own my own Plumbing Company and I can take the hit liability wise, I ALWAYS have people sign a waiver BEFORE I install one, I dont even sell them but if the customer buys one and wants it installed that is my policy. If I cant talk you out of it!! If you own one INSPECT it frequently!!! If it makes it to 4-5 years old buy a new one....... WHY??? The plastic gets brittle stresses and fails then you get a flooded house!

Do it your self tip: Cardinal rule in Plumbing NEVER screw a metal male fitting INTO a female threaded plastic fitting. NPT pipe threads are tapered the metal into the plastic STRESSES IT.....it is going to crack as sure as you are reading this. Maybe not today or next week but it will in time, trust me I have been doing this a long time!! Plastic INTO metal always. many of the kits have cheap parts and you must be very careful to not overtorque plastic fittings.


I generally recommend the Brita or the faucet mounted types also many refridgerators have a filters for the water dispenser this is what I have and it does fine. Bottled water???? I refuse to pay for it plus half these companies are running tap water through a filter...if your lucky and selling it, also many of the bottled waters when tested have higher bacteria counts than tap water. Dont say you weren't warned.

[Bloozcat]

Good advice, Mark. I guess I failed to mention this because I've worked with plastic and PVC fittings for so long that I know about their shortcomings.

I do check my RO unit regularly, and I've experienced no problems with it. Since it's under the kitchen sink where I keep the trash bags for the trash can, I see it everyday. Fortunately in this case at least, I live in a high humidity environment, even with A/C. The plastic/nylon fittings tend to hold up a little better when they're not as subject to dry rot.

It's too bad that so much of what's available these days is made from plastic - the ultimate throw away material. But with the price of copper at an all time high, I'm afraid we're stuck with plastic. Of course, you could still rebuild your system, replacing all the plastic with copper...but that might be a little too over the top (even for me with my propensity for doing things like that ).

ETA: The Brita filters don't always cut it with some well water. I have a whole house carbon filter that has at least 20 times the carbon that a Brita filter has. I only use a coconut shell carbon in that, no cheap coal based stuff. As is, the RO unit has two high grade carbon pre-filters that have more carbon in them than a Brita. The first filter in series gets pretty ugly after about six months use - and that's with water that's fairly well treated before getting to the first stage of the RO unit. Having well water that's not the greatest right out of the ground can be a real PITA, but I've learned what work's best with mine. I had no less than three "professional" water treatment companies fail in their attempts to remove the tanin, odor, taste, and particulates from my water. After the third, I'd finally had enough and just figured it out for myself. Where the "professionals" failed, this "amateur" succeded.

BTW Mark, please don't take this as a slam against you as a plumber. It's just my experiences with those out there who, IMHO, give real professionals a bad name. I'm sure that you've encountered them in your work...and have likely had to fix their mistakes after the fact as I've had to.

After all that, tonight our development has a meeting with the county about our getting county utility water run through our neighborhood. It's pretty much a done deal, we just have to go through the moaning and groaning about the initial cost of having it installed. I am so ready to get on the county water, and relegate my well to irrigation duties only.

[Mark]

No offense taken Blooze I tell people up front I am not a water treatment specialist. Im a Master Plumber not an H2O guy. One thing plastic is great in many applications this is just not one of them. I remember the old water filter systems were Stainless and brass with copper tubing. Plastic is just the wrong material for this. They went palstic to keep manufacturing costs down like they do many things......damned bean counters. Well water can be a whole can of worms to get it palatable in some locales.

[zeusse]

I guess its a question of where you live to how good the quality of the water is regardless of well or city but bottled water even if the label said natural spring the problems of shipping and storage can wreck it. I've been driving transport for 20years and use to haul natural spring water out of Grafton Ont. to all kinds of places in Canada and the US and after sitting in my trailer for 3 to 5 days its like beer in my opinion it will go skunky if it isn't temperature controlled in a reefer. But water shippers won't pay to keep it cool because its just water in there opinion and don't consider it a perishable commodity...they know different but the buck controls the bottom line....I'll stick with the good ol tap water...I'm still kickin..LOL