Author Topic: What kind of water do you drink?  (Read 42064 times)

vagon

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #100 on: February 04, 2015, 03:27:50 PM »
If you are a homebrewer and keg your beer, you could use this cheap fitting to get your bubbles into the water:

http://www.amazon.com/LiquidBread-The-Carbonater/dp/B0064OKADS/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_z

Thats the ultimate plan. Want to get my brews to a decent standard first before investing in the keg lines.

UltraRunning

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #101 on: February 04, 2015, 07:44:12 PM »
I use a big berkey water filter myself.  Part of my job deals with the  testing and maintaining  the proper phosphate, fluoride and chlorine levels coming out of wells to supply a local area.  Biggest reason i use the filter is to filter out the fluoride.  Our fluoride level coming out of the tap is around 5ppm and that is a bit too high for my liking.  Plus berkey filter we have can make raw water drinkable so it is great for our camping trips as well!

FreeWheel

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #102 on: February 04, 2015, 08:19:26 PM »
Bottled distilled water. Wife and I dislike chlorine and chloramines. Our pets get it too. We also use the distilled water in food,  (but not for boiling pasta or potatoes) and for making the most wonderful cup of fancy coffee. At $1 per gallon and average one gallon per day, it is more than worth it to us.

clutchy

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #103 on: February 05, 2015, 02:57:21 PM »
from my well. 

I really like Aquafina though.

FarmerPete

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #104 on: February 05, 2015, 02:58:55 PM »
Tap.  Preferably from work.

jb14

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #105 on: February 05, 2015, 06:22:57 PM »
Tap. I also work for a company that makes mass spectrometers and we use them to test drinking water. Municipal water in the U.S. is good stuff, in terms of safety. Taste,  that's another matter. Luckily we have pretty tasty water min Minneapolis. 

The best tasting tap water I've ever had was in Iceland, and Denmark was a close second.

forummm

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #106 on: February 06, 2015, 10:26:05 AM »
Unfiltered tap. Tap water is 100% fine for you in the US. It's very well regulated. Some areas of the country have more mineral content in their water, which might taste funny. If it bothers you, you can filter it.

kiblebuka

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #107 on: February 06, 2015, 10:40:27 AM »
Tap filtered through a Brita pitcher. The kitchen tap water tastes like dirt otherwise. The bathroom line is a bit better. I really do like bottled water, and was buying cases and cases. Then I got tired of lugging it upstairs.

MillenialMustache

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #108 on: February 06, 2015, 01:31:38 PM »
Well water filtered with reverse osmosis. Cost - $100 or so for the system and around $15 a year for the filters (bought in bulk four years ago). Needed RO water for the fish tank, unless we put drops in our well water (annoying and not free either), or filled jugs at a quarter a gallon at the grocery store (also annoying and also not free.)

kander

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #109 on: February 06, 2015, 01:48:24 PM »
In Holland almost every-one drinks tapwater. Drinking bottled water is more a fashion-statement of some people then a necessity.

In restaurants you can get bottled water, but you can also ask for tap water. Which is free. Some restaurants refuse, but the law requires that restaurants should give it to their costumers if they ask for it.

BlueHouse

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #110 on: February 06, 2015, 02:03:31 PM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens. 

Reyes01

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #111 on: February 06, 2015, 09:15:52 PM »
Tap.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #112 on: February 06, 2015, 09:28:31 PM »
Grew up on well, drink tap now. Usually keep a reusable bottle filled in the fridge for nice cold water. Still just tap though. We have great water here.

minority_finance_mo

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #113 on: February 06, 2015, 09:33:27 PM »
There are kinds of water? O_o

Returnoftheyeti

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #114 on: February 06, 2015, 09:57:05 PM »
Refreshe seltzer.  2 or 3 cans a night. 

I am surprised no one posted this yet

I pay too much, about $1 a liter, an probably 2 liters every 3 days.


http://priceonomics.com/soda-makers/sodastream/

Safeway brand carbonated water is fairly cheap, $0.89 for a liter bottle (and almost twice as cheap per liter if you spring for a two liter sized bottle). Since the SodaStream costs $0.28 per liter, you save $0.61 per liter! So how long will it take you to pay back your investment in the device ($113)?

It takes 93 weeks or almost two years to pay back the investment. If you only drink a liter of sparkling water every two weeks, it would take over seven years! If you normally buy 2 liter bottles of water from Safeway, it will take much longer.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2015, 10:01:00 PM by Returnoftheyeti »

OSUBearCub

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #115 on: February 07, 2015, 08:22:27 AM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens.

Jesus.  You just painted a picture that turned my stomach.  Please someone put a little science behind drinking tap water so I can get the idea of poop, hair, and tampons out of my head.  For real - my stomach lurched at this post.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #116 on: February 07, 2015, 08:45:50 AM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens.

Jesus.  You just painted a picture that turned my stomach.  Please someone put a little science behind drinking tap water so I can get the idea of poop, hair, and tampons out of my head.  For real - my stomach lurched at this post.

It is actually a very cool process once you learn all about it.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/h2o4.htm

Elle 8

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #117 on: February 07, 2015, 08:50:35 AM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens.

My tap water comes from a reservoir in central Massachusetts, and my waste water goes into the Atlantic Ocean (after being treated).  There's actually a walking trail around the treatment facility and it doesn't smell bad (well I've only been there once; maybe it does some days?)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #118 on: February 07, 2015, 09:02:05 AM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens.

My tap water comes from a reservoir in central Massachusetts, and my waste water goes into the Atlantic Ocean (after being treated).  There's actually a walking trail around the treatment facility and it doesn't smell bad (well I've only been there once; maybe it does some days?)

I grew up about 1/4 mile from a water treatment facility. In my experience, it's mainly the very hot days and the very cold days that are issues. Otherwise it tends to be pretty minor, no worse than a dairy.

Schaefer Light

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #119 on: February 07, 2015, 12:43:50 PM »
The kind that Coors Brewing Company puts in its beer;)

MandyM

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #120 on: February 09, 2015, 06:56:54 AM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens.

Jesus.  You just painted a picture that turned my stomach.  Please someone put a little science behind drinking tap water so I can get the idea of poop, hair, and tampons out of my head.  For real - my stomach lurched at this post.

Blue House - do you work next to a water treatment plant or a wastewater treatment plant (sometimes called a water reclamation facility)? Water treatment plants can smell on occasion, but likely its wastewater.

The time/distance between the wastewater and drinking water in Florida is pretty big. The vast majority of drinking water in FL is groundwater, which is generally a cleaner source than surface water. Plus, after wastewater is treated, the majority (or possibly entirety) is used as irrigation (i.e. reclaimed water). Reclaimed water has to be treated to a higher standard than normal wastewater discharge, which means it has to have secondary disinfection. The reclaimed water has a long way to go before it gets back to the aquifer and becomes groundwater.

This is a lot different than a place like Kentucky or most anywhere along the Mississippi River - you pull your drinking water from the river, which is also where you dump your treated wastewater. 

2Birds1Stone

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #121 on: February 09, 2015, 07:07:13 AM »
tap

boarder42

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #122 on: February 09, 2015, 08:22:58 AM »
cold water

KD

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #123 on: February 09, 2015, 09:14:06 AM »
Well water to house is sulphurish but I drink it sometimes, but I grew up on well water.  Family (city kids & hubs) will only drink the spring water that we haul in from spring near the house.  I sometimes drink it as well.  So I drink FREE water.

BlueHouse

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #124 on: February 09, 2015, 10:40:46 AM »
I work next door to a water treatment plant.  It smells so bad that some days I wretch and dry-heave in the parking lot.  I cannot believe that we drink water that just a few days before someone pooped into and was rinsed down the drain with a pile of soap-encrusted hair or tampons. 
Still, I drink tap water.  no problem with it.  But at work, the pipes are very old and you'll find brown "floaters" in the water.  So I carry tap water from home in stainless steel canteens.

Jesus.  You just painted a picture that turned my stomach.  Please someone put a little science behind drinking tap water so I can get the idea of poop, hair, and tampons out of my head.  For real - my stomach lurched at this post.

Blue House - do you work next to a water treatment plant or a wastewater treatment plant (sometimes called a water reclamation facility)? Water treatment plants can smell on occasion, but likely its wastewater.

The time/distance between the wastewater and drinking water in Florida is pretty big. The vast majority of drinking water in FL is groundwater, which is generally a cleaner source than surface water. Plus, after wastewater is treated, the majority (or possibly entirety) is used as irrigation (i.e. reclaimed water). Reclaimed water has to be treated to a higher standard than normal wastewater discharge, which means it has to have secondary disinfection. The reclaimed water has a long way to go before it gets back to the aquifer and becomes groundwater.

This is a lot different than a place like Kentucky or most anywhere along the Mississippi River - you pull your drinking water from the river, which is also where you dump your treated wastewater.
My apologies to everyone whose stomachs lurched at my description!  I know the feeling!
MandyM, you're right and I didn't realize the distinction:   To treat wastewater, DC Water operates the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest advanced wastewater treatment facility in the world. 

sleepyguy

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #125 on: February 09, 2015, 11:37:13 AM »
Tap at home

Bottle nestle (cheapest for 24 pack) in the car for emergencies and for sporting events where I need it to be portable/mobile.

astvilla

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #126 on: February 10, 2015, 12:30:10 AM »
is bottled water really expensive? i know a lot of people say it is but some of the cases seem pretty cheap and depending how much you drink, you are not spending a whole lot?

what's the cost per quart or better yet liter in comparison?

MustachianMD

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #127 on: February 10, 2015, 12:37:09 AM »
Typically Tap Water when in the US. In "developing" countries I tend to get water that has been filtered or treated with my steripen. I really try to avoid bottled water. The biggest global shame we have is the lack of potable water in underdeveloped countries and how much the local population has to pay companies just to have water to drink.

DagobertDuck

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #128 on: February 10, 2015, 04:19:52 AM »
We've got great quality tap water here, so that's what I drink.
When going out /  to work / sports / whatever I bring a soda bottle I filled with tap water.

PeachFuzzInVA

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #129 on: February 10, 2015, 06:48:47 AM »
::Adjusts tin foil hat:: Well water if available, such as at my parent's house or in-laws. Bottled water everywhere else. I don't do tap water. Too many conflicting opinions about the safety of injesting flouride and I'm not a doctor or a scientists, so I don't feel that I'm qualified to make the determination myself. I'll hold off on drinking it when possible for now.

KD

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #130 on: February 10, 2015, 07:01:01 AM »
Tap at home

Bottle nestle (cheapest for 24 pack) in the car for emergencies and for sporting events where I need it to be portable/mobile.

Sleepyguy - are you in agreement with the CEO of Nestle that water is not a human right?  Ughhh.  I've given ALL Nestle products a heave-ho from my shopping cart since I read his quote.  Check it out.

frugalnacho

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #131 on: February 10, 2015, 07:02:36 AM »
is bottled water really expensive? i know a lot of people say it is but some of the cases seem pretty cheap and depending how much you drink, you are not spending a whole lot?

what's the cost per quart or better yet liter in comparison?

It's like $4 for a pack of 24 half liter bottles.  So it's about $1 for 3 liters of water.  Compare that with approximately <$0.01 for 3 liters out of my tap.  So it's 100X+ as expensive as tap water, wastes resources in the form of making, shipping, and disposing of plastic bottles, and requires you go to the store and get it. 

If you drink 3 liters per day your daily water habit will cost you about $365/yr (plus you have to go pick it up at the grocery store, and you are adding 2190 plastic bottles/yr to the landfill).   

Guesl982374

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #132 on: February 10, 2015, 07:09:03 AM »
is bottled water really expensive? i know a lot of people say it is but some of the cases seem pretty cheap and depending how much you drink, you are not spending a whole lot?

what's the cost per quart or better yet liter in comparison?

It's like $4 for a pack of 24 half liter bottles.  So it's about $1 for 3 liters of water.  Compare that with approximately <$0.01 for 3 liters out of my tap.  So it's 100X+ as expensive as tap water, wastes resources in the form of making, shipping, and disposing of plastic bottles, and requires you go to the store and get it. 

If you drink 3 liters per day your daily water habit will cost you about $365/yr (plus you have to go pick it up at the grocery store, and you are adding 2190 plastic bottles/yr to the landfill).

This. I am shocked at how many people here are buying water from a store or using fancy pants "water" products. Tap water for me both at work and at home.

My best investment ever was a nalgene bottle (pre-MMM). Instead of buying bottles of water at $0.50-$1 (circa 2007) each day, I bought a $10 water bottle. Less than two week payback.

Rural

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #133 on: February 10, 2015, 07:16:31 AM »
I drink tap water unless the county's turned the water off for one reason or another. Then I carry water up from the spring. Tap water at work.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2015, 07:18:13 AM by Rural »

MandyM

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #134 on: February 10, 2015, 07:17:48 AM »
is bottled water really expensive? i know a lot of people say it is but some of the cases seem pretty cheap and depending how much you drink, you are not spending a whole lot?

what's the cost per quart or better yet liter in comparison?

If you google this, the cost difference ranges anywhere from 300x up to 2000x. But water rates can vary substantially from city to city. Pull out our water bill and check. Mine comes out to about 1.2 cents per gallon (which includes taxes and the base fee/"water service charge").

On the Sam's club website you can get a pallet of bottled water (1728 bottles, 16.9oz each) for $498...so $2.18/gallon. So 1 gallon of bottled water is the same cost as over 181 gallons from my tap.

If you buy a single 16.9 oz bottle for 89 cents its even worse: $6.74/gallon. (1 gallon bottled = 561 gallons tap)

So no, I wouldn't consider bottled water expensive, but it is an unnecessary cost for the vast majority of people. Tap water is ridiculously cheap in comparison.


rocksinmyhead

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #135 on: February 10, 2015, 07:25:44 AM »
is bottled water really expensive? i know a lot of people say it is but some of the cases seem pretty cheap and depending how much you drink, you are not spending a whole lot?

what's the cost per quart or better yet liter in comparison?

IMO any beverage is expensive relative to $0.0034/gallon which is what I pay for tap water--okay, plus $0.00564/gallon for sewer, so almost a penny a gallon total... adding in taxes and fixed fees as MandyM did I also get 1.2 cents a gallon. but for me the grotesque environmental impact of bottled water is the real turnoff. it just seems stupid when you have an ultra-cheap, safe, tasty, and healthy beverage coming out of the faucets of your home (I realize that this is not the case for everyone).

MandyM

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #136 on: February 10, 2015, 08:30:50 AM »
is bottled water really expensive? i know a lot of people say it is but some of the cases seem pretty cheap and depending how much you drink, you are not spending a whole lot?

what's the cost per quart or better yet liter in comparison?

IMO any beverage is expensive relative to $0.0034/gallon which is what I pay for tap water--okay, plus $0.00564/gallon for sewer, so almost a penny a gallon total... adding in taxes and fixed fees as MandyM did I also get 1.2 cents a gallon. but for me the grotesque environmental impact of bottled water is the real turnoff. it just seems stupid when you have an ultra-cheap, safe, tasty, and healthy beverage coming out of the faucets of your home (I realize that this is not the case for everyone).

And convenient!!

OSUBearCub

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #137 on: February 10, 2015, 08:56:34 AM »
This. I am shocked at how many people here are buying water from a store or using fancy pants "water" products. Tap water for me both at work and at home.

My best investment ever was a nalgene bottle (pre-MMM). Instead of buying bottles of water at $0.50-$1 (circa 2007) each day, I bought a $10 water bottle. Less than two week payback.

I really wouldn't consider a basic Britta pitcher all that "fancy pants".  The buy-in for the pitcher was less than $20 and the filters - I use Target's brand with coupons/cartwheel/target mobile coupons - is $30-40 per year.  Yes, tap water is still much cheaper.  For me, the piece of mind is worth 10-12 cents a day (including the price of the pitcher, amortized over three years so far.) 

And, as I've mentioned, the surrounding counties issue municipal water "boil alerts" pretty frequently. Whether due to construction, caution, or outright contamination, I still like knowing I've got a window of meager protection should I miss the morning news.

GuitarStv

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #138 on: February 10, 2015, 09:14:46 AM »
Tap.

I'll actually request tap water over Britta filtered or bottled water.  Many people don't change their filters often enough to get any benefit, and having the water sitting around in a plastic container that has to be shipped around wasting resources just seems phenomenally stupid.

frugalnacho

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #139 on: February 10, 2015, 10:10:12 AM »
This. I am shocked at how many people here are buying water from a store or using fancy pants "water" products. Tap water for me both at work and at home.

My best investment ever was a nalgene bottle (pre-MMM). Instead of buying bottles of water at $0.50-$1 (circa 2007) each day, I bought a $10 water bottle. Less than two week payback.

I really wouldn't consider a basic Britta pitcher all that "fancy pants".  The buy-in for the pitcher was less than $20 and the filters - I use Target's brand with coupons/cartwheel/target mobile coupons - is $30-40 per year.  Yes, tap water is still much cheaper.  For me, the piece of mind is worth 10-12 cents a day (including the price of the pitcher, amortized over three years so far.) 

And, as I've mentioned, the surrounding counties issue municipal water "boil alerts" pretty frequently. Whether due to construction, caution, or outright contamination, I still like knowing I've got a window of meager protection should I miss the morning news.

It was my understanding that brita is just a carbon filtration system.  It will remove some organics from the water, but it will not remove any viruses or bacteria.   So it will help reduce chlorine, minerals, other chemicals, and chunks from the water, but if the water supply is contaminated with any virus/bacteria the brita filter will do absolutely nothing to protect you.  It may just make it taste slightly better, but it will still be contaminated.

I could be wrong on this and I have not done any research, but that was my understanding.  Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in?

OSUBearCub

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #140 on: February 10, 2015, 10:18:32 AM »
This. I am shocked at how many people here are buying water from a store or using fancy pants "water" products. Tap water for me both at work and at home.

My best investment ever was a nalgene bottle (pre-MMM). Instead of buying bottles of water at $0.50-$1 (circa 2007) each day, I bought a $10 water bottle. Less than two week payback.

I really wouldn't consider a basic Britta pitcher all that "fancy pants".  The buy-in for the pitcher was less than $20 and the filters - I use Target's brand with coupons/cartwheel/target mobile coupons - is $30-40 per year.  Yes, tap water is still much cheaper.  For me, the piece of mind is worth 10-12 cents a day (including the price of the pitcher, amortized over three years so far.) 

And, as I've mentioned, the surrounding counties issue municipal water "boil alerts" pretty frequently. Whether due to construction, caution, or outright contamination, I still like knowing I've got a window of meager protection should I miss the morning news.

It was my understanding that brita is just a carbon filtration system.  It will remove some organics from the water, but it will not remove any viruses or bacteria.   So it will help reduce chlorine, minerals, other chemicals, and chunks from the water, but if the water supply is contaminated with any virus/bacteria the brita filter will do absolutely nothing to protect you.  It may just make it taste slightly better, but it will still be contaminated.

I could be wrong on this and I have not done any research, but that was my understanding.  Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in?

Hence I said "meager" protection.

KCM5

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #141 on: February 10, 2015, 10:20:43 AM »
This. I am shocked at how many people here are buying water from a store or using fancy pants "water" products. Tap water for me both at work and at home.

My best investment ever was a nalgene bottle (pre-MMM). Instead of buying bottles of water at $0.50-$1 (circa 2007) each day, I bought a $10 water bottle. Less than two week payback.

I really wouldn't consider a basic Britta pitcher all that "fancy pants".  The buy-in for the pitcher was less than $20 and the filters - I use Target's brand with coupons/cartwheel/target mobile coupons - is $30-40 per year.  Yes, tap water is still much cheaper.  For me, the piece of mind is worth 10-12 cents a day (including the price of the pitcher, amortized over three years so far.) 

And, as I've mentioned, the surrounding counties issue municipal water "boil alerts" pretty frequently. Whether due to construction, caution, or outright contamination, I still like knowing I've got a window of meager protection should I miss the morning news.

It was my understanding that brita is just a carbon filtration system.  It will remove some organics from the water, but it will not remove any viruses or bacteria.   So it will help reduce chlorine, minerals, other chemicals, and chunks from the water, but if the water supply is contaminated with any virus/bacteria the brita filter will do absolutely nothing to protect you.  It may just make it taste slightly better, but it will still be contaminated.

I could be wrong on this and I have not done any research, but that was my understanding.  Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in?

You're right. The carbon filter is basically for taste and will do nothing for most things that will actually make you sick. It doesn't even remove fluoride (added by many municipal water systems for dental health).

frugalnacho

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #142 on: February 10, 2015, 10:27:02 AM »
This. I am shocked at how many people here are buying water from a store or using fancy pants "water" products. Tap water for me both at work and at home.

My best investment ever was a nalgene bottle (pre-MMM). Instead of buying bottles of water at $0.50-$1 (circa 2007) each day, I bought a $10 water bottle. Less than two week payback.

I really wouldn't consider a basic Britta pitcher all that "fancy pants".  The buy-in for the pitcher was less than $20 and the filters - I use Target's brand with coupons/cartwheel/target mobile coupons - is $30-40 per year.  Yes, tap water is still much cheaper.  For me, the piece of mind is worth 10-12 cents a day (including the price of the pitcher, amortized over three years so far.) 

And, as I've mentioned, the surrounding counties issue municipal water "boil alerts" pretty frequently. Whether due to construction, caution, or outright contamination, I still like knowing I've got a window of meager protection should I miss the morning news.

It was my understanding that brita is just a carbon filtration system.  It will remove some organics from the water, but it will not remove any viruses or bacteria.   So it will help reduce chlorine, minerals, other chemicals, and chunks from the water, but if the water supply is contaminated with any virus/bacteria the brita filter will do absolutely nothing to protect you.  It may just make it taste slightly better, but it will still be contaminated.

I could be wrong on this and I have not done any research, but that was my understanding.  Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in?

Hence I said "meager" protection.

I think meager is the wrong word though.  I think it's actually zero protection in the case of boil alerts, and any protection you think you get is actually illusory.  It may be giving you a false sense of security.  I'm not an expert though.

finitelement

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #143 on: February 10, 2015, 10:38:53 AM »
Tap straight from a shallow well

minimustache1985

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #144 on: February 10, 2015, 10:47:16 AM »
Brita.  It may be a placebo but if it tastes better I'll drink more of it, which is definitely a health perk.

sky_northern

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Re: What kind of water do you drink?
« Reply #145 on: February 10, 2015, 11:46:26 AM »
FYI - a lot of bottled water is just straight from a tap. And I would even question the difference in "spring" water too. I have not been to a bottled water facility, but I would venture to guess that their treatment/filtering techniques are not any different than what your local water utility is doing. I agree that some tap water tastes terrible, but bottled water is just a different, more expensive tap. Don't fall for their fancy explanation of filtration techniques.

I buy 19 liter jugs of water. I know the local company, they take tap water and put it through a couple extra filtration processes. The end results tastes much better than tap water. Our tap water is heavily chlorinated and sometimes silty. Sometimes when you draw a bath, you get a lovely layer of exfoliate in the bottom of the tub.

I go through about 1 jug a month because work provides a water cooler that I take advantage of. So I figure $7/month is worth it to ensure that I actually drink more water than I would if I forced myself to drink tap water.