What do you do for drinking water?

[ejh]

Hey,

A question about the most basic needs - drinking water.
A few years ago, we used to buy bottled water at home. We then moved to a fancy-pants expensive water purification-cooling-heating machine.
About a month ago, we sold the machine (due to my mustachian influence) - and now we're back to bottles.
I mostly just drink from the tap, but:
1. It really does have an unpleasant taste
2. My wife will only give the kids bottled mineral water. She considers the tap to be unclean & lacking minerals.
For all I know she's right. Most of the time I drink at work anyway.

Anyway, we go about using over 2 liters of bottled water a day which adds up to around $25 a month.
Plus, it's pretty annoying lugging 6 packs of 2 liter bottles around.

So, what do you do?
I thought to install a cheap carbon filter under the kitchen sink (about $20 which could last for around 6 months, maybe a bit more including piping).

[Primm]

Your wife (provided you live somewhere with utility-controlled tested tap water) is wrong.

I'm assuming you're not from the US, because you used tap not faucet. Australia? NZ? Either way, the water you're drinking out of a bottle is most likely filled by ... a tap. It isn't some fancy-pants mineral stuff (unless you're buying the French stuff). You're paying for the convenience.

If you don't like the taste get a filter, but don't fool yourself that drinking bottled water is any better for you than tap water. And the landfill - dude, you're destroying the earth!

Read this.

[ejh]

I couldn't agree more, but convincing others is not always easy.
People have a tendency to believe "research" which strengthens their opinions.
For example, about a month ago there was an article about the water in our city which is desalinated.
The article stated that the water has very low levels of magnesium - potentially harming if it's the only source of water consumed.
My wife got stressed out once she heard that.
Was the article true? Was it funded by others interested in getting people to buy bottled water? I don't know.

However, I will probably get the filter and use it myself.
Maybe that and dropping the link you sent me by my wife will get through eventually.

[Primm]

Good luck. Can you really get an under-sink filter for $20 though? Seems so cheap as to be potentially useless (but I admit to never having researched such things, I just feel like something that will be effective should cost more than that).

[ejh]

I've never used one before, a friend of mine recommended it to me.
A quick check on Amazon reveals plenty of options, e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Clear-Inline-Granular-Activated/dp/B005XTQMMI/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1473672080&sr=1-1&keywords=carbon+filter

Has anyone had any experience with a specific filter?
I'd be happy to hear.

[Bliss]

We do a home delivery service that costs about $22/month for three 5-gallon jugs of spring water. There is also a lower cost filtered water option. The dispenser is free.

My spouse also doesn't like the taste of our tap water, which we ran through the Brita filter, so he wasn't drinking much. Also, some of the municipalities around us have had difficulties with contaminated drinking water due to some sort of chemical runoff from the local airbase. The government just ran a study to determine if this was the cause of some cancer clusters here. 

Given that we're in a rental, this is the best option for us right now. If we owned, we probably would have looked into installing a filtration system under the kitchen sink or something similar.

[LazyBones]

Bottled water is a pretty interesting thing, as there are a few different types out there these days, all of which is regulated by the FDA.  Tap water is regulated by the EPA.

So long story short, depending on what type of water it is, there are different types of minimum requirements to meet.   Bottled water is typically, “cleaner” than tap water, but only because it goes through some additional treatments.

For instance, spring water is the same as tap water because of the way it is transported and stored at the bottling facility.  However, before it is bottled, it goes through carbon filtration to remove the chlorine.  Then it goes through a micron filtration process to take out the floating particles, and then finally an ozonation process to kill bacteria and other microorganisms.

Mineral water is similar to spring water, but bottled water labeled "mineral water" must contain no less than 250 parts per million of dissolved solids, and cannot have added minerals.  Each type has different levels of minerals, so check the nutrition label to verify the mineral content.

Filtered water is also similar to spring water, except the source is municipal tap water. It goes through the same carbon filtration and ozonation process, but it may or may not go through a micron filtration process.

Purified water is water where the impurities must be removed or reduced to extremely low levels. Water which meets this definition is of higher purity than spring water, tap water or filtered water.  Minerals are removed by one of several processes, including distillation, reverse-osmosis and deionization. Purified water is also known as "demineralized water," "deionized water," "distilled water," and "reverse osmosis water."

So there is no reason that you can’t get the tap water at home to be as good as or better than certain bottled waters. 
Also, the benefits to drinking mineral water is somewhat minimal, as you can get the same minerals – calcium, magnesium, and sodium – from eating different types of foods.

There are a bunch of types of water filtration out there - Distillation, deionization, carbon adsorption, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, UV, and infrared.
So do a little bit of research and figure out what type of things you want to have removed from your drinking water and go from there.

All of that being said, I currently use this in my home:
https://www.amazon.com/PUR-18-Cup-Water-Filter-Dispenser/dp/B0006MQCA4

[Sibley]

In the US at least, I believe it is required that water systems periodically test their water and make the results available to the public. Go get a copy. Don't know about other countries though.

If you're concerned, you can get your water tested yourself. That would pick up any contamination you might be getting from your home's pipes as well. I have no idea what the price would be, but if it would convince your wife that tap water is fine, it'll probably be way cheaper than bottled water.

If it's just a taste issue, I'd get a reasonably priced water filter of some sort and use that.

[lthenderson]

Currently we just get our drinking water through the refrigerator dispenser which has a $10 filter on it that I change once a year. In our previous house we had a whole house water filter plumbed inline to a separate faucet on the sink just for drinking water and the ice dispenser in the refrigerator. It back flushed itself daily to remove filtered out impurities and every two years I had to replace a $30 filter.

[GuitarStv]

In Canada, most bottled water is not tested as stringently as tap water, and they have a pretty high recall rate due to problems with it.  In addition to this, the plastic has been known to leech into the water in most bottled water products. . . and for this you pay a premium.

 . . . and the environment pays a hefty premium because of the costs of trucking your bottled water, and the massive amount of waste that the bottles add up to every year.

[MandyM]

So long story short, depending on what type of water it is, there are different types of minimum requirements to meet.   Bottled water is typically, “cleaner” than tap water, but only because it goes through some additional treatments.

I disagree with this statement. Unless you know what your local facility uses as a treatment process, you don't know if there are "additional treatments" on the bottled water vs tap. Also, the quality of the source water is a major determination in what treatment is even necessary.

Frankly, the vast majority of drinking water in the US is safe to drink. If you have concerns, get it tested. Otherwise its just paranoia. 

If you don't like the taste, try a filter, or try chilling it in the fridge, or squeeze some lemon in to mask it.

Some bottled water as minerals because they were added back at the end of the treatment process - so it isn't as if the minerals are naturally occurring. Take a vitamin if you want minerals. Buying bottled water for the minerals seems inconvenient and wasteful to me. 

Sidenote: I work in the water industry

[LazyBones]

So long story short, depending on what type of water it is, there are different types of minimum requirements to meet.   Bottled water is typically, “cleaner” than tap water, but only because it goes through some additional treatments.

I disagree with this statement. Unless you know what your local facility uses as a treatment process, you don't know if there are "additional treatments" on the bottled water vs tap. Also, the quality of the source water is a major determination in what treatment is even necessary.

I was thinking about the chlorine taste that some tap waters may have.  This is typically removed in bottled waters.

I agree with your comments.

[Cranky]

I drink water out of my tap, which I run through a Brita filter and then chill in the fridge. It tastes really nice, because we mostly drink water and not other flavored stuff, I think.

We have very hard water, so I think it's plenty mineral rich.

[BudgetSlasher]

Tap water from our well after it has passed through the whole house water filter and water softener.

Before this location we drank tap water from a municipal supply without any filter, and before that it was municipal tap water with a pur filter at the sink, but any brand would do.

What brand of water are you buying now? Some brands are source from municipal water supplies.

[piethief]

A reverse osmosis filter system will give you better than bottled water quality in unlimited amounts.  We added one when we replaced the 30 year old water softener system at our house, and we love it.  (And I drink a lot more water now.)  Plus, being on a well system, it's "free".

[CanuckExpat]

Drink the tap water--- put it though a Brita if needed for your psychological well being  or for taste.... otherwise bottled water is a waste of time and money.... 

This more or less solves the problem for you. I'll tell you to go a step further. Get a Brita pitcher, don't worry about getting a filter. Put it in the fridge so your wife has nice cold water to drink, and just tell her you you will take care of keeping the filters replaced.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Drink the tap water--- put it though a Brita if needed for your psychological well being  or for taste.... otherwise bottled water is a waste of time and money.... 

This more or less solves the problem for you. I'll tell you to go a step further. Get a Brita pitcher, don't worry about getting a filter. Put it in the fridge so your wife has nice cold water to drink, and just tell her you you will take care of keeping the filters replaced.

...Don't lie to your wife about water.

But, drink tap water like a reasonable person.

[boarder42]

You mean like out the toilet

[oldtoyota]

I read the Nutrition Action Newsletter and think they present data-based information. After reading about what's in the water, I decided to buy a Culligan under-sink water filtration system. It will cost 8 cents per gallon and will replace the Brita, which requires many filter changes and doesn't remove arsenic, lead, etc.

https://cspinet.org/tip/do-you-know-what-your-water-filter-removes

[turketron]

I'm assuming you're not from the US, because you used tap not faucet. Australia? NZ? [/url]

Wait, what? I'm in the midwest US and I'd say most people around here refer to it as tap water. More on-topic, our tap water tastes just fine (to me) so I drink that and never buy bottled. I have heard one or two people on the same municipal water as me complain that it tastes funny (I don't really agree) and use a Brita filter.

[boarder42]

who calls it faucet water in the US.  thats wierd.

[abhe8]

 We use a berkey filter. I only buy bottled water if needed when traveling, but even then we usually just refill our water bottle at drinking fountains.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Joggernot]

I like the Penn & Teller skit where they point out that every city has at least one person, and more for larger cities, whose sole job is to make sure my tap water is safe to drink.  For bottled water there are only 6 people nationwide doing the same job.  I'll take my chances with tap water.

[Primm]

who calls it faucet water in the US.  thats wierd.

What do you call the appliance you turn and water comes out of it then?

[Fudge102]

who calls it faucet water in the US.  thats wierd.

What do you call the appliance you turn and water comes out of it then?

I call it the sink.  But when I get water, it's tap water...  I do use the word faucet, but not in a drinking context.  All tap water here in the US of me...

[LeRainDrop]

who calls it faucet water in the US.  thats wierd.

What do you call the appliance you turn and water comes out of it then?

I call it the sink.  But when I get water, it's tap water...  I do use the word faucet, but not in a drinking context.  All tap water here in the US of me...

Yeah, the part the water comes out of is called the "faucet" (or less commonly the "tap"), but the water that comes out is called "tap water."  I've lived in New England and the Southeast, and this has been universally the same.

Going back to the OP, I bought a Brita pitcher, run my tap water through that, and keep the pitcher chilled in the fridge.  It gets rid of the slightly mineral taste of the tap water in my city.  Also, if you're wife's concerned about not getting enough magnesium, then why doesn't your family just take daily multivitamins?  I'd be kinda surprised if your kids' doctor isn't recommending this anyway.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

who calls it faucet water in the US.  thats wierd.

What do you call the appliance you turn and water comes out of it then?

A faucet. The actual part the water comes out of is the spigot, the way I talk.

[Primm]

So in the US you turn the spigot to get tap water out of the faucet.

Here we turn the tap to get tap water out of the tap.

So why do you actually call it "tap" water when no tap was involved in the production or distribution of said water?

[GuitarStv]

So in the US you turn the spigot to get tap water out of the faucet.

Here we turn the tap to get tap water out of the tap.

So why do you actually call it "tap" water when no tap was involved in the production or distribution of said water?

Dude.  They haven't figured out the metric system or how to tell temperature properly . . . maybe let this one slide until they look at the major problems?

[ender]

A lot of grocery stores let you bring in gallon jugs and fill them up with water for super cheap.

Perhaps you could do this?

[Cromacster]

Haha interesting.

At home I drink water from the tap.  But if I'm referring to the actual item, it's the faucet.

IE Go get a drink from the tap......I need to fix the faucet.

Now if we're talking about water fountains it's called a fountain...unless you're in northeastern Wisconsin, then it's a bubbler.....

Edit to add:  Surprised we got this far and no one even mention how the government is using fluoride to control our thoughts.

[turketron]

Haha interesting.

At home I drink water from the tap.  But if I'm referring to the actual item, it's the faucet.

IE Go get a drink from the tap......I need to fix the faucet.

Now if we're talking about water fountains it's called a fountain...unless you're in northeastern Wisconsin, then it's a bubbler.....

This is basically what I say as well. Never spigot- that's the outdoor one that you connect a garden hose to. Also you'll hear "bubbler" all across WI, but it's a generational thing in my experience that seems to be falling out of favor.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

So in the US you turn the spigot to get tap water out of the faucet.

Here we turn the tap to get tap water out of the tap.

So why do you actually call it "tap" water when no tap was involved in the production or distribution of said water?

Nah, you turn the handle. The spigot...yeah I mainly use that word outside, it's the part you'd connect the hose to but I think of that exit point as the spigot inside too.

It's tap water because my plumbing is tapped into the borough's water mains.

[CanuckExpat]

...Don't lie to your wife about water.

But, drink tap water like a reasonable person.

Generally speaking, not lying to your wife is good advice, but we are talking about avoiding tap water for bottles/filters.
Desperate times call for desperate measures

I'll leave you to guess how serious I'm being, because I'm not sure I know my self :)

[BudgetSlasher]

I had a couple thoughts and I do not know if they will be helpful, but here they are.

First, you could always get your tap water tested (even if you don't tell you wife you are doing it). If her concern really is safety the result could address that concern. As has been said a low mineral content water isn't really a problem. . . that is assuming of course you are not drinking pure lab grade deionized water right from the equipment.

Second, is your wife on board with the MMM way of cutting costs? If not, perhaps she just has a preference for the luxury of bottled water and the safety of it is her way of avoiding the money discussion. You know your wife and I am not saying this is the case.

Third, it could boil down to personal taste. For example my wife and I grew up in the same city; I grew up on city water with its chlorine and fluoride and my wife grew up on a shallow well with a very high sulfur content. We both still have that as a baseline, as a result I still refer to the kind of water she grew up with as "rotten egg water" and cannot stand to drink it and she refers to any chlorinated city water as having a disgusting chemical taste. Since we've been together we've lived on 8 different water sources and each one tasted different, some better to one of us and some better for both of us.

[Glenstache]

1. Stop buying bottled water for all of your drinking water. It is expensive and environmentally terrible.
2. If you object to drinking out of the tap, buy a whole house water filter housing and a carbon filter. Carbon will resolve most aesthetic issues and will also sorb many metals, etc that you may be concerned about. If the municipal source has lots of organics, the carbon filter should strip out the disinfection byprodcuts as well (which they will also be testing for because they are regulated). This will cost about $50 to set up and maybe $10 per filter change every 6 months or so (depends on your local water).
3. RO filters are useful for specific contaminants such as nitrates, but also waste a lot of water in the process.

You can collect a water sample and send it to a lab for analysis if you really want to know what is in it. You should be able to get a set of 10 metals analyses for under $100. As, Fe, Mg (in your case), Pb, Cu, Zn are probably the ones you want to start with, if so. Ca and Mg can be used to formally calculate the hardness of your water, if that matters to you. 

[Cyaphas]

I've lived in a LOT of different places and one thing that is a huge contrast is the water taste. People who live in areas that are fed by snow melt mountain water have no IDEA how goodthey have it. Well water in my experience is a complete crap shoot, usually not ending well (pun intended.) Muddy midwest water tastes terrible. Here in TX, it literally tastes like mud. SO! Before everyone jumps onto the TAP water holier than thou band wagon, please consider that there is a dramatic difference in how municipalities obtain and filter said 'tap' water.

[BudgetSlasher]

I've lived in a LOT of different places and one thing that is a huge contrast is the water taste. People who live in areas that are fed by snow melt mountain water have no IDEA how goodthey have it. Well water in my experience is a complete crap shoot, usually not ending well (pun intended.) Muddy midwest water tastes terrible. Here in TX, it literally tastes like mud. SO! Before everyone jumps onto the TAP water holier than thou band wagon, please consider that there is a dramatic difference in how municipalities obtain and filter said 'tap' water.

As a counter point here in the northeast our well is great, but my in-laws are on city water and the town relies on two sources, one tastes great and the other taste like mud; literally the day they change you know.