My husband showed me an article he read last night that really grossed me out about the bottled water we have been buying. They reviewed all bottled water brands and gave them a grade A-F. The kind we have been buying got an "F" and says it's very murky. Gross!! So I was thinking about starting to buy a new brand but thought we should try a filter system to save money and the earth at the same time :) Does anyone know of a good water filter system? We would probably want to get one that goes on the faucet but not opposed to the pitchers. Thanks ladies!!
If anyone would like me to send them the article, send me a message.
Added- We have city water but I don't like straight tap water, even if it's been in the fridge.
Filter! It costs less, you buy it less often, takes less room to store, and you're throwing less away.
We like Brita.
Do not buy any bottled water. At all. It's incredibly expensive. The industry is not regulated. Your tap water goes through many more tests. You don't like it because you have become used to the bottled stuff. Many products are actually city water from other cities, filtered a little but nothing else - so you are buying city water from Atlanta (where Coca-cola makes Dasani, I think- whatever their water is.) Then they put it in a truck where it is subjected to heat or cold, depending on the season, and the chemicals in the plastic bottle leech into the water. Then the truck burns fossil fuels to get it to a warehouse, where it sits. Then another truck burns fossil fuels to get it to your store. Everyone is hauling water when it's right there in your tap.
Switch to BPA free bottles or metal bottles to carry water with you. It's so much less expensive. There are terrific water systems available depending on how much money you want to spend. There are popular systems in every store (Brita, for example) but you have to allow for replacing filters and so on. But they are so much better than bottled water. Still, you don't really know what's in your water and what you are filtering out. It may not be worth it.
A Brita filter is great. Our fridge has a filter on the water dispenser or else I'd use a Brita pitcher at home. We're planning to look into reverse-osmosis filters as well for our drinking water but that's more of a project.
Look into stainless steel water bottles, such as Kleen Kanteen (sp?).
My problem with the bottled water is mostly the plastic. It leeches into the water, especially when it gets hot. And you have no idea how long those bottles sat in a sweltering warehouse before getting to your store's shelf.
Brita is the best. water tastes great and the faucet one last quite a while.
i read that article to! gross! honestly we just drink plain old tap water, but my parents who dont want to drink the water that comes out of their well invested in a water cooler.
I read that article too! We've used both the Pur faucet filter and the Brita pitcher. I like both, but the Pur on the faucet was really easy to use and you can get refills at Costco or Sams.
I read that same article. We drink Dasani at home and it got a D :( I have a Brita pitcher in the fridge that hubby likes when he is home. I still prefer the taste of Dasani though so I think it will be hard for me to change. My parents use the pur filter on their sink and have a general Electric Merlin reverse osmosis filter on their home water supply. I LOVE taking showers at their house because the water is so soft. The Merlin is pretty pricey though but we are saving up for one of our own one day.
Are you on well water? I ask, because municipal water is by far the safest. So, if you are on city water, don't do anything!
If you do get filtered water, make sure you change the filters regularly (even the ones in refrigerators). If you don't, you are making the problem much worse, because everything collected in the filters will grow and get worse.
We have a Pur water filter on the kitchen faucet. It is super easy to install, very convenient to use, and the water tastes great. It has a small light that flashes when you turn it on, so you know when to change the filter. Green means the filter is good, reddish orange means change the filter. The filter lasts several months, and is easy to change.
Pur isn't expensive to buy, and the refill filters are not expensive. All of it can be bought at a lot stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, Sam's Club, etc).
I used to buy TONS of water bottles. THen i realizes how much money I was wasting. I bought a Brita filter. It really helps.
Brita filters.
Americans ALONE use enough bottled water that the used bottles wrap around the earth 6+ times - and that's in just one year.
UPDATE: here's the grade list on bottled water....pretty sure my toilet water is cleaner than these products:
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/best-and-worst-bottled...
That info on bottled water has been around for years. We have tried to avoid it for quite awhile now. We have a reverse osmosis unit in our house and the filters have to be changed once a year. I think the initial cost was just under $200. The filter change is about $30.
My daughter has a Brita a likes it.
I'm with Armymomof2. I love the taste of Dasani, but I actually just use a Brita Pitcher. I want one of the faucet purifiers, but we move so much that it would just be a hassel. I do love the pitcher because it gets super cold. And the water just is water. Doesn't taste like anything. Just water. It's nice.
Can you send me the article? My favorite water is the WalMart Spring water. I buy it in the gallon size. I drink a lot of water and I can tell the difference so I don't drink straight tap water. I will use the tap for any juice or mixed drink.
My refrigerator has a good filter on it and we drink and cook with that water.
I do use bottled water for times when I head out to walk, have a bottle in the car, daughter takes them to school, etc I don't have any issues with that because our main source is the fridge.
I don't get bent out of shape on plastics. We are in the plastics industry and what you hear is not always the truth. Most of it is skewed.
