The Truth of Water – Answers

Nadia from Bettendorf Writes:

I was very interested in your site and am looking for an advice. I am currently reseaching two companies and their products but finding it very difficult to compare them. I would like to install a RO system for drinking water. I would also like to remove clorine and hardness from all the water in the house. I contacted Eco water and was advised an RO system with 3 gal tank and a water conditioner/purifier model ERR 3502

http://ecowater.com/systemERR3502R30.php

There are 6 of us in the house. I am wondering if 3 gal worth of drinking water is enough and if this purifier is big enough for us. It has coconut shell carbon filter.
The other salesman I talked to was from Culligan. He recommended 9 gal RO system. like this one:

http://www.culligan.com/en/products/drinking-water-systems/aqua-cleer/

He did not even want to go the whole system route. I need to check with him but I think he thought the amount of carbon that is included in those 2-in-1  (so to speak )systems would not be adequate. He said we would need a softner and a carbon filter tank – seems like a lot.
My question is what RO tank we need and if this coconut shell filter is enough.
The eco-water system carbon filter needs to be replaced every year for $100 while Culligan lasts 2-3 years but the price is $200 plus labor. So they are comparable this way.
I do not know why Culligan did not recommend this system

http://www.culligan.com/en/products/whole-house-water-filters/total-home/

Even though he was showing me the picture of Gold seried water softener that looks exactly like this one.  I think he was afraid that we would be going thru salt and carbon too fast.

Also, how would I compare water softners (valve, salt, etc) I am not sure what to look at.

I really appreciate your advice in this matter. I have kids who cannot tolerate bad water so I am trying to get the most bang for my $.

Hi Nadia

Thank you for writing in.

First off, since you mentioned chlorinated water, I’ll assume that you’re on municipal water.  If that’s not the case, please write back and let me know, as my answer will change.

My thoughts on reverse osmosis systems are that they are an absolute last resort device.  I’ve only recommended them a few times, like a woman in Manitoba who had high levels of uranium in her drinking water, for example.

This is because reverse osmosis is very expensive, produces only a small amount of water (some systems reject up to 50% of the water that goes into them), and produces water that is lower in pH and had no minerals which most health professionals agree is part of a healthy diet.

If you like the taste of de-mineralized water, then by all means purchase a reverse osmosis system.  You will probably need one larger than 3 gallons for a 6 person home, as it will produce the three gallons slowly.  If you drain the storage tank filling water bottles, or cooking a large pot of pasta, it will recover slowly.

Contrary to what water stores may have you believe, here in North America municipally treated water is safe to drink and use right out of the tap.  The only concerns with that water are the chlorine, which offer objectionable taste to some, and sometimes the hardness which makes washing chores more difficult.

My recommendation is a two fold process:

1) Carbon filtration and softening for most of your house
2) Carbon filtration only for your drinking water

In my municipality, I use a filter by a company called Kinetico.  The reason I use these filters is that they have a twin tank design for redundancy, meaning even if the unit is in a backwash mode you still get water.  They also do not require any electricity at all, and operate on water pressure. This saves a lot of hassle, wasted electricity and the potential for issues if you have power surges or black outs.

Kinetico makes a softener/carbon filter product that operates in this principle, so you will get soft, dechlorinated water for showering, washing, and laundry.  Check it out here:

http://www.kinetico.com/KineticoSystems/WaterSofteners.aspx

Scroll down to view the municipal water softeners.  I wholly recommend Kinetico products to be of top quality and reliability.  You may pay a little more than the Culligan systems but I think you will be pleased.

The reason I do not recommend softened water for drinking is because softened water adds a lot of sodium. The harder your water is, the more sodium it will add. This is especially a problem for those with heart problems or sodium restricted diets; but most health professionals agree too much sodium from water and/or food isn’t a good thing for your health.

When you get the softener installed, make sure your plumber plumbs a line from before the softener to the kitchen sink, where you will take your drinking and cooking water.

From there, my recommendation is to use a carbon filter.  Carbon removes chlorine, chloramines, and even some organics that may be present that might hamper taste.

You can get carbon filters in many forms.  Under the sink units with it’s own tap, under the sink that ties into the existing tap, units that attach right to your tap, and jugs with a built in carbon filter.

To see examples of this technology, I put together a simple Amazon web page.  Any of these carbon filters will do you just fine to improve the taste of your water:

http://www.truthofwater.com/store.html

One of the filters even comes with removable flavor cartridges.

The advantages of carbon systems such as this are that it works off direct pressure, so there is no “gallon limit”.  The filter cartridges are very inexpensive to replace compared to R.O. as well.

Ron from California writes:

I am looking to have the safest and healthest pool water system that does not use chlorine?

Hi Ron

My expertise is in once through potable water systems. I don’t have much experience with pool water.

I do understand that it’s very unusual to have pools without some sort of secondary disinfectant in it. This is because pools are open to the atmosphere and environment and without a residual disinfectant they would very quickly become cesspools of a very active ecosystem, including things like e.coli (very common to soil, think of your bare feet on your lawn and garden then introducing it into the water) and other micro organisms that could be a potential threat.

I understand that some people can have a recirculation system through an ultraviolet disinfection device. I understand that systems like these drastically reduce the amount of disinfectant you add to your pool, but you still have to shock your system on occasion with a disinfectant, so biofilm doesn’t start growing on your underwater surfaces.

I wish I could help you further, but as I’ve said I’m out of my element and don’t want to lead you down the wrong path.

I encourage you to seek pool experts, either online or in your area. Perhaps you could go to your local pool store, see what he recommends, than ask for a list of references so you can call around and get the opinions of others who have pool and have used those systems.

I hope I’ve been of help.

Larry from Denver writes:

What are the least expensive yet safest types of water  filtration systems to make contaminated water drinkable? I’m interested in types that can be carried with you in an emergency or camping situation, and a larger type, say for a cabin, that works without batteries or electricity.

In Outward Bound we used iodine drops. It had a slight aftertaste, but it apparently worked. What do you recommend?

Hi Larry, thanks for the question.

This is an excellent question.  Drinking water is the most important thing you need on a trip, and it has to be safe. But water is very heavy to carry, so your best option is treatment.

Here is the issue.  When you go about treating raw water supplies to make them safe to drink, your biggest concern is the acute issues. Generally, these acute issues are microbes, bacteria, parasites, and viruses. That is why you added the iodine drops, for disinfection.

To assure proper disinfection, you need to take two steps:

1. Filtration
2. Disinfection

The dirtier the water is, the less effective your disinfectant will be.  This is because particles in your water, even colloidal particles (particles that are too small to settle out on their own) both absorb disinfectant and can shield microbes from said disinfectant.

For the first part of your question, I’ve browsed Amazon.com and found a good product for you. It’s from a company called Katadyn. Katadyn specializes in outdoor camping type activities, and have come up with a great little product that provides filtration, disinfection and even taste and odour control within an easy to carry bottle. The first filter is a sediment filter tight enough for cyst reduction (cryptosporidium cysts are common in surface waters and make you very sick), the second is an EPA approved disinfecting stage and the final stage is a carbon filter. The second stage is an iodine type disinfectant but the carbon filter should remove any aftertaste from the disinfectant or from the water source.

Click below to take a look. You can even purchase it from Amazon if you like. Generally Amazon.com prices are rather competitive:

Filtering larger volumes for drinking at a camp or cabin can be a bit trickier.  I wasn’t able to find a solution to treat larger volumes of water all in one step as above. However, I did find a filter for multiple people that can be seen below:

Simply add your iodine disinfectant afterwards to ensure any pathogens in the water are killed.

I hope I’ve answerd you question. If you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.