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.

Myron from CT writes:

We have municipal water. We use a lot of water (drinking, bathing etc.) I’m worried about chlorine, fluoride, metals, vocs and socs.

I’m looking for sink water filters for drinking and shower filters.
My head is spinning from all the products and information on the internet.

Hi Myron, thanks for writing in.

There is indeed a lot of information on the internet for water filtration and treatment systems.  There’s a lot of good stuff out there, and there is a lot of crap.  It is hard to know what to get at times.

Firstly, I’d like to belay your fears of all these nasties in your municipally treated water. Because there are so many people out to make a buck from selling you things you probably don’t need, there is a lot of money going into advertising creating negative propaganda against municipally treated water.

These days, water plants employ things like optimized coagulation, and sedimentation techniques, advanced oxidation, and activated carbon filter beds, and an aggressive distribution sampling protocol to ensure the safety of your water supply.  Most of the things you mentioned above are either just not there or are there well below the governments maximum acceptable concentrations.

However, if you want to err on the side of caution and make sure, and you have the money to spend, there are several things you can do.

Firstly, chlorine, VOC’s, and SOC’s.  These are things that can be removed with an activated carbon filter.  Activated carbon will also remove lead, which is effective if you have older plumbing in your home.  It’s important that you ensure the filter remains fresh and change it out at manufacturer recommended intervals, because activated carbon can propagate bacterial regrowth.

There are a few ways you can utilized this technology. I’ve provided links to appropriate products on Amazon.com to help you along.  Any of the products I recommend here will do the job.

There is a countertop pitcher method, where you add your water to the device, it filters it and you serve the water from it. You can view a good examples here and here.

You can also attach a carbon filter right to your kitchen tap, as you can see here and here.

Fluoride is a highly debated chemical. Some experts claim it’s imperative, while others claim it’s harmful. I tend to think that at the minute levels found in most supplies, it’s not any particular concern. You probably get all the fluoride you need if you purchase a quality toothpaste.

If it is a concern to you, there’s only one way to remove it, and that’s to use reverse osmosis filtration. R.O. also removes everything else.  It leaves you with nothing in the water but water.  If you decide to go this route, there has been some debate on whether the absence of minerals can be harmful. I tend to think that as long as you have a good diet and take a multivitamin, it’s not a big deal.

To check out a reverse osmosis unit, (which includes sediment and carbon prefilters), you can click here

Shower filters are also available in carbon filtration to remove chlorine.  There’s been some talk if the chlorine fumes are harmful.  There is so little chlorine in tap water (it just smells like a lot!) that I doubt it very much. However, it can’t hurt to take it out and it can make showering a more pleasant experience.

This shower filter will remove chlorine, and I think it’s pretty attractive too.

What you buy, what it removes and how much you spend is all up to you, but any of the above products should meet your needs.

I hope I’ve been of help. Please let me know if you need any clarifications.

Sandra from Saskatchewan Writes:

How do you safely remove for drinking from a private well?

Thanks for the question, Sandra.

Uranium is common to aquifers in or in contact with a sedimentary based bedrock, like the kind you have in Saskatchewan. It can also be found in granite, so is common to well waters in England, among other places.

The accepted maximum safe level of uranium in drinking water is 20 parts per billion in most parts of Canada. If you have not already done so, it is advisable to have your drinking water tested.  You should be able to find a laboratory that tests for uranium locally. If you cannot locate one, contact your municipality, they should be able to direct you to the lab closest to you.

Uranium is a heavy dissolved metal, and can be removed one of two ways:

1. Reverse Osmosis Filtration
2. Distillation

Distillers are expensive and hard to maintain. Your best option is to use a reverse osmosis filter. R.O. filter. These filters can be purchased relatively inexpensively in small sizes, small enough to fit under your kitchen counter and provide water through a special tap, which can be used for drinking and cooking.

Reverse Osmosis filters are the tightest filters, removing almost all dissolved substances from your water.  This creates a few problems. Firstly, the water must be very clean before entering the R.O. filter, or it will clog it up quickly.  When selecting your R.O. filter, most good manufacturers will provide several pre filters with your R.O. filter to preserve the integrity of the filter.  It is also important to purchase a good quality R.O. filter to ensure that it has high removal efficiencies for dissolved contaminants like uranium.  Make sure that the filter is NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) certified or has similar accreditations.

The other issue with reverse osmosis water is that it tends to be corrosive.  R.O. water, plain water by itself with no dissolved minerals will take those minerals from wherever it can, like a sponge.  If you plan on drinking R.O. water on a regular basis, ensure that you also take a daily multivitamin to help replace minerals lost from this water.  Even better, ask the manufacturer if he can provide a remineralizer.

Reverse Osmosis filters are a very common staple filter among water treatment companies.  While they can be inexpensive in the “under the counter” style, it is important you don’t buy cheap.  A good quality filter will go a long way to protecting you and your family from the uranium you are concerned about.  Peace of mind is worth a few extra dollars.

I do know of a manufacturer of R.O. systems in Winnipeg, Manitoba that can help you if you cannot find a good system locally. Visit http://www.waterite.ca/ for more information.

I hope I’ve been helpful, please do not hesitate to write in again for clarification or to ask another question.

Reverse Osmosis filtration is a favorite selling piece of public water treatment stores. Just as bottled water companies work hard to sell the perception that water from a bottle is better and safer than tap, filter companies advocate the same misconception that you need a reverse osmosis filter.

Because reverse osmosis filters can remove almost all of the dissolved minerals in water, these companies tout the water as “purified”, “better for your health” and “a necessity for drinking and cooking”. In fact, plain H2O is extremely corrosive and will suck much needed minerals from your body just as a dry sponge sucks up water. Over time, this can lead to ill health.

Indeed, looking at the minerals dissolved in ordinary tap or spring water, you will find some of the same things that are on the label of your multivitamin. We evolved drinking nature’s water, and nature provides us with many of our needed minerals in natural water sources.

If you are at all concerned about our water supplies, no doubt you are doing everything you can to conserve water. Low flow toilets, taps and shower heads are among the many things that you are doing to protect this most natural resource. But did you know that reverse osmosis wastes water too? As much as fifty percent of the water going into an R.O. filter is rejected and poured right down the drain, wasted.

A reverse osmosis filter is a membrane, similar to a rubber sheet. Unlike other membrane technologies, this membrane does not have tiny holes in it to allow the water through and provide filtration. Instead, it relies on the molecular structure of the rubber itself to filter the water.

This technology requires the water to already be exceedingly clean before entering the filter; otherwise it will clog very quickly. That is why most manufacturers sell R.O. filter systems with as many as four pre filters, to filter tap water that is already potable!

Water does not go in one side of the filter and out the other. Rather, it smacks up against the side of the filter, flowing side stream to it. Water molecules that can pass through via osmosis do, and those that cannot are simply rejected, they go down the drain. Perfectly good water is being wasted.

Remember, when you are conserving water, every little bit helps. Not only is reverse osmosis unhealthy at best, it wastes half of the water that it filters.

If you have municipal tap water, an R.O. filter is absolutely not needed. Many water stores will sell you an R.O. filter after selling you a water softener, simply because of the sodium the softener adds to the water. If you have very hard water, the softener can impart a salty taste, not to mention its bad for people with hypertension or other heart problems. Instead of simply advising you to plumb a water line that’s not softened to your kitchen sink for cooking and drinking, a reverse osmosis unit is insisted on, because this makes them more money.

If you have a well or other source of water, reverse osmosis is an absolute last resort. Your first action should be to ensure the security of your water source. This will go a long way to providing safe and healthy water for you and your family for years.

Remember, water is our most precious natural resource. Every little bit helps when trying to conserve this for us and for future generations to come. When purchasing home water treatment, ensure that your choice will waste no water. If you’re not sure, ask someone who knows. Remember, if the salesmen insist that you have to have a reverse osmosis filter no matter what, if you get the hard sell, always get a second opinion.

John from Ontario Writes:

What is RO water

Hi John

RO is short for reverse osmosis.  It is simply a type of filter, so RO water is water filtered through a reverse osmosis filter.

Reverse osmosis is the highest level of filtration that man has devised.  There are many different types of filters, and this one is classified as a membrane filter.  That is, the water has to pass through a thin membrane, which allows molecules only of a certain size to pass.  Most membranes contain physical pores of a certain size, except reverse osmosis.  This membrane contains no physical holes. Rather, it uses it’s own molecular structure to accept water molecules to pass through and reject almost everything else.

The benefits of reverse osmosis is that it filters out just about everything leaving almost pure H2O.  If you had a water source that was not very secure – like a shallow well on a farm, and you were concerned about things like pesticides, herbicides, and nitrates – then a reverse osmosis filter would be the best choice for you.

There are several downsides to R.O. filters.  Because they are such a tight filter, the water must be very, very clean before hand otherwise the filter will clog up very quickly.  Also, drinking pure H2O isn’t particularly good for you for two reasons:

1. Gasses are allowed to pass through the membrane, including CO2.  Because there is nothing else for the water to react with, it combines with the CO2 to make carbonic acid. This makes RO water acidic and corrosive. It will usually come out at a pH of around 6, depending on the content of CO2.
2. Water is called the universal solvent for a very good reason.  Plain H2O is very good at dissolving a wide variety of substances.  Natural water is very rich in minerals because of this, and much of the minerals vital to our good health come from natural water.  Think of plain H2O like a sponge, needing to soak up minerals.  It will do this from your own body, making this an unhealthy long term choice to drink. It is especially bad for women with or at risk of getting osteoporosis.

Most water professionals consider RO a last resort technology, for the above two reasons.

I hope this answered your question.  If you have any other questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to write in again.