Water Filters

[Language]

Hey everyone, one of my goals this year was to become a bit more environmentally friendly (ie. recycling more, using less bottled water).

Currently, we buy 40 packs of bottled water at least 4-5 times a month and this just seems like a huge amount of empty bottles we’re throwing out.

For those that drink lots of water and don’t do bottled, what alternatives have you come up with?

Is there a good faucet or under-the-sink filter that you can recommend? We have a newborn, live in Jersey City (near Newark where they had the water lead outbreak), and currently use bottled water mixed with formula for our girl. If we switch to a faucet filter I’d want to make sure it’s top notch.

At the same time, I don’t want to break the bank with a filtration system that’s going to cost me 1000x more. At that point, I’d just stick with bottled water.

Any recommendations from the CP brain trust?






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[nfotiu]

I've been using a water cooler with those 4 or 5 gallon bottles. It seems a lot cheaper and better of the environment and nice to have cold and hot water on demand.

[Slava]

I've got the Kinetico system and it's great. I do drink a lot of water, so it's important to me in that sense. I find that we end up replacing the filters about once every 9 months or so and up here they cost about $135 for that...which is a little on the high side in my opinion. But people might get a lot more time between filter changes as it depends on usage.

[Tacopuck]

I just bought a LARQ water bottle. It has a UV light in the cap that sterilizes the water.

Advantages being you dont ever get a bad smell inside your water bottle, you dont have to ever clean it (unless you put a sugary drink in it).

It also has what is called adventure mode which allows you to fill it with lake / river / stream water (so long as its free of sediment and murkyness) and it will disinfects the water.

The bottle is not cheap, starts @ $95 but can go up to ~$150 depending on size and single / double wall construction.

Has a micro USB charger with a battery that lasts 2 months in normal mode and 2 weeks in adventure mode.

I was never a water bottle person before but this has changed the way i drink water.

https://www.livelarq.com/

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I've been using a water cooler with those 4 or 5 gallon bottles. It seems a lot cheaper and better of the environment and nice to have cold and hot water on demand.

x2

I bought one of these for $25 at a garage sale and is used multiple times a day.
Costs about $2 to refill.

[DoubleF]

A water cooler is probably the best bet for home use. Price wise they are reasonable, but depending on your transportation situation, acquiring those gallon jugs might not be the easiest thing for you to do.


For water filtration, there's obviously the table top ones, also the option of buying a bottle such as Brita and other brands that have a water filter built in. This way when you top up at a water fountain etc. on the go, that water is filtered too.

https://www.amazon.ca/Brita-Premium-...9803204&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.ca/Brita-Premium-...9803389&sr=8-8

https://www.amazon.ca/LifeStraw-Bott...9803389&sr=8-6

It seems like the Brita ones need a $5 filter replacement ever 2 months.

https://www.amazon.ca/Brita-Water-Bo...6T4FEEQZNAWXB8

The life straw one is a $6 filter that is rated for 100 litres (3 litres a day = approx 1 month). But goes as far to say it can get rid of bacteria and parasites which the Brita one isn't rated for. I believe life straw started off trying to do potable water in the wilderness, so it's higher end than the Brita filter which is designed for use on tap water.

https://www.amazon.ca/LifeStraw-Carb...RWCPVK34WTYNQ8

That bottle filter doesn't reduce lead and other heavy metals though according to the comparison of life straw products below, but there's a home filtration option from life straw that can apparently reduce lead. I know you mentioned it in your post as a possible concern so I guess it's worth mentioning that not all filtration systems filter those heavy metals apparently.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07QN17RVC/ref=dp_prsubs_1


Tap water filters like those Brita things aren't that great and gunk up quickly so I'm not sure if it's really that much more environmentally friendly (less space I suppose). Not to mention many people get lazy with them/install them incorrectly and are essentially not realizing they are no longer filtering their water because the filter is shot, but they don't realize this.

A higher end tap filtration system (ie: reverse osmosis) is much more expensive and some have non-stop gurgling noises. I wouldn't personally recommend them.

[bob-loblaw]

I would say if you're needing to buy a new fridge soon, get one with water and ice. You need to replace the filter every six months or so. Knock off filters can be bought on Amazon at a reasonable price.

I bought a huge stainless steel drinking cup with a metal straw from Amazon that works great. I fill it with water and ice, then refilled with water again and I can get the ice to last at least 12 hours. I've even left it in my car by accident in the sun in the summer, and when I got in after work it still had ice and was cold.