Having always been a straight-up tap water kind of girl, I’m not sure how I feel about this few addition to our kitchen:
Unfortunately, standard water treatment doesn’t address many not-so-pleasant contaminants that have been found in water supplies across the country, including pharmaceuticals and agriculture-based pollutants. *
Given that reality, we’ve considered a water filter for years, but I’ve been too ambivalent to take action. The fact that the City of St. Louis apparently has relatively safe water (in the top 10 for large U.S. cities according to this 2009 report), not to mention consistently ranking as some of the best tasting tap water (though taste does not necessarily represent quality) in the country, did little to motivate me to make any changes.
While much less wasteful than bottled water, water filters still involve some waste — most need replacement filters every few weeks, or months, depending on the brand, and then there’s the plastic pitcher or the plastic housing of a sink-attached filtration system.
When Matthew came home from Home Eco with this filtration system a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t fight it too much. I relegated it to the corner of the kitchen for about a week while we considered it and offered no resistance when he installed it after the mandatory waiting period.
The filter is supposed to last through 1500 GALLONS of water, which we estimate means at least 2 years before we even have to think about replacing the filter.
My main complaint is the mandatory (though small) water wastage that occurs because you have to have water running before you pull out the pin that switches over to the filter. To minimize waste, I try to let the water run onto/into a dish that needs to be rinsed anyway, and fill a large jar with filtered water as long as it is running, instead of just one cup at a time.
I don’t notice a taste improvement in the water. It tastes different — flatter — because it is dechlorinated in the process, but I adjusted to that pretty quickly. It’s hard to be a complete convert when I just have to trust that there are bad things in the water that the filter is removing, but I guess I’m willing to give it a shot.
What are your thoughts? Do you filter your water?
*Don’t you dare run out and buy bottled water! Almost all bottled water comes from the tap in one city or another, so you aren’t escaping anything — it’s just a huge scam! In fact, you may be exposing yourself to more unknown danger from whatever chemicals leach from the plastic bottles into the water.
Her Green Life 