How to make tap water taste better (split from Ontario board)

[embee]

(Mods - this is about how to get great acqa - I hope you'll accept the spirit :-) It isn't a condemnation of bottled water. If you aren't willing to leave this post here, please consider moving it to cookware WITH A LINK. Thanks. )

Why go to all of that trouble and expense? Get a water filter - a real one. We have several different undersink filter systems in our home, and I can recommend the "Rainfresh" brand for your specific application ( www.rainfresh.ca ) The water that comes through this tastes great. Think of it as a cheap source of bottled water.

These are available almost everywhere (Home Depot excepted), don't cost very much, are easy to install, and work very well.

The unit we have has two cartridge holders and three filtration stages. You can go crazy and add UV disinfection (not necessary in the GTA), more cartridges, reverse osmosis, and all kinds of extra features, be we haven't found these necessary. You don't need any kind of filter life indicator. You know the filter needs attention when the water flow rate becomes unacceptably low.

One of the filters is ceramic, and it can last for a couple of years if you are willing to sand it when it clogs. You choose a second cartridge based on the characteristics of your water supply. We use one that removes the maximum number of different potential contaminants from the water. We replace it perhaps once a year. How often you need to do this depends on both the amount of crud in your water supply and the extent of your use.

We also have a much smaller GE Smart Water unit (Home Depot) in our bathroom. It is equally effective, NSF certified, and has a simpler filter change procedure. However, its much smaller size means it must be replaced much more frequently, making it far more expensive to use for the main drinking water supply.

Avoid the companies that sell very expensive water filtration equipment. You simply do not need anything more expensive for your home, and sales pitches to the contrary are BS.

Since you are willing to use glass, bottles are hardly a problem. A glass lined thermos would be ideal. You could also try using stainless, or even empty beer bottles.

Don't get a Brita (or similar) unit. These store the water in plastic, which you will undoubtedly taste, and they cost much more in the end.

[pinstripeprincess]

what would be the benefit of using these filters over say... activated charcoal? i assume some filters already have activated charcoal in them plus a few other filter ingredients which would take out a few extra items.

i've noticed that a few people in the japanese community tend to use stones... what stones i have no idea but it comes recommended in my morimoto cookbook though still not easy to identify what exactly they are.

[Harters]

I suppose it depends where you are. Where I am, I have no need to make it taste better. It's fine as it is.

[Sooeygun]

I don't have a problem with how my tap water tastes either. I keep a jug of it in the fridge to keep it cold, but stopped using a Brita filter a while ago because I felt it was unnecessary with a safe, clean source of water.

[pinstripeprincess]

this thread was based on someone who wanted to find cheaper bulk options for glass bottled water. i think that the suggestions above are fair based on that context.

i just drink tap water myself.

[Sal Vanilla]

Aquasanna. Cannot recommend them enough.

As for knowing what is needed and what is a waste - How would you know if you have not tasted the person's water? I have lived in circumstances where the water is of questionable quality (on a boat in S. America) or it has tasted so chemically and sometimes iffy because our water was frequently shut off or down to a trickle that a top notch filtering system was a necessity to life. For those times I vote RO.

Brita - I have used the sort attached to the faucet. I thought it worked well, but was cumbersome.