Water filters

[scruffmcgruff]

with good reviews on britta filters, i plan to buy one for the office,
but i do have a few concerns...

as far as i know, britta filters contain coconut charcoal, and when water passes through, it will leave the filter part wet, and after leaving the britta filter overnight, wont it run the risk of developing micro-organisms of some sort? what should i do here? also, over weekends, wont i be shocked to discover molds or some bad organisms developing over the weekend? thanks!

-darwin

The filter is supposed to catch microorganisms like bacteria and mold, but IIRC the charcoal filter is a fairly inhospitable environment for them. You only need to change the filter every six months or so (the company claims three months, but they make all their money on filter replacements so I'll let you figure that one out).

[odarwin]

thanks for the reply!

so it would be perfectly ok to leave the filter overnight or "over-the-weekend" as is after using it?

i plan to get one for the office to "treat" water from the bottled water dispenser before boiling it in the kettle to make tea

-darwin

[Vulture]

thanks for the reply!

so it would be perfectly ok to leave the filter overnight or "over-the-weekend" as is after using it?

i plan to get one for the office to "treat" water from the bottled water dispenser before boiling it in the kettle to make tea

-darwin

As far as keeping it from getting bacteria, I haven't seen any of it. And that is including accidental experiments; keeping it in the fridge both empty and full, leaving it out in the kitchen full or empty. I have yet to have a problem with it. You have to relies that all the chlorine you are filtering out of the water is going somewhere. I think that would be the best anti-bacterial agent stuck in the filter if you ask me

[tjkoko_off]

I live in southeast Georgia on what's called the coastal plain where the soil is very sandy, as in beach sand. The tap water here is very scaly; and the rep from the water department mentioned those spots on my drinking glass are sulfur spots.

That stated, would a Brita clean up the tap water or should I just b drinking water at the local supermarket for 25 cents a gallon?

EDIT: checked out the price of BRITA filters and the cost per gallon is around 20 cents. ...think I'll stick with supermarket water to reduce the number of gizmos I have around the house!

[Vulture]

How much does a Brita filter cost?

I don't remember what I paid for mine but online I am seeing about 20-30 dollars for the pitcher, 20-30 for a 3 pack replacement filters (each filter lasts 3-6 months). Or you can get the faucet style ones which I have no experience with.

So its more to the fact of how many times you actually use the filter in that time but it should come to less than 25 cents a gallon plus the gas used to get to the shop.

[tjkoko_off]

Vulture stated:

...25 cents a gallon plus the gas used to get to the shop

Hmmmmm, didn't figure in the cost of gasoline.

[ABx]

I really like the Brita, especially since filtered tap water actually seems to be better than a fair amount of the spring water sold in grocery stores (I have no doubt that there are better ones out there, but I haven't tried the fancy ones... maybe someday). It's also a lot cheaper than buying bottled water, and I'd much rather have one pitcher than big jugs or a case full of bottles that I then have to dispose of.

IIRC the charcoal filter is a fairly inhospitable environment for them.

Charcoal on it's own isn't; in fact we use it in aquariums specifically to colonize the good bacteria that eats up the ammonia. Brita's charcoal is a bit different, though. From the Brita FAQ:

# How does Brita keep the Cartridge safe from bacteria?
Silver has long been known for its bactericidal properties and the activated carbon used in the Brita Cartridge has a special silver treatment (called "bacteriostatic") so that the growth of bacteria in the Filter Cartridge is safely inhibited during the entire period of use, and, as long as the water in the jug stays in contact with the Cartridge, it remains hygienically safe! However, after 48 hours of non-use, it's just good common sense to replace "flat" water.

The filters are usually about $5 each (the $25-$30 packs are usually of 5 filters), and filter around 40 gallons; that actually makes the cost 12.5 cents per gallon. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than bottled water, and you don't have all the bottles to recycle

I do actually think that the Pur pitchers work better, but the problem I've found is that the filter media seems to compact after a week or two. Once it does that it takes forever for the water to trickle down into the pitcher.

The thing to watch out for with bottled water or the under-sink filters is to stay away from reverse osmosis filtering. Those big "fill your own" bottled water machines at the grocery stores use this. It's good for drinking, but it filters out the majority of the minerals, which will make flat tea. It might be better than your tap water, and if your tap water is bad then a Brita brand pitcher might not quite cut it, but you can still do a lot better (and probably much cheaper) than reverse osmosis water. If you have terrible tap water and the Brita isn't much better, then I'd just look around for a better pitcher - the Brita is probably the bottom of the line, though it's usually just fine for those of us with good water that mainly want to filter out chlorine and maybe some stuff from our pipes.

[wyardley]

I do actually think that the Pur pitchers work better, but the problem I've found is that the filter media seems to compact after a week or two. Once it does that it takes forever for the water to trickle down into the pitcher.

I have that problem too, with our faucet-attached one, which is probably even more annoying than with the pitcher. I always thought it was the filter's subtle way of telling you when it's time for a new one. It does get *really* slow at the end, though.

[wyardley]

The idea of letting water sit for a few days (in a porcelain or earthenware jar), then taking the water from the top, has been mentioned in a few places, including on Tim's site at the link I posted above.

Imen even mentioned mixing a few different waters together, letting them sit, and then skimming off the top. It's an interesting idea. I don't have the right equipment to try it, but supposedly it can make a difference (because certain stuff in the water will sink to the bottom).

If your water's really bad, filtering it is probably still a good idea, but using this technique on top of that might make an improvement to the water.

BTW, with bottled water, make sure it really is spring water (though a kind without too many dissolved solids) and not just distilled or purified water. Most people seem to agree that the purified stuff doesn't usually make good tea, at least without re-mineralization of some sort. I personally think that filtered tap water tastes *better* than most commercial distilled / filtered water.

Even the worst tap water we get here in the US is still pretty decent compared to some other countries, even if it's not that tasty.

[ABx]

I do actually think that the Pur pitchers work better, but the problem I've found is that the filter media seems to compact after a week or two. Once it does that it takes forever for the water to trickle down into the pitcher.

I have that problem too, with our faucet-attached one, which is probably even more annoying than with the pitcher. I always thought it was the filter's subtle way of telling you when it's time for a new one. It does get *really* slow at the end, though.

I was actually thinking about mentioning that as well. I got one of those (Pur brand) some years ago. The thing was like trying to fill a glass with an eyedropper after a week or two. I thought the same thing; I figured it was just clogged from the stuff it was filtering out. Then I got a Brita because I couldn't find the Pur replacements for the pitcher. They lasted about the same amount of time (judging by the chlorine smell), but the Pur filter clogged up really early on. I could still use it, but it would sometimes take hours to filter down. It was better water, but just wasn't worth the wait. I'm thinking about getting something that's better at removing chlorine than the Brita now, though.

I'm just really hoping that when I move in a few months that I can find a place that's not too close to a treatment plant. I lived in an apartment like that once, and the whole bathroom would smell like an indoor swimming pool when I flushed the toilet (lots of aggitation like that will make the chlorine out-gas much more quickly).

[silverneedles]

i got a kenmore countertop filter, but is out of production now (under-sink are still at sears).

the filter is 10$+tax @ sears, good for "3000 gal"

water comes out fast, good taste.

[gingkoseto]

I have been wondering about "letting water sit without a cover for a day". I heard people talking about it, but don't know how it works out. If I leave pure water in my cup and let it sit on my desk for a few hours, it gains bad taste. And I assume is the taste of nitrite. I vaguely remember my chemistry teacher said that even water, when exposed to air for a long time, can accumulate nitrite in it. But if I leave water in a sealed bottle for a few days, I can still drink it without feeling any bad taste. Has anybody else experienced the same weird taste from water exposed to air for a long time?

[edkrueger]

"A draft risk assessment for bisphenol A (BPA) concludes the chemical does not disrupt hormonal processes even at levels thousands of times higher than humans typically encounter (http://www.junkscience.com/consumer/consumer_index.html)."

[battra]

Regarding letting water sit:

I have very good tap water, and the chlorine content is small (0,4 - 0,5 g/m³) - you don't really notice it, like with the tap water I had in Tokyo which smelled like a swimming pool.
But since I started to let my tea water sit in covered pitchers for some hours or over night, I do in fact think the taste of the water and the tea is a little better (no filtering).

Ginkgo: I sometimes keep an uncovered glass of water next to my bed, and if this is left for one or two days, it can have a little musty smell. My guess is that this is caused by dust, and maybe other particles or bacteriae floating around in the air and falling down in the water.

[trallis]

thanks everyone for all the responses. I'm glad I asked. Alot of good options I can tell