fish_in_bowl
There are special places in large cities that are required to monitor the water quality levels in municipal water districts. They’re responsible for the signs you see when you enter a town or city that says the water quality is good or excellent. If it’s not… they take the sign down. They’re supposed to notify the people that live there and fine the district. I don't remember ever getting a call and I know someone that works for them. If you live outside the city limits I have no clue whom to call. Now that we don’t trust our faucets and have decided we don’t want to pay extra for bottled water that we’re uncertain is any better, what do we do? Well there are other places to buy water. Nurseries have been selling deionized water for decades. This water is better for plant growth. It’s also relatively pure. If they use it it’s probably okay, right? Well, they’re probably not drinking it.

We need a better solution. How about tropical fish stores? They need the water for their tanks. They’ve probably got extra. Most do. They probably test it daily, maybe multiple times a day. If it’s a store with saltwater/marine aquariums they probably sell both fresh and premixed saltwater. Now we’ve found a good source but we’ve still got a problem. It’s still expensive… over a buck for a gallon of premixed seawater and about half of that for freshwater.

Even if you can afford it you’ve still got another problem, carrying it home. You need containers. I’ve had customers buying 25 gallons or more twice a week. Do you remember trips to laundromats? There’s got to be a better way. Do you know any plumbers? When there’s a problem there’s bound to be someone that can think of a way to make money selling a solution, right? They boil water in China and India to kill parasites and bacteria but it doesn’t take out contaminates, like lead or phosphates. During our Gulf Coast water supply battles after hurricanes, we are directed to use bleach in the treatment of the contaminated water and THEN TO BOIL IT.

Here’s the best solution I can come up with. Buy some sort of water processor for your home or condo. If you live in an apartment consider one of the faucet attachments that fit on the outlet or one of the units that attach below the sink to the water line. I’ve recently purchased a faucet unit by Pur that makes about 100 gallons per filter cartridge. My opinion (yes, while informed, it’s still just my opinion) on the options:
1. filter- just rids the water of trash from construction down the street.
2. filter followed by carbon- adds removal of odors and gives water a better taste. Well, that’s important. A good restaurant would probably use these to make water for their iced tea and coffee. Soft drink companies sell them to stores for the water outlet on the fountain machines.
3. water softener- uses salt to soften the water. Too much salt- diarrhea.
4. water conditioner- vague, what it does depends on the unit and the manufacturer. It’s basically a water softener plus, but plus what?
5. RO (reverse osmosis) MY FIRST CHOICE. Filtered, run through carbon, sometimes multiple times, then forced through a membrane, using water pressure or a pump, producing clean pure water.
6. DI (deionized)- a step beyond RO and more expensive than my first choice.
7. Distilled- too pure. NOT SUGGESTED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Probably sucks stuff from our bodies. Good for steam irons only.

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