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I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

nytimes.com

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Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#71

Post by 9x39 »

doug-moen wrote: post #26

The quality of your water varies with the district you live in. My municipal water provider puts chloramine in the water to kill bacteria. Occasionally we get high levels of chloramine, which is disgusting (smell and taste), but the water filter removes it. Occasionally they flush the pipes, which turns the water red, which is mentally disturbing, but the water filter removes the rust. So while it's important to me t…

To be fair, he does say he isn't anti-filter, and I think his article was to calm the horses and hysteria out there. I filter water too, but it is things like testing maps (https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/) that really help eradicate the brainworms that I'm slowly poisoning myself from the tap.

I think the whole article was a pretty solid attempt at helping people like myself who tend to overreact when it comes to exposure figure out that the fear and the danger are often not the same.

BTW, unless you were just being sarcastic, the rusty water was him talking about the filtered water from a LifeStraw - something that's miraculous as far as I'm concerned, seeing as I've drank mucky water out hiking through them just fine. Well, probably, anyway.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#72

Post by tguvot »

donnachangstein wrote: post #46
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #11

Money quote: > readings of PFAS that exceed EPA limits have been found in just 8% of small public water systems (those that serve fewer than 10,000 people) and 15% of large ones 15%! Anyone who trusts their municipal water supply because of *handwave* regulations and reports needs to read that again. Even if my water were 100% pristine as the author's apparently is, which they only know for their own homes because th…

> and maintaining a dedicated three stage filter spout next to my kitchen faucet costs me approximately nothing Calling bullshit on this one. I have one, it's positively wonderful, but the filters are expensive and per the manufacturer's recommendation you're supposed to change them all simultaneously. So when one times out, they all time out. This runs approximately $150 a year minimum depending on usage.

filters are cheap if you don't use fancy branded system that came up with it's own filter that incompatible with anything else

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#73

Post by knappe »

I go back and forth on the issue. I read our local municipal water reports but then things like this happen https://www.vaildaily.com/news/climax-mine-can-now-release-h...

Denver water couldn't force the mine to continue cleanup of the molybdenum (because they're bankrupt) and instead raised the tolerable levels of molybdenum in Denver water. The same thing happened in 2017, 2010 and I'm certain before that. And then we have things like this https://www.cpr.org/2025/06/04/free-private-well-testing-ote...

Colorado has some serious issues with mine runoff and water contamination.

https://www.pagosasun.com/stories/the-day-the-river-turned-o...

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#74

Post by tguvot »

margalabargala wrote: post #34
hollerith wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In your second paragraph you seem to be describing carbon-block filtration. Particularly, the maintenance of an RO system consists of a lot more than just replacing cartridges every year or two.

Could you elaborate? I have an undersink RO filter. Maintenance consists of changing filters every year or two.

you need sterilize entire system periodically. and completely empty/refill tank once in a while

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#75

Post by BugsJustFindMe »

rufus_foreman wrote: post #64
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm failing to see your point That's weird because I'm pretty sure that my point is explicitly spelled out. But just in case, here it is again: If your trust is based in municipal numbers or statements, you should be aware that municipal numbers and statements are not trustworthy because there's a lot of widespread decaying infrastructure (and coverup!) between where they test, what they make public, and where your…

>> municipal numbers and statements are not trustworthy The claims of the manufacturers of filters, of course, are completely trustworthy. If you aren't testing the capabilities of your filters constantly, this is fine.

You can sue a manufacturer for lying about independent testing and certification. Good luck suing your county.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#76

Post by eesmith »

darth_avocado wrote: post #23
cypherpunks01 wrote: post #13

A surprising amount of Americans refuse to drink tap water entirely, in their own suburban homes with quality municipal water, or anywhere else they travel, holding the opinion that plastic bottled water is safer and better. Of course bottled water is regulated far less than tap water, and contains an ungodly amount of microplastics from manufacturing and storage. Under-sink RO systems seem pretty great to me, anywhe…

One side effect of RO is vitamin B12 deficiency. And there is some debate around whether that is true or not, but anecdotally, I had developed a severe B12 deficiency to the point that one day out of the blue, I couldn’t move one of my legs. I freaked out and went to the ER, and it turns out, 1 B12 shot later, I went back to normal within minutes. The doctor hypothesized that I had developed a severe B12 deficiency b…

The only papers I could find in Google Scholar about this connection all come from India, and does not seem strongly connected. The study at https://journals.lww.com/jfmpc/fulltext/2025/04000/prevalenc... , for example, says:

> While some studies have hypothesized that the use of RO water could contribute to vitamin B12 deficiency, no significant differences were observed in this study.[20] Symptoms of deficiency were not significantly associated with serum vitamin deficiency status. Only VDD was significantly associated with fatigue as a symptom. This discrepancy raises questions about the current normative values for vitamin B12 and vitamin D3 in the Indian population and suggests the need for further research.

A whole lot of people drink RO water. If it were a simple correlation, I would expect to see cases and papers from all across the world.

I also know there's a long history of false claims along the lines "distilled water sucks the minerals from your body", also called "hungry water". I first heard in the 1980s as a supposed reason for not using distilled water in a radiator. Or even commentary of it in the Carnivorous Plant FAQ at https://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3385.html .

Because of that long history, and the lack of a good mechanism for how it should work, I need a much higher level of evidence for a direct, causal connection.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#77

Post by rufus_foreman »

brookst wrote: post #69
righthand wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: Is there some implied negative critique of Consumer Reports here? I rather enjoy their work and the fact they're reader funded, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's something I should be aware of that's not clear from it (the way they test or how they accept another type of money). I know they review too many cars (every issue lately features a car banner at the top of the cover).

Not the person you asked, but I find consumer reports useless because they typically conflate functional evaluation (does the product do what it’s supposed to) with non-functional factors (warranty, price) in a one-size-fits-all manner. If I’m shopping for a hand mixer, I want to get a list of the best ones and then make my own call on price / performance. I don’t want to be told a $19 product is the best and have to…

So what review site would you go to if you're shopping for a hand mixer, or is there no such animal?

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#78

Post by bobxmax »

brookst wrote: post #67
sitzkrieg wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ah yes, degrees. i only absorb information from qualified individuals with degrees.

What qualifications do you look for, or do you just assume everyone who says they’re an expert is actually an expert?

Wirecutters is a long-running very trusted publication. It's not a random rag.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#79

Post by bobxmax »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #19
ghostly_s wrote: post #10

Wirecutter "expert" doesn't hold much sway for me with the quality of their reviews these days.

Wirecutter is just a worse version of Consumer Reports where they don't guarantee they aren't running ads and accepting money from the retailers whose products are featured in the media

If I need something I usually just buy what Wirecutters recommends and I'm rarely disappointed.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#80

Post by bobxmax »

calmbonsai wrote: post #28

Wirecutter was bad before the NYT acquisition and now it's lot any/all remaining credibility. Much like CNBC, it's completely "turned the corner" for me and I take their editorial as a negative signal. In other words, definitely filter your water.

> Wirecutter was bad before the NYT acquisition

How so?

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