I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by username223 » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:12 PM UTC

donnachangstein wrote: post #39

username223 wrote: post #8

The fact that potable water is so cheap in the developed world that you can use a gallon of it to flush your toilet is a miracle of civilization. Filter it if that makes you feel better, but it's a waste of money, and a dismissal of a major achievement in public health. But hey, at least it's not bottled water, which is basically tap water that has been put in a single-use plastic bottle and trucked across the countr…

> But hey, at least it's not bottled water, which is basically tap water that has been put in a single-use plastic bottle and trucked across the country. Everyone acts like bottled water is evil until there is a water crisis, then it's the lifeline.

I don't understand your point. That $8/gal water next to the Starbucks checkout is not addressing a crisis when the baristas are rinsing out people's cups with equivalent water for free. The bottled water isn't next to the prepper-sized cans of dehydrated food in your supermarket.

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

#102

Post by an_aparallel » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

tguvot wrote: post #72

donnachangstein wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

You generally want to avoid cheap filters as they apparently can be tainted with formaldehyde

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

#103

Post by jandrewrogers » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

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…

The water in some parts of the US has natural chemistry that makes it unpleasant to drink even though it is safe. California urban areas are notorious for this, as an example. In principle you could remediate the water to make it taste good and remove any discoloration (also a thing in a few regions) with enough industrial processing but that would greatly increase the cost of already expensive tap water.

People who grew up in one of these areas are habituated into never drinking the tap water even if they move to a city with excellent tasting and very high quality tap water. I’ve lived in extreme examples of both.

You also see the opposite case, where someone who grew up with amazing tap water naively grabs a glass from the tap in north San Diego and has a “wtf is this” moment.

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

#104

Post by mihaaly » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:17 PM UTC

recursivedoubts wrote: post #92

mihaaly wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tested your filtered water - in various conditions - or you just trust it based on the words of others?

I just trust the carbon filters. Sorry.

Who told you to? : )

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

#105

Post by an_aparallel » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:17 PM UTC

Barrin92 wrote: post #42

porphyra wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if safe, municipal water where I live (San Jose, California) contains a ton of chlorine and is super hard, making it unpleasant to drink. In contrast, bottled water consistently tastes fine.

sorry if this is a stupid question because we don't have chlorinated water in Germany, but do people brew green tea or good coffee with tap water? Doesn't it taste god awful? One of the things which I remember from my holidays in Spain as a kid, which is one of the few countries which adds it here, is that the water tasted like pool water.

My general experience in Australia when i talk about drinking RO water is that im looked at like a crazed madman who drinks "holy water"... So atleast hear i daresay its safe to say the average persons taste and smell must be piss poor

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

#106

Post by tguvot » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:17 PM UTC

bernawil wrote: post #93

donnachangstein wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> So when one times out, they all time out Some units give you different fixed timespans for each. For that reason, I just use the Reverse Osmosis stage and ignore the rest. RO is the last step, and in theory it renders pure water meaning the only reason to have the previous ones is to pre-filter somewhat the water and extend the RO cartridge lifespan. Problem with that is, first, there's no way to gauge when each fi…

pre-filters typically have specified "capacity" in gallons. which is measurable. also if water is very dirty filters get clogged and pressure dropped. it's also measurable.

"post re-mineralization stage" is actually "ph adjustment".

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

#107

Post by constantcrying » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:19 PM UTC

Where I live there are area local water reports, so you can enter your street and see where your water is coming from and a report, with quite a lot of measurements and including legal limitations for these measurements.

Water filtration should be an informed decision, based on what water you are actually getting.

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

#108

Post by an_aparallel » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:20 PM UTC

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…

My RO system has a remineralisation cartridge. You def dont want to drink ph neutral water, it feels hard, and doesnt taste sweet.

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

#109

Post by aerostable_slug » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:20 PM UTC

righthand wrote: post #30

homefree wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's even worse than that - they have the same anti-tech political bent as the rest of the legacy tech press. Thankfully we have better options now.

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).

> they review too many cars

What do you mean by that? Do think they review new cars they shouldn't?

Also, I suspect they may have found that they attract many new subscribers from people researching car purchases, so it makes sense to have fresh content on the subject to ensure those new eyeballs find value in the publication and decide it might be for them in the long term.

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

#110

Post by PlattypusRex » Sat, Jun 07, 2025, 9:22 PM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #103

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…

The water in some parts of the US has natural chemistry that makes it unpleasant to drink even though it is safe. California urban areas are notorious for this, as an example. In principle you could remediate the water to make it taste good and remove any discoloration (also a thing in a few regions) with enough industrial processing but that would greatly increase the cost of already expensive tap water. People who…

San Diego's tap water tastes truly awful. The first time I ever traveled to another city (Denver), I was forced to drink the tap water and could not believe how good it tasted.