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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

#161

Post by Dylan16807 »

torqueehmada wrote: post #83
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).

Incoming anecdata: I'm in my 50's and consult consumer reports whenever I need to buy a white-box appliance. I've moved a few times so I find myself having to do this more than most people. The qualm I have with CR goes back to the 1980's when I was a bike mechanic for many years. I had a broad knowledge of all the current brands, and knew which bikes were cheap junk. CR had incorrectly ranked the quality of the bicy…

> One bike, which was actually good quality, got dinged because it wasn't adjusted properly

What's your estimate for the percentage of owners that are going to get it adjusted properly?

Most of the things I buy are not going to get tuned, and while a tuned score would be good to see an untuned score is important, likely more important.

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

#162

Post by miladyincontrol »

s0rce wrote: post #112
micromacrofoot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

reverse osmosis removes minerals like cobalt, which are used for b12 production if you only drink ro water it can creep up on you, but takes some time

How much Co is in your water compared to your food. EPA says just 2 ppb in tap water. This means if you drink about 40 fl.oz. per day you only get 2ug of Co from your water. Per the EPA you get about 2-20x more from your food. Pretty much in no cases is your water a source of nutrients. refs: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-09/documents/co... https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/php/data-research/fast-facts-w..…

This is my understanding too. There are microscopic amounts of trace elements here or there but in reality none of them add up to anything meaningful compared to what you get from food, multivitamins, or other less ideal means.

Rather if they did there'd be probably quite a lot of concern.

Not sure where that old wive's tale came from but even my parents had similar concerns against filtered water ages ago.

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

#163

Post by recursivedoubts »

lantry wrote: post #153
recursivedoubts wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just trust the carbon filters. Sorry.

This is hilarious. You don't trust your local government, which is accountable to you and is made up of people living right next to you (drinking the same water); but you DO trust a faceless, unaccountable corporation. I guess the corporation probably has better marketing!

just hope one of them isn't lying

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

#164

Post by tguvot »

lantry wrote: post #153
recursivedoubts wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just trust the carbon filters. Sorry.

This is hilarious. You don't trust your local government, which is accountable to you and is made up of people living right next to you (drinking the same water); but you DO trust a faceless, unaccountable corporation. I guess the corporation probably has better marketing!

there are NSF/ANSI standards for water treatment: https://www.nsf.org/consumer-resources/articles/standards-wa...

There are filters that are certified by NSF to comply with those standards https://info.nsf.org/certified/dwtu/

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

#165

Post by recursivedoubts »

rufus_foreman wrote: post #133
recursivedoubts wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just trust the carbon filters. Sorry.

You just trust corporations. I mean I trust corporations more than I trust the government, but 0.002 is more than 0.001. You seem like a very trusting person.

i don't trust either, but I trust both in series more than I trust either alone

this is basic probability

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

#166

Post by recursivedoubts »

s0rce wrote: post #117
recursivedoubts wrote: post #45

I'm a dude who doesn't care to run a chemical analysis of my municipal water every couple days. I filter my water.

If you don't test it how do you know what filters are needed to remove the contaminants. You may be filtering out things that aren't there and not filtering the actually hazardous things in your water. Although you probably guess things like PFAS and microplastics which appear to be ubiquitous now.

i use carbon filters, berkey specifically

they have a good reputation, but aren't foolproof

i trust govt + berkey in series more than I trust either alone

basic probability

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

#168

Post by kadushka »

more_corn wrote: post #158
kadushka wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drank only distilled water for 16 years. No supplements all that time, just regular food. No B12 deficiency or any other health issues.

But did you pair it with pure grain alcohol as directed for maximal protection of your precious vital fluids?

The reason I drank it is I like the taste. I am now using an RO filter, and the taste is not as good.

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

#169

Post by broken-kebab »

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.

Chlorine solubility in water decreases rather quickly with raising temperature. This fact causes me to believe that if one doesn't like his hot-brewed tea made with tap water it's not because of chlorine exactly. I'd suspect calcium or iron instead.

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

#170

Post by recursivedoubts »

mihaaly wrote: post #88
recursivedoubts wrote: post #45

I'm a dude who doesn't care to run a chemical analysis of my municipal water every couple days. I filter my water.

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

i trust them based on berkey's reputation, but not fully

however, in series, i trust the govt water + berkey more than I trust either independently

basic probability

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