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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

#171

Post by amluto »

mousethatroared wrote: post #90
Barrin92 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Its extremely unlikely that German water isn't chlorinated. Perhaps you are thinking about fluorinated? Chlorine in water is actually fine and tasteless at the concentrations it reaches at the taps - it's basically extremely diluted stomach acid. The problem is chloramines caused by chlorinated organics. These give water the swimming pool smell and are bad for you. The solution is easy - reduce the organics in the wa…

> Chlorine in water is actually fine and tasteless at the concentrations it reaches at the taps - it's basically extremely diluted stomach acid.

No. The chlorine in tap water is HOCl + OCl- (it’s a weak acid/base equilibrium). Stomach acid is HCl. And chlorine has both a noticeable smell and odor even at low concentrations (e.g. 1ppm in water). The smell is much worse if any of the chlorine has reacted with organic crud to turn into NCl3.

More enlightened cities in the US use monochloramine (NH2Cl), which is a rather weak disinfectant but is barely noticeable at normal concentrations.

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

#172

Post by amluto »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #37
cinntaile wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the mechanism here? Because it's not like there is B12 supplements in the water.

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

We humans cannot synthesize cobalamins from inorganic cobalt.

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

#173

Post by bernawil »

mousethatroared wrote: post #138
Xss3 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isnt merely ph adjustment... You want some amount of minerals in water for your health, plants, and taste. Changing the PH isnt the concern in most cases, its just part of the result.

Food gives you all the minerals you need. Matter of fact food can cover most of your hydration needs.

True. But have tasted distilled water? Tastes metalic. Probably just my imagination but I feel like it pulls stuff from the mucous in your mouth and tastes like blood.

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

#174

Post by bernawil »

tguvot wrote: post #106
bernawil wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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".

I know pressure drops. The problem is knowing which filter is the one causing it in particular. Also, filters that are spent at different rates are a PITA. What I mean is if you are going to feed it nominally clean tap water, there's no reason to protect a catridge with equally or more expensive cartridges. Just use the RO filter and be done with it.

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

#175

Post by brookst »

rufus_foreman wrote: post #77
brookst wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Hell if I know. These days I drop the query into deep research ChatGPT with explicit instructions about what I want and to only present price as data, not a deciding factor.

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

#176

Post by brookst »

bobxmax wrote: post #78
brookst wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, I’m happy for you that you haven’t noticed a difference in rigor and quality since the NYT acquisition.

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

#177

Post by bernawil »

tguvot wrote: post #160
Xss3 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isnt merely ph adjustment... You want some amount of minerals in water for your health, plants, and taste. Changing the PH isnt the concern in most cases, its just part of the result.

All those filters are specifically made for PH adjustment (you are welcome to look at specs). There are bunch of different formulations depends on how much PH adjustment is needed. RO makes water more acidic. if water was somewhat acidic to start with, it can get more acidic or become corrosive.

Are you sure that it makes it more acidic? AFAIK it only outputs pure H20, should be neutral. If you feed it alkaline water you'll get "more acidic" water, but the other way if you feed it acidic water.

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

#178

Post by 1970-01-01 »

I would not trust the EPA, FDA, or any other administration to be on top of your health with the current POTUS. If they get caught not doing the right thing on the job, there's no accountability or an immediate pardon. If you can afford it, filter your water.

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

#179

Post by s0rce »

recursivedoubts wrote: post #166
s0rce wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I've only heard not good things about Berkey.

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

#180

Post by tguvot »

bernawil wrote: post #177
tguvot wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All those filters are specifically made for PH adjustment (you are welcome to look at specs). There are bunch of different formulations depends on how much PH adjustment is needed. RO makes water more acidic. if water was somewhat acidic to start with, it can get more acidic or become corrosive.

Are you sure that it makes it more acidic? AFAIK it only outputs pure H20, should be neutral. If you feed it alkaline water you'll get "more acidic" water, but the other way if you feed it acidic water.

yes. it removes calcium and magnesium and it makes water more acidic. also i think it starts absorbing CO2 making it even more acidic.

RO doesn't output pure water. if you want pure water you slap DI filter after RO membrane.

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