Yep use it if it makes you feel better. I know water treatment people in my area have talked about the no need to use filters.
I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
21–30 of 222 posts
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#22Wirecutter "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
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.
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#23A 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 because of RO water and that I supplement my food with B12 supplements. The regular intake of meat/eggs wasn’t sufficient to compensate for the lack of B12 absorption.
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#24A 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…
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.
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#25Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#26The 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 that my municipal water is technically safe to drink, I still have a better experience with my drinking water when I use a filter. While it's amusing that this technical expert considers rust-red water to be "delicious", do they have family members, or friends that visit and consume beverages, and do these other people get to have an opinion?
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#27The 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…
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#28Wirecutter 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.
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#29A 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…
What's the mechanism here? Because it's not like there is B12 supplements in the water.
Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
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).