Compostable all-natural water filters • Hacker News Board

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#31

Post by philwelch » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:11 AM UTC

saidajigumi wrote: post #21

This and other products roughly similar to Brita filters all seem a bit ridiculous and wasteful. At least this one is glass and so free of plasticizers[1]. A simple drip-through filter isn't going to do that much to improve most U.S. water supplies. Instead, just get a multi-stage reverse osmosis filter unit. That'll take out virtually everything potentially nasty and/or bad tasting: chlorine, flouride, metal salts u…

You can use a Brita pitcher in places where you're not allowed to install things under the sink, like when you're renting. But most importantly, a Brita pitcher gives you a good excuse to keep your drinking water in the fridge, so you never have to contend with having to drink warm or lukewarm water again.

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#32

Post by philwelch » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:12 AM UTC

DareOlonoh wrote: post #23

Seems like a great product and business model. I ditched my Brita filter for bottled water a couple years ago because of the black dots. It was embarrassing to pour water for people when there were black dots floating in it. Might have to switch back to a filter now.

I've used Brita filters for years and I've never experienced black dots. Did you change the filter too often? Not often enough?

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#33

Post by chm » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:23 AM UTC

Chemist here:

Drinking bottled water is like paying taxes twice. Drink tap water unless the taste is prohibitive.

This company seems just another gimmick. The only person who might have a clue of the chemistry going on is the "world expert" David Beeman, who chooses to entertain us with marketing gibberish rather than facts. The vocabulary is chosen to confound the chemistry-illiterate viewer and appeal to chemophobia.

Organic, BPA, PLA, vegan, plastic, "Catalytic activated coconut shell carbon", etc. I would like to have a chat with this "world expert".

A big chunk of the world would give everything they have for access to our tap water. Gimme a break with your pathetic fear mongering.

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#34

Post by aioprisan » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:25 AM UTC

how do you pour the water out? don't you run into the same issue of taking that filter out? and the shame wastes so much space in the fridge, for better or worse, Brita ones are pretty efficient, space-wise

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#35

Post by zachallia » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:28 AM UTC

chm wrote: post #33

Chemist here: Drinking bottled water is like paying taxes twice. Drink tap water unless the taste is prohibitive. This company seems just another gimmick. The only person who might have a clue of the chemistry going on is the "world expert" David Beeman, who chooses to entertain us with marketing gibberish rather than facts. The vocabulary is chosen to confound the chemistry-illiterate viewer and appeal to chemophobi…

Email him! He developed the filtration for many major coffee chains (i.e. Starbucks) and has worked in the industry forever. I promise you he isn't a gimmick, and a regular consumer wouldn't understand the same things you would understand.

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#36

Post by chm » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:28 AM UTC

saidajigumi wrote: post #21

This and other products roughly similar to Brita filters all seem a bit ridiculous and wasteful. At least this one is glass and so free of plasticizers[1]. A simple drip-through filter isn't going to do that much to improve most U.S. water supplies. Instead, just get a multi-stage reverse osmosis filter unit. That'll take out virtually everything potentially nasty and/or bad tasting: chlorine, flouride, metal salts u…

Do you know what a plasticizer does? When it is used? In the preparation of what polymers? This is not an assault, just a hint.

Read up on BPA, then go to your local dept. store's bottle section. Most of the bottles will be made of polymers that do not even involve BPA or BPs, but still advertise as BPA-free. It's only marketing.

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#37

Post by zachallia » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:30 AM UTC

chm wrote: post #33

Chemist here: Drinking bottled water is like paying taxes twice. Drink tap water unless the taste is prohibitive. This company seems just another gimmick. The only person who might have a clue of the chemistry going on is the "world expert" David Beeman, who chooses to entertain us with marketing gibberish rather than facts. The vocabulary is chosen to confound the chemistry-illiterate viewer and appeal to chemophobi…

Also, people like to store water in the fridge, so it doesn't seem totally ridiculous to clean it and make it taste better before storing it.

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#38

Post by danudey » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:34 AM UTC

revelation wrote: post #11

What exactly is filtered by this? In Germany, water from the tap is commonly found to be cleaner than the stuff you can buy in plastic bottles. The only application that comes to mind would be regulating water hardness.

A significant amount of bottled water is, in fact, tapwater. There are a lot of companies that are bottling your own tapwater and selling it to you for $4/L.

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#39

Post by chm » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:37 AM UTC

zachallia wrote: post #35

chm wrote: post #33

Chemist here: Drinking bottled water is like paying taxes twice. Drink tap water unless the taste is prohibitive. This company seems just another gimmick. The only person who might have a clue of the chemistry going on is the "world expert" David Beeman, who chooses to entertain us with marketing gibberish rather than facts. The vocabulary is chosen to confound the chemistry-illiterate viewer and appeal to chemophobi…

Email him! He developed the filtration for many major coffee chains (i.e. Starbucks) and has worked in the industry forever. I promise you he isn't a gimmick, and a regular consumer wouldn't understand the same things you would understand.

I might email him once I'm done studying.

My point is that precisely because he understands what he's doing, he has the duty to explain it to others, or at least not confound them. From my perspective, the sales pitch is relying on chemophobia to hook viewers.

No wonder people think of Kickstarter as a store. If the company really is serious, they should offer technical details concerning their product, the kind of details an investor wants. I'm willing to bet most people who funded the company so far have done so with blind trust in the designers/developers of the product.

I hope I'd lose my bet!

Re: Compostable all-natural water filters

#40

Post by torhorway » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:45 AM UTC

DareOlonoh wrote: post #23

Seems like a great product and business model. I ditched my Brita filter for bottled water a couple years ago because of the black dots. It was embarrassing to pour water for people when there were black dots floating in it. Might have to switch back to a filter now.

if you skip the steps of soaking the filter for a day then you'll get a ton of black dots.