Question about water filters

[Beaverhausen]

I just found this group! I hope this is an appropriate question.

I usually buy the big 2.5 gallon jugs of spring water but want to change over and just filter my tap water (I hate the taste but I know I'm creating waste with the water jugs). What brands do you recommend? Do any of you use the Britta Filters?

thanks!

[politicat]

1. We used to; now it's culligan.

But we have a refrigerator that has a through the door ice and water, and the filter is inline. The culligan does a good job and pulls out most of the chlorine taste. However, all of our water is "Rocky Mountain spring water" because we live in the Rockies and we're at the top of the water stack. It's hard to mess up decent water.

The Brittas do improve the flavor of the water; I use one when we travel or when we go to my mom's house. She's in Phoenix, and her water is some of the worst I've ever tasted.

But. The Brittas do not filter out nasty things like cryptosporidium or listeria, and if you live in a hot place where those are a problem, then you may want to look for a filter that does take care of those. Crypto and listeria aren't usually a problem unless you're immune compromised, but there are no safe standards for water.

Also, Brittas remove some of the fluoride. Since you're probably not getting fluoride now, it may not make a difference to you, but if you have kids, believe me when I say that it can make a huge difference in their long-term dental health. (Just comparing my mother and my grandmother's teeth against mine and my sisters' teeth shows that. They have terrible teeth, and grew up without access to fluoride in the water. Ours are significantly better, and the big difference is not dental care (several dentists in the family), but access to fluoride in the water. We still see it in the community where my mother and grandmother grew up.)