Clean water filtration -- what to invest in?

[apod]

I'm thinking about investing in a new water filter. I'm looking at maybe a Big Berkey with the 2x black filters and 2x fluoride filters, but I'm open to others. Any suggestions?

[circular]

I'm interested in a filter too, under the kitchen sink. The guy who installed our water softener used some copper pipes when I wasn't looking, so I want one that takes copper out for starters... I haven't had a chance to look into these yet but will post when I do. I may take some time, but possibly by late spring/summer.

[SusanJ]

We use a Culligan reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink, mainly because we're on a well, and I want everything out of my drinking/cooking water. Also hooked it to the ice maker in the fridge, which then died about 4 months after doing that.

[KatieS]

A few years ago, we installed the Rayne water softener & the Rayne reverse osmosis under the sink. It was a hefty initial expense due to the large water softener system, then $250/year for the annual under the sink filter change. Our city publishes a good water analysis annually. I hope this reverse osmosis decreases the copper in our drinking water. Looking forward to Cir's investigation on copper in our water.

[apod]

I wish there was a relatively cheap water test for checking my current levels as a sort of baseline. I've read my city has among the "hardest" water in the country, and a while back a plumber mentioned this house had some of the hardest water in the city. Our chloramine levels are off the chart and there's weird stuff like Radon in there (we've landed the title of "worst water in the nation" a few times in the past.) A whole home RO would be fantastic, if the hard water wouldn't soon ruin the thing.

I've got an RO under the sink, but it needs a good filter change (I'm curious how these look after you've gone too long without a change -- possibly worse than not having one?) It seems like the lower carb / more active I am, the more water I want to drink. I'm ready to step it on up!

I would also be curious about fortifying the water with minerals. For a while, I was using concentrace, but later quit doing this after finding out that there's a relatively high amount of arsenic in these mineral drops. For now, I just occasionally add pink salt (Real Salt brand), Magnesium citrate (Natural Calm), or Potassium Chloride (Lo-Salt), or some blend of the three. For a minute, I was adding in occasional "Nuun" tablets, but I'm sort of turned off by the added dextrose.

[SusanJ]

apod, we just pay the guy to come once a year to change ours out - one less thing to think about. If it needed changing more, I'm sure he would say so.

[circular]

Looking forward to Cir's investigation on copper in our water.

Actually I'm not so much looking into that generally but rather what under the sink filters will remove copper. Here are a couple links about copper and AD ... as usual we don't know what levels we want, but I'm guessing a steady stream of extra copper from pipes isn't the way to go, even if current studies are only on mice and cells:

Copper in Environment May Be Tied to Alzheimer's

Copper May Play a Role in Alzheimer's Disease

[circular]

there's weird stuff like Radon in there (we've landed the title of "worst water in the nation" a few times in the past.) A whole home RO would be fantastic, if the hard water wouldn't soon ruin the thing.

My parents had radon at their home. They were able to mitigate it but I don't recall how. Many years ago. They kept meters around.

There are systems that are whole house, combo water softener and purifier. I don't know if any of those combos use RO these days, but I suspect it can be found. Probably quite expensive.

[apod]

After much research and debate, I went with a 2x black filter Big Berkey + Stand, then I'll switch these filters out annually.

In theory, the fluoride & arsenic filters are probably a good idea... but I couldn't stand behind a 95% fine-grain aluminum particle filter... which is a like pouring all of my drinking water through an aluminum sand (this filter comes with a recommendation of flushing several times, since it leaches some Aluminum Oxide into the water... although they claim Al2O3 is benign in contrast with other forms of more bio-available aluminum.)

I was thinking about going for the 4x black filter combo, but for the money, two is plenty. I believe the additional filters would simply allow for longer periods between filter changes and provide faster water filtration (but without a dramatic increase in water purity.) The first 500 gal filters out a considerable amount of fluoride just via the black filters. Good enough! Talking with the chat rep on the official site got me a 10% off coupon.

I ended up tacking on a RabbitAir Minusa2 with the "Toxin Absorber" VOC filter. It's all about the little things in life... like clean water and clean air.

[circular]

Thanks for reporting back and noting to watch for aluminum filters. Not being a metal chemistry expert I'd avoid that too! Let us know how you like the taste. I think I need one under the counter, but I'm still curious. I'd like to not have to research it due to lack of time.