After living with intestinal distress for a long time, and driving ourselves insane trying to figure out what could have been causing it, we have finally fixed on tap water as the most likely cause. (We’ve known for a long time that the water here was hard — stains on the toilet attest to that! — and it may be that, or it may be something else.)
Who’s got a water purifier? How much did you pay, and where did you buy? What about ongoing costs — I understand you need to buy a new filter for the things every so often. Am I likely to be able to use one without bringing the wrath of the landlord on myself (that is, does the installation cause problems with existing plumbing)?
My first suggestion is to contact your water company and ask if they’d be willing to test your water. It’s usually free or under $10, and it will quite likely tell you if there’s a problem with the water. If it’s a problem with the plumbing (say, contamination from the pipes, or a backflow problem somewhere between your sewer connections and your incoming fresh water lines) you can put pressure on your landlord to repair it (or install a filtration system) and save your own cash. Check city codes as well – most cities have laws about providing safe water to tenants, and this may be a way to put pressure on the landlord as well if there does prove to be a problem.
Since we rent, we “cheated” and got a Brita container-based system because our water, while perfectly safe, is foul-tasting and smells bad. We recently “upgraded” to the square 2.5 gallon model for about $30 from a local hardware store. The filters are about $6 each and last about two months each, although we got a six-pack for Christmas last year. (Whee!) My only complaint about it is that it’s too heavy for my screwy hands to lift when it’s full, so hubby gets the chore of filling it and replacing it in the fridge.
In the past I’ve also had one of those charcoal water filters that fit on the faucet end, but to be honest I hated it. It was a total pain to replace the charcoal insert, since the hard water really gunked up the screw-threads that held it together. I was also constantly whacking it while washing dishes.
I’d steer away from an under-the-sink system that requires installation unless it’s something you can easily haul out and take with you, or your landlord is willing to deduct the cost of the system and installation from your rent (doubtful!). There’s not much point in improving someone else’s property out of your own pocket. If you can do the repair-and-deduct thing, my grandparents have an Ultrapure system that works well (they have a borderline-safe well) but was rather expensive – a few hundred bucks to install and something in the area of $20/mo. upkeep costs (the replacement filters are proprietary and sold only by this particular company). They’re sold by an MLM and they’re not very “movable” as installation means ripping out some pipes under the sink and putting this big metal canister underneath.
Actually, the best is a system that uses ultraviolet light to kill organisms in combination with some type of filtration. The system I have sends the water thru the UV light thru a Teflon coil (the coil “tumbles” the water to reach all of the bacteria, viruses, etc.), through types of carbon
filters, and then back out thru the Teflon coil and UV light. It doesn’t waste any water at all, and there isn’t a limit to how many gallons it can produce a day. And it doesn’t cost anywhere near $800!
Water purification is my father-in-law’s business, and his life’s work. He produces systems that are in use by the National Institutes of Health, the Peace Corps, and various American embassies. It’s so very important to get as much information as possible before purchasing water purification system, as there are so many different systems out there, and they’re not all equal.
BTW pure water means many thing to many people. The most basic definition might be ultra-pure water, UPW (the kind used high pressure boilers). With UPW there is virtually nothing in the water but good old H2O. Since there is no ions in UPW to carry electric current it is in fact a very good electric insulator. Typically raw water is treated by sedimentation, filtration, ioninc exchange (or reverse osmosis), degassing and finally pollishing. You are unlikely to find a water treatment system this through for home systems. So even if you purify your water it won’t be ultra-pure.
The next best is a water softener followed by reverse osmosis,RO. You can get a good quality water softener from Sears. A good RO unit can cost $800 which will give you about eight gallons per day of drinking water. The cost usually includes installation of storage tanks and dispensing taps. Its important to soften the water before it goes through the RO to reduce the loading on RO membranes which need to be replaced periodically (about $140 every five years). Also, RO isn’t exactly frugal. For every gallon of water you drink 13 gallons are wasted.
