I need to do something about my water not as concerned about showering, although I have seen filters that can be attached to shower heads - not sure how well they work though. I definitely would like to have better drinking water for Ro & me. What I've heard about bottled water, which I have been using, it's not much better than the water that comes out of my faucet. Was wondering what other options are out there without having to invest a huge sum of money: Would love to hear what others are using and why.

Thanks!

I have a PUR pitcher that I got at Walmart for about $20. I've had it for 2 years so far. You have to replace the filters like once every 3 months. The filters are about $8. The water tastes sooooo good- I'm spoiled now and have a hard time drinking water from anywhere else!

I like it because the water gets so cold from sitting in the fridge that you don't have to bother with ice if you don't want to. I thought about getting one of those filters that connects to the faucet, but I really don't need filtered water to wash dishes, plus, the water wouldn't be cold enough (for my tastes) to drink it as is.

I have the PUR 3 stage filter that connects to the faucet. It's supposed to remove 99.9% of the junk from the water. You have the option of running the water thru the filter or just from the faucet so dishes get washed in regulat tap water and the fids get it filtered. The filter cartridge lasts for 100 gallons of water and are a little pricey I think, I paid about $38 for 3 at Wal-mart. I'm pretty sure the filter cartridge lasted almost 3 months. The filter itself cost under $40 and it has an indicator light on it when you need to change the filter.

Thanks for the info Camille and Sally, I'm going to check out the PUR this weekend.

I have a kenmore distiller and I LOVE it, It is THE CLEANEST water I have ever tasted. In fact, I've had mine about 6 or 7 years now, and it's just now starting to show it's age. They are a little pricey, but well worth the investment. You wouldn't BELIEVE the sludge that is left over....nasty.

The one I have is bigger than this... but I don't know that they make the bigger one any more? Kenmore 34480 Water Purifier at Sears.com

JUST A NOTE: BE CAREFUL with ALL pruifiers.... they might remove TOO MUCH. Make sure your diet and your birds diet is balanced (obviously) as purifiers also remove the beneficial things too, like minerals. I have heard, but not confirmed, that this water shouldn't be given to kids on a regular basis? I don't know though, I would think pure water would be better, but you don't want it to leach minerals back out of your body....

i have the same thing... and i'm satisfied with it...

Thanks for the great info Dana, very interesting...I hadn't thought about removing too much. Thanks for your input too Bee!

We use a Nikken Pi water filter. I love it! Yes, it's a tad pit expensive, but, it is so worth the money. The water is so clean and it filters naturally. It uses this system of rocks and filters and what not. I have no idea, i just love the water. We also got the shower purifing head, and the bird's feathers have never looked so good, lol!

There are a couple of points that need clarification here. There are several methods of water "purification" on the market. Some work and others do not. Some are designed only to improve the taste of the water and others improve the water quality itself. So here's the skinny:

Most screw-on tap filters and filter pitchers will remove chlorine and chloramines by passing them through carbon and zeolite blocks. They usually also have some sort of net or fiber filtration to remove larger particles like sand and silt, down to about 5 to 3 microns in size. Most bacteria are well under 3 microns and will not be removed. In fact, bacteria can and will use the filter media as a "bed" and reproduce very rapidly. This is the primary reason you must change the filters frequently. Unless they have a cation ion exchange resin (most of them do not) in the filter, they will not remove minerals from the water.

Reverse osmosis or R/O filters first pass the water through several stages of mechanical filtration, like those above, but most good r/o systems will take the mechanical filtration down to about .5 microns in size. This will trap most bacteria and sediments. Then the water is passed through a pressurized membrane that causes the minerals to be excluded from the water and sent down the drain in "reject water". The ratio of "good water" to "reject water" used to be very high, you got 1 gallon of good water to every 8 or more gallons of reject water. Now the ratio in the best r/o units is about 1:1. R/O removes ALL (or about 98%) of the minerals from water, so you must add calcium, magnesium, and some other trace elements back to it or be sure there are adequate levels in your diet.

De-ionization or D/I is another form of filtration that passes the source water through two different cations, one acidic and the other basic. The mineral ions are attracted to either the acidic or the basic filter beds and remain there. D/I is attractive to those who live in desert areas that can't afford the waste of r/o and by many, if not most, laboratories. It also produces nearly (99%) pure water. It does have problems, however. The filtration tanks have to be professionally serviced because you are dealing with very caustic chemicals in the cation beds and combining them can result in very explosive results (as in actual explosions and substantial property damage and physical harm). It can also produce extremely acidic or alkaline water if one or the other cation bed has exhausted its filtration ability. You must monitor the pH of the water constantly.

Distilled water is the purest water. In this instance a large volume of water is brought to a boil in a distiller (also know as a "Still", as in the device used to make moonshine) until it vaporizes into steam. All the minerals are left in the distiller, the resulting steam is pure, it is condensed back into water in the condensor and bottled from there. It is absolutely pure water, but very ineffecient and expensive to produce.

Most bottled water for human consumption is, in reality, water that has been passed through the r/o process. If minerals are added back to the water, then it is sold as "drinking water". If no minerals are added back, then it is sold as "purified water". Distilled water is sold labeled as "distilled water" and is guaranteed pure. Most states have strict labeling laws for water. Read the label carefully and it will tell you if the water is natural spring water, filtered by r/o or d/i methods, etc. The laws are quite clear about the labeling and violations are usually punishable by sizable fines and penalties.

So when you consider water quality for you and your fids or if you are planning on purchasing a water filter, keep these things in mind and be careful of sales pitches. Ask questions like how much mineral content is actually removed by the filter and if it improves only the taste of the water or does it improve the actual water quality by making it cleaner with fewer minerals. Don't let the salesperson mislead you. Stick to your guns and make them answer your questions. If they won't or can't, consult another store. Oh, and always remember, EVERY FILTRATION SALESPERSON WILL TELL YOU YOUR COMMUNITY HAS "HORRIBLE WATER THAT MAY NOT BE SAFE" AND THAT IS A LOT OF HOOEY!! Municipal water supplies are perfectly safe. They may not always taste good, but they are safe, potable water sources.

Wow, Bustersbuddy, thank you so much for sharing this information and putting it terms that is so easy to understand. I haven't made a decision yet so this will be extremely useful in doing so, in addition to what the others have shared that they are using I was also considering the screw on tap system by Aquasana.

If you don't mind sharing, what do you use for water? Thanks again for all of this great information!