Drinking Water

[Daffodil]

hi all. i wanted some opinions on drinking water. i have been hearing more and more lately about the harmful effects of fluoride in water and would like to maybe remove it from my drinking water. i drink a lot of water because it is supposed to help with my treatment.

i cannot really afford spring water and don't have any space for it. also, i heard most of the spring water in canada has too much bacteria in it. i have been using Brita filters for years but i know it doesn't remove any chemicals.

i thought of buying a small counter top reverse osmosis filter but that takes out minerals too, which i hear are very important.

i tried to find out how to remineralize the water but there doesn't seem to be any reliable info about that. there is a small bottle of drops some company is selling for a lot of money but that seems like a scam.

any ideas?

 

[AnnaDove]

@Daffodil, Yes, minerals are important. A doctor advised me to drink distilled water and I take Total Minerals by Country Life.

 

[maryb]

I've just got a Berkey water filter, its a little big but we've managed to find a space. I was buying bottled water before so this be a saving...eventually for me.
Need to do some research on the best one for you. I wash all my veg and boil pasta/rice etc in filtered water so use a lot. I had a Brita for a while but so glad to have bought this one.

 

[Hanna]

Drinking distilled water and taking minerals via daily green juices is also an option (minerals + chlorophylle have anti inflammatory properties)
I am interested by buying a waterhome product for this purpose (I have already the the juicer and consider it was my best aquisition in years!).

 

[ahmo]

I also have Big Berkey, with optional flouride filters. Love it.

 

[girlinthesnow]

Another Berkey fan here.

 

[Sushi]

I haul RO water in 3 gallon jugs and take a lot of minerals.

 

[minkeygirl]

I have PUR filter. It attaches to he faucet. I even bought a water test kit and it absolutely removes chlorine from my water. I also have bottled spring water because distilled tastes horrid to me.

 

[Thinktank]

I have a RO system hooked up with an addiitonal UV lighting module to kill leftover pathogens.
I'm thinking about buying a Berkey filter but worry about mold contamination, some users have found mold in their unit....

 

[*GG*]

I would think Brita removes chemicals, but it appears not Fluoride!

GG

• • Which substances will be reduced by the BRITA On Tap?
  The filter reduces*: - bad taste and odour (e.g. chlorine) - heavy metals (e.g. lead) - fine solid particles (e.g. rust and sand) - organic impurities (e.g. pesticides)

https://www.brita.net/ae/faqs_contaminations.html?L=24#8

 

[brenda]

I have used distilled for years which l am sure has helped slow down the destruction of my thyroid from fluoride and take in extra minerals with powdered greens. You get used to the taste.

 

[SDSue]

Following this thread. I’ve been looking at this RO system. They also make one that’s 90 gallons per day, which seems overkill for just me. But I do wonder about what minerals to add to my supplements.

 

[AnnaDove]

Does anyone know of a good iron filter in house system? I bought a Megahome distiller, but within 3 wks it was clogged up with iron. I also have a large RO filter system at the wellhouse but there is so much iron it cannot cope with it all.

 

[5150]

hi all. i wanted some opinions on drinking water. i have been hearing more and more lately about the harmful effects of fluoride in water and would like to maybe remove it from my drinking water. i drink a lot of water because it is supposed to help with my treatment.

i cannot really afford spring water and don't have any space for it. also, i heard most of the spring water in canada has too much bacteria in it. i have been using Brita filters for years but i know it doesn't remove any chemicals.

i thought of buying a small counter top reverse osmosis filter but that takes out minerals too, which i hear are very important.

i tried to find out how to remineralize the water but there doesn't seem to be any reliable info about that. there is a small bottle of drops some company is selling for a lot of money but that seems like a scam.

any ideas?

I have been using a PUR filter on the faucet. I had an appt with a naturopath who actually was really a good info source (sometimes we hear bad stories re naturopaths). I had been using a Brita pitcher for quite a few years, but she emphatically said "not good enough". The faucet PUR has a selector switch to use straight tap water for normal daily things, and the filter is switched on for drinking/cooking -- anything that goes into your body. This doesn't address showering/bathing when there can be absorption via skin, but it's a start.

Also have discovered at our local high-quality HealthFoodStore, there is a machine which dispenses high pH water (ph 10), which has helped a lot. It's enough to influence digestive tract pH to lower acidity which helps stop things that thrive in acid conditions, such as cancer and inflammation in general. It also assists in colon cleansing. But it doesn't lower the urine pH or the rest of the body, so it was explained to me by the Ayurvedic-trained person there. As a bonus, it's not too expensive, about 94cents/gallon. It probably is good to supplement with the other good micro-nutrients/minerals. Have noticed some of this genre product lately on Amazon, but have not yet ordered. I use 5 gallons of this pH water in about 7 days, only for drinking. . . using PUR water for cooking.

Another tip the Ayurvedic gentleman gave is to mix sea salt into a glass of water when you are feeling extra dry, or to do it once a day if dehydration is present. The sea salt (or I also use Himalayan salt) carries the water into intra-celluar zones where it is best utilized. I feel it shouldn't be over-used, but some salt is necessary for good health (such as is possible for us).

 

[Daffodil]

thanks everyone. i will have to revisit this matter when my brain works better! i am on a new treatment which has ruined some the gains i was making so i cannot read all of this thread.:-/

there is some important chemical that PUR and Brita do not filter...i cannot remember which one now

does reverse osmosis water taste better than distilled water?

 

[perchance dreamer]

I had read that reverse osmosis water wastes a lot of water, but I don't know much about it. I'd also have to get my husband to take a mineral supplement since RO water removes minerals from water.

He's very reluctant to take any supplement. I hope no one thinks this too harsh, but it's sometimes hard to get some men to do things they don't want to do.

@maryb and @girlinthesnow and @ahmo, I'm glad to hear you like the Berkey. I've been thinking of getting one with the optional fluoride filter. My ENT said that is what she uses at home and that Berkey filtration is pure enough to use for a neti pot, eliminating the need to get distilled water.

I will look into the possibility of mold, though, from the units. I drink so much water that it wouldn't happen from being stagnant, but maybe there's some other cause.

I had wondered if Berkey makes the water taste metallic, but people tell me it tastes good.

 

[IntelligentImpulse]

Personally, I really detest buying spring water from water bottles, or anything related to companies that sell bottled water. It is a huge scam and the environmental impact of the waste generated from plastic bottles is devastating. On the other hand, I don't trust government regulated water since safety measures are often overlooked for profit.

Some water filters aren't designed to remove fluoride (Brita). Taken from their website - https://www.brita.net/ae/faqs_contaminations.html?L=24#2 : "

• 
  The BRITA cartridge is not designed to remove fluoride. Some fluoride is naturally present in tap water, whilst some water companies add fluoride to the water. If you are concerned about the presence of fluoride in your tap water, you should check with your water supplier. "
  

 

[ahmo]

I my Berkey, and its taste. Mine is outside, so I don't have to worry about it taking up counter space, and the small amount of leakage or condensation that might occur. Never any trace of mold. Yes, flouride filters.

 

[SickOfSickness]

Following this thread. I’ve been looking at this RO system. They also make one that’s 90 gallons per day, which seems overkill for just me. But I do wonder about what minerals to add to my supplements.

Unlike the Berkey, most RO do not have a holding tank of filtered water. You need one that makes a high amount, so you're not waiting forever for water you need. 90 gallons per day divided by 24 hours = 3.75 gallons per hour = 16 minutes for a gallon. So if you were filling a big water bottle, it could take 3 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I hated standing there waiting just for 1/2 cup of water. So 90 gallons per day is not much.

 

[SDSue]

Unlike the Berkey, most RO do not have a holding tank of filtered water. You need one that makes a high amount, so you're not waiting forever for water you need. 90 gallons per day divided by 24 hours = 3.75 gallons per hour = 16 minutes for a gallon. So if you were filling a big water bottle, it could take 3 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I hated standing there waiting just for 1/2 cup of water. So 90 gallons per day is not much.

Wonderful info, Sick. Thanks so much. I can barely sit on my stool at the sink to fill a cup with regular water, I can’t imagine wiaint longer! Does BigBerkey filter out fluoride like RO?