After seeing a blurb in the news mega about the US needing nearly half a trillion dollars for drinking water infrastructure, I wonder about my own family's water safety.

I have up to now been under the impression that tap water is safe to drink, eschewing borrowed water for environmental purposes but maybe I should be thinking about a filtration system.

We live in an apartment with old bones in a city that has had lead in its school pipes in the past.

How do the netizens of Hexbear filter and enjoy their drinking water?

  • wopazoo [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    How do the netizens of Hexbear filter and enjoy their drinking water?

    The filter type you want will depend on the type of contaminants in the tap water.

    You can search up your utility on https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/ and it'll show the detected contaminants and what filter types are effective against them.

    Edit: apparently EWG's "safe threshold levels" are bullshit so just ignore those

    • Aceivan [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      :downbear: EWG is not a reliable source they are major fearmongers. There are a lot of things to be worried about with tap water in the US but they just like, make up their own "safe threshold levels" and such and fearmonger over anything they can to promote "natural" alternatives.

      Not to say all water filtration is a bad idea they just aren't the place to get your info about whether your water is safe.

    • abc [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      wow I hate you thanks for informing me that the local tap water I've been drinking has...

      EWG is not a reliable source i do not hate you

    • culpritus [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Nice link! Looks like RO takes care of everything but Vanadium.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Vanadium is good for you. Strengthens the chrome in your pre-combustion chamger

      • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        If you do RO be sure to remineralize after, some systems include it, but if you don't take that step any sort of tea or coffee will taste wrong and I think you can even damage your organs by drinking ro or distilled water for extended periods

        • chickentendrils [any, comrade/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I wouldn't worry about remineralization unless you do notice a taste issue. You (probably) get minerals from other stuff, and RO-filtered water won't hurt you.

          • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Yeah I wasn't sure about the veracity of the danger aspect but had heard it from a few sources. Something about it being a better solvent and being more likely to cause some damage if you were only drinking ro/distilled