I moved to Arizona about a year ago. Unsurprisingly water here is pretty bad. I never heard the phrase “hard water” before I moved here. It leaves cloudy stains on glass. And it tastes really shitty out of the tap.
But I used a Brita filter, as I have been for at least a decade. The water tastes and looks fine coming out of a Brita. Because of the taste difference, I assumed it was doing a decent job of clearing out the bulk of shit in the water. Boy was I wrong.
I always heard that Brita filters don’t catch things like fluoride and trace elements of female birth control, and that could be causes of the low T epidemic, among other health issues. And a reverse osmosis system was the way to go if you wanted to do it right. But anytime I looked into getting one, it seemed like a pain in the ass and because it would involve drilling holes in the pipes which I didn’t want to mess with while I was renting a place. So I gave up and figured I’d definitely go the reverse osmosis route when/if I bought a place. And I figured that a Brita filter was good enough for the time being, only trace elements, blah blah.
I don’t know what made me finally pull the trigger, I bought a $15 electronic water tester a about a month ago. I think I was getting pissed about all the cloudiness of glasses, pots, etc after I ran the dishwasher and was curious as to how bad the tap water was. This was what I got: http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-...B002C0A7ZY
This measures the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the water. EPA max recommended limit is 500. Anything over that is not safe to drink.
I took a reading from the tap water. 830. Wasn’t too shocked to see that but certainly confirmed you do NOT want to be drinking tap water here.
Then I moved next to the Brita filtered water. In my head I was expecting to see something like 100-200 range.
It came in at 750. I couldn't believe it. I even changed the filter just to make sure it wasn’t because I had a bad filter. Same result. Freaked out a bit honestly with all the shit in the news about Flint.
I called up APEC, the company that makes the top selling RO filtration system on Amazon. At the time I was prepared to drill holes in my sink and get fucked on my security deposit when I moved out if it came down to it, in order to get clean drinking water.
I was calling to ask for help in figuring out if there was enough room under my sink and if it could be installed. But I was pleasantly surprised when the rep told me that they actually have affordable countertop Reverse Osmosis filters. I immediately bought this one $230 because it had decent reviews from all my research: http://www.amazon.com/APEC-Water-Countertop-Portable-Installation-Free/dp/B00IB14XDU
It was extremely easy to set up. I tested my first glass and came in at 30 TDS. Supposedly it will eventually get close to zero as I use the filter, but for now I’m satisfied going from 750 to 30.
The only downside of the countertop RO systems is they aren’t as fast as the under-sink versions. It takes about 5 minutes to fill up a half gallon jug. But I usually get it done as part of my morning routine and fill up 1.5 gallons for the day so it's not too bad.
My one piece of advice is to set a timer just to make sure you don't forget if you are filling a large container. The other day I forgot I started to fill up and went to the gym. Probably poured about 6 gallons down the drain. But that's happened only 1 time and I've been filtering every day since I got it.
In summary - the number one thing I can say that if you haven't tested your water yet, fucking do it. It's $15. You are a fool if you don’t at least find out what you are dealing with.
If you are making the financial investment to buy healthy food, juicing, or taking any kind of supplementation be it multivitamin or TRT, or even nootropics--but you are drinking water filled with shit - I think you’ve got your priorities mixed up.
Perhaps where you live your water is clean enough out of the tap and RO isn’t necessary. But do yourself a favor and at least find out.
And if you like the taste from a Brita, nothing wrong with that. But don't make the mistake I did and assume that just because it tastes better, it's clean too. It's probably not.
But I used a Brita filter, as I have been for at least a decade. The water tastes and looks fine coming out of a Brita. Because of the taste difference, I assumed it was doing a decent job of clearing out the bulk of shit in the water. Boy was I wrong.
I always heard that Brita filters don’t catch things like fluoride and trace elements of female birth control, and that could be causes of the low T epidemic, among other health issues. And a reverse osmosis system was the way to go if you wanted to do it right. But anytime I looked into getting one, it seemed like a pain in the ass and because it would involve drilling holes in the pipes which I didn’t want to mess with while I was renting a place. So I gave up and figured I’d definitely go the reverse osmosis route when/if I bought a place. And I figured that a Brita filter was good enough for the time being, only trace elements, blah blah.
I don’t know what made me finally pull the trigger, I bought a $15 electronic water tester a about a month ago. I think I was getting pissed about all the cloudiness of glasses, pots, etc after I ran the dishwasher and was curious as to how bad the tap water was. This was what I got: http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-...B002C0A7ZY
This measures the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the water. EPA max recommended limit is 500. Anything over that is not safe to drink.
I took a reading from the tap water. 830. Wasn’t too shocked to see that but certainly confirmed you do NOT want to be drinking tap water here.
Then I moved next to the Brita filtered water. In my head I was expecting to see something like 100-200 range.
It came in at 750. I couldn't believe it. I even changed the filter just to make sure it wasn’t because I had a bad filter. Same result. Freaked out a bit honestly with all the shit in the news about Flint.
I called up APEC, the company that makes the top selling RO filtration system on Amazon. At the time I was prepared to drill holes in my sink and get fucked on my security deposit when I moved out if it came down to it, in order to get clean drinking water.
I was calling to ask for help in figuring out if there was enough room under my sink and if it could be installed. But I was pleasantly surprised when the rep told me that they actually have affordable countertop Reverse Osmosis filters. I immediately bought this one $230 because it had decent reviews from all my research: http://www.amazon.com/APEC-Water-Countertop-Portable-Installation-Free/dp/B00IB14XDU
It was extremely easy to set up. I tested my first glass and came in at 30 TDS. Supposedly it will eventually get close to zero as I use the filter, but for now I’m satisfied going from 750 to 30.
The only downside of the countertop RO systems is they aren’t as fast as the under-sink versions. It takes about 5 minutes to fill up a half gallon jug. But I usually get it done as part of my morning routine and fill up 1.5 gallons for the day so it's not too bad.
My one piece of advice is to set a timer just to make sure you don't forget if you are filling a large container. The other day I forgot I started to fill up and went to the gym. Probably poured about 6 gallons down the drain. But that's happened only 1 time and I've been filtering every day since I got it.
In summary - the number one thing I can say that if you haven't tested your water yet, fucking do it. It's $15. You are a fool if you don’t at least find out what you are dealing with.
If you are making the financial investment to buy healthy food, juicing, or taking any kind of supplementation be it multivitamin or TRT, or even nootropics--but you are drinking water filled with shit - I think you’ve got your priorities mixed up.
Perhaps where you live your water is clean enough out of the tap and RO isn’t necessary. But do yourself a favor and at least find out.
And if you like the taste from a Brita, nothing wrong with that. But don't make the mistake I did and assume that just because it tastes better, it's clean too. It's probably not.