Years ago we first tried the PUR type on the sink faucet. Always in the way and slow. Total bummer. Then the Brita pitcher. Meh, but fine. Mostly for drinking and coffee/tea making.

We now have the reverse osmosis with the separate tap at the sink. Love it. Came with the home. Four filters under the sink and a pressurized bladder thing. Good fast flow and I do test the water every few months. Our tap water isn't that bad but can be after a big rain storm. Never toxic. Not at all expensive but the initial set-up might be.

Funny quick story. We were working long hours and feared the filters needed changing so that is when I purchased the water tester. I bought some bottled water while waiting to change the filters when we could find the time. The ugly plastic bottled water barely passed the test,... my filtered was fine. Tested much better.

Berkley is very popular. Expensive but gets great reviews. I think out of stock for months. Early covid I think some fear was put in place about the water supply. The virus in water?. TP and bottled water was flying off the shelves.

My sister has the Berkley.

Really depends how your water tests. The Brita pitcher is the best economical and another brand I can't think of is preferred that my sister gifted my parents.

Tap in Portland. Our water is soft and sweet, untreated, unflouridated, direct from the mountains, stored in lovely open air reservoirs in a city park. This is wonderful for breweries and cooks, and dentists. Things are changing a bit, the EPA is forcing Portland to install actual water treatment facilities, but the water quality won’t be hurt.

Vancouver, BC used to have unfluoridated water when I first went there in 1975, and after I took a bath, there was no bathtub ring. After shampooing my hair, all it needed was a plain water rinse, and it felt like I had put conditioner on it. I was told that the water was from melted snow or glaciers. The ice cubes were crystal clear as well. This was the best water I've had anywhere.

Then the government decided to add fluoride to the water, and it was never the same after that.

I use filtered water in cooking, but I use regular unfiltered water when making the sugar solution for the hummingbird feeders. I was told not to use filtered water for that.

They've improved the water here vastly. I didn't even use it for pasta, it was so gnarly. Now, I get the quality reports and know it's constitutionally as decent as it looks and smells, and I don't hesitate to cook with it. I still use spring water for drinking and baking, and distilled for any kind of machinery, but there's really nothing wrong with the tap water nowadays.

Our tap water is fine, so I drink and cook with it. My SIL has a water filter but honestly, I can’t really taste any difference.

We have a good, spring fed well, but when we tested it for acidity the pH was pretty low. (We live in a pine forest....duhhhh.) So we installed a pH filter. I'm all into keeping alkaline (cancer likes acidic bodies)....all those years I toted my good well water to work I never realized I was defeating my purpose, lol.

DH uses a Brita for his ice machine to avoid mineral buildup. We saw Costco now has a compatible pitcher and filters for much less $$. The kids have a Berkley and are really happy with it.

Town water has a definite chlorine smell, so I take in drinking water for us.

I have a Brita pitcher on the counter for the water we use for coffee. The farm's water is amazing and comes right from the aquifer that Ice Mountain pumps water from for bottling. We fill gallon bottles and bring it to the house for coffee and drinking but sometimes we run out.

The water at the house is from a more shallow well and although it tests perfectly safe to drink, it has a lot of minerals and that affects both taste and things like the water lines for the washing machine and the ice maker. As a result we have a whole house filter, plus the refrigerator has a filter of its own.

I almost never buy bottled water, unless I'm driving somewhere and have forgotten my stainless steel water bottle. I have one that will hold ice all day, even at the beach, and I use ice cubes from my ice maker and my first choice is the well water from the farm, second choice is from the Brita.

For spaghetti or boiling potatoes, etc., I use the water from the tap. For things like a pot of tea or coffee, I'll use the water from the farm or from the Brita, which ever I have. For drinking, though, I want the water from the farm.

Annie

The country well water was delicious! But the city water has so much chlorine in it that I can neither drink nor cook with it. I have actually ruined both chicken soup and spaghetti using city water; tea is another issue all together. I now keep gallon bottles of purchased water as backup to the countertop Pur water pitcher. All this for the privalege of paying top dollar for the city water.

Kate

sleevendog, I believe that's Berkey, not Berkley. My son and family love their countertop one.

We started to buy reverse osmosis water when the river water that we get got so awful tasting.

A place opened up near us that refills our big reusable bottles.

One thing about this water is that it lacks minerals in it and some advise to supplement the diet to include some minerals.

We use that water mainly for drinking. I will generally use tap water for all else since it is the taste that we objected to. The osmosis water still comes from the river as it comes from the public water.

After all taht we have spend on buying this water, I think it may be time to look into getting our own system.

Lars, I wonder if the advice to not use filtered water in the bird sugar is maybe because it is assumed that the water will be lacking minerals. I am not sure what other filtering methods remove the minerals. Maybe. Just a thought.

I never have placed much faith in those filtering jugs. And, I dont know for sure that this osmosis water is as benign as it is said to be, either. The river has been known to deliver up a number of extremely worrying issues. And, it all still comes from the river.

Yes, it is Berkey. Auto-correct changed it and just did it again. Looks like they are back in stock. I do like they offer various filter choices depending on what your water testing reveals. Same with our under sink mounted RO. Various filter combinations including a pre-filter option for sediment preventing low-flow due to sediment clogging the other filters.

I have a Pur water dispenser in the refrigerator and I use that for coffee and drinking. Years ago an under the sink/countertop water filter broke during the night and flooded our basement.

Yes, the hummingbirds do need the minerals in the water. In Cathedral City, I believe the water is from area springs, and it has a lot of mineral in it, but the water in Los Angeles comes from reservoirs. My friends Jimmy works for L.A. Dept of Water, and he designs sewers and water treatment facilities. He assures me that L.A. tap water is fine to drink and cook with.

I do use either bottled spring water or distilled water when fermenting vegetables, however. Sauerkraut and kimchee do not require water, although I do wash the cabbage in tap water, which seems to be okay. When I make pickles, I use distilled water.

I use tap water for everything. Sometimes, the water smells heavily of chlorine and when it does, I fill a pitcher and let the chlorine evaporate off before using the water.