It depends on your water chemistry. Filtered water does not remove hardness or in my case salt present in it.
I’m curious how long the cartridges effectively last. The packaging said it was only certified for 20 gal ( I think ), but I would not expect the TDS to magically jump at that point. Given the cartridge cost at that interval, it is still cheaper for us to buy DI water jugs.Get a Zero Water pitcher.
The article is wrong calling Zero Water an upstart. I've had a Zero Water pitcher for years.
Brita vs. ZeroWater: Two water filter pitcher systems compared
Let's see just how the biggest name in water filter pitchers, Brita, stacks up against scrappy upstart ZeroWater.www.cnet.com
How long it lasts depends on how heavily contaminated your water is. The filter will last longer if your tap water has lower TDS to begin with.I’m curious how long the cartridges effectively last. The packaging said it was only certified for 20 gal ( I think ), but I would not expect the TDS to magically jump at that point. Given the cartridge cost at that interval, it is still cheaper for us to buy DI water jugs.
Thanks. Truth be told, I was comparing to the price at Bed Bath Beyond where I read the package, which is somewhat ironic since they seem to stock nothing now due to their “remodel”. Definitely no filter sale there !Our tap water is at around 150-180 TDS. The ZeroWater filter lasts about 20-30 gal (just my guess) before the TDS exceeds 006. You can find these filters on sale often for about $8-$9.
BBB is where I usually buy these filters. I actually just bought a 4-pack from them last week. It was $34 after all the usual discounts/coupons. ZeroWater also usually has coupons on their website.Thanks. Truth be told, I was comparing to the price at Bed Bath Beyond where I read the package, which is somewhat ironic since they seem to stock nothing now due to their “remodel”. Definitely no filter sale there !
I have a cool mist and have been using tap for 3 years. I put in a Homedic demineralization cartridge changed monthly.most ultrasonic dont have "filters".. some have demineralization cartridges.
My RO filter costs about 2cents a gallon. and usually its around 15month and 2000 gallons before I change the filters. RO element supposedly lasts 2-5 years depending on water and changed by using TDS meter to see if its working.
As a side note, I knew someone who worked at a chip factory, where the purest water was required for the fabs, it was basically 100% H2O. I was told you could die if you drank it because it would draw out all of the sodium / electrolytes you need to function. Not sure if they were pulling my chain or not.
Thank you for elaborating. Who new pure water could be so complicated!When I was in graduate school I did nanomaterial/surface chemistry and we had an 18MΩ/cm water system in our lab(which became my responsibility to maintain). That sort of system is not uncommon in a lab. We fed ours with the "house" DI system(that I also later worked to maintain), and the house DI system just had a go/no-go 1MΩ/cm light(it would go out if resistivity went lower than that, but on fresh resins I'd usually measure it close to 2MΩ). The 18MΩ system would have crudded up pretty quickly being fed tap water.
Just for reference on the 18MΩ system, it took the regular DI water and passed it through 4 cartridges-I can't find my notes but from memory it first went through activated carbon to grab organics, heavy duty separate cation and anion exchange cartridges to do most of the purification, and then a final mixed bed "clean up" cartridge. The dispenser handle had a .5 micron filter(that people would often bypass when it clogged and slowed down rather than walk to the supply cabinet on the other side of the lab and get a new one...).
In any case, water that pure can do funny things. Most people would leave their glassware soaking overnight before using it, as if the glassware was bone-dry putting high purity water in it could actually leach enough sodium out to do cause issues for some of what we were doing. Plastic containers were mostly out of the question. Most of the tubing in water system was PTFE, but some parts were HDPE. Most any HDPE used with it would get very brittle in a relatively short amount of time because it could pull out plasticizers.
As for drinking it-kill you is probably extreme but it certainly could upset your electrolytes if it were your only source of water. Even "normal" DI or distilled isn't the greatest thing for you for the same reason, although as long as you're consuming things other than just water it won't be that big of a deal. Ultrapure water often will seem to have a metallic taste because it's pulling metals out of your teeth. I've found that it actually will often dry out my hands for...all of the above reasones.
It's funny stuff for sure.
Great filtering aside, one thing that could be improved on these pitchers is the puring. As designed, it is kind of messy.Walmart has a ZeroWater 10 cup Pitcher on sale for $16 >>>>
Boil and bottle your own waterOur area is apparently going through some distilled water shortage as none of the stores have any. I'm wonder if I can just use filtered water in my humidifier, or if doing so will ruin it...
For humidifier use, this isn't really going to accomplish anything.Boil and bottle your own water
That statement needs a qualifier.Steam-distilled water from a condensing dryer is okay to use for the supplemental watering of plants and for ironing. Not sure if there are some impurities that might make this water unsuitable in a humidifier. Tap water should be okay in a humidifier but may cause scale and mineral buildup and may favor the formation of algae.