[Stet123]

Hello all. In doing some research to find better, cleaner drinking water. I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction as to what would be the best way to filter tap water and remove lead, other metals, microplastics etc. I see a lot of conflicting info online and lots of people trying to sell their products. What are y’all’s thoughts? Thx!

[Borek]

What are y’all’s thoughts?

Broadly speaking? In general, unless you live in a third country and/or have no access to municipal water it doesn't make sense to even try. Well done water purification require hardware and methods that require years to train and take years to master.

The only parameter that can be relatively simply changed is water hardness.

[Stet123]

So potentially hazardous chemicals and heavy metals(Flint, MI) can’t be filtered out of normal household taps?

[Borek]

Not in a reliable way.

[Stet123]

Not in a reliable way.

So we are just stuck with drinking contaminated water? No hope?

[Corribus]

Water is not either contaminated or not contaminated. For one, different types of contamination require different types of redmediation. Also, the target remediation level is important. Consider lead. It's not "lead or no lead". It's "what concentration of lead is acceptable and what kind of technology is required to meet the acceptable concentration for safety and quality?". If you look hard enough with good enough equipment, you will find probably find lead atoms in your water - but is it enough to cause harm? Home purification systems may be very good at significantly reducing iron loads from well water so that it tastes acceptable, but taking lead from xxx ppb to yyy ppb to meet a safety standard may be beyond their capability. Such remediation may require more expensive hardware and technical expertise beyond the reach of typical consumers, or may require completely replacing public water infrastructure.

If you are concerned about the quality and safety of your municipal water, you should contact your local government to have it tested and discuss remediation strategies - contamination could occur at your house (which you would have to pay to resolve) or it could be a more systemic problem (the city's problem). If the water is truly unsafe, then you will probably need to purchase bottled water until the problem is addressed. Filtering at your faucet does not address the problem's cause, and only is a temporary solution because safety assurance would require constant testing.

[Stet123]

Water is not either contaminated or not contaminated. For one, different types of contamination require different types of redmediation. Also, the target remediation level is important. Consider lead. It's not "lead or no lead". It's "what concentration of lead is acceptable and what kind of technology is required to meet the acceptable concentration for safety and quality?". If you look hard enough with good enough equipment, you will find probably find lead atoms in your water - but is it enough to cause harm? Home purification systems may be very good at significantly reducing iron loads from well water so that it tastes acceptable, but taking lead from xxx ppb to yyy ppb to meet a safety standard may be beyond their capability. Such remediation may require more expensive hardware and technical expertise beyond the reach of typical consumers, or may require completely replacing public water infrastructure.

If you are concerned about the quality and safety of your municipal water, you should contact your local government to have it tested and discuss remediation strategies - contamination could occur at your house (which you would have to pay to resolve) or it could be a more systemic problem (the city's problem). If the water is truly unsafe, then you will probably need to purchase bottled water until the problem is addressed. Filtering at your faucet does not address the problem's cause, and only is a temporary solution because safety assurance would require constant testing.

Interesting. Thanks! So what are your thoughts on a water bottle like this?

watertogousa . com

[Corribus]

I wouldn't presume to offer an opinion on whether this can make any water safe to drink. The only way to know for sure is an analytical measurement.

I think filtration can be an effective means of making natural water more palatable and possibly safer assuming the initial source isn't ridiculously contaminated.

Would I trust it to treat drinking water known to be heavily contaminated with lead, Vibrio, or whatever? Probably not. But I have high risk aversion