Bad water quality in my city. Are there any good solutions?

[Daniel@R2R]

Water at my home is at 300+ TDS. I'm thinking I may invest in a whole house filter. Is this a good idea? Will it help?

 

[KStatefan]

Water at my home is at 300+ TDS. I'm thinking I may invest in a whole house filter. Is this a good idea? Will it help?

I use a whole house filter and a water softener for my 380 tds incoming water. How hard is your water?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Water at my home is at 300+ TDS. I'm thinking I may invest in a whole house filter. Is this a good idea? Will it help?

Your in So Cal like me, ya? How high does your tds go, and what's in it?

 

[Dburr1014]

Water at my home is at 300+ TDS. I'm thinking I may invest in a whole house filter. Is this a good idea? Will it help?

What is in the water?
Get a breakdown from the city.
Could be worth it for your own health or maybe not. If it's for the tank buy one specifically for that.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

What is in the water?
Get a breakdown from the city.
Could be worth it for your own health or maybe not. If it's for the tank buy one specifically for that.

I was initially thinking for the tank (I have an RODI system already), but then I realized that we're also filtering water for drinking (just a carbon filter in the fridge), and then I got to thinking about stuff like our appliances (espresso maker, etc.) and started thinking instead of filtering for all of our different devices, maybe a while house solution makes sense to lengthen the life of individual filters?

Your in So Cal like me, ya? How high does your tds go, and what's in it?

Yep. I'm not sure what the exact number is. I'll check it. I know it's above 300.

 

[Dburr1014]

I was initially thinking for the tank, but then I realized that we're also filtering water for drinking (just a carbon filter in the fridge), and then I got to thinking about stuff like our appliances (espresso maker, etc.) and started thinking instead of filtering for all of our different devices, maybe a while house solution makes sense to lengthen the life of individual filters?

Yep. I'm not sure what the exact number is. I'll check it. I know it's above 300.

You can get a report from the city/town. Should be free and tell you everything.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

You can get a report from the city/town. Should be free and tell you everything.

Thanks! I'll get that and update here.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I'm lucky! My tds from the tap is under 20, usually around 15. I can't image water with tds that high! My filters last forever!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

My water is partial aquifer and partial Metropolitan Water district. The tds swings wildly depending on source used. Typically it's the aquifer which tds @ the tap is about 250-300 tds, if it's the metro water source, it can skyrocket from 400+tds plus. I'm in a condo, so installing a whole house unit was a crazy pain and the HOA laughed me out the meeting basically.

So I went with a 4 stage under sink + 3 gal bladder in the kitchen that feeds my refrigerator (ice maker & water outlet). I have a valve to switch the output water from the bladder storage to the di canister when I need to make aquarium water.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I need to check the TDS on my water still, but here is the water report from my city. Thoughts?

 

[Reefer Matt]

My opinion: I find that the water quality reports are a good place to start, but by the time that water gets to your house, it is contaminated further by the piping. I see a whole bunch of "floaties" in my sediment filter for my rodi. Water main breaks, back siphoning, and leaching, etc do happen, and contaminate tap water from time to time. I suggest at least a particulate and carbon filter for most people on city water after the meter.

 

[Spare time]

I need to check the TDS on my water still, but here is the water report from my city. Thoughts?

That's from before the water company cleans it right? Keep in mind a high or low TDS doesn't indicate water quality as much of what's in the water is beneficial or neutral (the minerals).

 

[Daniel@R2R]

My opinion: I find that the water quality reports are a good place to start, but by the time that water gets to your house, it is contaminated further by the piping. I see a whole bunch of "floaties" in my sediment filter for my rodi. Water main breaks, back siphoning, and leaching, etc do happen, and contaminate tap water from time to time. I suggest at least a particulate and carbon filter for most people on city water after the meter.

This is what I'm considering. I know there's no way I would drink the stuff coming out of my faucets and I'm burning through DI resin pretty quickly. I'm figuring it's also probably pretty rough on my appliances. I haven't ever looked into this before though, so I'm trying to figure out what will really help and what might be unnecessary or unhelpful.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

That's from before the water company cleans it right? Keep in mind a high or low TDS doesn't indicate water quality as much of what's in the water is beneficial or neutral (the minerals).

Pulled it from this page: https://www.fontanawater.com/water-quality-supply/water-quality/

I get the understanding from their explanation that this is what's reportedly in the pipes in my city after treatment.

 

[cooltowncorals]

My water is partial aquifer and partial Metropolitan Water district. The tds swings wildly depending on source used. Typically it's the aquifer which tds @ the tap is about 250-300 tds, if it's the metro water source, it can skyrocket from 400+tds plus. I'm in a condo, so installing a whole house unit was a crazy pain and the HOA laughed me out the meeting basically.

So I went with a 4 stage under sink + 3 gal bladder in the kitchen that feeds my refrigerator (ice maker & water outlet). I have a valve to switch the output water from the bladder storage to the di canister when I need to make aquarium water.

I do the same thing in a house in AZ use spectrapure filters get from 500-600 incoming to 25 ish prior to DI.

I run RO to my sink fridge and ice maker and we use it for everything

 

[Andrey Grodno]

I think you have the wrong idea about the situation - bad water coming out of the tap.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

What kinds of whole house systems do you guys run? I'm doing research, but getting bogged down in all kinds of reviews/comparisons, and I think I'm suffering from the paralysis of analysis.