Good filter suggestions

At work I only use bottled spring water. I buy it in 1 gallon jugs for $0.50-0.75 cents each at any local supermarket. They last me a week or so. So I think even a homeless person could manage $2-3/month and the water is great for tea. Just stay away from the distilled water, it's easy to mistakenly grab the wrong jug.

At home I use either water from my Brita water filter, or I use spring water from my water dispenser that is 5-gallon spring water from the local water bottle distributer.

Hope that helps a bit, it is much cheaper than water filters.

- Dominic

That's fine. Just about any filter will take out the particulate matter. However, it won't make the tea taste any better to take it out because you probably also have dissolved stuff to worry about that is more of an issue and harder to remove.

Have you got a water analysis done, or asked the city for one?

--scott

Thank you for your suggestions, after looking at filter prices, I'm still not sure about buying one. The pitcher is cheap, but replacement filters are expensive...so I bought some spring water, and I'm happy.

I saw an analysis report today, and the main contaminent in the water is sulfites, at 25 ppm. That, and all the other categories are within national health standards.

My suggestion would be as follows. Try to find a bottled water in the gallon that is reverse osmosis (RO)filtered. I know the local stores here in Indianapolis offer RO water in gallon jugs. You have to read the small print on the jug to see how it was filtered. If its only charcoal or UV filtered it won't help with the disolved solids problem. It will be pretty much the same price as other bottled waters by the gallon. Between $.90 and $1.50 depending on your store and brand. By using RO water you get rid of most of the dissolved solids which is causing your "film" on top of your tea or boiled water and the material falling out of the water. If you were going to be there long term I would tell you to install an RO filter but they are expensive at $150. I learned the whole RO thing at a tea convention a couple of years ago when talking with a company that supplies water conditioning to many tea shops and to Starbucks. They actually use an RO filter to take everything out and then they use a special cartridge to put just a little mineral back into the water so it is around 3-5 grains of hardness.

The only problem with using "spring" bottled water is if it is good spring water it typically has a fair amount of hardness in it also and you will still get a "film" on top of the tea.

I do agree with one other poster to stay away from fully distilled water as it makes tea that is "flat"

These are my thoughts for what its worth.

Most of the in-sink filters won't really do very much about dissolved minerals at all. Expect to pay seven to eight thousand dollars for a reverse osmosis system if you're worried about mineral content. Bottled water is a lot cheaper. On the other hand, you might enjoy showers more with better water, also.

So, when you boil the water and don't put tea in it, and you hold it up under your nose, do you get a small whiff of sulfur?

What are the iron and calcium numbers like?

--scott

Well, there is no sulpur in the cold water at all and only in the hot water that comes from the older wells in Mosfellsbær, not from the new station at Nesjavellir (the steam there is used to heat cold water and that is then piped to the city) And you do not drink the hot water anyway.

I'd definitely try to find a good seller of bottled spring water before considering a filter. My Brita filter produces water that really adds an intrusive bitterness to some teas, which probably explains why it's been relegated to the store-room for now. :)

I've not come across spring water which was inordinately hard, but then again I'm English. Our tap water is unfathomably hard - you could boil off the water and write with the chalk that's left! Bottled water is a big seller here.

Toodlepip,

Hobbes

I forgot to mention in my post that I would place water from my Brita last in my list, and I usually will use tap water over it. I do agree with you Hobbes. I also can't stomach tea brewed using Aquafina bottled water, while it is my favorite bottled water, it does something horrible to tea. I had thought it would be good since it is a reverse osmosis water, and a favorite water of mine, and ruined a pot of fairly expensive rare tea. Never again. I did have a cup of tea brewed in Voss bottled water (some overpriced water from somewhere in the world) at a coffee shop because it was an option and only like $0.50 more than regular, and it was very good for tea.

- Dominic

Admittedly it's been nearly fifteen years since I was in town, but I remember the shower water in the hotels always smelling just a little of sulfur, and there being an omnipresent aftertaste of sulfur in the tea. It actually wasn't bad once I got used to it and the water was just wonderful for washing in. I used to do the transatlantic flight and would stop off there for a couple days now and then, but it's been a good while.

--scott

Well, the cold water here has never contained any sulphur, it is being exported and it has being shown to be just about the cleanest water in the world, I guess you were using the hot water in your tea as well as in your shower :)