Tap water!

[ivanhoe]

My wife and I have just spent three months living with friends here in TV while searching for our new home.

While with them I noticed that their tap water was awful and was in a panic over the amount and cost of bottled water we were forced to use.

We purchased right in the same villa and our water is beautiful! I mean we are 8 homes away and the water is fine(?)

The pre-owned unit we purchased came with a water system but I was assured by the owner that it was not for taste only softening.

Refrige has filter -that I thought would save the day- but I happily use tap for drinking.

Any ideas?

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I live in Silver Lake and I drink our tap water all the time. In fact we have a battled water dispenser that my wife insists we have and I can't tell the difference.

[Parker]

Tap water in Belvedere village just fine.

[stuckinparadise]

We drink our tap water and it tastes fine to both of us. We have a home in Tamarind Grove.

[gomoho]

Don't have a clue why there would such a difference 8 homes away - only thing I can think of is it has something to do with their pipes. Your pipes have had softened water
flowing through them which may have prevented a build up.
We do not have any water treatment, except the filter on the fridge water. My husband says it is fine - I can't drink it and buy bottled. Personal preference I suppose.

[Bonny]

I love the tap water.

[renielarson]

Our tap water in Buttonwood is fine and we use it for drinking and cooking.

[senior citizen]

My wife and I have just spent three months living with friends here in TV while searching for our new home.

While with them I noticed that their tap water was awful and was in a panic over the amount and cost of bottled water we were forced to use.

We purchased right in the same villa and our water is beautiful! I mean we are 8 homes away and the water is fine(?)

The pre-owned unit we purchased came with a water system but I was assured by the owner that it was not for taste only softening.

Refrige has filter -that I thought would save the day- but I happily use tap for drinking.

Any ideas?

We were discussing drinking water the other day. I asked hubby if he liked the water in Calumet Grove and he said that he thought it was fine. I agreed. Meaning tap water. We both also agreed that the tap water in Creekside Landing tasted o.k.

I usually drink Poland Springs (from Maine) bottled water when traveling.

We recalled how back circa 1973 the water was atrocious in Satellite Beach Florida where we lived for one year..........ditto for the stuff they sprinkled on the lawns.........sulphur water.

The Villages does not have that type.........and was a pleasant surprise.

We were discussing water after we got onto the topic of Arizona having dire water shortages..........and wondering if central Florida is as bad, or not.......but that's another story.

[John_W]

Give the water a chance before you make any decisions. We moved into Tamarind Grove in 2011 and I didn't like the taste of the water but decided to live with it for awhile. My neighbor next door within the first month spent $3100 for a water system, he had nothing but trouble with the system for a couple of months. Water would start flowing out of a pipe outside his house and down my driveway, I would have to tell him about it. I noticed within about 9 months I began to really like the taste of the water.

A year and a half later the home on the other side of us was resold to some Canadians. The first day immediately after closing they had a water system installed. The Canadians never asked anybody in the neighborhood about the water and the water installers were a bunch of jerks. They went around the neighborhood telling everyone the water was bad, but yet leaving their cigarette butts on the street.


/

[senior citizen]

Usually, water in the north is cold out of the tap........really cold.
Our Vermont water is cold and whenever we've been in Canada, it's also cold.

Maybe they perceived the Florida water to be too warm?
Obviously, cold water does taste better than warm water........and as you say, everyone does adjust to whatever they have, eventually.

But, I "hear you" on not jumping the gun and putting in new systems ; perhaps they bought into the door to door salesmen coming around???????

Did you mean the water installers were jerks??? Surely, not the Canadians?

p.s. When we moved to Vermont from New Jersey back in 1970, my mom would come up to visit very often after she retired at age 62. She thought she had died and gone to heaven when she tasted our water from the kitchen sink..........cold and pure and delicious (that's before they put all the chemicals in water)....it came off the mountain........no one died from it. She loved it. We are higher up on the hill now but cannot say the water tastes as delicious as it did back in the early 1970's..............

[DougB]

Eh?

[cquick]

We think our tap water is fine, but I can smell the chlorine when I run it. I like to drink the water from my fridge dispenser. I guess because it's cold and there's filter to remove the chlorine smell. We still buy bottled water because I can't leave the house without a nice cold 20 oz bottle of water to drink while I'm out running errands or whatever.

I would like to get a water softener just so the tiles and toilets are easier to keep clean....there's some hard water residue I have to keep at all the time.

[Mikeod]

I would like to get a water softener just so the tiles and toilets are easier to keep clean....there's some hard water residue I have to keep at all the time.

We got a water softener because the grout in our shower was turning red-orange and no cleaner could get rid of the color. The softener did not make any difference and the grout kept turning darker. The softener also made no difference in the water stains in the toilets. So, if these are the things you're noticing, make sure whatever softener you get will help what you're experiencing.

Our softener just died and we got resin into our tap water and it tasted terrible. The softener company told us the problem was accelerated by the amount of chlorine in our water and we would need a filter added. It was going to cost about $1K to repair the softener and add the filter. We got a hard water test kit and our water tested as only slightly hard. So we decided to not repair the softener and will add a heavy duty filter system instead. In the meantime we have noted no problems with laundry or showering.

[CFrance]

We have a water softener to keep water spotting and mineral buildup in the pipes at bay. We had to have one in a former house and got so used to the feel of the soft water and how it didn't dry out our skin in the winter that we start itching after a couple days when we're in a place with no water softener.

I love how it keeps shower walls, sinks, countertops, etc., so much cleaner. But it doesn't prevent those pinkish stains from developing, which must be due to something else in the water. And I don't think it has an effect on the taste of the drinking water.

I avoid using bottled water because of the landfill issues, but I do intend to get the filtration system Jimbo recommended as soon as we're back. It would be nice to get tap water to put in the coffeemaker rather than from the fridge water dispenser (slow).

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Our water in Duval seems pretty soft but we do notice the faint chlorine odor/taste. We opt for using bottled water for drinking and cooking.

Bill :)

[edbens]

We have just purchased a new villa . The tap water is terrible. We have rented several times and have not experienced it before. Any suggestions? Have to keep buying bottled water.

[queasy27]

I've never noticed any odors with my tap water (in Summerhill), but I keep a Brita pitcher filled and in the fridge for when I want cold water. It's simple to use and refill. I put some in an aluminum sports bottle when I go out so as to avoid buying all that plastic.

[rubicon]

I have compared using tap water vis a vis filtered water from the fridge when mixing ice, tea, etc. clearly there is a better taste with filtered water. It may be for some that a filter attached to the facuet is all that is needed.
Having said that the tap water is really fine

[cquick]

We got a water softener because the grout in our shower was turning red-orange and no cleaner could get rid of the color.

The color on your grout is a type of mold. Have you tried Chlorox Cleanup on your grout? If that doesn't work, how about 3% Hydrogen Peroxide sprayed on and scrubbed with a brush? Sometimes, you just have to have the grout scraped and re-grouted to remove that mold.

Speaking of showers,we have a Roman shower (walk in). I don't think the overhead fan is enough....does anyone have another idea? I've even thought of having a fan installed in the corner of the shower to dry the floor.
:girlneener:

[JP]

I think our tap water is fine but some of our neighbors "down the hill" say theirs is horrible. I kind of wonder if it is related to where you are on the incoming pipe to or from the neighborhood?

[travelguy]

the water here is just fine; of course when i am working out in the yard i will drink out of the garden hose. i am not dead yet!

[DougB]

We recalled how back circa 1973 the water was atrocious in Satellite Beach Florida where we lived for one year..........ditto for the stuff they sprinkled on the lawns.........sulphur water.

The Villages does not have that type.........and was a pleasant surprise.
.

That was 40 years ago. I work in Satellite Beach. I can assure you the water is fine to drink now. Of course many still use well sulphur water for their lawns.
;)

[CFrance]

We think our tap water is fine, but I can smell the chlorine when I run it. I like to drink the water from my fridge dispenser. I guess because it's cold and there's filter to remove the chlorine smell. We still buy bottled water because I can't leave the house without a nice cold 20 oz bottle of water to drink while I'm out running errands or whatever.

I would like to get a water softener just so the tiles and toilets are easier to keep clean....there's some hard water residue I have to keep at all the time.

We have a water softener (had to have one 20 years ago, and got hooked). It really does keep everything cleaner, including your skin and hair.

I find that along with using soft water, toweingl the roman shower dry keeps mold at bay. Our shower doesn't seem to dry out very fast. The water can still be in there hours later. I agree with whoever said the fan doesn't' seem strong enough.

I take a nice cold sports bottle of fridge water out with me while running errands. It feels like bath water by the end of the first stop!

[BritParrothead]

We have rented many times in a different 'village' each time. This year we noticed the tap water was not as good as some of the other places.
Made coffee once, yuck, used bottled after that.
BUT, I did notice a huge difference in the condition of my skin and hair this time. So much better!! :)
I'm back home and my skin and hair are dull again :(

[CFrance]

We have rented many times in a different 'village' each time. This year we noticed the tap water was not as good as some of the other places.
Made coffee once, yuck, used bottled after that.
BUT, I did notice a huge difference in the condition of my skin and hair this time. So much better!! :)
I'm back home and my skin and hair are dull again :(

Maybe they had a water softener. That would explain your skin and hair being in better condition. It might also explain the different taste of the water if the softener used salts.

Maybe you should change your screen name to BritaParrothead!

[BritParrothead]

:thumbup: :D

[tommy steam]

Water in my home in Charlotte had a chlorine taste, wife had a filter installed on the incoming water for a few hundred bucks. What a difference it made. Soap now makes bubbles and skin feels better after a shower. I would do this first before installing any kind of softner. If you install a softner you will have to have filters before it anyway. There are many threads about water on this site. Just go to search button.

[Arubagirl2000]

We came from well water, and could not stand the taste of chlorine in our water in The Villages. We have a water filtration system, and an ROS system under kitchen sink. Whatever you decide I would suggest you do NOT go with All About Water and Solar for the work. You can ck them out online, and you will see why. Using them was a huge mistake for us.