[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by PugMom

what do you guys think of the kind that can be attached directly to the faucets- has anyone here have experience using those?

We had a Pur faucet filter, and hated it. We tossed it after giving it a chance until it was time to change the cartridge. 1. It means your faucet is around 3 inches closer to the bowl of the sink as it was previously. So you won't be using it in the bathroom, if you have a normal bathroom sink and faucet setup. 2. It means you'll keep bumping dishes into the filter when you're washing the fine china or crystal by hand (since you wouldn't put that in the dish washer), and that means broken glass, until you get used to it being where it is (which is to say - in the way. Always).

It means your water pressure will positively suck for doing anything other than watching water trickle out of a faucet.

We have an under-sink system from Filtrete. it was $60 to buy the whole setup including the first cartridge, it took an hour to install. Replacement cartridges are around $25, you change them out every 6 months, and it takes around 2 minutes to do the switch.

It filters out blah blah blah and 20% of blah blah blah and I really don't care what it's doing, all I know is I can actually tolerate the taste of the water out of the faucet, and our ice cubes are clear and not yellow.

[UpNorth]

Water here is fine for everything but drinking. Loads of dissolved solids in the tap water. We use a Zero Water pitcher for our drinking water. Tap water reads well over 200ppm. The carbon filter used in the refrigerator or in a Brita pitcher brings it down to around 150ppm. The Zero Water filter pitcher brings it down to 000ppm. You can really taste the difference. The downside is that Zero Water filters are a bit expensive (around $10 each) and they don't last so long down here, since they have to filter out so much dissolved stuff. But it is a good alternative to buying a whole house filtering system.

[Garywt]

We put a Nova system in as soon as we bought. Was it needed, not sure but we love our water up north and generally only drink tap water at home, everywhere else it is bottled water. With the Nova system I drink water in Florida. We opted not to get a softener as we don’t like the feel of soft water.

[DAVES]

Like most things it is a matter of choice. Our Villages water is pretty good, I checked before buying. Pretty good means there is worse. Beer requires quality water. Brewed in New York, Milwaukee etc. Florida-not without expensive treating.

We use the filtered water from our refrigerator for drinking and cooking. Our hard water does make your clothes washing not as good as it should be. Solution is to add borax to
the wash. Water softeners, you are adding salt calcium chloride or sodium chloride and the device dumps into your plant bed.

Aside-interesting to me. American revolution, the tea tax. They did not know about germs.
They did know that water in the cities would make you ill. People did not drink water.
Tea, to make it you boil the water and it kills the germs. People also drank liquor, the alcohol kills germs. American history. I think they were drunk most of the time.

Not a suggestion but beer is also good for your plants.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by SKIMAN

add some scotch to it taste just fine....

I prefer fire ball whiskey 🥃. Goes down so smooth

[Aloha1]

Put a NOVA whole house filter system in 5 years ago and change the the three filters once a year. Best investment ever. When you see the look of the filters after one year, you'll be very glad you put them in. I notice the change in the taste of the water as we get near the one year mark on the filters.

With the whole house filter, you no longer need a filter in your fridge which can cost anywhere from $40 to $50 dollars every six months so the net cost to replace the NOVA filters each year is around $30.

[valuemkt]

no need for it

[Tmarkwald]

Originally Posted by DAVES

Like most things it is a matter of choice. Our Villages water is pretty good, I checked before buying. Pretty good means there is worse. Beer requires quality water. Brewed in New York, Milwaukee etc. Florida-not without expensive treating.

We use the filtered water from our refrigerator for drinking and cooking. Our hard water does make your clothes washing not as good as it should be. Solution is to add borax to
the wash. Water softeners, you are adding salt calcium chloride or sodium chloride and the device dumps into your plant bed.

Aside-interesting to me. American revolution, the tea tax. They did not know about germs.
They did know that water in the cities would make you ill. People did not drink water.
Tea, to make it you boil the water and it kills the germs. People also drank liquor, the alcohol kills germs. American history. I think they were drunk most of the time.

Not a suggestion but beer is also good for your plants.

I like the way you think

[Northerner52]

Water filters take out minerals.
Andy Rooney - Bottled Water - YouTube

[Travelhunter123]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

The need for a water filter or water softener is strictly a personal decision. The water meets or exceeds all federal requirements, however due to the higher temperatures you will find a higher level of chlorine in the water and the water can be on the harder side depending on location. We did not like the chlorine taste and my wife did not like the hardness, so we have a water softener and whole house filter. The result is our water tastes just like the 'bottled' water we no longer buy.
IMHO, what you do not need are the really expensive system that people try to sell here. Ours cost under $600 (without installation), we had 2 or 3 people come by with offers for systems costing 5 to 10 times as much.

Assume you have the nova system

[riamd1954]

Definitely I have Pegasus total house water filter system! It’s great wouldn’t live here without one ! Florida is in the top ten worst water in the country!!

[Villagesgal]

The Villages water comes from the same aquifer as the bottled water you buy in the stores, Zephyr Hills, as an example. Our water is some of the best in the country. The white spots some talk about is from minerals which occur naturally in the water. If you have a chlorine taste simply fill a pitcher and let it sit for a few hours and the chlorine will dissipate naturally, the feds require drinking water to cities and towns to be chlorinated.
I was a licensed water operator up north and here for 10 years. Water here is great, up to you if you want to waste your money on a filtration system.

[merrymini]

Water in this country is safe to drink, with one notable exception that comes to mind. Most people install a filter because of the taste, not the safety of it. Do not buy bottled water, too much plastic waste. Use your own container and take it from the tap. Save the planet.

[jimbo2012]

Originally Posted by UpNorth

Water here is fine for everything but drinking. Loads of dissolved solids in the tap water. We use a Zero Water pitcher for our drinking water. Tap water reads well over 200ppm. The carbon filter used in the refrigerator or in a Brita pitcher brings it down to around 150ppm. The Zero Water filter pitcher brings it down to 000ppm. You can really taste the difference. The downside is that Zero Water filters are a bit expensive (around $10 each) and they don't last so long down here, since they have to filter out so much dissolved stuff. But it is a good alternative to buying a whole house filtering system.

Dissolved solids are not the issue.
when total dissolved solids are measured, a test counts the sum of the anions and cations present — anions have a negative charge, and cations have a positive charge.
The water could be filled with essential minerals, TDS (total desolved solids)measures the solids in your water but doesn’t give any indication whether those solids are beneficial or harmful.

These are beneficial

Calcium
Chloride
Magnesium
Potassium
Salt
Zinc

Generally the TDS in this area is about 185 which isn't very high.

The thing to mindful about these fridge filters or Zero water etc is they don't filter water in your shower your skin absorbs chlorine and other contaminates.
The fridge filter is a very course filter about 25-30 microns and lowgrade carbon to boot.

A whole house filter removes not only contaminates but sediment and these a lot of here see the filters covered in it after using 26,000 gallons of water (typically 9 months of use) see the pic

Softeners alone do not filter contaminants or sediment



More info click

see NovaFilters.com


.

[PoolBrews]

Is the water safe? Yes. Is it drinkable? That depends on your taste. Personally, my wife and I thought the water had a number of off tastes to it (there should be NO taste to water). We installed a whole home filter, and have never looked back. The water is as good as or better than bottled water, and when I brew beer I know I'm starting out with good water in the process.

I purchased a whole home filter from Express Water. $399 and it took a half day to install. The filters provided have a lower micron rating than the popular one sold here in The Villages for $600, and I replace them once a year for $100.

To the poster that said the water we get comes from the same aquifer as bottled water - while that may be true, the water delivered to your home is not filtered to the level the bottled water is and the bottled water does not have to travel through miles of pipe to get to your glass, so there will be distinct differences.