4 ms·

You can cheap water testing kits on amazon which you can use. Also not water is 100% safe and it makes a lot of sense to diversify the water sources. We use tap

by tn13 11y ago

You can cheap water testing kits on amazon which you can use. Also not water is 100% safe and it makes a lot of sense to diversify the water sources. We use tap water for cooking, bottled water from different brands at home and workplace. That probably is good enough. I have tested water at home for lead and pesticides and found it to be safe to drink. [Sunnyvale]

colin_mccabe 11y ago
It used to be that we got all Hetch Hetchy water in the south bay. Since the California drought hit, they have started getting creative with where they pull water from. Some homebrewers that I talk to say that the water chemistry changes periodically, even over the course of a week. It matters for homebrewing because things like the calcium salts present in the water can change the pH of the wort. So I wouldn't assume that just because you tested the water once, that you know what it will always be like.
maxxxxx 11y ago
Do you have an amazon link for one of those?
- tn13 11y ago
  http://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-WT1-Drinking-Water/dp/B000FBMAVQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1455081237&sr=8-3&keywords=lead+testing+kit http://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-WT1-Drinking-Water/dp/B000...
such_a_casual 11y ago
Google says 45% of bottled water is just tap water. I will never understand this phenomena.
- the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
  One of the problems is water pipes which are largely untested. Soneven if you drink the same water, bottled water might still be safer. In theory. Practically I doubt it matters for most people.
- im3w1l 11y ago
  As I currently don't have a Soda Stream, I'd pay for sparkling tap water. I don't think sparkling water can explain all those percentage points, but maybe some of them?
  - nommm-nommm 11y ago
    That is actually just referring to regular old non-carbonated water, not sparkling water (or as we call it around here, seltzer).
dalke 11y ago
It's also "probably good enough" to use your tap water. The one place we know it isn't safe - Flint - says that you should not use tap water for cooking as the lead will get in the food. Nor does it make sense to diversify sources. You pay a lot more for non-tap water, bottled water doesn't have a track record of being better than tap water, and it's harder to track any recall issues or other warnings if you have multiple sources. Plus, there are other ethical questions. Did you want to support the military government of Fiji? Or Nestlé's success in limiting the rights of Michigan citizens to bring legal action to "protect the state's natural resources from pollution, impairment or destruction"? Because those are some of the side-effects of choosing bottled water. In addition, of course, to all the packaging waste and transport costs.

by tn13 11y ago

colin_mccabe 11y ago

It used to be that we got all Hetch Hetchy water in the south bay. Since the California drought hit, they have started getting creative with where they pull water from. Some homebrewers that I talk to say that the water chemistry changes periodically, even over the course of a week. It matters for homebrewing because things like the calcium salts present in the water can change the pH of the wort. So I wouldn't assume that just because you tested the water once, that you know what it will always be like.

maxxxxx 11y ago

Do you have an amazon link for one of those?

tn13 11y ago
http://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-WT1-Drinking-Water/dp/B000FBMAVQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1455081237&sr=8-3&keywords=lead+testing+kit http://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-WT1-Drinking-Water/dp/B000...

such_a_casual 11y ago

Google says 45% of bottled water is just tap water. I will never understand this phenomena.

the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
One of the problems is water pipes which are largely untested. Soneven if you drink the same water, bottled water might still be safer. In theory. Practically I doubt it matters for most people.
im3w1l 11y ago
As I currently don't have a Soda Stream, I'd pay for sparkling tap water. I don't think sparkling water can explain all those percentage points, but maybe some of them?
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  That is actually just referring to regular old non-carbonated water, not sparkling water (or as we call it around here, seltzer).

dalke 11y ago

It's also "probably good enough" to use your tap water. The one place we know it isn't safe - Flint - says that you should not use tap water for cooking as the lead will get in the food. Nor does it make sense to diversify sources. You pay a lot more for non-tap water, bottled water doesn't have a track record of being better than tap water, and it's harder to track any recall issues or other warnings if you have multiple sources. Plus, there are other ethical questions. Did you want to support the military government of Fiji? Or Nestlé's success in limiting the rights of Michigan citizens to bring legal action to "protect the state's natural resources from pollution, impairment or destruction"? Because those are some of the side-effects of choosing bottled water. In addition, of course, to all the packaging waste and transport costs.