4 ms·

A chemist may be able to correct me, but I'm pretty sure an AquaSana filter will do nothing to remove excess sodium hydroxide.

jaggederest 6y ago
It will if it's reverse osmosis (RO), but not all filters do that. That particular brand sells both RO and non-RO units. If it's a vast excess of NaOH, you'll have other problems besides your water filter failing, like chemical burns. Most US tapwater is fantastically clean and drinkable, and doesn't generally need a filter. The Safe Drinking Water Act is pretty powerful stuff. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/regulations.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/regulations...
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  > Most US tapwater is fantastically clean and drinkable, and doesn't generally need a filter. It is my understanding that most municipal water utilities only test water quality every 3 months. A problem can come and go between testing cycles. Even with weekly testing, I’d expect the same risk (there’s still a window between tests). Basically you’re only going to know about a problem when it’s too late.
  - jaggederest 6y ago
    You also have to look at the success and failure rates of those tests. Most tests reveal no problems, which implies periodic sampling is plenty to handle the rare problems that crop up. If we found more problems, we would demand more testing, but increased testing is pointless if there is no problem to be found. In reverse, if the tests are not specific enough, they can cause issues when you over test due to false positives on the tests. Indeed, you'll see that if a water test comes back positive, there will be multiple retests and a much greater rate of testing until the problem is abated, at least at my local drinking water board.
  - loeg 6y ago
    > It is my understanding that most municipal water utilities only test water quality every 3 months. A problem can come and go between testing cycles. This isn't remotely true.
    - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
      Which part?
      - loeg 6y ago
        The whole of it. You stated that most municipal water supplies aren't monitored for months at a time. This is extremely incorrect. The EPA-mandated quarterly report is a summary, not the entirety of samples collected. It would be dangerous and reckless not to monitor drinking water for months at a time. E.g., Seattle explicitly states: > We monitor your water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We test samples from the region between 10 and 100 times per day. https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SPU/Services/Water/Water_Quality_Report_2019.pdf https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SPU/Services/W... (PDF) > To ensure the safety of our drinking water, SPU's water quality laboratory analyzes over 20,000 microbiological samples each year (more than 50 a day) and conducts chemical and physical monitoring daily, 365 days per year. https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/water/water-quality/lab-testing#:~:text=To%20ensure%20the%20safety https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/water/water-...
  - jcranmer 6y ago
    Your understanding is incorrect. It depends on what contaminant you are measuring, but the testing frequency can vary from "every several years" to "continuously monitored and sets off a SCADA alarm if it exceeds a given threshold." The biggies--IIRC, turbidity, pH, and dosages of coagulant and treatment chemicals--are logged every 15 minutes, with more tests happening on hourly 6-hourly, and daily frequencies, followed by yet more contaminants happening largely on monthly or quarterly assessment bases. The issue in question would have shown up in a pH measurement, so there's no reason it shouldn't have been caught within minutes.
- mortehu 6y ago
  US tap water is generally so high in chlorine that to people from Western Europe it smells like pool water, even in places that are proud of their tap water like NYC. Having lived here for ten years now I can no longer smell it when I turn on the sink, but visitors still can.
  - WarBrd 6y ago
    Yup. Thats one of the things I remember most vividly from my trip to NY as a kid in the 90s.
  - dd36 6y ago
    I remember being able to taste the chlorine through the soda machine in Phoenix.
  - S_A_P 6y ago
    I had some tap water in Scotland about 20 years ago and I still remember how amazing it tasted. This was in Aberdeen area if that makes a difference. It was like the finest artesian spring water I’ve ever had.
  - billti 6y ago
    I live in Seattle, WA, which apparently has some of the cleanest water in the country. I use one of those under-the-sink inline charcoal cartridge filters on the sink we use to make tea or cook with. If I grab some water from a different tap, you can tell immediately by the smell (chlorine) and the taste. I'm surprised the filter takes out the chlorine honestly, but it's clearly taking out a bunch of stuff from what is otherwise considered very clean. That said, having travelled extensively through places like India, South America, East Asia, etc., I'm certainly grateful for the water we have "on tap" in the house. It's easy to take for granted.
    - Gibbon1 6y ago
      Small tidbit, ascorbic acid kills chlorine and chloroamine.
      - 6y ago

jaggederest 6y ago

It will if it's reverse osmosis (RO), but not all filters do that. That particular brand sells both RO and non-RO units. If it's a vast excess of NaOH, you'll have other problems besides your water filter failing, like chemical burns. Most US tapwater is fantastically clean and drinkable, and doesn't generally need a filter. The Safe Drinking Water Act is pretty powerful stuff. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/regulations.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/regulations...

TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
> Most US tapwater is fantastically clean and drinkable, and doesn't generally need a filter. It is my understanding that most municipal water utilities only test water quality every 3 months. A problem can come and go between testing cycles. Even with weekly testing, I’d expect the same risk (there’s still a window between tests). Basically you’re only going to know about a problem when it’s too late.
- jaggederest 6y ago
  You also have to look at the success and failure rates of those tests. Most tests reveal no problems, which implies periodic sampling is plenty to handle the rare problems that crop up. If we found more problems, we would demand more testing, but increased testing is pointless if there is no problem to be found. In reverse, if the tests are not specific enough, they can cause issues when you over test due to false positives on the tests. Indeed, you'll see that if a water test comes back positive, there will be multiple retests and a much greater rate of testing until the problem is abated, at least at my local drinking water board.
- loeg 6y ago
  > It is my understanding that most municipal water utilities only test water quality every 3 months. A problem can come and go between testing cycles. This isn't remotely true.
  - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
    Which part?
    - loeg 6y ago
      The whole of it. You stated that most municipal water supplies aren't monitored for months at a time. This is extremely incorrect. The EPA-mandated quarterly report is a summary, not the entirety of samples collected. It would be dangerous and reckless not to monitor drinking water for months at a time. E.g., Seattle explicitly states: > We monitor your water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We test samples from the region between 10 and 100 times per day. https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SPU/Services/Water/Water_Quality_Report_2019.pdf https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SPU/Services/W... (PDF) > To ensure the safety of our drinking water, SPU's water quality laboratory analyzes over 20,000 microbiological samples each year (more than 50 a day) and conducts chemical and physical monitoring daily, 365 days per year. https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/water/water-quality/lab-testing#:~:text=To%20ensure%20the%20safety https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/water/water-...
- jcranmer 6y ago
  Your understanding is incorrect. It depends on what contaminant you are measuring, but the testing frequency can vary from "every several years" to "continuously monitored and sets off a SCADA alarm if it exceeds a given threshold." The biggies--IIRC, turbidity, pH, and dosages of coagulant and treatment chemicals--are logged every 15 minutes, with more tests happening on hourly 6-hourly, and daily frequencies, followed by yet more contaminants happening largely on monthly or quarterly assessment bases. The issue in question would have shown up in a pH measurement, so there's no reason it shouldn't have been caught within minutes.
mortehu 6y ago
US tap water is generally so high in chlorine that to people from Western Europe it smells like pool water, even in places that are proud of their tap water like NYC. Having lived here for ten years now I can no longer smell it when I turn on the sink, but visitors still can.
- WarBrd 6y ago
  Yup. Thats one of the things I remember most vividly from my trip to NY as a kid in the 90s.
- dd36 6y ago
  I remember being able to taste the chlorine through the soda machine in Phoenix.
- S_A_P 6y ago
  I had some tap water in Scotland about 20 years ago and I still remember how amazing it tasted. This was in Aberdeen area if that makes a difference. It was like the finest artesian spring water I’ve ever had.
- billti 6y ago
  I live in Seattle, WA, which apparently has some of the cleanest water in the country. I use one of those under-the-sink inline charcoal cartridge filters on the sink we use to make tea or cook with. If I grab some water from a different tap, you can tell immediately by the smell (chlorine) and the taste. I'm surprised the filter takes out the chlorine honestly, but it's clearly taking out a bunch of stuff from what is otherwise considered very clean. That said, having travelled extensively through places like India, South America, East Asia, etc., I'm certainly grateful for the water we have "on tap" in the house. It's easy to take for granted.
  - Gibbon1 6y ago
    Small tidbit, ascorbic acid kills chlorine and chloroamine.
    - 6y ago