9 ms·

Well water is fantastic. I can notice the difference city to city and have since switched to certain types of bottled water. Making ice cubes with bottled wat

Well water is fantastic. I can notice the difference city to city and have since switched to certain types of bottled water. Making ice cubes with bottled water makes drinks taste differently.

xxpor 6y ago
As someone who grew up with well water, it tasted fine, but (at least for me based on local conditions), it was a huge pain in the ass. Low pressure, extremely hard to the point where soap is useless and we had to replace things regularly from scale build up, the UV filter thing we had to run in the basement, the worry that one day you could randomly lose the prime on the pump and they'd have to dig to get it back (which happened once), no fluoride so my teeth aren't the best. Give me that carbon filtered (removes the chlorine taste) city water any day :)
- Vrondi 6y ago
  Installing a whole-house water softener completely cures this and is very cheap (at least in the USA).
  - xxpor 6y ago
    I've talked to my parents about it multiple times but they're worried about the sodium content.
    - zdragnar 6y ago
      Potassium chloride water softening salt is more expensive, but unless you use way more water than we do, I don't find it to be an unreasonable expense.
    - frob 6y ago
      I've been living in a place with a softener on a well for a while now. Many people have asked about salty water, but I don't find it to be an issue at all. I even prefer water from our softened tap over the unsoftened one. I don't notice rings or residue in my drinking glasses. I think a common misconception is that your water runs through the salt. In reality, the water runs through a filter and the salt water is used to periodically flush the accumulated metals out of the filter. This could lead to some residual salt, but it will get flushed away quickly. The other source of salty water is a busted valve. Replace it and the water will be fine again.
      - xxpor 6y ago
        It's not the taste, it's that they're worried about sodium in general (high blood pressure).
      - bluGill 6y ago
        The salt is used for ion exchange. You trade calcium for sodium. So while you don't drink salt, it does have sodium.
- matmatmatmat 6y ago
  I'll second a reverse osmosis filter. We filter municipal water through one to get drinking water and, honestly, we're very happy with it. It's not as good as, you know, Swiss mountain water, but it's pretty close.
- toast0 6y ago
  Local conditions and probably equipment will make a difference in pressure. My well kicks on around 35 psi and off around 65, if I'm remembering right. Of course, it failed in the past year, no digging required, but it did take the better part of a day to pull up the old one, and attach a new one and lower it down. Plus one day of troubleshooting and a day of waiting for the pump to arrive didn't make a fun few days.
- jessaustin 6y ago
  ...the worry that one day you could randomly lose the prime on the pump and they'd have to dig to get it back (which happened once)... Where was this? Pumps are placed at the bottom of wells and avoid this problem entirely. It's physically impossible for a pump placed at the top to raise water more than 10m.
goda90 6y ago
If you want to avoid the cost and trash of bottled water, try keeping a pitcher of water(or reusable water bottles filled from the tap) in your fridge. The chlorine is pretty volatile, and will evaporate off within a day(assuming the pitcher isn't air tight). Just have some rotating stock so you can always have water ready to drink or make ice cubes. Of course you could also go the filtration route, but that adds the upfront cost of the system, and continuous cost of filters and wasted water.
- snovv_crash 6y ago
  It depends on the treatment method your city uses. Chlorine gas will evaporate out, but chloramine won't, and will also react with a lot of things downstream to make nasty tasting organics, for example if you use the water in brewing.
  - ecpottinger 6y ago
    That is why I have a rain fresh filter. Needs no power to run either. http://rainfresh.ca/product/steel-gravity-water-filter/ http://rainfresh.ca/product/steel-gravity-water-filter/
    - quickthrower2 6y ago
      Looks good for prepping as it takes stream water too.
  - Scoundreller 6y ago
    And can depend on where in a city you are. And sometimes the different treatment systems are still mained to eachother so shifting demand and supply can change which water you’re drinking from. Toronto has chlorine plants and ozone plants.
- ajuc 6y ago
  This is common knowledge among people growing potted plants to use tap water that stood for a few days in open container.
GeorgeTirebiter 6y ago
These variations are why I brew coffee with distilled water - gives very consistent joe. Have a distilling machine.
- dahfizz 6y ago
  Do you have a recommendation for a countertop distilling machine? A back of the napkin calculation shows that it would be 50% cheaper for me to pay for the electricity and distill water myself than buy bottled water, but the idea had never occurred to me.
  - ecpottinger 6y ago
    While not as good as distilling can I suggest filtering like the rain fresh system uses. I have used them for decades because well water has too much minerals (bad tasting) in this part of Ontario.

Well water is fantastic. I can notice the difference city to city and have since switched to certain types of bottled water. Making ice cubes with bottled water makes drinks taste differently.

xxpor 6y ago

As someone who grew up with well water, it tasted fine, but (at least for me based on local conditions), it was a huge pain in the ass. Low pressure, extremely hard to the point where soap is useless and we had to replace things regularly from scale build up, the UV filter thing we had to run in the basement, the worry that one day you could randomly lose the prime on the pump and they'd have to dig to get it back (which happened once), no fluoride so my teeth aren't the best. Give me that carbon filtered (removes the chlorine taste) city water any day :)

Vrondi 6y ago
Installing a whole-house water softener completely cures this and is very cheap (at least in the USA).
- xxpor 6y ago
  I've talked to my parents about it multiple times but they're worried about the sodium content.
  - zdragnar 6y ago
    Potassium chloride water softening salt is more expensive, but unless you use way more water than we do, I don't find it to be an unreasonable expense.
  - frob 6y ago
    I've been living in a place with a softener on a well for a while now. Many people have asked about salty water, but I don't find it to be an issue at all. I even prefer water from our softened tap over the unsoftened one. I don't notice rings or residue in my drinking glasses. I think a common misconception is that your water runs through the salt. In reality, the water runs through a filter and the salt water is used to periodically flush the accumulated metals out of the filter. This could lead to some residual salt, but it will get flushed away quickly. The other source of salty water is a busted valve. Replace it and the water will be fine again.
    - xxpor 6y ago
      It's not the taste, it's that they're worried about sodium in general (high blood pressure).
    - bluGill 6y ago
      The salt is used for ion exchange. You trade calcium for sodium. So while you don't drink salt, it does have sodium.
matmatmatmat 6y ago
I'll second a reverse osmosis filter. We filter municipal water through one to get drinking water and, honestly, we're very happy with it. It's not as good as, you know, Swiss mountain water, but it's pretty close.
toast0 6y ago
Local conditions and probably equipment will make a difference in pressure. My well kicks on around 35 psi and off around 65, if I'm remembering right. Of course, it failed in the past year, no digging required, but it did take the better part of a day to pull up the old one, and attach a new one and lower it down. Plus one day of troubleshooting and a day of waiting for the pump to arrive didn't make a fun few days.
jessaustin 6y ago
...the worry that one day you could randomly lose the prime on the pump and they'd have to dig to get it back (which happened once)... Where was this? Pumps are placed at the bottom of wells and avoid this problem entirely. It's physically impossible for a pump placed at the top to raise water more than 10m.

goda90 6y ago

If you want to avoid the cost and trash of bottled water, try keeping a pitcher of water(or reusable water bottles filled from the tap) in your fridge. The chlorine is pretty volatile, and will evaporate off within a day(assuming the pitcher isn't air tight). Just have some rotating stock so you can always have water ready to drink or make ice cubes. Of course you could also go the filtration route, but that adds the upfront cost of the system, and continuous cost of filters and wasted water.

snovv_crash 6y ago
It depends on the treatment method your city uses. Chlorine gas will evaporate out, but chloramine won't, and will also react with a lot of things downstream to make nasty tasting organics, for example if you use the water in brewing.
- ecpottinger 6y ago
  That is why I have a rain fresh filter. Needs no power to run either. http://rainfresh.ca/product/steel-gravity-water-filter/ http://rainfresh.ca/product/steel-gravity-water-filter/
  - quickthrower2 6y ago
    Looks good for prepping as it takes stream water too.
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  And can depend on where in a city you are. And sometimes the different treatment systems are still mained to eachother so shifting demand and supply can change which water you’re drinking from. Toronto has chlorine plants and ozone plants.
ajuc 6y ago
This is common knowledge among people growing potted plants to use tap water that stood for a few days in open container.

GeorgeTirebiter 6y ago

These variations are why I brew coffee with distilled water - gives very consistent joe. Have a distilling machine.

dahfizz 6y ago
Do you have a recommendation for a countertop distilling machine? A back of the napkin calculation shows that it would be 50% cheaper for me to pay for the electricity and distill water myself than buy bottled water, but the idea had never occurred to me.
- ecpottinger 6y ago
  While not as good as distilling can I suggest filtering like the rain fresh system uses. I have used them for decades because well water has too much minerals (bad tasting) in this part of Ontario.