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Depends on where you are. In Europe there is no need for that at all. What kind of water filter would that be? A simple small filter you attach to the faucet o

Depends on where you are. In Europe there is no need for that at all. What kind of water filter would that be? A simple small filter you attach to the faucet or a proper arm-sized cylinder you place somewhere along your water pipes? I am not sure how well those filters remove all contaminants like heavy metals and such.

lstodd 5y ago
Depends on where in Europe you are. In most of eastern you need partuculate, charcoal and ion-exchange in series to somewhat approach acceptable levels of shit in it.
rgrieselhuber 5y ago
It's much worse in the US, tons of heavy metals, chlorine, fluoride, etc. Berkey water filters are a good basic option.
- syntaxing 5y ago
  I would not classify chlorine and fluoride as the same group as heavy metals… While it sounds dangerous, it’s hard to argue there isn’t a net positive to use fluoride and chlorine to society when it comes to water distribution. Also to note, there is nothing particular special of Berkeley filters compared to other carbon filter, and it does not filter heavy metals (you typically need ion exchange filter for that). The company has a bunch of filter claims and state that they haven’t gotten the NSF certification because of cost reasons but I find it really hard to believe that is the case.
  - rgrieselhuber 5y ago
    I always forget that you’re not allowed to object to having chemicals added to your water, hence the downvotes I guess. Good to know about Berkey, there are lots of options out there.
andrepd 5y ago
"Europe" is a very large place. In many places in Germany for instance, straight tap water is quite disgusting to drink. I'm an European, and that tinge of superiority is quite grating.
- skrause 5y ago
  > In many places in Germany for instance, straight tap water is quite disgusting to drink. I'm a German who has been to many German places and I've never encountered tap water that was disgusting to drink...
  - Xylakant 5y ago
    I think “disgusting” is probably too hard of a word for it, but you can taste substantial differences in tap water in Germany and whenever I move it takes a bit of time until I get used to the local flavor. Berlin is different from Munich. Volvic tastes like Volvic tastes like Volvic and I can’t quite get used to the taste of Evian.
- MikeDelta 5y ago
  You don't need a filter in Europe to make the water safer to drink because the tap water quality is tightly regulated and controlled, and tap-water is considered safe to drink. I can't speak about countries outside of Europe because I don't know their regulations. That's why I said Europe. Edit: After a bit more research I see that Western European tap water is mostly safe. Flavour is something else of course. If a filter helps than that is great. Healthier than mixing it with lemonade or coffee.
CarobYoga 5y ago
“In Europe there is no need for that”, are you really sure, Mike?
- CarobYoga 5y ago
  I can’t blame Spanish people for using bottled water. Of course it’s far less sustainable but there is an history of contaminated tap water in several regions os Spain (you can check with a little research). If it is well regulated doesn’t mean that shit doesn’t happen. It seems to me that the probability that something wrong happens on open air lakes or rivers is bigger than in bottled water from spring water source. It also seems to me that you misunderstand the real function of taste sense in your body.

lstodd 5y ago

Depends on where in Europe you are. In most of eastern you need partuculate, charcoal and ion-exchange in series to somewhat approach acceptable levels of shit in it.

rgrieselhuber 5y ago

It's much worse in the US, tons of heavy metals, chlorine, fluoride, etc. Berkey water filters are a good basic option.

syntaxing 5y ago
I would not classify chlorine and fluoride as the same group as heavy metals… While it sounds dangerous, it’s hard to argue there isn’t a net positive to use fluoride and chlorine to society when it comes to water distribution. Also to note, there is nothing particular special of Berkeley filters compared to other carbon filter, and it does not filter heavy metals (you typically need ion exchange filter for that). The company has a bunch of filter claims and state that they haven’t gotten the NSF certification because of cost reasons but I find it really hard to believe that is the case.
- rgrieselhuber 5y ago
  I always forget that you’re not allowed to object to having chemicals added to your water, hence the downvotes I guess. Good to know about Berkey, there are lots of options out there.

andrepd 5y ago

"Europe" is a very large place. In many places in Germany for instance, straight tap water is quite disgusting to drink. I'm an European, and that tinge of superiority is quite grating.

skrause 5y ago
> In many places in Germany for instance, straight tap water is quite disgusting to drink. I'm a German who has been to many German places and I've never encountered tap water that was disgusting to drink...
- Xylakant 5y ago
  I think “disgusting” is probably too hard of a word for it, but you can taste substantial differences in tap water in Germany and whenever I move it takes a bit of time until I get used to the local flavor. Berlin is different from Munich. Volvic tastes like Volvic tastes like Volvic and I can’t quite get used to the taste of Evian.
MikeDelta 5y ago
You don't need a filter in Europe to make the water safer to drink because the tap water quality is tightly regulated and controlled, and tap-water is considered safe to drink. I can't speak about countries outside of Europe because I don't know their regulations. That's why I said Europe. Edit: After a bit more research I see that Western European tap water is mostly safe. Flavour is something else of course. If a filter helps than that is great. Healthier than mixing it with lemonade or coffee.

CarobYoga 5y ago

“In Europe there is no need for that”, are you really sure, Mike?

CarobYoga 5y ago
I can’t blame Spanish people for using bottled water. Of course it’s far less sustainable but there is an history of contaminated tap water in several regions os Spain (you can check with a little research). If it is well regulated doesn’t mean that shit doesn’t happen. It seems to me that the probability that something wrong happens on open air lakes or rivers is bigger than in bottled water from spring water source. It also seems to me that you misunderstand the real function of taste sense in your body.