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I live in a hundred-year-old apartment building that is not the best maintained. I have no idea about the condition of the pipes and I don’t know where my water

I live in a hundred-year-old apartment building that is not the best maintained. I have no idea about the condition of the pipes and I don’t know where my water is coming from. I can get a filter, but I feel like it’s similar to running my own email server. Sure, I could do it, but I’d rather put the burden of filtering (and quality control in general) on a 3rd party. Hence I buy bottled water.

ghaff 5y ago
You could get your water tested if you're concerned. ADDED: I don't mean this facetiously. Even if I drank bottled water rather than tap water (which I don't in general), I definitely would want to know if I suspected my tap water wasn't potable for some reason.
- reacharavindh 5y ago
  It’s not as easy or straightforward to test drinking water. I tried and failed at Amsterdam, NL just last week. There is no easy reliable test for drinking water quality( one that tests for common bacteria, heavy metals, minerals and soluble pollutants). The only tests I could find were all lead tests, but that is just of my many concerns.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    In the US, if you can't access a pre-existing report, there is a list of EPA-certified labs: https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/how-to-test-your-tap-water/ https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/how-to-test-yo... As that article notes, home tests are probably problematic. I'm a bit surprised there wouldn't be equivalent resources in Western Europe.
sunshineforever 5y ago
Really old pipes will be carrying your water in a calcified layer
- FridayoLeary 5y ago
  Can confirm that. I've seen that with lead piping.
willis936 5y ago
The last place I lived had over 300 ppm water. The landlord was useless at maintaining the building-wide softener, so I just installed an under-sink RO system myself. It worked wonders. In my new place the water isn't nearly as hard, but still tastes slightly off. I'll be installing an RO system here as well.
- unethical_ban 5y ago
  If the substance coming out of your water pipes was only 300 ppm water, you have issues. (ppm of what?)
  - willis936 5y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids
wittycardio 5y ago
People like you are why the world is in this mess

ghaff 5y ago

You could get your water tested if you're concerned. ADDED: I don't mean this facetiously. Even if I drank bottled water rather than tap water (which I don't in general), I definitely would want to know if I suspected my tap water wasn't potable for some reason.

reacharavindh 5y ago
It’s not as easy or straightforward to test drinking water. I tried and failed at Amsterdam, NL just last week. There is no easy reliable test for drinking water quality( one that tests for common bacteria, heavy metals, minerals and soluble pollutants). The only tests I could find were all lead tests, but that is just of my many concerns.
- ghaff 5y ago
  In the US, if you can't access a pre-existing report, there is a list of EPA-certified labs: https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/how-to-test-your-tap-water/ https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/how-to-test-yo... As that article notes, home tests are probably problematic. I'm a bit surprised there wouldn't be equivalent resources in Western Europe.

sunshineforever 5y ago

Really old pipes will be carrying your water in a calcified layer

FridayoLeary 5y ago
Can confirm that. I've seen that with lead piping.

willis936 5y ago

The last place I lived had over 300 ppm water. The landlord was useless at maintaining the building-wide softener, so I just installed an under-sink RO system myself. It worked wonders. In my new place the water isn't nearly as hard, but still tastes slightly off. I'll be installing an RO system here as well.

unethical_ban 5y ago
If the substance coming out of your water pipes was only 300 ppm water, you have issues. (ppm of what?)
- willis936 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids

wittycardio 5y ago

People like you are why the world is in this mess