Hey everyone
Trying to find some legit info on filtering tap water in KH.
Will a brita do the job? Does it NEED to be boiled or is this an outdated tradition?
Is there even any point without using a reverse osmosis filter?
Is a brita boil combo going to make me sick?
Looking for substantial answers rather than old wives tales if possible and really appreciate any responses!
Supposedly and I can only base it on local tales since I have no equipment to test the water, the south water has a lot of chemical from industry and that is something a Brita won’t help with. This why locals buy bottled water or RO water.
Kaohsiung water is pretty scary. Pingtung is too.
I would RO, though some friends tested that even and wasn’t awesome. Distillation then a filter might be an idea too, but generally the water for drinking comes from mountains the aboriginals pipe down to collecting tanks. Treatment after that you likely will never actually know. I usedDto just get my own from the mountain and boil/Brita, but I always lived near the mountains.
Added note. I also have never doneEsomething like teat my blood, organs or other tissue for heavy metals. Might be an.eye opener for most of us long timers.
Are the screw-on-faucet filters any use, or better to just buy bottled if moving to a rented apartment without a built-in filter system?
It’s not that expensive to get an RO system (I paid $9,000 including installation). Definitely beats buying and carrying loads of bottles every week…
The only thing is the required hole in the countertop - our apartment already had one from the previous tenant who just sticked duct tape over it. If you need to drill one (I think they would do as part of the installation), you might need to talk to the landlord first…
If I knew I’d be staying in the place for years the hassle and expense would be worth the payoff. More likely it’ll be just one year, maybe even less.
I just used to fill up a 20L container at the filtered water station, use that for cooking, tea, coffee fill up the hot water dispenser etc, and stick one of the 6l bottles in the fridge for when I want to drink cold water.
Now I have RO but il still get the 6l bottles as I like them in the fridge, I get them delivered 12 at a time from coupang.
Yeah, bottled water is something I’ve done other times in my life, it’s doable
The screw on filters seem easy enough, more for cooking and dishes than drinking
You kind of need to know what’s in the water to filter it out. My parents get their water tested every six months in the US (their tax dollars pay for this service) and they adjust the filters needed accordingly. And that’s after very well regulated municipal water (but pipes to the house are old and subject to problems)
Any screw on filter or Brita type thing is more designed to make already potable water taste better. They’re not designed to remove contaminants. If you’re worried about heavy metals, viruses, bacteria, etc., I’d recommend looking into life straw or grayl (cuz they’re things you can throw into your backpack). But for their cost, I’m pretty sure installing a proper RO system makes more sense if you’re going to be in a place for more than a year.
Even in the US water quality can be variable (like Flint, MI)…
But I know people have longed boil their water however I just started drinking tap. I don’t think I can afford an RO machine anyways.
However most communities have those machines that you can pay something like 5nt to fill a large 5 liter bottle…
Boiling doesn’t help with chemicals and heavy metals. You need to filter that stuff out
We installed in our home in Kaohsiung a 3M R.O filter (3 stage one), and then we had that water tested to a lab here in Kaohsiung. No heavy metals detected, however, it was detected Fecal Streptococci (1 cfu/100 ml).
We contacted 3M, they sent a technician, collected another set of water sample and it is sent to SGS Taipei. We wait for the results.
All the online sources mention that Fecal Streptococci should be “not detected” but the 3M lady on the phone mentioned to my wife that 3M filters are not ceritfied for Fecal Streptococci and that there is no way to have absolutely 100% water, however they arranged to have the water tested again, as I mentioned.
We wait for the results.
