Not sure about “large” RO systems… but I have an under-sink one (have recently moved back to US but still hang around this thread for some reason)
Recommended filter change is once per year and cost $30-100 per set. Electricity use is minimal (only to power the UV lamp). The pump doesn’t actually require electricity… Google it, I was sort of surprised when I didn’t see a cable coming out of the pump.
The whole system wasn’t cheap though >$400
RO takes everything out as you know. Then you have to put some minerals back in, by way of a remineralisation stage.
So you have to entrust a corporation, and their supply chain, to remineralise your water, that is every mL of what you and your family drink every day, in perpetuity.
Some people seem to think RO is the gold standard. But for me I think RO comes down to whether you can stomach this risk.
We had our tank on top of the house cleaned, had lots of dirt on the bottom. I think its good idea to get it washed out once a year,
New factory to use lots of water will not help
More news on Bad water, human made red water
This is one reason why I live in northern Taipei where we are closer to the water supply… Yangmingshan. Certainly not claiming it’s some kind of pure water, but certainly better than what one would get in the city center. I’m sure also that places further south like Xindian also have better water since they are closer to the source.
We always boil our water, hope that’s enough! We’ve been doing fine. On occassion I drink some water straight from the tap, but not often, never had a problem. Boiling should be enough for the bacteria, but I also worry about chemical residue. Any real concerns about that in Taipei? The other advantage of Taipei is that there is not much heavy industry as in other parts of the island, so I imagine this is less of a concern in Taipei City.
I don’t think that’s true in any meaningful way. It all comes from Feicui reservoir.
definitely not the case for northern Taipei. more so the case for southern Taipei. Northern Taipei gets most of its water from YMS.
Any link or anything for that?
Taipei Water District (TWD) serves 3.7 million people with a 99.7% service coverage, directly supplying water to its primary service area, with an extended infrastructure supporting an additional 1.73 million cubic metres per day (CMD) and 0.71 million CMD, reaching more than 6 million residents in 2023. As a water utility owned by the Taipei City government, TWD focuses exclusively on water supply services, extracting 97.5% of its raw water from Xing Dian Creek.
Taipei water source district is located in the southeastern of Taipei Metropolitan. The administrative district covers 717 square kilometers, including five districts: Pinglin, Wulai, Shihding, Shuangxi and Xindian; equivilent to one third of New Taipei City.
The only reason I used the water in Taiwan was for washing. I would rinse cutlery with bottled water.
if you live in northern Taipei it’s really clear that the water comes directly from YMS… you hike up the mountains and you see pipes going down, same ones that the Japanese built a century ago. there are signs and stuff telling you about it and I can even see a water station center just a few hundred meters from my apartment. So yeah, it’s clear that the water is coming from YMS for those of us in northern Taipei. the rest of the city gets its water from the reservior you have mentioned.
No, I believe you’re mistaken. Certainly, the presence of historical pipes tells us nothing about the current water supply situation. I remembered that Taipei’s water supply is from Feicui and I quickly found support for that online. Clearly there are no reservoirs in YMS. I’d be confident in sticking to my current understanding in the absence of some other objective data.
There’s simply not enough water in Yangmingshan to provide for the whole North Coast. Just Tamsui has around 190k. Not to mention some water sources in Yangmingshan aren’t good for human or animal consumption. Volcano stuff and shit.
No dude you are completely wrong about how the water supply is provided to different parts of northern Taiwan. Fetsui reservoir provides water to most of Taipei city. Other reservoirs behind Ankeng seem to provide water to Ankeng/Xindiam and parts of new Taipei city . Ximen reservoir provides water to Taoyuan. I think very little at all comes from YMS area.
I said Northern Taipei… TAIPEI. God, learn to read.
I guess I can be more specific and say Shilin and Beitou.
But almost all of the supply comes from Feitsui as far as I know for Taipei city.
Taipei water source district is located in the southeastern of Taipei Metropolitan
A list of Taiwan’s reservoirs is here. For Taipei itself, the only one listed is 翡翠 / Fěicuì. I thought there used to be a map connected to that site somewhere, but if so, I can’t find it now.
It is possible to get water from a non reservoir source. Northern Taipei gets its water from catchment areas in Yangminsghan and Neishuangxi.
Also in that article I linked “1.4% from YangMing mountain’s watersheds”. That’s some water I guess? Questionable whether it even enters the main drinking supply. Probably just local in YMS communities.
The Mu gets its water from there.