Water
202211202004
Status:
Tags: health
NSF 43 & 52 certifications are good — these are stringent and over-the-top tests for most important chemicals including lead & VOCs
you should worry about heavy metals, VOCs, microplastics,
RO systems are quite wasteful and expensive but may be good to use in the future for drinking, cooking, & coffee — countertop systems run around $500
Types of contaminations
Disinfection byproducts (DBPs)
trithalomethanes are a major kind (incl. chloroform) that are carcinogenic
ZeroWater doesn’t remove any dbps
brita does
Heavy metals
lead, strontium, uranium, copper are all concerns
most filters do a good job at removing heavy metals, but given how poisonous lead is it’s good to get NSF certification
Fluoride
keep it, it’s good for your health. zerowater gets rid of all of it
Water parameters
TDS
not a measure of health. it’s a major of total dissolved solids incl. things like magnesium and calcium
important for coffee. zerowater removes all TDS. brita does an ok job. BWT replaces calcium with magnesium.
pH
important for coffee
Alkalinity (CaCO3)
important for coffee
Water hardness
important for taste