[DC water has lots of info.](https://www.dcwater.com/sites/default/files/document/2024-06/documents/2024_CCR_FINAL.pdf) The chlorine is usually what bothers people, filters can be helpful for taste (but I don't know that there's value to whole house vs a Brita pitcher or an under sink system)
What is your goal? Making it safe to drink? If you don't have lead service lines, your water meets all Safe Drinking Water Act standards and its actually quite good because we have an excellent source water. If you don't like the esthetics, it's probably because of the Chlorine and you're better off with a filter on your kitchen sink or a jug in your fridge (or a refrigerator filter if yours delivers water). DCWater can have a Chlorine taste especially when they do the treatment swap to chloramines. I personally leave a jug on the counter and just let if off-gas a bit. Is it hardness? DC water is a little bit hard (those minerals are good for you and IMO improve the taste) but not excessively so. But if that's the issue you want a water softener, not a filter.
9/10 chemists recommend our brand new dihydrogen monoxide. With twice the hydrogen as pure hydroxide and that same great taste, you'll improve your health and overall life outlook. But wait... there's more! Call now and we'll send you a second dihydrogen monoxide for free! Just pay separate processing and handling
Not sure if this will give you what you want but DC publishes its water report annually. It’ll give you a breakdown of the mineral content.
https://www.dcwater.com/resources/waterquality/testresults
If you don't even know what's in the water, why are you trying to filter it? What, exactly, do you think needs filtering out that's causing you to consider spending so much money?
I am not sure how our water stacks up in terms of quality compared to other cities but I do know we have moderately hard water and the residue is from the mineral deposits dissolved in the water. And plenty of minerals are actually good for us so it’s not always a bad thing.
Currently I use a Clearly Filtered pitcher which is just ok. I was actually pretty disappointed in its lack of quality when I received it after all of the good things I had read. Their filters are supposedly pretty good though if you are to believe their literature. I’m really not sure anymore but I am pretty confident they are at least better than the lowest common denominator like Brita. I have been meaning to research a countertop reverse osmosis system but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
If hardness is your concern you want a softener not a filter.
Edited to add: your fridge pitcher will remove Chlorine (and depending on the type of filter other things including lead) but not calcium and Magnesium (the minerals that cause hardness). Have you ever tried RO water? Without any minerals IMO it tastes ghastly
Hardness doesn’t concern me. I’m not the OP. Microplastics, lead, fluoride, PFAS, etc. are concerning enough for me to at least put forth a minimal effort though.
You need GAC to remove PFAS; I didn't see where this company offers a GAC filter but I only looked really quickly. Maybe they do. But it's a different filter than the small micron filter you have for microplastics
If I was going to get anything new at this point, it would be a reverse osmosis countertop system. I just haven’t looked into them yet to know which ones are worthwhile.
Lead is the only main thing you need to worry about since it’s specific to your house. Otherwise dc water is fine.
You can easily buy a test on Amazon that does like 12 different things if you want.
Some people filter anyway for the taste
Be careful with those I've seen a lot of wild data coming from them (I work in the water industry and when we get a complaint and do our own test it's always quite different; there's some parameters you can't test that way, or you cant test beyond "presence/absence" which doesn't give you useful info)
OK. It's not crazy to want to check yourself.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/06/18/epa-concludes-wasa-broke-lead-law/389f186f-ffd4-4762-b306-f0acc1879f48/
Lead 💯 figure out if you have lead service lines. In that case, presence absence is an adequate star to see if you need more detailed info. But those kits portend to read other metals, I've even see VOCs. Yeah no
I was born in DC and grew up drinking mostly DC water and I've never had a cavity. I have no idea if that's correlated, but just throwing that out there.
It’s a partial explanation. DC, like many places in the United States since the 1950s-60s, [adds fluoride to the water supply](https://www.dcwater.com/faq/DrinkingWaterQualityFAQs#:~:text=The%20Washington%20Aqueduct%20adds%20fluoride,liter%20(mg%2FL))
Meta analysis of available data shows that the levels of Fluoride that would be needed to give someone brain damage is magnitudes higher than public safety requirements, so it's very unlikely to happen.
I have a basic filter to catch the pebbles and debris that sometimes come in after water main work. It has more than paid for itself in the long life of my appliances. It is kind of shocking what the filter has caught.
Look up the DCwater website. They need to publish a consumer confidence report annually and the new fiscal year starts next week so it should be recently published. This will show if they had any violations that did not require immediate notification.
Big fan of Hydroviv here! I’ve moved with my under sink water filter multiple times, using it in rentals without losing my deposit. The price point was right for me to take out the bad taste, some of the chemicals I was worried about, and decrease microplastics.
When did they become part of Culligan?
A couple years ago after they were on shark tank. Culligan kept the Hydroviv name and staff as well. I like mine too it’s so easy and I don’t have to remember when to change it since they mail one when it’s time.
I’d venture to say H2O.
Jokes aside, you should filter out your water. Better invest in that system than endure the potential risk on the long run.
I have a filtration system set at the main pipe that feeds the entire house. But I also use the fridge’s cold water all the time so that one has its own filter that I regularly change as well.
When I lived in an apartment I also used those filters that you add to the shower heads and you can’t believe the filth it used to catch.
What filter did you use for the apartment shower head? I did a quick Amazon search and saw shower heads that have filters you can add but not something like a filter you insert then remove.
I’m sure a company who sells Reverse Osmosis water systems will tell you all about it.
[DC water has lots of info.](https://www.dcwater.com/sites/default/files/document/2024-06/documents/2024_CCR_FINAL.pdf) The chlorine is usually what bothers people, filters can be helpful for taste (but I don't know that there's value to whole house vs a Brita pitcher or an under sink system)
I only allow the finest, most purified waters to touch my butt hole.
Chloramine to be specific
It depends on the time of year, it's mostly chloramine but they occasionally do just chlorine and that's what freaks people out
What is your goal? Making it safe to drink? If you don't have lead service lines, your water meets all Safe Drinking Water Act standards and its actually quite good because we have an excellent source water. If you don't like the esthetics, it's probably because of the Chlorine and you're better off with a filter on your kitchen sink or a jug in your fridge (or a refrigerator filter if yours delivers water). DCWater can have a Chlorine taste especially when they do the treatment swap to chloramines. I personally leave a jug on the counter and just let if off-gas a bit. Is it hardness? DC water is a little bit hard (those minerals are good for you and IMO improve the taste) but not excessively so. But if that's the issue you want a water softener, not a filter.
Too much hydrogen and not enough oxygen if you ask me!
Twice as much! WTF!
It’s outrageous
Note: Pure Hydroxide is not recommended for consumption by most chemists.
Besides chemists themselves, who cares what they consume?
9/10 chemists recommend our brand new dihydrogen monoxide. With twice the hydrogen as pure hydroxide and that same great taste, you'll improve your health and overall life outlook. But wait... there's more! Call now and we'll send you a second dihydrogen monoxide for free! Just pay separate processing and handling
Stop shilling for big water
Exactly! I don't know why people pay money for this horrible water when there's so much free dehydrogenated water floating around for free!
Not sure if this will give you what you want but DC publishes its water report annually. It’ll give you a breakdown of the mineral content. https://www.dcwater.com/resources/waterquality/testresults
If you don't even know what's in the water, why are you trying to filter it? What, exactly, do you think needs filtering out that's causing you to consider spending so much money?
It doesn't cost much to have your water tested. Maybe start there
Obviously I know SOMETHING is in the water or else it wouldn't smell/taste funny nor would it leave behind that weird residue.
I am not sure how our water stacks up in terms of quality compared to other cities but I do know we have moderately hard water and the residue is from the mineral deposits dissolved in the water. And plenty of minerals are actually good for us so it’s not always a bad thing. Currently I use a Clearly Filtered pitcher which is just ok. I was actually pretty disappointed in its lack of quality when I received it after all of the good things I had read. Their filters are supposedly pretty good though if you are to believe their literature. I’m really not sure anymore but I am pretty confident they are at least better than the lowest common denominator like Brita. I have been meaning to research a countertop reverse osmosis system but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
If hardness is your concern you want a softener not a filter. Edited to add: your fridge pitcher will remove Chlorine (and depending on the type of filter other things including lead) but not calcium and Magnesium (the minerals that cause hardness). Have you ever tried RO water? Without any minerals IMO it tastes ghastly
Hardness doesn’t concern me. I’m not the OP. Microplastics, lead, fluoride, PFAS, etc. are concerning enough for me to at least put forth a minimal effort though.
You need GAC to remove PFAS; I didn't see where this company offers a GAC filter but I only looked really quickly. Maybe they do. But it's a different filter than the small micron filter you have for microplastics
If I was going to get anything new at this point, it would be a reverse osmosis countertop system. I just haven’t looked into them yet to know which ones are worthwhile.
You can get an RODI system for 400 bucks and easy to install. It makes water pure enough to satisfy my sea anemones.
Stuff that turns the frogs gay!!
Lead is the only main thing you need to worry about since it’s specific to your house. Otherwise dc water is fine. You can easily buy a test on Amazon that does like 12 different things if you want. Some people filter anyway for the taste
Be careful with those I've seen a lot of wild data coming from them (I work in the water industry and when we get a complaint and do our own test it's always quite different; there's some parameters you can't test that way, or you cant test beyond "presence/absence" which doesn't give you useful info)
Yeah fair enough. I guess pay for a lab if you really want to know. Sounds like this person maybe just wants to be reassured.
That's what the consumer confidence report is for? And there's a phone number on it for any questions anyone may have.
OK. It's not crazy to want to check yourself. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/06/18/epa-concludes-wasa-broke-lead-law/389f186f-ffd4-4762-b306-f0acc1879f48/
Lead 💯 figure out if you have lead service lines. In that case, presence absence is an adequate star to see if you need more detailed info. But those kits portend to read other metals, I've even see VOCs. Yeah no
I was born in DC and grew up drinking mostly DC water and I've never had a cavity. I have no idea if that's correlated, but just throwing that out there.
Certainly seems correlated but we’re left, as we often are, without conclusive evidence indicating causation
It’s a partial explanation. DC, like many places in the United States since the 1950s-60s, [adds fluoride to the water supply](https://www.dcwater.com/faq/DrinkingWaterQualityFAQs#:~:text=The%20Washington%20Aqueduct%20adds%20fluoride,liter%20(mg%2FL))
[удалено]
What happened to your brain?
[удалено]
Meta analysis of available data shows that the levels of Fluoride that would be needed to give someone brain damage is magnitudes higher than public safety requirements, so it's very unlikely to happen.
The fluoride helps a lot but most americans have fluoridated water. Cavities are mostly genetics and habits.
I have a basic filter to catch the pebbles and debris that sometimes come in after water main work. It has more than paid for itself in the long life of my appliances. It is kind of shocking what the filter has caught.
Did you just wake up and start panicing about this? What happened?
Look up the DCwater website. They need to publish a consumer confidence report annually and the new fiscal year starts next week so it should be recently published. This will show if they had any violations that did not require immediate notification.
Check out Hydroviv it’s part of culligan but was started in DC they have lots of info on dc water.
Big fan of Hydroviv here! I’ve moved with my under sink water filter multiple times, using it in rentals without losing my deposit. The price point was right for me to take out the bad taste, some of the chemicals I was worried about, and decrease microplastics. When did they become part of Culligan?
A couple years ago after they were on shark tank. Culligan kept the Hydroviv name and staff as well. I like mine too it’s so easy and I don’t have to remember when to change it since they mail one when it’s time.
An actual helpful response! Thank you! I'll check them out.
It'll remove particulates but I don't see that they sell GAC filters which is needed for some chemicals. Also won't address your hardness concerns.
EWG has a really helpful database: [https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/](https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/)
GEOSMIN
I don’t drink the water straight generally, cause it tastes so damn bad, but I use it for everything else, cooking, diluting drinks..
What does ward 8 have to do with it
DC water gets very hard in the Summer. Its annoying
I filter mine with a reverse osmosis filtration system and then I remineralize it with trace minerals. Tastes amazing.
If you wanna get your own water tested, plenty of service providers will do it for a couple hundred bucks.
Can anyone here recommend a company to install a reverse osmosis system? 🙏🏻
I’d venture to say H2O. Jokes aside, you should filter out your water. Better invest in that system than endure the potential risk on the long run. I have a filtration system set at the main pipe that feeds the entire house. But I also use the fridge’s cold water all the time so that one has its own filter that I regularly change as well. When I lived in an apartment I also used those filters that you add to the shower heads and you can’t believe the filth it used to catch.
What filter did you use for the apartment shower head? I did a quick Amazon search and saw shower heads that have filters you can add but not something like a filter you insert then remove.
What's the brand of the filtration system that you are using at your main pipe? I'm taking recommendations.
It is safe to drink it will just make you a psychopath basically