Drinking Water

[kathiva]

I use bottled water

would that be spring water?

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

i have a filter on my fridge that u can get water from, is that ok? its pretty cold 2.

 

[StevieP]

i have a filter on my fridge that u can get water from, is that ok? its pretty cold 2.

Probably not. Most fridge filters just filter out chlorine & odors. I recommend the Pur pitcher because it is cheap & easy

 

[starleomach]

That is spring water I use. and my husband is an appliance repairman your fridge water is just tap water...he hooks them up all the time

 

[Sandi]

I have the whirlpool gold fridge with the PuR water filtration system. About every six months or so we just pop out the old and replace with a new PuR fast-fill filter.

 

[mommyslittlechins2010]

i boil my water then let it cool and poor it in jug and chill it in the fridge . then the chins have nice coold water to drink

 

[InkedupTara]

I wash my bottles and then boil them. No left over bacteria to stay on the bottles. I use a PUR filter.

 

[bradselig]

i have a filter on my fridge that u can get water from, is that ok? its pretty cold 2.

Yes it could be ok. It will depend on the filter. With working as a Kitchen Designer, I sell quite a few fridges. All of them with water in the door have a filter. Several companies, such as whirlpool, have filters that can filter out cysts and other smaller particles. The boxes the filters come in will tell you what they will filter out.

 

[Ziora]

I was advised by members on here to not use purified water because it removes all the good minerals. Reverse osmosis does the same thing, using a different method, so is no better in that regard. Out of interest, I started reading a little bit about bottled water and decided it's not such a good idea for my family or pets, because of how it's regulated and because of the chemicals in the plastic. I'll provide a link below with more info.

Using a good filter seems to be the best and most inexpensive way to remove the bad stuff, including chlorine. Boiling works and also removes chlorine, but will concentrate the fluoride. I wouldn't store water in plastic jugs because of the chemicals used in manufacturing the plastic. Also as other members have said, when you wash the water bottle, rinse in "clean" water to avoid contamination. I guess you could go to the nth degree with water, but I figure why trade one bad water for another. Anyway...just my 2 cents sorry, I don't know how to give a name to a link, so just posting it as copy and paste.

http://www.allaboutwater.org/regulations.html

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

The only thing I see wrong with the article on the reverse osmosis is where it says that there are still certain contaminates still get through the system. This is true, but what they do not mention that many of the units that can be bought for home use, also have filters that catch any contaminates that may still be in there, after the reverse osmosis process.

I have really nasty water..living in what can be classified as a swamp will do that, and I have had the filter systems that attach to the sink, and still had trouble with the water both looking and tasting nasty, and having to boil it again to get. I can no afford to buy bottles of water every week for all of my pets I have either. Hence my decision to install a reverse osmosis system. I have had it only a few more weeks but have noticed an immense difference in the quality of the water.

I think it all comes down to where they ran the tests and how the testing was performed. And who is doing the testing.

 

[Stackie]

i boil my water then let it cool and poor it in jug and chill it in the fridge . then the chins have nice coold water to drink

I wouldn't boil the water. It concentrates any contaminates in the water, and boiling isn't enough to kill the microbial cysts that can cause problems. Really the only way to get rid of the cysts is by having a filter that is certified to remove them.

 

[kathiva]

So which water is the best one?
Spring water
Distilled water
Filtered tap water with Brita filter
Reverse osmosis water

I am sure not tap water, but there is so many varieties, that I am getting all confused with this thread

 

[Stackie]

I wouldn't boil the water. It concentrates any contaminates in the water, and boiling isn't enough to kill the microbial cysts that can cause problems. Really the only way to get rid of the cysts is by having a filter that is certified to remove them.

I should say, the easiest way to get rid of microbial cysts is by filtering the water with a certified filter. There are other options, but filtering is most convenient and widely used. The problem with bottled water is that some companies simply use plain ol' tap water or a public source- the same water that comes out of your sink. They bottle it and sell it.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/5467759
When choosing a filter, read the box to see what it is certified to filter. I believe some 2 stage and most 3 stages are certified to remove the cysts. I use the PUR 2 stage pitcher. It is certified to remove 99.99% of microbial cysts. I just fill the pitcher up and keep it in my refrigerator.

While the tap is most usually safe for us to consume, it may still contain trace amounts of cysts at an approved level for human consumption, but it could affect the chin. This goes for bottled waters as well.

When a manufacturer claims that a drinking water treatment device will reduce contaminants (including the parasites) he device must be certified by the DHS.

 

[Stackie]

Missed my edit time.... *slaps self on wrist*

But, reverse osmosis does a pretty good job at removing contaminants. As long as the water source did not come from a completely raw water source (i.e., pond water), the reverse osmosis should do a fairly good job at removing the contaminants. It is still possible for very small contaminants to slip through the membrane, but that usually isn't the case with the water you buy at a store.

Some reverse osmosis is used in conjunction with U.V. treatment, which effectively gets rid of the contaminants that could have slipped through the membrane.

 

[Ziora]

This is a very interesting thread. I've heard so many different opinions on how to make water safe for consumption that I keep reading and trying to find more information. I decided to turn to the CDC and trust their information is the most accurate. I think of giardia mostly when it comes to chins but didn't consider cryptosporidia. It's worth a quick read. They also have links on how to choose a water filter.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/water-treatment.aspx

 

[caiti]

Interesting link, Ziora. I think the article is aimed at making water safe for human consumption, mostly, but obviously the whole bit about giardia and crytosporidium would apply to chins like you said.

Plus I was always taught in school that any scientific information from any government agency is not credible...which just made me and the schools I went to sound like conspiracy theorists, haha. But, it's true--in any of the lab reports I've written up we're not allowed to use scientific information from government agencies; EPA, CDC--any of 'em.

 

[Ziora]

Interesting link, Ziora. I think the article is aimed at making water safe for human consumption, mostly, but obviously the whole bit about giardia and crytosporidium would apply to chins like you said.

Plus I was always taught in school that any scientific information from any government agency is not credible...which just made me and the schools I went to sound like conspiracy theorists, haha. But, it's true--in any of the lab reports I've written up we're not allowed to use scientific information from government agencies; EPA, CDC--any of 'em.

Hehe. I think it is a circular discussion.