Best products from r/water

Probably a lot of readers of /r/water have read Cadillac Desert.

I own a copy of, and have made two false starts reading, The King Of California as recommend by the anonymous author of the blog On The Public Record.

I highly recommend A Great Aridness, a worthy heir to Cadillac Desert.

Also on my to-read list is Rising Tide. I would like to find a book that does for the Great Lakes what Marc Reisner did for water in the American West with his book Cadillac Desert.

A few things I've read this year that have little to do with water:

• The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
  
• The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind
  
• The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2
  
• The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
  
• Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government
  

Namaste! Yes. Have you worked in the water sector in India? I’ve worked on surface water and groundwater supply and quality, flood and drought warning and management in India through WB/FAO and USAID, especially with 14 States and seven Central agencies on early flood warning system in 2002. I’ve stayed at the National Institute of Hydrology and its affiliated Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee and was impressed by its applied water resources research. I’ve also worked on watershed management and soil and groundwater recharge projects in India from 2004-2008. I also published an invited article in the Financial Times of New Delhi on India’s Water Resources and Arsenic Water Challenges in 2005. I've taught hydrology and water resources to many graduate students from the Subcontinent in the 1970s at the University of Arizona. If you think MENA and UAE are overpopulated, have you been to India? Is your interest in water commercial, academic, pedagogical, hobbyist or just curious? Is your interest in drinking water, irrigation, commercial, industrial, hydropower, energy water use? Are you still in elementary school? If you are keenly interested in water technologies, you might look into applications of direct solar pumps and desalination systems, dual solar/diesel generators, and hauling water barrels and water donky in rural areas. Incidentally, my thesis advisor wrote a charming book on his experiences in India: www.amazon.com/Irrigating-India-Years-USAID-Advisor/dp/0970653131. I gave out several copies of Sol's book to Indian water managers and agency heads on my first of several assignments in India in 2002. What do you specifically mean by "alternative water technologies?" Cloud seeding? Desalting saline aquifers? Rainwater harvesting? Watershed harvesting?

My pleasure - I love talking about water.

The Elkay filtration units spec sheet here look like they're just a standard Activated carbon/Activated Charcoal cartridge. You should be able to achieve similar results with most Activated Carbon units - getting anything fancier (i.e. any "multi-stage" "microfilter" marketing jargon or any RO/DI systems) would be unnecessary (and a waste of money).

The Elkay systems look good for institutional use, but if you want a system for home - and I don't recommend any specific brand/product, i just want to illustrate options you can consider a simple pitcher like this or an undersink system like this paired with this to achieve similar results.


I'm willing to bet that most of your taste related issues are due to the chlorine residual present in your water (it's by far the most frequent cause of complaints).

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Bio based binding is still something other than coconut shell carbon. My point was that it wasn't 100% coconut shell.

Carbon might be the "most effective"- I'm not arguing for or against that. My comment about a "limited" amount of VOCs was more about VOCs in comparison to chlorine and other things: most carbon blocks' lifespan recommendation specifically for VOCs is drastically fewer gallons and lower flow rate than the standard suggested service life.

For example:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015DOAHGE
" Capacity: 10,000 gallons @ 1 gpm VOC reduction capacity: 500 gallons @ 0.5 gpm "

As far what carbon they use, is it tested in granular form? Powdered form? Carbon block form? Are they using it in the form it was in when it was tested? The reason this is important is that if they are buying certified carbon and then further processing it, the certification goes out the window- it may no longer perform the same way (and likely doesn't).

Also, NSF-53 doesn't indicate specifically what is being tested- it's a testing standard for the reduction capacity to test against a manufacturer's anticipated reduction, so yeah, it probably removes lead (since they claim it and claim NSF-53 testing for it), but how much? (I didn't see this specified) This is important because if they claim "1 PPB", then NSF-53 is only concerned about making sure it actually does at least "2 PPB", and that means it's just a marketing gimmick.

The data matters here, is all I'm saying. I WANT to believe, but I'm a skeptic at heart.

Hmm, if it's not something specific then...

Most of the time the only difference between bottled water and municipal drinking water is a charcoal filter. Maybe try a Brita pitcher and see if it improves the taste. This is what I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Brita-Large-Everyday-Pitcher-Filter/dp/B01FXN3E74

Alternatively if you're in the USA then your local water supply publishes annual reports that are free of charge which includes their results:

https://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/safewater/f?p=136:102::::::

Once I know the proper quantity of soda ash would I be able to add it directly in the future? (assuming same starting pH)

I've also ordered a mixing rod that I can run with my cordless drill so I can thoroughly stir the water after doctoring it.

I'll definitely look up titration... it's been quite a long time since I had high-school chemistry. :)

meters: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JC9BSNR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Check out TAPP 2 . The company behind it is one of the few that openly shares all lab reports, studies, etc. An extra plus is that the cartridges are biodegradable.

Amazon listing:
https://www.amazon.com/TAPP-Water-Click-Eco-Friendly-Microplastics/dp/B078F1GHY3

Their first generation is one of the most popular faucet filters in Europe.

Came here to say MWH. If you're looking for a more undergraduate level type of book, look at Water and Wastewater Engineering, Principles and Practices. We used it in an undergrad class I was in, it explains processes and designs, as well as gives some generally used dimensions and values.

Buy an RO setup.

APEC Top Tier 5-Stage Ultra Safe Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System (ESSENCE ROES-50) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0ZGOZM/

I think this WaterDrop faucet filtration system may can help, I bought it from amazon, no more bacteria concern https://www.amazon.com/Waterdrop-320-Gallon-Filtration-Long-Lasting-Reduction/dp/B07C3CKTHZ/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?keywords=waterdrop+ro+reverse+osmosis+water+filtration+system&qid=1573177066&sr=8-2-fkmr1