My #1 Recommended Water Filter is the APEC ULTIMATE RO-90 Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System
It removes 99% of contaminants, including arsenic, chlorine, lead, fluoride, heavy metals, bacteria, and virus’ as well as 1000+ other contaminants. It’s made in the USA and uses a DOW Filmtec Membrane as part of the Reverse Osmosis process which is one of the best membranes available. Many water filters do little more than removing foul tastes and odors, while still leaving harmful pollutants in the water – not so with the APEC RO-90!
Reverse Osmosis Filtration does remove some of the beneficial minerals from water, so I do recommend adding Trace Minerals back into the water after its been filtered. Just a few drops go a long way, so a bottle should last for several months and you’ll likely end up with more beneficial minerals than were ever in your tap water to begin with.
Optionally, I would recommend using a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) Meter to test your filtered water every 6-12 months to determine whether the filters are still working optimally, or if it’s time to replace them. The amount of dissolved solids in your filtered water will vary based on your water source. If you want to establish a baseline for what the optimal PPM for your water source is, I’d recommend taking several readings a week after installing new filters when they are operating at peak efficiency. Your water doesn’t need to remain at that optimal PPM level all of the time (otherwise you’d be changing filters far more often than needed), but once you’re consistently seeing PPM readings 3-4 times as high as the optimal level then it’s probably time to replace your filters.
If that all sounds too complicated or like too much of a hassle for you, then you can simply replace your filters once per year and generally expect pretty good results. Also keep in mind that you’ll want to replace the DOW Filmtec Membrane every 3-5 years, as recommended by APEC Water.
Finally, don’t forget to filter your bath and shower water as well, as you could potentially absorb more chemicals through the water in your bathroom than from drinking unfiltered tap water! To filter shower water, I recommend the Culligan WSH-C125 Showerhead Filter, and for bath water I recommend the CuZn Bath Ball Faucet Filter.
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