thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 14, 2019 13:25:34 GMT -5
Forever I have had a 5 gallon water cooler, and we have filled up the bottles from the machines at the grocery store. We just bought a new fridge with water in the door. I am hoping I will get used to the taste of the water, but the stuff that goes through RO is do much better. I am thinking about getting an RO system that will feed the fridge. Anyone ever have one? Was the water as good? Was it expensive to maintain? Anyone ever hook it to the fridge? Any advice?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on May 14, 2019 13:33:30 GMT -5
I haven't personally had one, but I've worked with industrial RO systems for primary filtration for water feeds into USP water systems for pharma manufacturing. if it's not cost prohibitive for you, it's a solid filtration method. I can't speak for home/personal use as far as how practical it is.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on May 14, 2019 13:36:51 GMT -5
My Mom has had one for eons. She used to have a counter top one, then she got one that the RO system is in the basement, and it feeds up to the sink. She is not running it through her refrigerator.
I have thought about getting one a few times, I didn't actually think they were that expensive - how much will it cost you?
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oped
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Post by oped on May 14, 2019 13:40:42 GMT -5
My RO is split? It services both the sink and the fridge. I didn't hook it up, sorry. But i know it can be done...
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on May 14, 2019 13:49:09 GMT -5
Forever I have had a 5 gallon water cooler, and we have filled up the bottles from the machines at the grocery store. We just bought a new fridge with water in the door. I am hoping I will get used to the taste of the water, but the stuff that goes through RO is do much better. I am thinking about getting an RO system that will feed the fridge. Anyone ever have one? Was the water as good? Was it expensive to maintain? Anyone ever hook it to the fridge? Any advice? I have friends with fridges with "water in the door". When I ask for water, I always specify that I want regular tap water, not fridge water. I can't stand the taste. It tastes "off" to me.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on May 14, 2019 16:49:24 GMT -5
Refrigerator water always tastes weird, no matter what kind of filter is used in the fridge.
When I got a new fridgerbox last year, I deliberately chose one that did not have a water dispenser as it takes up room and makes undrinkable water.
You might be happier just sticking with your original water arrangement and ignoring the fridge water.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 14, 2019 19:13:54 GMT -5
I don't have a refrigerator with a water dispenser but I do have a reverse osmosis system. It has a dispenser at the kitchen sink and definitely tastes better than tap water.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 14, 2019 21:50:28 GMT -5
Refrigerator water always tastes weird, no matter what kind of filter is used in the fridge. When I got a new fridgerbox last year, I deliberately chose one that did not have a water dispenser as it takes up room and makes undrinkable water. You might be happier just sticking with your original water arrangement and ignoring the fridge water. Kinda too late. My husband insisted, and he rarely insists, so, fridge water or marriage counseling.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 14, 2019 21:57:25 GMT -5
My Mom has had one for eons. She used to have a counter top one, then she got one that the RO system is in the basement, and it feeds up to the sink. She is not running it through her refrigerator.
I have thought about getting one a few times, I didn't actually think they were that expensive - how much will it cost you? They are hundreds, not thousands - although, I don't know what they charge for installation. And probably another 50+ bucks per year for filter replacements. Given the insane amount of money we are spending on things that aren't very sexy, I could a few bucks for tasty water. I didn't even get new cabinets, and I am still spending my kids' college funds.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on May 15, 2019 3:42:49 GMT -5
When we moved into our house in 2006, the water was bad enough to justify a water treatment system. I looked at reverse osmosis as well as water softeners. A whole house water softener was about $1K. An under sink RO system that only served the kitchen sink and that would generate about 3 - 5 gallons of treated water an hour was between $2,500 and $5,000. And it consumed about 3 gallons of water for every gallon of filtered water it produced. A concern for we desert dwellers who rely on snowmelt for our water supply. Since what I wanted was soft water for showers and to reduce mineral deposits on plumbing fixtures, I opted for the less expensive water softener.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 15, 2019 7:13:26 GMT -5
When we moved into our house in 2006, the water was bad enough to justify a water treatment system. I looked at reverse osmosis as well as water softeners. A whole house water softener was about $1K. An under sink RO system that only served the kitchen sink and that would generate about 3 - 5 gallons of treated water an hour was between $2,500 and $5,000. And it consumed about 3 gallons of water for every gallon of filtered water it produced. A concern for we desert dwellers who rely on snowmelt for our water supply. Since what I wanted was soft water for showers and to reduce mineral deposits on plumbing fixtures, I opted for the less expensive water softener. Do water softeners make drinking water? I thought they added salt to the water and bypassed the kitchen?
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 15, 2019 7:16:53 GMT -5
I have a water softener with a reverse osmosis system. The water made by the water softener tastes terrible. It's what goes to my bathroom sink.
The water that has gone through RO is only at a specific faucet at the kitchen sink.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 15, 2019 9:16:13 GMT -5
I have a water softener with a reverse osmosis system. The water made by the water softener tastes terrible. It's what goes to my bathroom sink. The water that has gone through RO is only at a specific faucet at the kitchen sink. Does that taste good? Or just fine?
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 15, 2019 9:23:07 GMT -5
That water tastes good. I also use it in cooking and that is the water I give Lucy.
All the funky minerals we have are removed. The water softener company services it once a year and tests a tube of water for the minerals.
That is the water I drink.
I can tell the difference with the water in the bathroom when I brush my teeth.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on May 15, 2019 11:23:17 GMT -5
When we moved into our house in 2006, the water was bad enough to justify a water treatment system. I looked at reverse osmosis as well as water softeners. A whole house water softener was about $1K. An under sink RO system that only served the kitchen sink and that would generate about 3 - 5 gallons of treated water an hour was between $2,500 and $5,000. And it consumed about 3 gallons of water for every gallon of filtered water it produced. A concern for we desert dwellers who rely on snowmelt for our water supply. Since what I wanted was soft water for showers and to reduce mineral deposits on plumbing fixtures, I opted for the less expensive water softener. Do water softeners make drinking water? I thought they added salt to the water and bypassed the kitchen? In general, water softeners do not add salt to your water. That’s an old wives tale. First of all, the water softeners I’ve seen are only connected to the hot water side of the system. Presumably, you are getting your drinking water from the cold side of the system. I suppose that it might be possible to draw salt brine into your water if you ran a bunch of water while the water softener was flushing captured minerals out of the resin bed. To prevent that possibility, water softeners are set to regenerate in the wee hours of the morning and the regeneration process only runs a couple of times a week, further reducing the risk of getting salty water into your water supply. I’ve used water softeners for several decades without a salty water issue.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on May 15, 2019 11:45:55 GMT -5
I have a water softener with a reverse osmosis system. The water made by the water softener tastes terrible. It's what goes to my bathroom sink. The water that has gone through RO is only at a specific faucet at the kitchen sink. RO systems and water softeners do different things. Basically an RO system is a super fine filter that strips all minerals out of the water. You are left with just the H’s and the O’s. This can leave water with an “off” flavor due to a complete lack of minerals in the water. (Bottled water companies use RO filter to remove all the minerals from the water. Then they add back a proprietary package of minerals to build the flavor they want in their water.) A water softener uses ion exchange (remember your ninth grade science?) to remove calcium from the water. Any other materials, such as iron or chlorine, stay in the water and would affect the taste. Other treatment methods, similar to water softening, can be used to remove materials other than calcium from your water. Some water treatment systems can get pretty elaborate, if they need to remove many different materials from the water. In our house, we have a carbon filter on the water supply line to remove chlorine from all of the water. And a water softener on the hot water side to remove calcium.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on May 15, 2019 13:11:28 GMT -5
Refrigerator water always tastes weird, no matter what kind of filter is used in the fridge. When I got a new fridgerbox last year, I deliberately chose one that did not have a water dispenser as it takes up room and makes undrinkable water. You might be happier just sticking with your original water arrangement and ignoring the fridge water. Kinda too late. My husband insisted, and he rarely insists, so, fridge water or marriage counseling.[img src="http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/smile.gif" class="smile" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png" alt=" "] You could let him have the fridge water but keep the reverse osmosis water for yourself. That's what I'd do. But I'm mean (and the fridge water tastes weird).
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 15, 2019 13:31:27 GMT -5
I have a water softener with a reverse osmosis system. The water made by the water softener tastes terrible. It's what goes to my bathroom sink. The water that has gone through RO is only at a specific faucet at the kitchen sink. RO systems and water softeners do different things. Basically an RO system is a super fine filter that strips all minerals out of the water. You are left with just the H’s and the O’s. This can leave water with an “off” flavor due to a complete lack of minerals in the water. (Bottled water companies use RO filter to remove all the minerals from the water. Then they add back a proprietary package of minerals to build the flavor they want in their water.)A water softener uses ion exchange (remember your ninth grade science?) to remove calcium from the water. Any other materials, such as iron or chlorine, stay in the water and would affect the taste. Other treatment methods, similar to water softening, can be used to remove materials other than calcium from your water. Some water treatment systems can get pretty elaborate, if they need to remove many different materials from the water. In our house, we have a carbon filter on the water supply line to remove chlorine from all of the water. And a water softener on the hot water side to remove calcium. This. We used to have a system in the lab we used as the tap water was so bad. I used to fill my water bottle and keep it in the fridge but realized that I really didn't like the water because it tasted flat. Bottled water tasted better. The minerals that were stripped out of the water gives it a weird taste.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 15, 2019 20:18:47 GMT -5
Kinda too late. My husband insisted, and he rarely insists, so, fridge water or marriage counseling.[img src="http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/smile.gif" class="smile" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png" alt=" "] You could let him have the fridge water but keep the reverse osmosis water for yourself. That's what I'd do. But I'm mean (and the fridge water tastes weird). I am thinking about adding RO and have both. What we have now is the 5 gallon jugs. Theoretically, I could keep it, but I would have to fill the bottles, and he will fuss at me. I am looking for an alternative that will take less room.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on May 15, 2019 21:52:33 GMT -5
I have one and love it. We have a softener and I hate the taste of the water. We too had a dispenser and it was a pain in the butt to me. Mine is hooked in after my softener, it goes to the ice maker and the separate faucet on the sink, it also includes the dispenser for the fridge. We took the filter out of the fridge as it slowed the water stream to much. Hubs can't even tell the difference in the taste, unbelievable. It was $1200 installed. It can take up to 7 different kinds of filters to reduce selected stuff. We only have one to improve the taste of water and take out the chlorine or any additional solids. I use the water to drink and cook with. If I can this summer will use the water in my canned goods.
We have Kinetico, both our softener and RO, they are none electric.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on May 16, 2019 14:46:49 GMT -5
We have a well and recently had to replace the pump. Water was great tasting and always cold. Since the new pump was put in we have lots of iron in water, it was always hard with lots of minerals. The iron deposits in toilets and leaves s rust colored water. Called pump company and they are supposed to come out and see what can be done to remove iron.
I worked in labs and for ‘dishes’ We rinsed 3x with Tap water, 3x with distilled and 3x with deionized water (RO) Yes the RO water wasn’t what I’d want to drink
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 17, 2019 10:33:22 GMT -5
We stayed in an AirBnb this week. I'm totally getting RO.
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nittanycheme
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Post by nittanycheme on May 20, 2019 10:46:52 GMT -5
We have a well and recently had to replace the pump. Water was great tasting and always cold. Since the new pump was put in we have lots of iron in water, it was always hard with lots of minerals. The iron deposits in toilets and leaves s rust colored water. Called pump company and they are supposed to come out and see what can be done to remove iron. I worked in labs and for ‘dishes’ We rinsed 3x with Tap water, 3x with distilled and 3x with deionized water (RO) Yes the RO water wasn’t what I’d want to drink Did the lining for your well get scraped or something when the old pump was taken out/new pump put in? I think my well is lined with an iron pipe. Also, how much was it to have your pump replaced? We probably should replace ours at some point, and I've been trying to find a budgetary number.
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Bluerobin
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Post by Bluerobin on May 22, 2019 9:22:15 GMT -5
I have a whole house filter, attached just after the water enters the house. Change the Charcoal filter every month or two. Great tasting water.
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