Water filtering?

MrsPBikerChick

Is there an old school way to filter water rather than using expensive brita filters?

Our water is very hard and tastes awful - almost like there is brick or ceramic dust in it. Yuk! It has to be filtered before we can use it, even in the kettle (it destroyed the last one - I couldn't descale it quick enough). Even the dog, who is happy to drink from a muddy puddle, turns her nose up at it! Filtering it with one of those brita jugs makes it usable but the filters are expensive and only last 2-3 weeks. Hoping someone can suggest an old school or just plain cheaper way of doing it!

Dippypud

MrsPBikerChick wrote: »

Is there an old school way to filter water rather than using expensive brita filters?

Our water is very hard and tastes awful - almost like there is brick or ceramic dust in it. Yuk! It has to be filtered before we can use it, even in the kettle (it destroyed the last one - I couldn't descale it quick enough). Even the dog, who is happy to drink from a muddy puddle, turns her nose up at it! Filtering it with one of those brita jugs makes it usable but the filters are expensive and only last 2-3 weeks. Hoping someone can suggest an old school or just plain cheaper way of doing it!

Phone or e-mail your water supplier, they must check the supply regularly...

http://www.water.org.uk/home/our-members/list-of-companies

Dippypud

If you have a private water supply ...
try these guys ...

http://dwi.defra.gov.uk/

gardner1

filters last longer than 2-3 weeks we change ours about every 2-3 months or when water starts to taste yuk and live in hard water area using 2 large jugs a day
dont buy the britta filters asda/tesco etc do own brand filters

poppyjane

Try looking for an Aqua Optima filter jug. I managed to find one (on Amazon) plus 12 months supply of filters for less than £20. And the taste is SOOO much better than Brita. I'm so impressed with mine - worth every penny!

Jane x

babyshoes

Wonder if it's worth a 'rough' filter through a few layers of fabric before putting it in your filter? Might make the filters last longer if there are actual bits of dust/dirt in the water.

Also, bear in mind that the manufacturer will tell you to change the filters more often than is strictly necessary so that you will buy more of them.

Like others on here, we buy the 'own brand' universal filters from whatever supermarket we happen to be in when they are needed and keep using them until the water starts to taste unpleasant.

If you have your water checked and it turns out to be perfectly safe just disgusting to taste, it may be worth investigating those 'in line' filters which work on a bigger scale. My in-laws have one fitted, with a separate small tap over the kitchen sink for drinking water, filling the kettle etc.

Minihauk

Our water often comes out of the tap smelling very stronly of chlorine.
If it is put in a normal jug/bottle and left in the fridge overnight, the smell and taste seem to dissipate and it tastes fine. May be worth keeping some in the fridge to try.

joedenise

Agree with Minihauk about smells and tastes dissipating overnight in a jug in fridge. If it still tastes horrible then go from that jug through a filter jug. We use the Asda own brand jug, unfortunately only seem to be able to get the "universal" filters to fit from Asda, so not very universal:mad: as have to make a special trip to Asda from time to time to stock up on them (nearest one is 15 miles away).

We've actually got an inline filter as well as the filter jug, so it gets double filtered now. Certainly makes the kettle last longer between descales:) - we were previously having to change our kettles about 2-3 times a year because the scale was so heavy.

Denise

miss_scrooge

I have a brita jug but use universal water filters cheaper then brita can get universal filters in wilkinsons and other shops.

MrsPBikerChick

Thanks guys, I'll check out the universal filters and Amazon (should have thought of that, duh!) for now and speak to a plumber friend about an inline filter. I did try just putting some in the fridge but it still tasted foul

Our water supply was apparently flushed through last year after a couple of complaints from people on our street about the quality but it only seemed to make a difference for a couple of days. I'm not convinced southern water took us seriously to be honest.

I think we might have dust as you suggest babyshoes as filter performance noticeably drops in both quality and how quickly it takes to filter after a few weeks and so maybe its getting full of bits. I pretty much just drink water so I notice the drop in quality quickly.

Butterfly_Brain

I have an Aqua Optima jug and it cost £5.50 and you can buy spare filters in boxes of 3 for £5 in wilko's