I hope this is not off-topic. I've been filtering my well water - Brita pitcher. Lately the water doesn't taste good & even has a sort of gasoline taste to it, not that I have ever knowingly tasted gas. So I'm prepared to buy a better filter/purifier but would like some advice. I'm paying about 75 cents a gallon for bottled water & use 1 gallon per day. In a year, I'll pay more than $250 for water & have all those plastic jugs to deal with. So I'm willing to pay $250 to $300 for a good filter. Any ideas about brands & features. I want a table top model, not anything that has to be hooked up to the plumbing.

Nancy, N. Texas

-- Nancy in Texas (nancyr@ntin.net), July 28, 2001

Answers

Nancy, you need to get the water analyzed by a reputable water testing company before you can decide what to do with this water. If it really tastes like gasoline, I'd be pretty careful. Benzene in gas is highly carcinogenic. In fact, my uncle, who worked as a chemist for Phillips Petroleum, died from benzene cancer.

Regardless, get it checked.

As far as all those plastic bottles, I share your concern. Check around; in my smallish town, there is a place where you can bring your own container in and get it filled.

You might also talk to a neighbor, friend or acquaintance about filling a few five gallon containers every so often, if they have a good well or spring.

Good luck. Be careful.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), July 28, 2001.

Nancy, could you have put in a bad Brita filter? I have to filter and dump three or four gallons of water before I use any because the charcoal leaves an acrid taste in the water. This probably isn't your problem, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), July 29, 2001.

I'm really sure there is no gasoline in the water because I live in a very rural area where there is no gasoline production nor any pipelines. There is natural gas and oil in the area. It may just be the hot weather. I did switch back to bottled water rather than the Brita pitcher - at least for now.

-- Nancy in Texas (nancyr@ntin.net), July 29, 2001.