Water purifyer?

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We have a well and the water is good, no bacteria, but it is really hard water. Alot of limestone around here. So, we have a water softener in the house which makes drinking water terrible. Is there a water filter on the market that takes out hard minerals plus salt? Or, in other words, if a filter takes out the minerals will it also take care of the salt too? I fill up jugs of drinking water at my moms and I'm getting so tired of lugging them around! Thanks!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), May 29, 2002

Answers

Big Berky's suppposed to take out 99% of most everything. You might check with the company to find out for sure. We really love ours.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 29, 2002.

If a filter states that it will take out minerals, then it should take out salt, as it is considered a mineral, as far as I know. Which filter is the best for this, I do not know, as all have some sort of trade off value (selling point). Have read under soap making that the addition of lye to hard water will soften it, remove minerals, but this is a caustic chemical and the cost may be prohibitive. Perhaps, if you have a wood stove and plenty of hard wood ashes, then you could use the ashes to make your own lye solution, just a thought.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), May 29, 2002.

Hi Cindy, I don't know much about the different kinds of filters, so got a question...Does yours sit on a counter? Fit on a faucet? Easy to use? And, does the filter last for awhile? Thanks for any info. It's nice to get first hand knowledge before I take the plunge. :)

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), May 30, 2002.

Hi Annie,

We have a Big Berkey too. It sits on the counter. It is stainless steel with four filters inside. The outside of the filters are ceramic and when they become dirty looking (ours turn orange due to the iron in our well water)we take them out and scrub them with a cloth and sometimes one of those plastic scrubbies. When the ceramic wears off and they are down to the charcoal core, they need replacing. We have been using ours since the Fall of 1999 and have not had to replace the filters yet. We use it for all of our drinking and cooking water.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), May 31, 2002.


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