Chicago tap water quality and filtering options
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Derryisreal
- Supporter ♡
It has been over an year since I started giving the quality of my tap water any serious consideration and I am just marginally less confused now 
I thought about going with rpavlis water, but I just can't see myself lugging gallons of distilled water and mixing with precision on a regular basis. So, I settled on using tap water that I filtrate, then soften. However, lately I have become equally concerned with both scale and corrosion. A stainless steel boiler seems more likely to corrode, much to my dismay.
This is the countertop filter, that I have been using so far:
https://apexwaterfilters.com/shop/count ... x-mr-1060/
Followed by in reservoir softener (not sure if it is ion exchange, says nothing on the box):
https://idrinkcoffee.com/products/ecm-water-filter-pad
I am thinking about adding a second, seemingly highly regarded pitcher filter, which claims to remove chloride and sulfate:
https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/pages/p ... and-filter
From the Chicago municipal water report it seems that the chloride and sulfate are not too high, but I might be interpreting it wrong, however TDS is high:
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/cit ... _Q1-Q4.pdf
I do measure my in tank water hardness with Hach strips from time to time, just to make sure it is actually softened. But it just feels like I might be overlooking something, or taking ineffective steps, so your comments or suggestions would be most welcome.
Thank you!
I thought about going with rpavlis water, but I just can't see myself lugging gallons of distilled water and mixing with precision on a regular basis. So, I settled on using tap water that I filtrate, then soften. However, lately I have become equally concerned with both scale and corrosion. A stainless steel boiler seems more likely to corrode, much to my dismay.
This is the countertop filter, that I have been using so far:
https://apexwaterfilters.com/shop/count ... x-mr-1060/
Followed by in reservoir softener (not sure if it is ion exchange, says nothing on the box):
https://idrinkcoffee.com/products/ecm-water-filter-pad
I am thinking about adding a second, seemingly highly regarded pitcher filter, which claims to remove chloride and sulfate:
https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/pages/p ... and-filter
From the Chicago municipal water report it seems that the chloride and sulfate are not too high, but I might be interpreting it wrong, however TDS is high:
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/cit ... _Q1-Q4.pdf
I do measure my in tank water hardness with Hach strips from time to time, just to make sure it is actually softened. But it just feels like I might be overlooking something, or taking ineffective steps, so your comments or suggestions would be most welcome.
Thank you!
Milk & Sugar free. As it should be.
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another_jim
- Team HB
The hardness level of Lake Michigan water is close to ideal for coffee, and the chlorine can be taken out by a simple Brita filter. So I use it straight, and descale my machine every three years or so. If you never want to descale, I recommend using 50% filtered tap water and 50% distilled. The Zero Water pitchers are convenient for this, or just buy distilled or near distilled at the store.
Jim Schulman
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Derryisreal (original poster)
- Supporter ♡
Thanks Jim, this is great news!
Milk & Sugar free. As it should be.
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