Saving Money on bottles water??

[fancie217]

Well My husband and I are just starting out trying to be "fugal" so I'm trying to figure out how to elimanate some of the biggest expenses.

I already made a big step by quitting smoking <yeah me.> We started using the bus for shuttling our children to and from school. But now I got to start looking at other expenses..

One of our bigger (or at least annoying) expenses is water. Our well only costs maybe $7 a month to run... but we end up getting bottled water at the store because our water isn't very good. We probably go threw 10 gallons a week, which honestly is only about maybe $5 dollars, but if we run opt and need to take a new trip to the store...

Well my question is.... is there any way to use the well water we have instead? Would boiling our water take out the metal taste? Maybe a desent filter (what do you recommend)

 

[patandchickens]

Have you had your water thoroughly tested. That woudl be the first step, to see if there is maybe a REASON you shouldn't drink it.

IME water usually tastes worse after boiling, and all boiling does is kill bacteria. (And potentially concentrate any contaminants and the hardness of the water :/)

Why not get a cheap filter pitcher, like Brita, with carbon filter cartridges, and TRY it and see how you like it? I see them at thrift stores fairly often, or even if you had to buy new they are only like $20 or less on sale. I run our wellwater thru a Brita pitcher for drinking purposes and feel it improves the taste but of course everyone's water, and tastes, are different.

If you have your water fairly comprehensively tested and are SURE it's ok to drink, another possibility is to either suck it up and get used to the flavor or add just a very small amount of flavoring (such as iced tea or instant drink powder - you're using such a miniscule smidgen that things like sugar content etc don't really enter into it) just enough to change the aftertaste to something more palatable. I've done the latter in places where the city water just tasted too weird to me

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

You can purchase a great little filter that removes most of your particles in your water through reverse osmosis. Its made by AquaWizard and seems like a great deal to me. I can't remember the exact price, somewhere around $100-$200 but it lasts forever, comes with a water tester and you can buy replacement filters when needed.

It attaches to your kitchen sink faucet and allows you to drain the filtered water into jugs for storage. My mom does this with her well water and she loves it. I have used one at other places I lived, but my water is so good right now where I live, that I wouldn't want to change a thing! I still have mine in case I should ever need it.

Another tip for bad tasting water, if you cannot afford the filter, is keep a jug in the fridge from which to drink. Colder water doesn't taste as bad as tap water, though I don't know why.

Mom just hooks hers up at night or in the day when she knows she won't be using the faucet for awhile, and makes her water. Keeps several large jugs made up for emergencies and such. My aunt sprung for the under the sink version, which is pretty costly, but she has a busy life and doesn't want the hassle of making the water by the jug. The installation made her property value rise~which is just what she calculated. She's pretty money savvy!

 

[freemotion]

I recently heard a lecture on drinking water and reverse osmosis filters take out the good stuff as well as the bad. So don't use one unless you have to. We need some of the minerals that we get in our water.

Some water tastes/smells will evaporate if you put some water in a pitcher in the fridge and leave it uncovered for a day.

We have city water and use a Brita filter, have for years. Works great at removing the off tastes. We just purchased a really good point-of-use filter with an under-the-sink installation kit, but need to replace the sink and counter first.....so I am purchasing the needed items as I can afford them and one day it will happen! Meanwhile, Brita is working for us.

I also got a bunch of swing-top beer bottles by asking my friends who drink unusual beers if they could save me some. I fill them with water and homemade drinks like iced tea so that I will have grab-n-go convenience drinks and not be adding plastic to our oceans or leaching chemicals into my drinks! Works great, and the sturdy bottles don't break easily. I can be a klutz and haven't so much as chipped one in a couple of years of constant use.

I use one of those water bottle insulator/carriers when I take one to drink in the car so a passing cop won't think I'm drinking beer!

 

[Beekissed]

Never heard of these beer bottles, Free! It sure would be nice to get my paws on one or two for the same usage.

I'll have to find someone who drinks......... shouldn't be hard in this area. The real problem would be finding someone who drinks imported beer!!!

 

[MorelCabin]

By the 5 gallon refillable bottles and fill them up at a friends when you visit.

 

[FarmerChick]

You need your water tested by a reliable lab. If you want to fight a problem, you must know what it is you are fighting.

So make that step.

After you know, ask the lab for recommendations on how to fix ---if you do not have a true problem---other than taste that is not harmful to you---ask them again what filters, etc. they recommend to make the water taste better.

Worse thing you can do is dollar yourself to death experimenting with filters and not getting good results or more expensive systems that still you with a bad taste.

Go to the pros when you need expert advice. Best advice I can give ya..LOL

Hope it works out for you.....I liked Morel's advice also.....if a friend has good water, go use it!!

 

[big bertha]

Our well water has that metallic taste/smell and occasionally a sulfur smell. I prefer not to drink it right out of the tap, even though it was tested safe. We have a PUR filter. The one that sits on the counter top. Fill it up, the water trickles thru the filter. We try to keep it filled all the time as well as a gallon of it in the fridge.

 

[freemotion]

Never heard of these beer bottles, Free! It sure would be nice to get my paws on one or two for the same usage.

I'll have to find someone who drinks......... shouldn't be hard in this area. The real problem would be finding someone who drinks imported beer!!!

It is a Dutch beer, it is called Grolsh, not sure of the spelling. You can also buy the bottles at a store that sells beer and wine making supplies. I bought a beautiful cobalt blue one for $4, just because it was so beautiful. But the rest of mine were free.

I googled the store looking for replacement rubber washers, as nothing in the hardware store worked as well as the originals. The store was in a town that I go to regularly, I never knew it was there! So do a google search, too, if you don't have any beer-drinking yuppies in your inner circle!

 

[Dace]

We have an inexpensive water filter by Pur (Target/Walmart)...it is a 2 gal container that you fill and it sits in the fridge or on the ocunter.

I refused to keep buying those darn plastic bottles. I have read that only a small (like 13%) percent are recycled and the rest sit in the landfill for a THOUSAND years. As a family of 6 I just couldn't keep using them.

Now we all have reusable aluminum & plastic bottles. Although I am really liking the beer bottle idea! Gonna have to invest in some cool beer for hubby.