Aarke stainless steel water filter
The good news is that in England (unlike many parts of the world), not filtering tap water is unlikely to make you ill, and won’t kill you. We are fortunate in having pretty safe tap water, even if it sometimes tastes funny or contains chlorine.
If you don’t like the taste of chlorine (and if your council chlorinates water, there’s nothing much you can do), just do what restaurants do. And air a jug of water for 30 minutes, for the taste to disappear.
Lead pipes are an issue, so check with your builder or council. And don’t drink tap water from bathrooms (some say it’s fine, but often it’s from different tanks). It’s also best not to drink water from warm/hot taps.
These days, we have all kinds of stuff in tap water, from chlorine to microplastics. This can lead to normal tap water tasting unpleasant, or at least not very nice. Filtering tap water basically makes it taste nice, but you don’t have to use plastic jugs.
Stainless Steel Filter Jugs
Aarke is one of the more affordable (around £100) stainless steel filter jugs, which features a refillable steel filter cartridge and granules, which are poured into the cartridge, and changed every 4 weeks.
You can set a dial inside the lid, so you know when it’s time to change the cartridge. Some parts are food-grade thermoplastic, but most is steel, and as long as you remove the granules from the filter cartridge, you can put it in the dishwasher.
A Sustainable Alternative to Plastic Filter Jugs
Plastic jug filters are quite expensive, the filters are wrapped in plastic, and they don’t fit through the letterbox, if you don’t live near a bit supermarket (to buy or recycle the filters).
Phox Compatible is a refillable cartridge that fits all jugs, kettles and coffee machines that use Brita Maxtra & Matra+ cartridges.
If you’re not in the market to buy one of their own jugs, this is the next best thing. It slots into your current jug and is built to last years. Just replace the filter granules every 45 days.
Sold in 3 versions (for hard/very hard water or an Alkaline pack with increased magnesium) it won’t remove chlorine (you need reverse osmosis for that). The jug takes just a few minutes to fill, then lasts 200 litres.
You can put most parts in the dishwasher (not the jug base or rubber gaskets). If you go on holiday, immerse in water, remove and place in a jug of fresh water, to stop the granules drying out.
Ceramic Water Filters
Ceramic water filters use a porous shell to trap debris and bacteria, a bit like a coffee strainer. These last for months or years, and are easily cleaned with a natural brush. Go for ones that have stainless steel or glass housings.
To use, just fill the upper chamber with tap water, then gravity pulls the water through the ceramic, and leaves you with clean water below.
Activated Charcoal Sticks
Charcoal is a natural water filter, and this method (Binchotan) is from Japan, using white or bamboo charcoal to naturally absorb chemicals, to improve taste.
You just drop a clean charcoal stick into a bottle or jug, and leave it to sit overnight. Then just replace the stick every few months (you can recharge it by boiling in water), you can use old sticks to absorb odours in the fridge.
The sediments do fall to the bottom, so it’s best to avoid serving to young children, pets or people with swallowing difficulties.
How Much Water Should We Drink?
UK tap water is some of the safest on earth, with a quality rating of 99.96%, regularly inspected to ensure it’s free from contaminants like E.coli. So filtering water is more to make it taste nice. Fresh water is also found in foods (bananas and watermelon are both high-water).
The average person needs around 1.2 litres of water each day (more for athletes, hot weather, some medical conditions and after vomiting/diarrhoea).
This is around 6 glasses (so drink 2 when you wake up, 2 before lunch and dinner, and a couple of weeks you’ll be hydrated).
The caveat is that your body loses water with tea, coffee, cola and alcohol. So add an extra glass, for each one of those you drink.
Hard Water & Limescale in England
Unless you live in northwest England, you likely have hard water (which makes it cloudy, due to a combination of chalk and limestone) and although it doesn’t taste as nice, it does no harm.
Most water boards add chlorine (to kill bacteria) and fluoride (Ireland has fluoridated tap water for decades with no good effects on dental health, but it’s added around 10% of England, though new schemes are rare). For old pipes, ask your water board to visit, to check there is no (harmful) lead in your tap water.
The other main issue in hard water areas is limescale, which does not taste nice and could build up calcium and magnesium carbonate, which can lead to bladder stones.
To descale a kettle, fill it three-quarters with equal parts of tap water and distilled white vinegar (also sold in supermarkets).
Boil and cool, then drain and rinse several times, until all flakes have gone. Then boil (full) and empty again, to remove vinegar taste. Adding a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda can help shift stubborn limescale.
What Kind of Water Should Pets Drink?
Spring and filtered water are fine, you may find health and fur improves. But vets say that (unless medically given) to avoid distilled water (removes minerals and electrolytes). Never give fizzy water to pets, as it could cause bloat.
Don’t let pets drink from puddles. It may taste nice to them, but could contain remnants of bacteria, oil or antifreeze.
Tap Water Ideas for Offices & Councils
Rather than spend money on buying in plastic bottles of water, here are some simple and innovative (and more affordable) ideas to keep staff hydrated:
- Councils can install water hydration stations so that people can easily fill their water bottles for free. These are very advanced to filter out impurities and keep water at the correct temperature.
- Belu offers water filters for pubs, restaurants and hotels, and also offers sparkling water in (minimum 40% recycled) glass bottles of various sizes. Again, profits are diverted to help clean safe water charity projects.
- If you run an office or hotel, Frank Water Coolers help people stay hydrated and reduce plastic waste. These mains-fed coolers use profits to help bring fresh clean safe water to children in India.
- Refill lists thousands of places nationwide that offer free refills for tap water, and also lists where to find free drinking water fountains. These are popular abroad (in California, there is even a Fountain of Woof that spurts fresh water from a concrete dog’s mouth for visiting pooches!)
