Sometimes in life you just do things as you always did them and never really question why. That was me and my Brita water filter pitcher. For years I would fill the pitcher and make my coffee or drink the water. At the appropriate time, usually every month, I would change the filter and think I was getting clean purified water.
One day I saw an ad for a very inexpensive water testing gadget. It looked like a thermometer. You would put it in your water to see what numbers you get. Very clean purified water would register a low number and the higher number would indicate how contaminated the water was.
I have well water that was supposedly clean so I tested it. It wasn't horrible or in the danger zone, but it was marginal at 215 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). It registered in the acceptable range for tap water. I would be fine drinking it but sometimes well water has a rusty taste. My water softener takes care of that but sometimes I can taste a hint of rust.
I then tested the Brita water. It was no different from my plain well water, in fact it was slightly worse. It must be going from the tap and through the filter with no change. Next I thought I should test the bottled water I would drink occasionally. I don't drink it often because it comes in plastic bottles. Everyone has plastic in their systems in this day and age but I avoid it where I can. I am sure it contributes to some health problems that didn't occur before plastic bottles became the norm, but that's a discussion for another time. The bottled water registered 344 TDS. Again it won't kill you but it's not that good.
I want to mention that this water testing wasn't really very scientific. There are many ways to test water. You can call a company that specializes in water quality, you can have the state you live in test it by sending in a sample or you can get an idea the way I did.
At this point I was on a mission to find a water filtration system that didn't involve hiring a plumber and the expense of a whole house filter. The least technical, the less chance of something leaking or going wrong, and it was portable. There are many systems on the market. There are all sizes and all of them claim to be the best. Some are fancy and look beautiful but take up a lot of room. Some look very industrial but were also too large for me. I settled on a Bluevua lite system. It is not a water filtration system, it is a UV Reverse Osmosis water purifier. I liked that it had a glass pitcher, it had a UV light for more purification, you could add a remineralization filter for better taste and you just plug it into a normal outlet. This lite version is small enough to fit on the kitchen counter and it provides plenty of water for me. The container is 40 ounces. If you need more water, you just push a button and it dispenses another container in a couple of minutes.
I did test the water from my reverse osmosis system. The machine said it was only 12 TDS but the tester said it was 42 TDS. That is still really good and when I washed the equipment it was even better. I like it below 30 TDS, but the number isn't exact and it varies slightly day to day.
