Here's another inquiry for the residents. I'm curious to read your opinions on the Sun City water. I've got the Epcor water quality report for 2014 so I know how it tests. I'd like to know if any of you use water softeners and/or filtering (RO or other) for your drinking water. If you do, who/what do you use and are you happy with it/them. The report shows the water to be quite hard. It passes quality standards but...
Good question Mullet and I'll take a stab at it. We had an osmosis system when we bought and before we moved here it sprung a leak (the insurance we had was awesome and covered all the costs and then some). We replaced it and continued on, though once we were here, my wife often complained about hard water, how hard it was to get clothes clean and how she noticed it when she showered. Like a guy, I had no clue (guess why she tells me I'm clueless, and I don't argue). We suffered through it for the first 10 years we were here (it wasn't an impossible situation by any means). I've said before we do a certain amount of upgrades per year, and two years ago when we were doing the kitchen we decided to take the leap on the "water" situation at the same time. We went to one of the home shows at the Cardinal stadium and one of the first booths we saw when we walked in was for Kinetico water softeners. We scheduled an in-home visit with them and when they came, they did all the "tests" to show you how bad the water was. I was stunned to see we had survived all those years, but it was an interesting demo. We broke down and bought the whole home system (plus osmosis attachment) and my wife immediately noticed a difference. The water was better tasting, softer and noticeable when showering or bathing. It's not cheap and the salt needs to be put in every couple of weeks (gives me something to do so I'm not just sitting at the computer all day long). In the long run I suspect it's worth it. We have hard water here and while I'm still pretty much clueless, my wife swears by it. Then again, if money is an issue, life will go on just fine without it.
We had never had a water softener until we moved to our current residence. Our well water has off-the-charts hardness so we got one. We would never go back. I think Kinetico is one of the top names out there. I'll have to look at their drinking water offerings. Anyone else?
As usual I seem to be the odd (wo)man out. I've lived the last 11 years with no municipal water service. Our only water source is rainwater caught off the roof, stored in catchment tanks, then pumped into the house in the same way well water would be. Let me tell you, water can be too soft. Pure rainwater is so soft it is impossible to get the soap out of anything or get it off you in the shower or bath. And then there's acid rain. I live on the slopes of an active volcano and we have some component of vog daily. Vog is SO2 vapor from the volcano and when the rain falls through the vog, the acid level rises significantly. Catchment tanks are treated with baking soda but still the water can be acid enough that leaving a pan to soak in the sink will result in pitting of the metal. I am so looking forward to hard, pH-balanced, muni water. If it tastes nasty I'll get a Britta pitcher, other than that, bring it on!
Funny isn't it LW, the things we take for granted here. Your experiences living in Hawaii are so far removed from just turning on the tap water and letting it flow. The Brita pitcher works great, but you might find a good osmosis under the sink system to be an addition you'll want to make down the road. The other day i was reading an article on 55Places regarding Top Places To Retire Abroad. Their first listing was for Costa Rica and some of the highlights were: "high-speed internet, clean water, and reliable utilities and cell phone service." All things we think of as a given. Think i'll stay put in Sun City.
I just use the tap water. Nothing added. No complaints. I take my showers at the pool to get the chlorine off. My water heater is gas so that saves me $. In Southern California (many moons ago), the water tasted bad. Can't remember why. Nobody complained or did anything about it. Probably because nothing had been invented yet! I wonder if it still tastes bad. A friend just went there for a visit. I must remember to ask him.
I live in Southern California, peg, and I don't drink water from the tap very often. I did until a few years ago. It tastes a bit metallic but that not the reason I stopped. I learned this fact: They do filter out bacteria and such from the muni water system but they are unable to filter out chemicals like medications dumped into the water. People still flush meds and other chemicals down the toilet. I started buying spring water, just for drinking. It tastes a bit better to me and I find I drink more of it than tap. I don't have an issue with taking showers etc. in muni water, but i love spring water. I've done blind taste tests and I always choose it over tap.
We just got back from a four day stay at Sun City Festival and my wife noticed the harder water in AZ. We have a water softener here in IL. I, like BPearson, did not notice a difference. I must be clueless as well.
