Negros Oriental water quality-Dumag and surrounds

Thanks to you and all the other members for the good on-topic replies.

Where do you buy a TDS filter and what do they cost?

A charcoal filter like found in a cheap (at least in U.S.) Brita filter removes a good portion of chemical and organic contaminants. I have read that a drop of cholrine bleach added to a gallon of water kills alot of the bacteria type contaminants, never tried it though.

Unlike Mexico where even brushing your teeth with tap water will give you dysentery, I have not gotten sick here like there. My significant other is afraid to eat at calenarias (sp?). I will eat there but only if they reheat the food in my presence-too afraid of hepatitis,etc.

Yeah that advice from the gov. doctor sounds valid to me. As another poster pointed out just because they say they use reverse osmosis, does not substitute for independent testing by a private lab-the only way to get accurate info I think. In an online search I found no published test results for any city in the R. P.
Have to look up reverse osmosis not sure what it is and how good it is.

 

1) TDS filter? Do you mean TDS meter? One other way to test for RO water (Reverse Osmosis) is with an ohm meter. The ohm reading should be infinity or close to it as good quality RO with extremely low TDS (total dissolved solids) will not conduct electricity.

2) Yes, Brita type filters work well. If you boil the water and let it cool before you pour it into/through the Brita they work even better. I haven't seen one for sale here though. Walmart and Target in the U.S. carry them though along with the replacement cartridges, which are cheaper to buy in the multi-pack.

3) Reverse Osmosis, or RO is a filtration method where the water is forced through a high-tech membrane. This membrane removes almost everything including dissolved salt and impurities. It is how some desalinators work.

More info here: Reverse osmosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It is the best way to filter water, but also probably the most expensive. A good RO filtration system uses many pre-filters as contaminants like sand, rust particles, etc will quickly clog up the (expensive!) RO membrane.

RO filters are available in the Philippines, but I don't know how good they are. If you buy one, anywhere, make sure you check into the availability of the replacement RO membrane, and their cost, along with any pre-filter cartridges.

In the U.S. RO filters are normally rated to filter "X" number of gallons before the RO membrane needs replacing. That way you can figure out your cost per gallon.

RO filters will not work if water pressure is low. They use water pressure to force the water through the membrane. If the water pressure is low from the source water, an auxilary pressure pump can be used but it adds to the expense.

I used this GE RO filter unit when I lived in the U.S. It worked great!

 

I got my TDS meter from somewhere near Manila, it cost around P2,700 including shipping. Here is the phone number. 0932-3350508

 

For what little I know of reverse osmosis is that one gets purified water similar in quality to distilled water, no bugs, no impurities but also no taste as it's void of any salts or minerals and with a low PH hence not safe to drink as it might cause heart problems after years of consumption. It is also expensive to get the membrane replaced not to mentioned the high water/purified RO water ratio...I believe one needs 10+ liters of water for 1 RO water....

 

I have been drinking distilled water for about 15 years, yep no salts no minerals but the minerals in water is rock that can't be processed in our body hence building up in our bodies, you get your good minerals in vegies, the only thing that might be lacking in distilled water is magnesium, I have my own still that makes 4ltrs it is pure at 97%, chemicals , lime , salt, minerals (rock) are all gone, and it tastes really nice, no flavours like chlorine and lime that is used to raise the ph after they add poison to the water to kill the bugs.
I have used filters in AU but found when they are a bit old the rubbish and bacteria builds up and I think causes more problems than drinking the water straight from the tap

 

I have read a bit about water treatment and purification, If you buy a good RO System it usually comes with a last stage that putt's the minerals back in the water, because with out the minerals there would be no taste, also if there are no minerals in the water your Body will use the ones in your system and your mineral equilibrium gets out of balance and you get problems like brittle bones and nerve issues. The Distilled water you buy from your Dealer here may have added minerals or not but it's worth to check back and find out, it's in your own interest, also you can buy Mineral water from the Big Guy's like, Summit and others, if you can afford Beer you should have no problems buying good water for your drinking needs...

 

for those interested google up(distilled drinking water benefits) you will find the no dont use it, it's dangerous and the use it it's healthy, as i said before i have been using it for years, I think it is by far the best you can get, especialy mine cause i make my own and know that its pure, and see all the rubish left behing in the pot, it's scarey to see what is removed just from 4 ltrs of water.
also minerals are in the food we eat, the minearal in water are inorganic (rock) so if you are into inorganic minerals eat a hand full of rocks.

 

True!

 

Well, "Brian", where do you think the minerals in your vegetables came from? And mineral water like San Pellegrino, Evian, etc. are in your words, just dissolved rocks in water, I thought Australians are quite bright people...

 

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