To be fair even in a first world system it's a good idea to filter drinking water again before consuming it. A countertop filtration system is much less expensive than one month of OP's bottled water. $80-200 for the initial setup, $30 every six months to replace the filters... cheaper than $60/mo, probably produces cleaner water in most cases.
Filters are way cheaper than bottled water, by several orders of magnitude[1]. Also more convenient in my opinion, as you have filtered water literally on-tap.
Putting a simple filtration system on your tap is a lot cheaper than buying soda-priced water, though. And even if you do buy it, there's no guarantees about the quality of the water in the bottle.
My family has a reverse osmosis filter and it tastes identical to bottled water despite the tap being extremely hard well water. Depending on how much water you drink, it should pay for itself in a couple months. I think ours was $250.
It's quite bad, but consumer water filtration devices are cheap and plentiful. I personally use a water filter at home and work, and carry a decent quality bottle everywhere with me, so I'm not sure why others don't go that route. I have to assume it's just another example of rampant American consumerism.
i bought a 6-stage apec reverse osmosis system for about $200 on sale. filter replacements are expected to average about $100 per year.
it's replaced all of my bottled water and brita use, not only for drinking water, but also to make flavored drinks like gatorade (much cheaper and friendlier environmentally that way).
Everyone should do this, honestly. I am currently renting, but I previously owned a home in another state. One of the first things I did after buying my previous house was a whole-home filtration system. The cost isn't that high if you already have a water softener or similar plumbed in off the mains, as the filter system itself isn't the expensive part, it's the plumbing work.
Even in cities with good water, it makes sense to filter heavily and remineralize at home. This ended up helping me in myriads of ways due to natural disasters causing boil orders, finding out about chemical spills in the area that affected water supplies, etc. No worries at my home, thanks to significant filtration.
It depends on the quality of the water. Where I live there's too much chlorine in it (nothing harmful but I brew beer so I need good water) and a 30$ brita filter seals the deal. In places with really shitty water distillation is a good place to start.
Can't you just drink tap water, or if it really tastes that bad use a water filter. The idea of buying a new bottle every time you want a drink of water seems insane to me!
That's $52/year per faucet. I've got four faucets in my home that a child could reasonably drink from. That's $200/year and 48 filter changes assuming you don't miss any changes. And that doesn't help with showers and baths, or even pools and hose water.
Compare that to a whole-home filter: under $500 with a five year warranty. Filters are a couple hundred bucks every 100,000 gallons. The time savings alone is worth it, but the real value is knowing that you're not relying on $1 plastic filters.
Nothing about these $1 filters is good for children. The idea that a household with kids has the time and energy to change filters on every faucet once a month (ignoring all the time your kids spend at school with lead water there!) is laughable.
Why don't Japanese style water tap filter systems [1] get popular in the west? These things are incredibly convenient and cheap - your tap water now tastes good, the upfront cost is ~35 USD and the running cost is at most around 3 USD per month. Hell of a lot cheaper and easier than buying water bottles and transporting them around.
The most well-known filter brand in the US is Brita which is a pitcher you buy with a replaceable filter. Costs around $20 per filter which last "2-6 months". Probably an order of magnitude more expensive than what you pay in India. It's definitely as a very middle-class thing in US; and to the extent it removes minerals and flouride from the water its arguably detrimental (tap water is generally trusted to be safe.)
Oddly, I recall that the "workaround" solution being to the Flint crisis was to ship in tons of bottled water. Cheap filters, if they remove lead and bacteria fully, would seem like a much more cost effective way.
Water treatment at home isn’t difficult as long as it isn’t polluted with something bad like hydrocarbons. A distiller can be purchased for less than $100. There are many homes in Texas that are using heaters that aren’t heat pumps, so in the winter, it probably is economical if excluding the original purchase price. A reverse osmosis system can also be purchased for less than $500, but requires more maintenance.
While drinking water is generally extremely safe in the US, especially compared to many other countries of the world. I still install three stage, under the counter filtration systems for any kitchen tap water. Minimal costs, and at the very least prevents the water from tasting like a pool.
Focus on “good enough”. A $200 RO system for your drinking and cooking water will manage nearly all of your exposure to water borne contaminants. Then move on to the next item. It’s better to hit all the items with “good enough” solutions than focus time & money reaching perfection on just one.
I'm from a country with no real guarantees about the water supply. Most people only have a filter installed on their kitchen faucet and just avoid ingesting water from any other taps in the house.
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