An activated charcoal filter will remove chlorines and chlorine by-products, but it won't remove salt; I think your only options there are reverse-osmosis, distillation, or bottled water.

Good point, Russotto. Initial tests with a facet filter indicate that it improves the taste a lot. But, that isn't too difficult around here, as I think running it through a gym sock would be an improvement.

It could be worse, though. vB could have truncated my subject line by one more letter.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/pool.gif

I lived in Florida and I agree that the tap water needs something. I used a faucet-mount Brita filter and it did the job well enough that with the addition of enough Kool Aid and sugar, I couldn't taste the underlying water anymore. I didn't resort to a cooler or even bottled water for two years.

That said, I live in Hazleton, PA and I have a well. The water is very drinkable, despite a slightly elevated mineral content, which merely causes my hair to feel dry and my skin to itch slightly. Mousturizer solves the skin problem and conditioner solves the hair problem. Well, until I cut it all off that is. Now I don't care again. :)

Anyway, I've been thinking of buying a cooler and investing in a half dozen five gallon bottles of fresh water so that I have on-demand cold water (my tap water isn't as cold as I would like) as well as on-demand HOT water. I have an In-Sink-Er-Ater hot water thingie, but it makes a lot of noise, leaks by the valve sometimes and costs me more in electricity than it saves me from heating the kettle. All I need is an outlet in the intended corner and I'm set!

Brian

That's the short, less accurate argument. The full argument is, "Drinking bottled water is paying extra money for something you can get out of the tap for cheap, assuming you live in the same town as the bottling plant."

And you don't have a well. ;)
I do, and wed a guy is coming out to measure for a new treatment system. Let's see,...how many cases of bottled water @ $6, will I have to not buy to recover the $7k. Oh, and operating costs. :eyebrow:

Ugh! This thread reminds me of why I only drink alcohol.