How clean is tap watered filtered by the brita charcoal filters?

Question

We normally drink bottled water at home. We use filtered tap water for our hot water. I was just wondering if tap watered filtered by Brita charcoal is safe to drink. My wife says activated charcoal does not filter out organisms or the tiny amout of parasites that might be in the municipal tap water.

I checked the label for the bottled water in the grocery store. They usually say it's been ozonated and filtered by activated charcoal. Even the water from the spring water says it's been filtered. That seems to tell me you need to filter out the organic impurities with charcoal and treat it with something to kill off the germs. Is that correct? Thanks.

Answer 1

Activated charcoal does clean the water to some extent. It will never be completely cleaned of unwanted minerals and microscopic organisms unless you distill it and pour it into a sterile container. But don't worry about it. We probably all ingest quite a bit of dirt and organisms without realizing it. Just think. When was the last time you ate without washing your hands first? Or handled money before you ate French fries? There were probably more germs in one dirty finger than the germs that pass through the charcoal filter in a month.

So relax. Just wash your hands before meals. The water that's been filtered is already much cleaner than the tap water. And the lowly tap water has already been treated and chlorinated. I know of some 80 and 90 year old people that have drunk tap water all their lives.

Answer 2

My brother, who worked for the Orange County water and waste deparments does this...
2 RO (reverse osmosis) inline filters, an on sink filter and then the brita.
Brita's and purs only filter out the bad tasteing stuff and the minerals that you don't want, like lead from old pipes. Most tap water has been chemically altered to remove the parasites and organisms. If you are really that concerned about your water, the one thing that you can do is drink distilled water. I think it tastes better than anything else out there because it is pure water (H20) with no minerals, chemicals or the like.
It is boiled and the steam is collected and bottled with all the impurities left in the boiling kettle.

Answer 3

Tap water is safe to drink. Not everyone has a Brita water filtering pitcher and to the best of my knowledge, people are not dying from drinking city water. It you like to spend your money to buy bottled water go ahead, but you will not be any healthier than people who drink city water. Don't waste your money.

Answer 4

depending i suppose where you live ;water can be tested .i would run a few tests on my water . states allow water testing free of charge . the problem with city water is that it is 100% pure as tested at the water dept. but after traveling miles in underground piping its bound to collect things . when it gets to your tap it may carry anything .bottled water was tested and was found to be contaminated also .i have a filter at my tap . distilled water is the most pure . charcoal filters at the tap will filter run into a approved sterile container and have it tested .

Answer 5

The Brita won't filter out any germs, but it makes the water taste a lot better. We've been using it for years and have never had a problem. And believe me, I am a germ freak. :)

Answer 6

We have a charcoal filter under the house. So far no problems. Not to say they don't exist. Just not for us yet.

Answer 7

pretty good actually.
I found it was cleaner than several of the Bottled waters, that I had be drinking. Go figure.

Answer 8

its really good maybe better then bottled water

Answer 9

chlorine has already killed organisms.