Under-sink water filter for better taste?

[Ameli0rate]

I live in San Antonio and have hard water. The nice, new water softener does a great job, HOWEVER, the water still tastes a bit chalky to me.

I like the "baseline" taste of the Costco bottled water[*], so I decided to pick up a Brita filter. The water still tastes chalky out of that (same as out of the tap), so I'm guessing whatever I taste is NOT due to chlorine/mercury/cadmium/copper or zinc, as Brita claims their filter takes care of that. Adding a few drops of lemon juice seems to cut down on the chalkiness, but maybe that's just my tastebuds being fooled?

I was thinking about an RO filter under the sink and use the useless soap dispenser hole for a filtered/RO water tap. Given that RO wastes a lot of water during its process, I'd like to know if I just need a different filter than the carbon one in the Brita and how I can confirm what filter I need for good/neutral tasting water?

I see Costco selling a Brondell 3-stage filter system ($100) and an Aquverse RO system ($180). No need for RO and wasting water if a regular filter can fix me up.



1, What would be a good start to look at for filters?
2, Might I need RO?
2.5, and if I do, do I need a mineral adder-inner after that for flavor?

3, Any brands of under-sink filtration systems that are good - or brands that should be avoided?









[*]Costco's bottles say "Bottled by Niagara" and they have a few plants nearby (San Antonio, Houston, Temple and Dallas) so I THINK it might be relatively local water. They claim RO/Ozone and filtration, then adding back in some potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium citrate, sodium chloride and magnesium oxide.

I don't need my water to be a clone of this, I just add that for info as to what water I like the flavor of.

 

[Aaroninnh]

Have you had a water test done?

 

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[Jeff H Young]

I have under counter watts r/o 10 years very happy with it . 24 gallons a day capacity we only need 2 or 3 gallons

 

[Ameli0rate]

I haven't had a water test done other than the hardness.

Would that be able to tell me what makes the water taste chalky? I was thinking (mistakenly?) that it's the limestone in our aquifer.
Also - should a test be done on the softened water, or on the "raw" water going into the house?

The easy part would be to just get an RO system and be done, but I read that it uses 5 gallons of water for every gallon of treated water. While I think I'd use very little (coffee machine, water bottles), I would prefer not to waste all that water if I can just use a regular filter to get the taste I want.

 

[Aaroninnh]

I haven't had a water test done other than the hardness.

Would that be able to tell me what makes the water taste chalky? I was thinking (mistakenly?) that it's the limestone in our aquifer.
Also - should a test be done on the softened water, or on the "raw" water going into the house?

The easy part would be to just get an RO system and be done, but I read that it uses 5 gallons of water for every gallon of treated water. While I think I'd use very little (coffee machine, water bottles), I would prefer not to waste all that water if I can just use a regular filter to get the taste I want.

I believe the softener should be taking care of the limestone. Are you sure it is doing its job? How long has it been in place? If recent, you may be getting deposits from the pipes into your faucet. As soft water hits the pipes it works on whatever deposits were left in your pipes from when you had hard water flowing through them. It can take some time to dissolve.

Have you tested the hardness at your faucet with a Hach 5B test kit?

 

[Ameli0rate]

I believe the softener should be taking care of the limestone. Are you sure it is doing its job? How long has it been in place? If recent, you may be getting deposits from the pipes into your faucet. As soft water hits the pipes it works on whatever deposits were left in your pipes from when you had hard water flowing through them. It can take some time to dissolve.

Have you tested the hardness at your faucet with a Hach 5B test kit?

The old softener was marginal, the new one has been in place for about two years now. I don't get the white build-up in the shower and sinks like I would see every few months with the old one.

The hardness outside of the softener is 17 grain and behind it it WAS 3 grains two weeks after the new softener was installed (presumably pipes shedding some minerals). This was with the Hach 5b test kit. It was done by the softener company, but I know that it was the 5B because I asked so I could add that to my Amazon cart (haven't bought yet).

While less exact, I got a test strip for the water along with a new coffee machine and it didn't detect any grains at all. That, combined with no deposits in sinks/showers/toilets anymore leads me to think that the limestone shouldn't be a problem anymore.