Countertop Water Filter System

[goodeats]

Hello DR'ers - Happy New Year!

One of my resolutions is to drink more water, but I dislike the ionic taste found in tap water. I was wondering what you all would recommend using to filter tap water?

I prefer to not use Brita or PUR, since I had problems with those brands, but was considering the following:

Zerowater

Bobble

Maura (sp?)

Aqua-something.

Thanks in advance!

[TheMatt]

I use the 3M Filtrete system at work and at home. I like their Fast Flow Filter design as it allows me to fill my pitcher at work at "faucet speed". That is, turn the faucet on at a reasonable flow and the water is filtered as fast as it flows. Nice! It can do this because the filter is big. It's about 6, 7" wide and not very thick so it can filter a lot of water quickly. (I will note that their slimmer, 8-Cup style filter doesn't quite reach this speed as it doesn't have a large surface area like the big filter. Still, it's faster than my old Pur.)

They have this interesting water station as well as pitchers, if you'd like that.

(Oh, and if you do do 3M, you sometimes need to soak their filters for a while to get rid of stray loose carbon. If you don't, it won't filter as fast as you'd like because it's still a bit clogged.)

[goodeats]

Update: I went with ZeroWater. I think I will regret it when I shell out for the filters, but right now they have coupons and rebates to offset that cost, which is nice.

So far, I like the taste of the water--it's equivalent to an RO filter water taste, and I like the fact that their filters are recyclable (you send it back to them).

I feel a bit safer about my water and it tastes great without an aftertaste I had with Brita filters. (yes, sadly, my tastebuds are that sensitive.)