new install recommendation

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Hi,
I have good municipal water versus a problem to solve, but would like to remove the bad trace stuff and chlorine from my drinking/cooking water. I'd like a recommendation balanced across what I've learned and what I suspect from observation about my supply.
1. I'm looking at aquasana for under sink as it appears to be the best price performance of cost versus what it takes out -and I want one that takes out pretty much all this type does, leaving in the good stuff, like trace minerals, BUT
2. I'm betting that what most manufacturers have to do what the Aquasana does is fairly standard - maybe I'm wrong - but the goal would be to have a unit that allows me to replace the filter elements with something standard in the industry such that if the manufacturer goes under or their prices take a significant turn, I can get "brand x" replacements.
3. We have significant lime at certain times of the year, especially when the water supply (river) is low. Water spots on the car, floaties in ice cubes, as well as the fact that they flush hydrants almost every year causing rust for a couple days in any one area. So this second question I have is, should I get a whole house sediment/rust to prefilter, helping my water heater and lengthening how often I need to replace the under-counter, or would you expect this is not cost effective. I can't find a water bill, but I'd say we're at about 2.5 folks of normal usage (college son home some).

Can you recommend a solution for undercounter based on items 1 & 2, and what do you think about the cost effectiveness of the whole house pre-filter, will it help enough to justify the extra expense or am I chasing my tail on this part? Thanks!
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[Andy CWS]

Do you plan to drink more than 3 gallons per person per day. If not, then the 'trace mineral issues' is a moot point. Do not depend on you water for the nutrients found in your diet. Water is a good transporter, not supplier, of minerals and nutrients.

As always get a qualified water analysis before bying any water treatment. If you want your water to be of high quality, get an RO. But still, you need to get the details of your water particularly hardness and TDS among others.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

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Thanks for the input, we can agree to disagree

My opinion is, trace minerals are important and:
1. DO come from water and food, not just food.
2. when water becomes too pure, as in distillation or RO, it's solvent abilities, hence ability to act as free radical, increase, aging the body.
3. RO is EXTREMELY inefficient and water wasteful to solve what I'm trying to solve.

Everybody's got their preferences, clearly your's is RO, and that's fine, just not what I'm looking to do.

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[Andy CWS]

Of course getting a small drinking water system won't help your lime and rust problems. You would need a softener for that. You didn't give any details on your water condition. Have you have it tested yet or do you have stats?

You say take out 'bad' traces and leave in 'good' traces. I guess that all depends on what you call good and bad. How would design a system that can differentiate the good, the bad and the ugly?

Dissolved inorganic rock in the water is just that. It is not the same as calcium you find in milk, cheese, yoghurt, etc. I would never recommend drinking 8 gallons a day to get enough dissolved rock in your system to imagine that it would benefit your health. We have far too many avenues to gain the nutrients and minerals we need than to depend on simple drinking water.

Again, maintaining a proper diet has far greater benefits. Minerals and vitamins can suppliment dietary intake. Of course, good monitoring and adjustments are keen to reducing that 'aging' process. Exercise and on and on have long been well-known to greatly benefit our bodies.

You say an RO is 'extremely' wasteful. Are you saying the water ROs use is wasted? There is a big difference between waste water and wasted water. Are we talking water conservation or waste management?

I agree that distilled water is not recommended for drinking. But given a choice of distilled water and some mysterious solution from a dubious source, I would not hesitate to quench my thirst with the more pure of the two. As with most things in life, moderation is a prudent approach.

There are advantage and disadvantages to proprietary products. Using a system that requires filters from the manufacturer limits your supply and controls costs. But most attempt to avoid having customers replace elements with inferior products which may jeopardize quality.

Once you know exactly what you want to remove from the water and what you want to leave in, you can design your own system or get a cheap on ebay on some other internet source. This site can provide you with nearly anything you need.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II