Question:
Our church currently uses a well to provide its water, and a septicsystem to treat sewage. Because of this, we only pay for electricity topump the water, and a relatively inexpensive fee to pump the septic systemonce a year.

However, I have recently learned that the church is consideringpetitioning a nearby city to hook up to the city water supply. This isbecause our water fountain seems to plug up with calcium carbonate.Nothing else seems to get bothered by this. (the toilets, sink faucets,etc.)

Personally, I grew up drinking well water on a farm, so I wouldn't haveany problems with simply drinking out of the tap. However, a lot ofpeople complain about the mineral taste of the water. Evidently, a coupleof traditional filters in the water system doesn't do much to stop thecalcium carbonate from accumulating inside the drinking fountain.

If we do end up connecting to the city water system, then we will notonly be paying for each gallon of water we use, we will also be paying ahefty sewage treatment fee for every gallon as well. (the sewage treatmentfee is actually about 3X as expensive as the actual cost of the wateritself) This means that if we ever water the lawn or have a car wash, itwould be very expensive for the church. Because I feel that this moneywould be better spent helping support missionary outreach, I suggested analternative: using a reverse osmosis filter for the water fountain only.

The drinking fountain is only used a couple of times a week, andprobably less than 10 gallons of water is consumed weekly. (in allprobability, this amount is closer to 3 gallons)

I would like to find a reverse osmosis system that can either supply theexisting drinking fountain, or perhaps a system that will dispense thedrinking water like an office water system does. (you know, similar tothose inverted 5 gallon jugs of water) Using the existing drinkingfountain would allow us to avoid generating trash in the form of cups,however.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you could suggest an online source forinexpensive reverse-osmosis water filter systems. Something that would beeasy to install between the drinking fountain and its water supply wouldbe ideal.

Answer: You need a reverse osmosis system. A standard carbon block filterremoves organic flavors and organic compounds. A RO system removesdissolved solids such as calcium carbonate.

They aren't cheap to purchase, but they have a long maintenance cycleespecially if you can plumb it onto the sinks and water fountains ONLYand not the toilets or the outside faucets.

Ask around at restaurants in the area to find a restaurant that hasone and can tell you who installed and services their filter.

The current (Holiday 2003) Lifestyles Fascination catalog advertises theClearwave Electronic Water Conditioner (p. 15). It attaches to the mainwater pipe, and is supposed to remove calcium from the water. Sale for$139.95

I recently searched for water distillers on the Internet. The best andcheapest. I bought aone gallon steel one for about 1/3rd of what I paid for my old plastic one,and it's working fine. I think they also make a 7 gallon, double distillingmodel that also dispenses hot water. It's around $450. These are countertopmodels, however. (Distilling is probably better than osmosis.)