Water Quality (aka Car "Trouble" follow-up)

When we built our house, we installed this Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration system under the kitchen sink. It takes up a lot of space, but allows us to use RO water directly from our kitchen sink. (The white tank in the back and the 4 filters on the left.)

This is our kitchen sink, with 3 faucets, not 1. The faucet on the left is for RO water, the one in the middle is for regular water, for washing dishes, hands, etc, the faucet on the far right is insta-hot, which is RO filtered. While not a necessity, that one comes in handy. The RO faucet, however, is pretty necessary. Drinks of water and water for cooking are out of this faucet because our city water fails to meet regulations.

Our monthly water bill (and yearly water standard notice) reminds us that the 4.8 MG/L of Fluoride and 30 UG/L of Arsenic exceed the allowance for city drinking water. The city is required to provide a means of getting reduced fluoride and arsenic water to the public. (That's the red notice in the bottom left corner.)

This is the Water Station, located next to City Hall. BYOC (container) and you now have RO water for home use. (Which we should use more often, because clearly, our bill could be reduced by using the free water from their RO filter, rather than the water we pay for through ours. LOL)

Notice posted at the Water Station

Yes, I am aware that my child is up on the counter, directly under the sign that says, "No sitting or standing on counter." (That's what you get when you take pictures instead of watch children.)
So, the majority of the city uses 5 gallon containers for their water coolers, either filled for free at city hall, or for 29cents/gallon at other RO treated filling stations around the city. Although the containers are reusable, the lids aren't always in tact.

This kind is one of the best, because the center just breaks away. The bottles that have solid lids are actually really messy when placed onto the cooler, so they aren't our fav. Most water trips are uneventful...solid lid for transport, Glad Press & Seal, or brand new bottle (already filled) make for totally dry trips. It's only when you take a bottle without something sealing the center hole, arrive at home, chaos takes over, then you go on more errands without remembering that the bottle is back there and don't drive as "carefully," do you end up with spilled water (usually).

The lid did keep some of the water in, so we had about 2 gallons for use before heading back to the water station.