Q: I’m on city tap water, and for the most part my family and I are very happy with the water quality. But, like a lot of families, I’ve noticed that we seem to spend a lot of money on bottled water. I want to cut down on buying bottled water by the case and start using our tap water to fill reusable bottles. Can you please give me some information on filter choices that will be easy to install in our present plumbing system?
A: While bottled water is convenient and usually tastes great, it can get expensive for family use — especially if you find yourself constantly dumping half-used bottles of water down the drain. Also, the waste generated by empty plastic bottles is a concern for many environmental groups.
With a quality home water filter, you can address both issues, and still get a good drink of water at home or on the go.
If you’re looking to have a dedicated filter tap for filling reusable travel bottles, I recommend installing a beverage faucet. A beverage faucet is usually installed in your kitchen sink and connects with a cold-water line only. However, part of the faucet is a high-end filter pack that’s installed below the sink.
Topside, the faucet has a long, slender gooseneck that’s great for filling bottles, glasses and pots. The beauty of a beverage faucet is that you’ll only filter the water you need for drinking. This will extend the life of the filter, because things like washing hands and dishes will be done with your present unfiltered kitchen faucet.
As far as mounting a beverage faucet to a kitchen sink, you can use an available hole in the sink, or have your installer drill a new hole in the countertop next to the sink.
For older kitchen faucets, you may even consider replacing an existing faucet with a kitchen/beverage-type faucet. This is a combo unit that allows you to use the faucet as a normal kitchen faucet, but with the flip of a special handle it will supply filtered water to the spout.
Ed Del Grande, master contractor/plumber and LEED green associate, is the author of “Ed Del Grande’s House Call” and hosts TV shows on Scripps Networks and HGTVPro.com.
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