Comments on: Shower Filters: Goodbye Chlorine!

By: Zach Johnson

Zach Johnson — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:26:51 +0000

Thanks for the article. I have two children and the water quality in our area is a big concern.

By: Colin Fisher

Colin Fisher — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:38:02 +0000

A whole house water filter is the best choice but not if you live in a rented house. .-= Colin Fisher´s last blog ..Privacy Policy =-.

By: Julie Kreke

Julie Kreke — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:36:31 +0000

Growing up we all had various skin issues until we began to filter our shower water (and we would know when it was time to change a filter because the skin problems would return!) When I had children I knew there was no way I wanted them bathing in chlorinated water every night. At first we ran their baths through our shower filter but it took a lot longer and the water would lose heat on the way for some reason so it seemed really wasteful to me. We ended up buying the same bath ball that you talked about. It was the best thing I could find for a tub faucet. Although it is not as enclosed as the shower filter I have been really happy with it. As long as you don't have super powered water pressure that would be "too much" for the ball to handle it works great. It does take a little bit of creativity to get it to wrap around different faucets but we got it to work. I also use it outside to fill their kiddie swimming pool. We purchase our filters through gaiam.com, I hadn't even thought to look on Amazon though!
Hope this helps!
Julie Kreke

By: Jeff Sloan

Jeff Sloan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:26:06 +0000

Hi Stephanie,

I understand your concern for alleviating your eczema, but I am not aware of any evidence that chlorinated water causes or aggravates this condition. Chlorine does serve a purpose in our water— to kill germs that can make us sick. The allowable level of chlorine in drinking water is 4 parts per million, a level which EPA says poses “no known or expected health risk [including] an adequate margin of safety.” Also, it is important to clarify that chlorine is not released as a gas as we shower. The chlorine in tap water is in the form of compounds (hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion) which occur only in solution.

Best Regards,
Jeff

Jeff Sloan
American Chemistry Council

By: Nola

Nola — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:05:08 +0000

I came back to see what others would say about the filters (since I really want one!) :)

My friend just told me that as far as pools go, using salt instead of chlorine is apparently not a good thing environmentally. Apparently, the water eventually gets drained into sewers and the public water supply, which really pollutes and eventually ends up sending salt back into the water (around here, our water is from a nearby lake, which the city pumps out and treats). Apparently in some places salt water pools are banned outright and they are talking about doing it other places. It is very difficult and costly to remove all the salt from the water supply once it gets in. :( I just heard this from her so I don't know anything more about it or even if that is totally factual. Perhaps someone else does.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:05:55 +0000

My ILs changed their pool over to salt-water base instead of chlorine. It is great & good for the skin, too. It is not salt water like the ocean. And, my understanding is that it still has a little chlorine - made from the components of the salt, but much, much less than a pool. 'Course, we don't use their pool much.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:17:17 +0000

My husband and I have been talking about getting a shower filter so this info comes in handy. We have a water system but our water is still not the best. It is turning the ends of my hair orange! I would like to get our water tested too. Any tips on doing that frugally?

By: Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:30:35 +0000

Kati, the last filter that I linked to is actually for putting right onto the bath faucet! It's called the Bath Ball Water Faucet Filter.

Kathryn, thanks for the glycerin lotion recipe. I haven't tried that, but it sounds great!

Nola, I've thought about using the shower filter to fill up the bath. I use a different shower than the kids do, though, so I'd still have to buy a second filter either way. It might be worth it though, because then I have the shower head filter for guests, as well as for when the kids get older and shower instead of bathe.

Faith, I would personally avoid much time spent in public pools because of the chlorine. When you're actually swimming in it for an extended period of time (much longer usually than the time it takes to have a shower or even a bath), you're getting quite a bit of exposure to the chlorine. It would be better to try to stick to swimming in lakes, oceans, etc. whenever possible.

Alison, I'm glad to hear that you're using the shower head to fill the bath sometimes. Good to know that it work well to do it that way!

By: Alison @ Wholesome Goodness

Alison @ Wholesome Goodness — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:25:16 +0000

We use the Aquasana shower filter and love it! Especially now that we're living in the city, I can tell a major difference in the water quality with the shower filter. I hate washing my face in the sink anymore because the shower water smells and feels so much better (and less chemical-y).

Oh, and I was going to say the same thing as Nola: you can fill up a bathtub with water from your filtered shower head. That's what I do now. I used to be unable to do that because we had a separate shower and tub, but now that we have a combo shower/tub, it works great.

By: Nola

Nola — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:41:10 +0000

Oh I forgot to say that I have read about people filling up their bathtubs with the shower head using the new wave enviro one and then having the bath water filtered that way.