Cohousing-L Mailing List: water purifiers

[John Gear (catalyst]

>Does anyone on the list have any information about water purifiers and their
>relative merits?  I can't seem to find anything in Consumer Reports.  
>Specific brands, their type, quality and price would be appreciated.

The "Solar Living Sourcebook" from Real Goods Trading Co. (1-800-762-7325)
has a *long* and involved discussion of water purity/purifiers/testing etc.
While it's not strictly unbiased (in that they sell purifiers) it is a very
good primer on the issues and concerns, along with good, solid info on how
to find out what, if any, purifier you need.  It's about as close to CR as
you're going to find, I think.

BTW, I recommend the Sourcebook a lot for various things--although RGT is a
seller, their information has a very high integrity quotient.  I would think
that every coho community could benefit from becoming a hard corps member
(perpetual membership--and you get to keep getting new Sourcebooks as they
are published by donating your old one to a friend and paying postage ...
you also get a 5% discount on stuff you buy which, if you buy for a
community, can really ad up.)

They have everything from stoves to solar trackers and modules, water
systems, complete prebuilt solar greenhouse/office kits to bug sprays etc.
Real Goods pitches themselves as selling tools for independent living.  They
also sponsor the "Tour of Independent Homes" (coming for Round 3 on October
14 ... honest to goodness off the grid homes in your area available for your
inspection ... sort of like the Parade of Green Homes) -- which I would
think that any groundstage coho community group would be foolish to miss
(since it's free).  I recommend that you contact Real Goods and ask about
the tour and where you can visit independent homes near you.

And, believe it or not, I am not connected with RGT in any way except as a
supporter of what they're trying to do.  I didn't even buy stock when they
went public (dammit!!).  So this is not a commercially biased plug.
John Gear (catalyst [at] pacifier.com)

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