Bottled Water/Water Distiller/Brita - Suggestions??

I just found out that Brita filters do not filter Fluoride from tap water? anic:

What bottle water is the best to buy for the ratties?

 

[purinpurin]

I give my rats Fiji bottled water. Its ratings are very good; I think I read somewhere that its pH levels are a little on the high side, but the quality of the water is excellent.

 

I'v never seen that water. I have also hear you can by water distillers at Sears?? anyone have a link ..or have any other suggestions to bottled water?

 

[rhapsody]

LOL - just found that out about Brita recently.

Gah, I spent over 30 minutes in the water aisle at the local health food store trying to find distilled water. Weird thing is, brands that did distill additionally infused their water with electrolytes and/or antioxidants. Not sure if that is good for the ratties ...

Anyhoo, I finally found a brand that actually said fluoride-free on the label: Penta Water. It is rather expensive though - $3 for 17 fluid ounces. I felt like such a douche when I ran to checkout with 5 bottles of the stuff - around here, only very snooty folks are too good for filtered water.

I plan to eventually invest in a water distiller, but any major expenses have been put on hold. Thanks to the hubby's not-so-careful driving down a twisty rain-slicked mountain road, we hydroplaned into a concrete road barrier ... in his dad's car. Let's just say that he'll be paying back his dad for repairs ... for a long time ...

 

We don't have that water here :wallbang:

 

[rhapsody]

Hmmm, looks like Walmart carries distilled water, but I can only find it in the US catalog.

Also found a business guide for distilled water companies in Canada, but the website seems overly complicated ...

 

[jorats]

What? I didn't know that about the Brita. Ugh I wonder if those under the sink filters do filter out the fluoride. I'll have to look into it.

 

[jorats]

Just about every store sells distilled water.
I'm going to look into what Joanne recommends, a water distiller.

 

[MumsyRat]

You should check and see if your municipality fluoridates it's water because many of them either never did, have discontinued it, or have reduced their levels of fluoridation. I know that they do not add fluoride in Barrie where I live. You may be worried about an issue that doesn't exist. :thumbup:

 

I just checked ..and it seems that my towns water has no fluoride in the water! you were right Mumsy!

You should check you towns water too Jo, before getting worried like I did :giggle:

 

[handmeafish]

from what I can tell, Colorado law says that 0.7 milligrams per liter (of fluoride) must be in the water... Is that a lot?
I've been using a brita filter, and I was aware that it did not take much of the nasty ness out, but it makes the water taste better, so I figured it was better than nothing.

Edit: I think we have an RO unit at work, and it should remove the fluoride... Maybe i'll just steal water from work for a while...
I know there are people who get those units, and to help pay for them they will sell the water to other fish hobbyists... maybe you could look for like a club of fish people in your area, and you might be able to find someone who would sell you gallon by gallon something like this. I have always been wary of distilled water, because of what it does to fish. I think its complete lack of anything is bad for osmosis in the body... I may be way off, but I know that fish cells will explode if they are put into distilled water.

Edit again: check out this link about bottled water... Arrowhead is very available, and not terribly expensive! http://www.nofluoride.com/betternutrition_article.cfm

 

[odduckOasis]

I didn't know Arrowhead is fluoride free. We have Fuji here too. I was a little concerned about Distilled only because distilling water removes all minerals from the water as well- minerals that are essential to our health and I'm sure the same kind of minerals ratties need too. I just... bottled water is expensive and we have spring water here. The Distilled water here is bottled by the same company which the water from my tap comes from. xD;;

I'm not sure how much fluoride is in it... I do know we have it in ours, but it might not be enough to really freak out about, yet... RO filters are expensive 8( Though, fluoride can be irritating to the skin too... >.< Bah! S'not like we can afford to bathe in bottled water too. lol.