Oh dear, can't afford that.

We'll just have to continue with getting the big refills of Polar Water at the grocery store. They're the only process I can find (without that kind of price tag) that eliminates the fluoride our brilliant city decided to add to the tap water a couple of years ago.

..just curious, what's wrong with fluoride? I thought it was good for your teeth.

YES what is wrong with fluoride ?

Am I the only one hearing WALL-E yelling "Eve-ahhhh! Eve-ahhh!'

to name a few problems with flouride:

The following symptoms can occur even when fluoride consumption is at the low level added to most US water supplies.

1) aches and pain in the joints, i.e. neck, back, hip, shoulder and knee without visible signs of fluid accumulation

2) non-ulcer dyspepsia such as nausea, vomiting, pain in the stomach, bloated feeling or gas formation in the stomach, constipation followed by diarrhea

3) polyuria (frequent urination) and polydipsia (excessive thirst)

4) muscle weakness, fatigue, anemia with low hemoglobin level

5) complaints of repeated abortions/still birth

6) complaints of male infertility with abnormality in sperm morphology, oligospermia (spermatozoa deficiency in the semen), azoospermia (spermatozoa absence in the semen) and low testosterone levels.”

(from http://fluoridedangers.blogspot.com/2006/01/fluoride-harmful.html)

those are a few reasons why i only drink filtered water and use non-flouride toothpaste.

I always heard that the fluoride was added to reduce the amount of cavities which is increasing again since people have started to brush their teeth with bottled water and use filters that remove it. Is that not the case?

Here is another system from Design Within Reach that may be more economical:

http://www.dwr.com/product/water-pitcher-clear.do?search=basic&keyword=water &sortby=ourPicks&page=all

Fluoride kills bacteria on the teeth by contact with the teeth, not through the blood stream, otherwise we'd be eating toothpaste :)

I'm curious about the safety of the plastic purification pitchers like Brita. That's what we've used for years, but I worry about chemicals from the plastic leeching into my water. I've already stopped using my Nalgene and drink out of glass or ceramic whenever possible.

Thoughts?

prettybirdpress, i've been having the same dilemma! surely there are large glass jars with lids that can store an ample amount of water. my plan is to immediately store the water i've filtered into such a large glass container and just pour that water into my drinking glasses. it just takes a minute to do and i'd feel better about not having my purified water sitting in a plastic pitcher the whole time.

Fluoride is one of the top five greatest public health discoveries of our time. It is right up there with immunization and pasteurization.

Fluoride does not work through the blood stream. The benefit of fluoridated water is that when you drink water or brush your teeth with it, some of it stays behind. It becomes part of your saliva and bathes your teeth in fluoride.

There is a great deal of misinformation from people who are concerned and mean well, but have ultimately fallen victim to scare tactics. When fluoride is regulated in water supplies, it is maintained at a level of 1 part per million, that is the equivalent of one drop in a full bathtub. Of course, if you were to drink large quantities of high concentrations of fluoride, you'd become ill. Same goes for any other natural element. Too much salt and you die. Our bodies are mostly water, but if you drink to much of it you can die, it happens almost every year in a marathon.

Somewhere around 170 million people in the US drink fluoridated water. If it really were the cause of all of those problems, we'd have a public health crisis like we've never known on our hands by now.

Why is it so important? Dental decay is many times more common that asthma and obesity in children.... it is THE MOST common chronic childhood disease. It hinders a child's ability to learn, play and eat a healthy diet, and is linked to other serious health risks later in life, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Fluoride made me the man I am today! Free of pain, nausea, with rich blood, healthy teeth, and sperm in abundance!

Whatever happened to skepticism? Particularly in the age of the internet, it's a basic survival essential.

I was sorry to see today that the gigantic water cannisters my office uses have the 7-in-a-triangle that indicates looming death due to Bisphenol-A poisoning.

prettybirdpress and *heather leaf* you can use a pur water filter that works just like the brita one except it's attached to the faucet so you can skip the plastic pitcher alltogether and pop it directly into a nice glass one, and then into the fridge! :)

I'll stick to non-fluoridated water, thanks. Call me what you will.

And dr_mk: Absolutely!

I'm interested in water coolers for the house that aren't beige and ugly. Any suggestions?

Jeepers. I grew up drinking tap water and will continue to do so. I find it disgusting that people bottle up water and charge you for it, when equally good water - and FREE water, comes from a tap.

dr_mk - You had me laughing out loud.

I can't beleive that price!!!

I could buy water at the grocery store forever for that price!! I'll stick to my tap water.

i can't read french, but if i am psuedo-translating correctly, i think the one shown is only for distributing, while the uglier, even more expensive one with the 2nd dome actually filters. correct me (please) if i'm wrong, french speakers