Dan SugalskiFeb 28, 2024

I am somewhat amused that there are actual advantages to hard water. Or at least an offsetting of a disadvantage we've thrown out into the world.

(tldr: when scale forms because you boiled your hard water it traps microplastics. And also any heavy metal contaminants, though those aren't necessarily human-caused)

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2419556-boiling-tap-water-can-remove-80-per-cent-of-the-microplastics-in-it/?fbclid=IwAR1_rsOPAy-lHFLeGU-Mfx13gqfqJnYzGREztfDj3elMLdfGdSma9XToMDQ

Boiling tap water can remove 80 per cent of the microplastics in it

Tap water contains tiny particles of plastic and we don’t know how they affect our health – now it seems that boiling the water for 5 minutes can remove most of them

New Scientist
Show threadColes Street PotholeFeb 28, 2024

@wordshaper Hard water also brews better beer.

I wonder if water filters remove more plastics than the contribute to drinking water?

Show threadDan SugalskiFeb 28, 2024
@ColesStreetPothole I suspect it depends on the water filter. If it's not plastic I would assume a net-decrease in the amount of plastic in water but life is weird and that's something worth actually verifying.
Show threadColes Street PotholeFeb 28, 2024
@wordshaper Mine has a plastic housing (they all have *some* plastic in them) but it'd be interesting if manufacturers started measuring if they reduced microplastics.
Show threadDan Sugalski
@ColesStreetPothole Ah, yeah, they do, don't they? It would definitely be interesting to see what rate they shed particles and if it was correlated with age or some kind of environmental insults. (I'd assume that UV exposure would make things worse over time)
Feb 28, 2024 at 5:43pmWeb
Show threadColes Street PotholeFeb 28, 2024
@wordshaper Our filter spends 6 months in the dark before it gets chucked. But the tubing/fittings might shed over time, and they are years old. 🤔