When you think of filtered water, you probably picture filling up your glass with crisper, cleaner water for a refreshing sip. While it's true that an at-home water filter can help you hydrate with better-tasting water and allow you to forgo bottled water, drinking water is just one of the many uses for filtered water. If you have a countertop water filter, you can benefit in many other ways. Read on to learn more about how to use filtered water in your home with these ideas:
Pet Water Bowls
Pets are members of the family too, and they can benefit from cleaner filtered water. You can use a countertop filter to fill up dog and cat bowls to encourage your four-legged friends to drink. In addition, you can use an at-home water filter to replenish the water supply in bottles for birds, reptiles, amphibians, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and other small mammals.
Coffee & Tea
If you look forward to your morning mug of coffee or a cup of herbal tea in the evening, filtered water can enhance your sipping experience. Fewer impurities in the filtered water used to brew these beverages can make the finished drinks tastier. You can use an at-home water filter to fill up stovetop tea kettles, electric kettles, coffee makers and espresso makers. To make tea by the bag, you can even add filtered water directly to the mug and pop it into the microwave for heating.
Try our Top Infused Water Recipes to add a spin on a traditional glass of water.
Cooking & Baking
Using filtered water for cooking can allow the star ingredients in your favorite foods to shine. A countertop water filter that offers on-demand filtration like The Reservoir can be used to prepare oatmeal, ramen noodles and your favorite pastas. You can also use filtered water to wash fruits and vegetables before food prep.
To potentially get better results from your baked good recipes, skip tap water and use filtered water for baking. Cookies, pies, cakes and other tasty treats that require you to add water may be more flavorful when you start with better-tasting water. Water dispensed from an at-home water filter can also make a big impact on home-baked bread. Hard tap water may contain minerals that may stop bread dough from fully absorbing water and can interfere with fermentation, leading to less-than-optimal results from the rising process. In order to truly know what’s in your tap water please read your water quality report.
Oral Tools and Oral Care
Water piks can simplify your oral care routine, provided they continue to function well in the future. Adding regular tap water to your oral care device's tank can lead to hard water deposits, making it more difficult to clean water flossers. Those deposits can also get trapped in the system and lower water pressure, which could make your water pik less effective. Using filtered water from a countertop water filter lets you address these issues without the hassles of having to boil and distill water. You can also use filtered water to create saltwater rinses if your dentist advises you to use them as a part of your oral care routine.
Ice Cubes
Whatever is lurking in your ice cubes eventually ends up in your cocktail, soft drink or ice water. When you fill up your ice cube trays with water straight from the tap, the resulting ice might diminish the delicious taste of your drink as it melts. Using filtered water in ice trays means you get all the chilling benefits of cubes with less potential for flavor alteration. You can also add water from your countertop water filter to your refrigerator's automatic ice maker for better-tasting cubes and less risk of mineral buildup in the appliance.
Plants
Whether you grow succulents, herbs, flowers, vegetables or ornamental greenery, container gardening requires a lot of time and effort. Since you invest so much energy into caring for your plants, you want whatever you grow to look as lush and attractive as possible. Watering plants with filtered water can reduce their exposure to impurities commonly found in drinking water. You can fill up your watering can or mister with filtered water and be ready to complete your plant care routine in a hurry.