Clean, purified drinking AND bathing water are foundational for optimal health.

However, it can take some time to save up for and figure out the best type of water filtration system for your home.

Fortunately, you don't have to wait to start drinking and bathing in clean water right away.

The following are some affordable options to consider until you can evaluate your present situation and decide what purification you need, can afford, and maintain. 

Note: This post does not include affiliate links. Our intention is only to provide you with information on clean water products we trust.

How To Source Quality Drinking Water, Without An Installed Filter

Whether you're renting, driving across the country in an RV or just not ready to have a high-quality filter installed, these are the next best options for high-quality drinking water.

Option 1: Reverse Osmosis Purified Water from a Vending Machine    

This is the most economical way to get safe drinking water and will serve you well until you can purchase proper purification for your home. 

The cost is about 25 - 45 cents a gallon.

Here are some tips on choosing the best vending machine RO water:

• Buy water from a water store or the vending machines found in shopping centers, at big box stores, and grocery stores.  
• Choose the big vending companies like Glacier. The bigger the company the better because they have a team to keep current checks on their filters and they record the readings on the machine.  
• The vending machine that you use must say that it is a reverse osmosis unit and that it has a UV light to treat the water.
• Look for a sticker that documents the record of routine checks of the water on the filtration machine.
  • There should be a phone number on the machine so you can ask about the frequency of servicing.
• Also ask what the average TDS (total dissolved solids) count is for that machine.  
  • The Total Dissolved Solids test is used as an indicator of the general quality of the water. Dissolved solids refer to any minerals, salts, metals, cations, and anions dissolved in water.  
  • A high level does not necessarily mean that the water is contaminated, it means it could be contaminated or could just have a high mineral content. A Reverse Osmosis Purifier is designed to remove all elevated levels of dissolved solids, which could include lead, nitrate, arsenic, copper, aluminum, etc.
• Consider purchasing your own digital TDS meter so you can monitor the water quality yourself.  
  • You can test the TDS (total dissolved solids) – with an easy to read digital meter that you can purchase.  TDS – Meter –  .tdsmeter.com, www.tdsmeter.com/products/tds3.hml
  • You are looking for an ideal reading of TDS of 5 – 10, but shouldn’t be any higher than 15 – 20.   

Additional Tips For Filling, Carrying and Storing RO Water

Due to concerns about microplastics and plastic chemicals leaching into water, glass bottles are recommended for filling and storing your water.

• Get several 1 gallon easy to carry glass bottles or larger glass bottles if able to carry a heavier bottle.  
  • You can either buy glass gallon jugs of apple juice or other juices, clean them out, and use the bottles for water. 
  • OR purchase a 2 1/2-gallon Mountain Valley Water in glass bottle (drink that) and continue using the empty bottle as the receptacle for RO water.
    • Note, most vendors have a $20-$40 refundable water bottle deposit for glass.
  • Clean the bottles using Branch Basics and hydrogen peroxide.
    • Spray the interior of the glass bottle with Branch Basics Bathroom Spray, add ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide, shake and let sit for 5 minutes, add hot water, shake and rinse well with water. 
    • This will clean and sanitize the bottle.
    • Clean your bottles in this manner before each refill.
• Try filling your glass bottles once a week. This saves time and trips to the store
• Add trace minerals. Reverse osmosis system water, like distilled water, is called empty water and can leach minerals from the body. You can counter this by adding a pinch of sea salt to each glass of water or one-eighth to a quarter teaspoon salt per gallon to add minerals and aid in hydration. 

Option 2: Home Delivered Purified Water in Glass

This option is more convenient than option 1, but also more expensive.

Mountain Valley Spring Water offers the option of glass bottles, making it our top choice for home water delivery. 

Here's why we recommend it, plus the details.

• This is the bottled water of choice for many chemically sensitive people. Mountain Valley Water is tested daily by a quality control staff and is rigorously monitored for pH, bacteria, viruses, total dissolved solids, chemical contamination, etc.  
• Mountain Valley Water comes in 5 gallon, 2 1/2 gallon, 1 liter, ½ liter, and 1/3 liter glass bottles.  
• Mountain Valley water is found in health food stores and can be home delivered in many locations.
• As mentioned previously, a bottle deposit fee is typically charged, and can range from $20-$40 per bottle for glass.
• Note: If you live in a very cold place, you'll want to make sure you have room to store the bottles indoors, as they can explode if the water freezes.

Click the link above to find a dealer near you and ask about their prices and delivery schedule.

Option 3: Clean Water Revival Stainless Steel Gravity Filter – UltraGrav Emergency Filter with Ceramic and Metalgon 

This water filter is a portable gravity-fed filter you can perch on your countertop.

It is a superior to other popular gravity filters, which typically use leaky carbon filters that miss major chemicals and contaminants, like heavy metals, microplastics, and modern fluoride.

Plus, when you do have a filter installed, you'll have a backup in case of emergencies or for travel, camping, etc.

Learn all about it here.

Tips For Clean Shower & Bathing Water, Without A Whole House Filter

The water you bathe and shower in is just as important as the water you drink. 

That's because we breathe in and absorb whatever chemicals are in that water via the lungs and skin.

Exposure to chlorine and fluoride while bathing, or any time, is especially important if have thyroid issues, as both can negatively impact thyroid function.[1][2][3]

In addition, the chlorine and chloramines rob the skin of oils, creating dry skin and irritation that often gets blamed on soap.

Safer Water, Healthier Kids: What Every Parents Needs To Know explains more about this from our friend and foremost water expert. Dr. Roy Speiser.

Although a whole house filter is ideal, they're expensive and not practical for everyone.

Here are some other tools you can use to create a lower-tox bathing experience.

A Portable Shower Filter

Shower filters are affordable and remove chlorine and other contaminants from shower water.

However, not all shower filters are created equal.

Our top recommended brands are:

• CWR shower and bath filters 
• Rain Shower filters

We recommend a KDF type filter because carbon filters clog up so easily. Point of Use filters help to reduce chlorine, but not chloramines and ammonia.  

We also recommend hiring a licensed, bonded, and insured plumber to install your shower filter to insure warranty.  

Some showers need special adaptors to add shower filters, and you can turn and twist the shower arm too much and can break the pipe. Not want you want in your rental!

The warranty is wavered if you don’t use a licensed, bonded insured plumber.     

Portable Bath Filters

This is essential for babies children, who are more susceptible to chemical exposure and tend to take more baths than showers.

We also recommend it for adults who like to take baths. Here are our favorite brands:

• CWR Enviro Bathtub Filte
• 3000 Crystal Ball for the Bath

How do bath filters work when the water flows through so fast?

The Crystal Ball, for example, uses a KDF Formula Copper Zinc filament and Crystalline Quartz to remove the chlorine. 

As chlorinated water flows through the filament the dissimilar metals in KDF (copper and zinc) create a galvanic or electrolytic reaction that causes the two chlorine ions to combine with a zinc ion to form a harmless chloride. 

The ball does not hold the chlorine, but changes the chlorine into a harmless compound. 

The quartz crystals help to “energize” the water by reducing the water’s surface tension. This allows for an increase in sudsing and lathering of soaps and shampoos.

After filling bathtub drag the ball through the water for 5 – 8 minutes.  Remove the ball from the water before adding soap, salts, etc. to the bath to keep the ball from getting clogged up.

Suggested replacement is 200 baths or one year whichever comes first.   

These are a great addition to preparing the bath water for detoxification baths.   

Budget tip: Shower filters are economical and can be used to fill the bathtub up if want to take a bath.

Tips On Sourcing The Best Water for Emergencies & Travel

We do not recommend drinking water from plastic bottles (see our Toss the Toxins Course), but sometimes there are circumstances you might want to make a safer choice.

Drinking water from plastic bottles sold in the grocery stores, even the ones from the “safer plastics” are not recommended.

Many studies and reports have shown that plastic water bottles have the potential to leach various chemicals and microplastics into bottled water, many of which interfere with estrogen and other reproductive hormones.[4][5]

If you're in a situation where water from plastic bottles is you only option, look at the number inside the triangle on the bottom of the bottle and drink only from the safer plastics.  Numbers 1, 2, 4, or 5 are considered the “safer plastics”.  

Of course, if water from plastic bottles is all you have, then please, drink it!

However, you can often avoid this by keeping an emergency stash of water in glass bottles and/or having a portable filter handy, like the one recommended above.

Drink From Glass Bottles

Glass is a little less convenient than plastic, but reducing your exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals is worth it.

• Mountain Valley water comes in small travel size glass bottles.
• Find a glass bottle with a screw on lid that you can use for carrying drinking water.
  • The 16-ounce glass bottles from Kombucha found at health food stores are a good size bottle.  
• Another option is to buy glass bottles made by Takeya. These glass bottles have a colorful silicone jacket that protects the glass. There are also other companies offering this option.
  • Or just keep your bottle wrapped in an insulated bottle holder to help protect it from breaking.   
• Always wash your glass bottles out before refilling.
  • Wash the bottles using Branch Basics All Purpose.
  • Spray the interior of the glass bottle, let sit for 5 minutes, add hot water, shake and rinse with water. This cleans the bottle and removes bacteria and viruses.
  • Process your bottles in this manner before each refill.  

Note: Metal containers are better than plastic, but METAL BOTTLES MADE IN CHINA have been found to contain lead. 

For guaranteed lead-free metal water bottles, check out Lead Safe Mama - Lead Free Water Bottles.

Final Thoughts & Resources

In a perfect world, we could drink out of the tap and never worry about a thing!

In a semi-perfect modern world, every home would come with a high-quality water filter and whole-house filter standard.

However, we have the world we have, and must make the best of it.

Although we'd love to see everyone able to buy a high-quality water filtration system, that's not always possible.

These tips will help you source clean and affordable water, until you can make arrangements to upgrade.

In the meantime, you can rest easy knowing you've taken a powerful step in improving your health by reducing your toxic load, and that's something to celebrate!

For more helpful tips like these, check out our FREE Toss The Toxins Online Course, where our founders walk you through how to create a healthier, low-tox home, step-by-step.

And check out these articles on affordable healthy home hacks:

• Have Nonstick Cookware? What To Do Until You Can Replace It
• Our Favorite Detox Baths
• 7 Free Practices that Enhance Your Heart Health
• 7 Tips for Fast, Real-Food, Healthy Home Cooking
• The Many Benefits Of Vitamin D And The Sun

References:

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9326600/
2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5751186/
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11003687/
4. https://medical-news.org/your-reusable-water-bottle-might-be-full-of-hormone-disruptors/109954/
5. https://www.ewg.org/research/bottled-water-quality-investigation
6. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2300582121