I know that most home filtering units (Brita, Pur, etc) won't do it. Reverse osmosis, distillation, and activated alumina are the main ways of treating it, but which is worth going for? Should I do a whole-hose filter (as boiling water concentrates the fluoride), or just do an under-sink or refrigerator one (we have a water spout in the fridge)? Anybody else do this?
Or should I just go full-granola and install rain barrels and stop buying water from the man? 
I think RO would be the best, Costco even sells pretty good under sink units. Could you do one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom? I don't know the capacity though.
Must be in town, otherwise I'd say drill a well. You'd be amazed with how much better well water can be.
In Colorado, you're not allowed to capture the rain off your roof. True story. It belongs to California.
Obviously, I am no help here.
Why are you avoiding Fluoride?
One year I am going to go with a whole-house filtration unit. I swear.
General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: [very nervous] Lord, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began?
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: I... no, no. I don't, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.
In reply to yamaha:
Yes, I am in a town, and yes, I know how much better well water is (my Mom's place has it). They just switched us from river water to well here, but added the fluoride, bromine, and other crap in. We toured the facility, it's neat and all, but WTF do we have to have all of those chemicals? It's absurd.
Keith Tanner wrote: In Colorado, you're not allowed to capture the rain off your roof. True story. It belongs to California. Obviously, I am no help here.
I think you should pee in your gutters and then yell "How's that taste California?".
In reply to DoctorBlade:
Peer-reviewed scientific studies show it has no health benefits and it makes the water "hard" which seriously berking up my whole home life (dirty dishes, appliances breaking, water spots on the cars, cats glowing green at night, that kind of stuff).
mapper wrote: I think you should pee in your gutters and then yell "How's that taste California?".
Thats Say What worthy right there.....+1 
Oh, we do. We do.
http://www.flyinmiata.com/projects/current_projects.php?UID=346
mapper wrote: I think you should pee in your gutters and then yell "How's that taste California?".
As someone who will soon be moving to southern California, please don't do that.
Keith Tanner wrote: In Colorado, you're not allowed to capture the rain off your roof. True story. It belongs to California. Obviously, I am no help here.
Wait are you serious? That is stupidest thing I have ever heard.
93EXCivic wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: In Colorado, you're not allowed to capture the rain off your roof. True story. It belongs to California. Obviously, I am no help here.Wait are you serious? That is stupidest thing I have ever heard.
Ditto, seriously, rain barrels are illegal in Co so Ca can get the water? Really? WTF. What about if you’re the 'other side' of the continental divide in Co? Are you allowed to keep it then or is it supposed to magically make its way over the mountain for them too?
The roof is seen as a tributary to a stream/river, the individual homeowners don't own the water rights. Water in the west is serious business, "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over."
It's all got to do with water rights. You don't own the water that lands on your property, it's supposed to make its way into the rivers and streams. Water from Colorado is split up and shared with a large variety of stakeholders - many of which are in California watering their lawns. On the Front Range (the east side of the Divide) I think most of it goes to Denver and to agriculture.
Water politics are fairly intense around here. I knew I'd made it as a Colorado landowner when I got my water rights...
This is clearly an overstatement. A lot of rain water in Colorado flows into the Colorado river, some percentage of the Colorado river is sent to California. The water from the Colorado river is also used by many other cities/states (including Las Vegas and Phoenix) and of course a lot is used for irrigation.
To imply that all the rain water in Colorado goes to California is just hyperbole, but would be considered good reporting by today's standards 
BTW I believe In many places collecting rain water is illegal (watershed water belongs to the state or something like that).
the rainbarrel thing is silly. My grandparents used a couple of rainbarrels to water their garden. So the water was still getting into the watershed, it just went through the veggies first
Colorado and Utah only, actually. At least, on a state level. I know there was a bill on the books in CO to allow rain barrels on a roof of a maximum size with the appropriate permits, I don't know if that made it into law.
Ok. You mag-lev a barrel and catch rain water and use it to water your garden. Since you're just temporarily storing it and it (and nothing it came into contact with) is not touching the ground, and it is winding up on the ground anyway, is that against the rules?
I think it's fascinating what some people choose to worry about. (Meaning, fluoridation, not water rights. Water rights are fascinating too though.)
Iron and manganese make your water hard, not fluoride. I looked at your town's website and found a water system plan report prepared by a reputable environmental firm, it mentions the water treatment plant uses pressure filters for removing iron and manganese. If you're still having problems with hard water at your house you may want to talk to the public works people about it; they should be monitoring levels at the plant but it's possible they need to adjust the treatment process.
In reply to dculberson:
When you are raising a child you worry about a lot of things.
Ah.. fluoride... and memories of the 6 months I spent in a very rural Northern Georgia elementary school in the late 70's where my father was teaching... and the "fluoride rinse" we'd be issued every week since most of my classmates had never seen something as fancy as a toothbrush...
Ian F wrote: Ah.. fluoride... and memories of the 6 months I spent in a very rural Northern Georgia elementary school in the late 70's where my father was teaching... and the "fluoride rinse" we'd be issued every week since most of my classmates had never seen something as fancy as a toothbrush...
Oh god....
The berkeleying fluoride rinse. Still to this day one of the most disgusting things EVER, and STILL makes my mouth field weird and watery just by THINKING about it.
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