Water filter and calcium testing

[Potatofriend]

Hi all! So I’ve been reading a lot about how drinking water in hard water areas can contribute to urine sludge and bladder stones, so I started filtering my Guinea pigs water with a Britta filter. I wasn’t sure how much it was working though- I was asking myself, are they designed to remove calcium? Do they remove enough? How much filtration will be ok?
I went a bought some calcium dip tests off of Amazon after looking around- they provide a simple colorimetry result where you dip the test paper in water for 3 seconds, and compare the colour within 1 minute to a chart on the bottle.
I’ve attached photos showing unfiltered tap water at around 425mg/L, and water that’s been through the filter a few times reading at around 180mg/L.
This shows that the filter I’m using does reduce calcium- I’ve managed to get results as low as 80mg/L by refiltering repeatedly.
If other people are concerned about the effectiveness of their water filtration, they can get a similar test and find out.

 

[poggle]

Ooh that's interesting, I didn't know you could get these. I live in a very hard water area and I'd like to know whether my Phox really makes much difference. Very tempting, although I guess I do run the risk of losing my peace of mind

 

[Free Ranger]

If you've got a Waitrose this stuff claims 3mg/L
Only for the piggies mind, the kids have to drink the scuzzy tap variety!

 

[Potatofriend]

So the nearest Waitrose is about 5 miles away and I don’t have a car, so it took a while to get round to getting some but! I bought some of the above shown water and tested it with my calcium testing kit.
The precision on the test isn’t great, so the choice is 0 or 40 at that level and it got basically 0 Very impressive!

 

[Zorro1]

I would never think about my piggy's water let alone test it with a calcium testing kit! Wow, it looks like you take the best care of your piggys!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I would never think about my piggy's water let alone test it with a calcium testing kit! Wow, it looks like you take the best care of your piggys!

In a hard water country such as the UK, it is important for us to consider drinking water. It is recommended to filter drinking water to help keep calcium levels down (too much calcium can lead to bladder provlems)

 

[eileen]

i agree its good to reduce calcium content in drinking water.Fiona has a urine infection,the vet stated she had gritty urine.i had not been filtering the water.now i am,ive noticed her urine is gritt free,so it seems worthwhile filtering the water.

 

[Potatofriend]

My sweet boy Isaac, around 2017, ended up needing surgery for a bladder stone due to too much calcium it cost around £1,000 so water filters and bought in water is cheaper but more importantly I want to do my best to make sure the pigs have as low calcium as possible to prevent anyone getting stones again as it’s very painful.
There’s also calcium in fruits and vegetables to consider- I use a calculator I found online (guinealynx if I remember right) to try and keep that down as well.

 

[Free Ranger]

The precision on the test isn’t great, so the choice is 0 or 40 at that level and it got basically 0 Very impressive!

It's from Scotland somewhere so presumably this is what Whisky starts out as.. ?

Sometimes when nobody's looking I do have a sneaky glass myself! But I can't tell any difference (the water I mean!)

I would never think about my piggy's water let alone test it with a calcium testing kit!

There's a saying, "When you've got a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail" When I got my soil pH testing kit I was sticking it into every patch of soil I could get access to, whether I was going to grow in it or not!

Legally they have to test and label bottled water correctly - and some people want high minerals if they don't eat dairy or such so it pays companies to advertise their mineral content. Even Waitrose bog standard £1 a gallon water is actually pretty low Ca... I think it's about 30mg/L. It's just we've had some pretty upsetting and expensive stone issues in the past so I didn't want to be thinking, "If only..."