• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Water Filters and Calcium

Pinki

Pinki

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
169
Reaction score
127
Points
305
Location
Bristol
We have very hard water and doing some reasearch it seems filtering water in a jug does not remove the calcium at all. The only way to remove calcium is:
1. Reverse osmosis filter
2. Water softners
3. Boiling (then filtering)
4. Low calcium bottler water.

3 Easy Ways to Remove Calcium from Water - wikiHow
 
Ooh, I'll be interested to hear opinions on this.
I've sadly lost two piggies due to bladder stones (despite taking diet and pellet precautions).
 
Don’t forget there is also the genetic element to stones which nothing can overcome.

A good wet diet, little to no pellets can go a way to helping
 
Piggies&buns said:
Filters reduce the carbonate hardness.

You also need to be careful not to remove too much calcium from their diet. A diet too low in calcium
Is just as bad, and cause as many issues, as one which is too high

All About Drinking And Bottles
Click to expand...
They get calcium from other sources but hard water is a big contributor to calcium intake. Unfortunately the jug style disposable filters do not filter calcium, though they are able to claim they reduce "hardness" because of other minerals they do manage to filter.

They can filter large flakes of calcium but there is no way they can capture calcium ions ....

Do Water Filters Remove Calcium? (+Best Way to Get Rid of It)
 
Pinki said:
We have very hard water and doing some reasearch it seems filtering water in a jug does not remove the calcium at all. The only way to remove calcium is:
1. Reverse osmosis filter
2. Water softners
3. Boiling (then filtering)
4. Low calcium bottler water.

3 Easy Ways to Remove Calcium from Water - wikiHow
Click to expand...
Hi there, i did a fair bit if research on this and finally got good results i spoke to an agent at phox water ( they do refills for water jugs) and he recommended to get the clean filtration packs. He said it removed 90% of the calcium as i live in a very hard water area, my house is actually next door to the water plant so it can be very strong on chlorine too. They are great as there are no plastic filters to throw away into landfill as the packs are refills for the jug. I filter the water every morning 3 times and then i test the water filter by using test strips off amazon to test its still good to make sure my levels are at the lowest, when it gets stronger i change the refill. Link to phox attached so you can read and pic of test testing strips. Hope this helps xx Clean Refill pack - 3 month supply
 

Attachments

  • 16862289234988604454328391007623.webp
    16862289234988604454328391007623.webp
    58.8 KB · Views: 5
wait so my brita filter hasn’t even been filtering the calcium from my girls water?🫨
 
Pinki said:
They get calcium from other sources but hard water is a big contributor to calcium intake. Unfortunately the jug style disposable filters do not filter calcium, though they are able to claim they reduce "hardness" because of other minerals they do manage to filter.

They can filter large flakes of calcium but there is no way they can capture calcium ions ....

Do Water Filters Remove Calcium? (+Best Way to Get Rid of It)
Click to expand...
oh my gosh so what do we do?!
 
Before we had a jug I had to replace my kettle at least once year as it got so caked up with chalk. I've had the same kettle now for 5 years and there's no chalk in it at all. We used to not drink to the bottom of the cup because of bits, we don't get those any more. So the jug must be removing some of the calcium.
If you feed too low a calcium diet the body will strip calcium from the teeth and bones.
 
@Vix1 those filters look interesting, the writing on the photo is too small to read and I can't find them on the website. How do you use them, do they fit a filter jug?
 
Hi piggieminder i have attached pics of the filter, they fit into any standard brita or equivalent water jug and you just replace the filter insides instead of replacing the entire plastic thing. I have put a link to the filter cartridge and pack if that helps xx Refillable Maxtra+ Compatible - water filter cartridge
 

Attachments

  • 16862304272856943582665709358313.webp
    16862304272856943582665709358313.webp
    54.6 KB · Views: 4
  • 1686230446878585660731802067589.webp
    1686230446878585660731802067589.webp
    55.6 KB · Views: 4
Vix1 said:
Hi there, i did a fair bit if research on this and finally got good results i spoke to an agent at phox water ( they do refills for water jugs) and he recommended to get the clean filtration packs. He said it removed 90% of the calcium as i live in a very hard water area, my house is actually next door to the water plant so it can be very strong on chlorine too. They are great as there are no plastic filters to throw away into landfill as the packs are refills for the jug. I filter the water every morning 3 times and then i test the water filter by using test strips off amazon to test its still good to make sure my levels are at the lowest, when it gets stronger i change the refill. Link to phox attached so you can read and pic of test testing strips. Hope this helps xx Clean Refill pack - 3 month supply
Click to expand...
That's good work!

However... there is a difference between "hardness" and "calcium content". Calcium is one of many elements that make up overall hardness and the ions of calcium don't get removed by a filter-only the bigger flakes do.

But boiling water does precipitate the calcium ..that's why a kettle gets furred up after all! So I recommend boiling and then filtering.

I've booked an appointment to speak to a water engineer at Bristol Water (which has very hard water) to specifically address the removal of calcium from water so I'll report back soon!

3 Easy Ways to Remove Calcium from Water - wikiHow
 
We are pretty lucky down here in Cornwall but I remember my kettle on the boat in York and it was always caked in Calcium deposits
 
I have a kettle that has a brita filter.so I boil water in the kettle that has been filtered.then allow water to cool.filter again in the brita jug.That is the best I can do !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top