Drinking Water Systems for Costa Mesa Kitchens
An under sink reverse osmosis system gives you one faucet of clean water for drinking, cooking, coffee and ice. Mesa Water District is the name on most Costa Mesa bills, and the city sits inside the Orange County groundwater basin. The three models are compared on the Orange County drinking water systems page.
What this page is not going to do is quote you hardness and disinfectant figures for Costa Mesa, because we do not have current verified numbers for this city and publishing a plausible guess would be worse than publishing nothing.
Two Complaints That Feel the Same and Are Not
Almost everyone who calls about drinking water describes it the same way: the water tastes bad. Underneath that there are usually two quite different problems, and they cost very different amounts to solve.
Disinfectant taste is a chemical or swimming pool note. It comes from the chlorine or chloramine that keeps water safe on the way to your house. Activated carbon removes it, which means a filter jug or a fridge filter may genuinely be enough for you.
Dissolved solids taste completely different. Not chemical, but heavy, or flat, or leaving a mineral finish that lingers after you swallow. This is total dissolved solids, and no amount of carbon reduces it. Only a membrane does.
Telling them apart by description is unreliable, because people use the same words for both. Telling them apart with a meter takes a few seconds.
"The most useful thing I do on a drinking water call is separate those two problems. Half the time somebody has already bought a filter that was never going to fix what was bothering them. If it is chlorine, buy the cheap thing and be happy. If it is dissolved solids, the cheap thing will keep disappointing you no matter how often you change it."
Gregg Stewart, Owner, Puronics of Orange County, CA C-55 #904801, (714) 545-3022
What the Stages Do
- Carbon. Removes sediment and chlorine, and protects the membrane behind it, since chlorine damages membranes.
- Ultrafiltration. Fine enough to act as a barrier to waterborne cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia if present, and self cleaning.
- Reverse osmosis. Water crosses the membrane and most dissolved solids do not. This is the stage that answers the second problem above.
- Carbon block polish. A final pass on taste and odor before the dedicated faucet.
The Pur Alkaline filter can be fitted after the last stage to return calcium and magnesium and raise the pH.
Choosing a System
The MICROMAX 7000 is the low profile four stage unit for tight cabinets. The MICROMAX 6500 splits sediment and carbon into separate stages, which suits a heavier dissolved solids reading and stretches the service interval. The MICROMAX 6000 is the value option.
What It Will Not Cover
One faucet. Scale on fixtures and appliances is hardness and needs a water softener in Costa Mesa. Disinfectant smell in the shower needs whole house filtration, since an under sink unit does nothing for the bathroom.
The free water test at your address measures hardness, TDS, chlorine and chloramine load and pH together, so the recommendation comes from numbers rather than from a guess about your city.
Drinking Water FAQ: Costa Mesa, CA
Who supplies water in Costa Mesa?
Mesa Water District is the name on the bill for most of the city, and Costa Mesa sits inside the Orange County groundwater basin. Beyond that we are not going to publish specific hardness or disinfectant figures for Costa Mesa, because we do not have current verified numbers and inventing them would be worse than useless. Yours takes twenty minutes to measure properly.
How do I tell whether I need reverse osmosis or just a carbon filter?
By what the water tastes like. A chemical or swimming pool note is disinfectant, and carbon handles that, so a jug or fridge filter may satisfy you. A heavy, flat or mineral finish is dissolved solids, and no carbon filter reduces those. Only a membrane does. A TDS meter separates the two in seconds, which is part of the free test.
Is Costa Mesa tap water safe to drink?
Yes. It meets federal and California drinking water standards. Households install drinking water systems for taste, for what they notice in coffee, and to stop buying bottled water, not because the supply is failing a standard.
Which Micromax fits a Costa Mesa kitchen?
Cabinet space and your reading decide. The MICROMAX 7000 is the low profile four stage unit and fits where room is tight. The 6500 adds a fifth stage by separating sediment and carbon, which suits a heavier dissolved solids reading and needs servicing less often. The 6000 is the value option running the same four stage process as the 7000.
Does it need power or new plumbing?
Neither. The Micromax systems run on household water pressure alone and connect to the cold supply with a faucet adapter rather than needle valves. Nothing to plug in and nothing to reset after a power cut.
Should I do this or a softener first?
Depends on the symptom. Taste in the glass is this. Scale on the fixtures and worry about the water heater is a softener. If both are bothering you, the test tells you which is the bigger problem at your address so you can sequence the spending rather than guess.
More from Puronics of Orange County: the Costa Mesa water treatment overview, salt free systems in Costa Mesa, plus drinking water systems in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine and Santa Ana.
