Do homes usually have whole house water filters for the occasional rust or sand that can come through the pipes? What filters and cartridges do people use? Are they available to purchase on the island? How often do filters need changing? Thanks for any responses.

Filters have never been an issue here..Once in a while we have an isolated problem but it is just another added expense that is not needed. I am sure if you want to add a filtering system, you will someone willing to take your money.

Thanks for the input Michael. When I was there in Jan, there were multiple days when the water was rusty (stains the laundry) and a few days when copious amounts of grit clogged the faucet. Perhaps they were working on a section of pipe somewhere.

Nathalie..We change our water filters which are located in our fridge for the cold water dispenser every 6 months. When I change then, the filters are usually yellow. Since we have an American made fridge, I buy them in the US & bring 'em down.

Bringing a bunch down for a Dutch neighbor of mine this trip with the same fridge. Apparently they are a lot more expensive in Holland.

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quote:

Apparently they are a lot more expensive in Holland.

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A lot more is more expensive here compared to the States...

Michael, maybe you're lucky in your neighborhood, but on Kaya Grandi, where I live (and Kaya Korona, where KFC is), we need filters because the water is frequently not clear. I know people in Belnem who have 2 levels of water filters, and still, it's hardly enough. WEB needs to replace some lines, but I doubt that's going to happen any time soon. We're talking about rust and other sediments, not anything that will make you ill, but which will stain your laundry, and be unpleasant to see (who wants to drink yellowish water if it's not lemonade?). We use a Brita water filter pitcher for our drinking water because my built-in refrigerator water line is broken--but I had a filter system there too (changed every 3 mos).

I have a water filter on my washing machine's input line. I do 3-4 loads a week, and need to change the filter every 2 months (or sooner, if it's very dark). I also have a filter on my ice maker in KFC, and on our Pepsi machines there. Those filters get changed monthly. When I change them, they're completely dark brown/rust colored. My systems are from the US, (and I buy my filters by the case from there) because we used US size copper pipes for our plumbing. The size of your pipes will determine what system you'll install. My supplier is: www.filtersfast.com.

There's even a FaceBook site for this: Bonaire Deserves Clean Water!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1351385284&ref=profile#!/group.php?v=wall&gid=271753312539

Guess I am just lucky..or need the minerals...knock on wood no rusty laundry or suspect water