With all the pigs floating down the Huangpu and now those dead ducks in Sichuan, water quality has been on our minds a lot lately. Buying big barrels of water at the store works for the most part, but there is another way. A few companies now offer filtration systems for your apartment that render Shanghai’s water safe to drink. Here are the options. Reverse osmosis (RO) involves putting water through a superfine membrane to push out chemicals, bacteria, minerals and other particulates. It’s pretty easy to find RO systems in China if you’re cool with using domestic brands. A quick Taobao search yields over a thousand options, ranging anywhere from 500-4000rmb. An average decent-looking filter that hooks up to your water supply goes for approximately 1000rmb, and most of them include free installation by a serviceperson who comes to your house. Hey, it's a picture of some water. For an international brand, US-based carbon filter company Aquasana has a branch in Shanghai. For 1550rmb, one of their reps can fit a filter right onto your kitchen faucet so that you can get clean, drinkable water out of the tap. There’s also an option to install a unit underneath the kitchen counter if you want it out of the way. Tap water gets rerouted through the filter and is dispensed through a drinking nozzle next to the faucet. That one will cost you about 2450rmb. Pretty hefty prices, though you can justify it by reminding yourself of all the money you won’t be spending on bottled water. Indeed, we’re told that most bottled water you buy in Shanghai is nothing more than filtered tap water, so you’re really just cutting out the middleman, and all the plastic packaging. Ah, tasty, tasty, water Then there are those who complain that RO systems can be a little too thorough in cleaning water. These filters don’t distinguish between good or bad elements, so that can deplete your drinking water of minerals. For people who are concerned about that, there are systems that combine RO and carbon filters, as well as a final filter step that re-mineralizes the water. Green Wave China’s Alatai Drinking Water Purifier will give you clean, drinkable and mineralized water from your faucet at a whopping 6800rmb. After that initial investment, the filter just needs to be replaced once every three months at 300rmb each time. For those worried about washing their face and hair with local water, there are also water filters for showers. These are typically fitted on to your existing shower head so that the water quickly runs through the filter before coming into contact with you. Aquasana has one for 1100rmb. Greenwave’s “baby shower filter” goes for 1000rmb. Note that the water that comes out of these won’t be clean enough to meet drinking standards, and some people have complained that such attachments can create a slight decrease in water pressure. They’ll also need to be replaced about once every six months. Yeah, more water. This time in "shower mode" Generally, however, despite all the graphic images in the global media, we’ve been told that Shanghai tap water, while far from ideal, is certainly passable for regular household use. David Wang of Greenwave China says that the quality of Shanghai’s public water supply isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be. The company has been testing the city’s water quality over the years and Wang says it has made a significant improvement every year, most notably after the World Expo. Also, despite some fear-mongering news outlets that have claimed the Huangpu is the main source of the city’s tap water, the river only accounts for 22% of Shanghai’s public water usage. Most of the city’s residential areas actually get their tap water from the Qingcaosha reservoir close to Chongming Island. The districts covered by that reservoir are far and wide, including Xuhui, Jing’an, Zhabei, Huangpu (plus old Luwan), Changning, Yangpu, Hongkou, Pudong and so on. So the chances are, the water you’re getting out of your taps is already far removed from the pig-tainted stream. Who's this cool customer? Looks like he's got some water going there. Nice... For more on Aquasana’s water filtration systems, click here. For more on Greenwave’s, click here.