I'm thinking about buying a refridgerator with the ice/water outlets on the door and wondering how others have dealt with water filtration. I asked around at Home Pro and Home works here in Pattaya about fitration systems that can be installed on the main water line into the house so all taps have potable water but am told not possible, the wife wants to get a countertop purifier for the kitchen so we don't need the bottles but what to do about the refridgerator water and ice? Are there units available that can be installed for example under the sink with outlets for the kitchen tap and a line running to the fridge?

I'm sure others have done something like this and would like to hear your solutions.

Some of these big refrigerators have a built in filter system, the trouble is that when you want to or have to replace the filter cartridge, there are no replacements available (Whirlpool, e.g.)

Fortunately the water in Bangkok is quite OK.

If you consider installing a complete filtration system, it should not be too difficult to connect it to the refrigerator as well, if you can install it in the kitchen where the fridge is (I suppose).

We have a LG fridge and separate but connected water filter system (from Mazuma, in Emporium) that feeds into it. Whilst as dominique355 states, there is a water fliter system in the fridge, it cannot be replaced, (I don't know why), so it is important that the external system, (Mazuma in our case), can have that facility. We have a contract with Mazuma to change the filter quarterly. We had all this in-built when we refurbished the condo. The only other piece of advice I would give is make sure there is a drain near your (external) filter system, as ours has leaked twice, and luckily we have been around, otherwise it doesn't take long to flood the place! (Also make sure you turn off the stop cock when you are away for any length of time to avoid flooding.) You could of course run the piping from the external system to the fridge behind cupboards, or if you're not bothered by aesthetics, visibly, along a counter top etc.

Been there, done that, in spades.

Actually bought a counter top potable water ice maker before I checked with the water company servicing northern Chiang Mai and was assured the water was safe to drink for falang.

My huge Whirlpool Gold U.S. fridge has ice and water in the door and filter accessible in the front. A quick turn of the filter and it is changed when the signal light in the door tells me to change it. Filters available from the same appliance store I bought the fridge from.

I did explore whole house filtration systems and there are such companies around, and Homepro does have some very official looking filtration systems that are large enough to suggest they are for the whole house. Certainly you could rig it so it only filters the fridge.

The filter in the fridge is a particulate filter and comes with a warning from the state of California that it does not filter out bacteria.

Before you spend a fortune on filtration, why not call your local water district and ask them if your water is drinkable, assuming your not living in a slum with pipes that allow ground water in.

Then, if you don't trust the water company, have a sample of the water analyzed by universities and perhaps water filtration companies who do it.

Anyone want to buy a potable counter top ice maker?

Unlimited supplies of glorious ice is what makes Thailand a sublime place to live, once you get your ice making fridge working for you.

get a filter system with uv along with the other filters and it will give good water at your sink and then connect to refrigerator with a small line. make sure to run the water for 5 minutes and also throw away the first couple of buckets of ice. the filter in the refrig or the small one for fridges is not adequate for a good drinking supply