Water filters are essential household needs due to the increasing concern about the quality of our drinking water. Poor countries around the world are in dire need of good drinking water.  Recently there have been concerns about drugs in our drinking water systems. Caffeine and prescription drugs have been detected in water supplies in the United States and in several European countries. Water treatment facilities are not yet designed to remove drugs or pharmaceutical contaminations from drinking water, however, NSF International certified quite a list of water filters capable of removing more than dozen harmful chemicals from our drinking water. (NSF International, The Public Health and Safety Company, a not-for-profit, organization, leader in standards development, product certification, education, and risk-management for public health and safety. NSF has been committed to public health, safety, and protection of the environment for many years. NSF develops national standards, provides learning opportunities through its Center for Public Health Education.) Some or all prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals that are volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) can be filtered out with home water filtration certified for such contaminants. Read carefully and check out the manufacturer's claim of contaminant reduction. Common drinking water problems: Here are few of the common drinking water problems water filtration systems are designed to remove: heavy metals, odors and tastes, pesticides, solvents, Cryptosporium, Giardia cysts, rust, sediments, cloudiness, fluoride, nitrate, radon, chloroamine, phenol, and hundreds of harmful chemicals that are regulated by the USEPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Where to find NSF-Certified Filters Multi-Pure Aquasana Crystal Quest Apec FilterFast FilterWater Shop.com Options for healthy water Often times our water supplies may be contaminated from various sources such as CSO, storm runoffs, failed septic tank, and underground oil leak. Water may also become contaminated within the home plumbing systems. When this happens, we may have to make a choice about how we get healthy drinking water either in bottled water or filtered water.  We have the option to buy bottled water or to contract with companies that sell or lease large bottled water dispensers. Another option is to buy a water filter or other purification unit.  Clearly, the choice is not to buy bottled water or subscribe to one.  It’s been documented that bottled water is not better than tap water.  In March of 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a report called "Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype?"  This report shows that: 60% to 70% of all bottled water is completely exempt from the FDA's bottled water standards, because it is bottled and sold within the same state. City tap water can have no confirmed E-coli or fecal Coliform bacteria but bottled water rules do not have such prohibition. On one hand, city tap water from surface water, must be filtered and disinfected. On the other hand, bottled water companies are not required by any federal regulation to filter or disinfect. In addition, plastic water bottles are environmentally un-friendly; they are detriments to our landfills.  The cost comparison (PDF file) of water filters to bottled water makes water treatment devices such as waterfilters, or home water distillers the better choice. Other treatment options can include but are not limited to (or in combination with the above devices) water softeners, water ionizers, and unltraviolet (uv) water purifiers. Click here to learn about NSF Standards

Types of water filtration systems Filter systems come in different brands and models. Two type of installations are point-of-use (POU) and point-of-entry (POE).  POU waterfilters treat water from a single location in the house allowing you to dispense filtered water  anytime you need it. POU treatment systems can be permanently installed such as under sink or under counter, countertop or tabletop, faucet-mount, and showerhead. They also come as portable devices such as the carafe, and personal or sports water purifiers. POE waterfilters are used to filter water entering the whole house.  POE or whole house filters are ideal for home owners concerned about the water quality throughout the house. Such concerns could be the presence of chlorine, and chlorine byproducts in shower water, and some of the contaminants mentioned above. A typical permanent filter system comes in a housing unit with both an inlet and outlet allowing water passage. This housing contains a replaceable filter media such as reverse osmosis and activated carbon. Some waterfilters come with both filter medium in series either as 2-stage, 3-stage, 4-stage, or 5-stage filters. Reverse osmosis filters are very effective in removing heavy metals and dissolved solids from water. The pre-filter removes sediments and rusts to enhance the effectiveness of the reverse osmoses filter. The post-filter is designed to remove tastes and odors. Some are also designed to remove chlorination byproducts, solvents, and pesticides.

Water filter Types	What they can do
Undersink Filter	Most filters of this type can be installed under the kitchen sink or counter. This Multi-Pure's Reverse Osmosis unit. Combines RO technology with Multi-Pure's solid carbon block filtration. Reduces a wide range of contaminants including Arsenic V, Cysts, Lead, PCBs, MTBE, Mercury, Asbestos, Chloramine, VOCs and many more other contaminants of health concern.
Carafe or pitcher filter	This Crystal Quest Pitcher Filter is a Large Capacity Ultimate Pitcher that provides clean, great-tasting water conveniently, waiting and chilled in your refrigerator. This pitcher shows 99+% chlorine removal past 20,000 gallons of water. Voted "Best Buy" by Consumer Digest Magazine in 2006 and 2007!
Whole-house	The OmniFilter U25 Whole House Water Filter System - Medium Duty reduces dirt and sand sediment and rust particles from your water as well as reducing Chlorine.
Countertop or tabletop	This Multi-Pure stainless steel unit connects to your existing faucet using a diverter valve. For Countertop Use Only. Reduces a wide range of contaminants including Cysts, Lead, PCBs, MTBE, Mercury, Asbestos, Chloramine, VOCs and many more other contaminants of health concern.
Showerhead Water Filter	Some of the best shower head water filters come with KDF technology to completely remove the chlorine before the water reaches the activated carbon the filter. This Aquasana Shower Filter has a unique 2-stage filter process that takes out chlorine and balances the pH in Stage 1 and filters out harmful VOCs and THMs in stage 2.
Personal or sports purifiers	This Katadyn Exstream Purifier Bottle features an internal EPA-registered Virustrat cartridge and carbon filter to remove microorganisms and all viruses from any water source. This 26-oz. bottle weighs less than the lightest backcountry microfilters and doesn't require pumping, making it perfect for extended mountain biking around questionable water sources.
Information above is based on the manufactuers' claim of performance. Read the manufacturers' specification very carefully. You may also check the NSF International websiteto confirm any claim.

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