 |
| |
Water Filters Guide - What type of water filter system is best for your home?
 |
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 | | | | | | | | 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. |
Which one to choose from?
Choosing the right and the best water filter depends on the drinking water problems in homes, offices, camps, and other institutions. The first step is to test your water to determine the type of contaminants present in your drinking water. Home testing kits are commercially available or you can hire a state-certified water testing lab. These personal home testing kits allow you to test by simply following the manufacture’s instructions and procedures. The water testing laboratories can also send you sterilized sample bottles to collect and ship the samples to the lab. The water testing lab can also help you interpret the results of the samples which will then allow you to choose the best water filter.
Certified or not certified?
Sometimes the famous and the cheapest water filter may not be the best water filter to remove a specific water problem. There are several NSF-certified treatment units on the market, though could be pricy, they will do the job better. Be aware that because a treatment device is inspected by NSF does not mean it's certified. Meaning—Look for the ones that are inspected and certified. Here is just a few of NSF-certified water treatments which you can find here: Multi-Pure, Aquasana, Omni Filter Crystal Quest, Sprite, GE, Paragon, and Apec. For a complete list of all NSF-certified water filters, you may visit the NSF website where each water filter model is tested and certified.
You have a filter but your water taste bad
Now that you have decided to buy filter to treat water in your home or office because your water taste bad, what’s your next step? Who will monitor the filter to ensure that it’s replaced on time? Will you remember the installation date or the last date you replaced the cartridge filter?
|
Water Filter Shopping Comparisons | |
|
|
