Health Upp So many people take their home water supply for granted. Even if they recognize the benefits of drinking enough water, they have never lived in a situation where they didn’t have access to clean, drinkable water.
While it is for the most part safe and drinkable, more people are starting to have concerns about their home water supply. Some people even resort to having water delivered to the home so they don’t have to drink the water from the tap.
If you are looking for a solution that doesn’t require deliveries, a home water filter can improve the quality of the water coming from the tap. With that said, many people do not understand filtration technologies.
In this post, we will cover common water filtration technologies and some of the things you will need to consider when selecting a water filter for your home.
Types of Home Water Filters
You have several different types of water filters to choose from. Most will have a sediment filter to catch large particles before the water enters the main purification process. In some cases, you can even find filters that deploy a few different technologies to enhance the purification process.
Activated Charcoal
Activated carbon filters are popular because they are effective for most common issues while also being very affordable. These filters rely on carbon’s ability to bond with organic compounds. When activated, the carbon has millions of binding locations that can absorb impurities from the water. Activated charcoal can be good for removing things like lead, mercury and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis (RO) filters are considered some of the most effective for home filtration. How does a reverse osmosis water filter work? RO filters will have several stages to ensure the cleanest water possible. Most will start with stages that include sediment filters and charcoal filters, and then they will move on to the reverse osmosis process. Without making it too complicated, RO filtration is achieved by forcing water under pressure through a semi-permeable membrane to separate the contaminants from the water.
Ultraviolet Treatment
You don’t actually filter water with UV light. Instead, it is a water treatment technology. These water treatment systems kill bacteria and viruses by exposing the water to UV radiation. Since charcoal and RO don’t remove or kill microorganisms, this can be a vital treatment for some homes. With that said, UV treatment does not remove chemicals or solutes from the water. In most cases, UV treatment would be used as an additional stage to something like reverse osmosis.
Points to Consider
Selecting the right water filter for your home comes down to the concerns you have regarding your water supply. Weighing these different factors should help most homeowners find the right water filter.
Water Supply
Where does your water supply come from? Most municipal water supplies are relatively safe. The water is at least treated with chlorine and filtered before being piped to homes. With that said, water from your local supply isn’t perfect, so there may still be concerns.
Many properties have wells that pump water directly to the home. This can come with all sorts of issues. There can be groundwater contamination. Wells can also provide an environment for bacteria and fungi to grow.
Taste, Smell or Appearance
Issues with the taste, smell or appearance of tap water are relatively common. For many homes, it is just a chlorine taste or smell they find unpleasant. Water that looks milky or cloudy is another common issue. In most cases, these are not health concerns. The water is safe to drink, but there is something about it that makes it unpleasant. A charcoal filter should be sufficient for most of these issues.
Contaminants
Some homeowners are worried about specific contaminants. Maybe it is lead or pesticides. Maybe there is a specific contamination concern in your area. A good reverse osmosis filter should do enough to purify the water for most of these issues. Of course, if it is a bacterial problem as you might find in a well, UV treatment or chlorine might be the answer. If you have serious concerns but are not sure about which water treatment is right for your home, you can also have the water tested. Once you have the test results, you can consult with an expert to find the right filter or treatment.
Our ability to move water to people’s homes is one of the greatest achievements of human civilization. As great as it is and with as much good as it has done, these systems for supplying drinking water are not perfect. Towns and cities do their best, but there is always the chance that water could be contaminated, and you can also have issues with water that is just unpleasant to drink or use in the home. Fortunately, we now have water filters we can install in our homes to handle most of these problems.
