Choosing Your Home Water Filter System
Trent Barrett
When you're trying to get good clean water for your home, it's tempting to just pick up the $30 PUR filter and end your search there. The problem is, these small faucet-mounted water filter systems aren't necessarily the best ones for your needs. If you drink a lot of bottled water, you may want a more involved drinking water filter system, like a reverse osmosis system; if you live in the country and get your water from a well or a spring, you want a filter that is exceptional with killing biological contaminants.
For water that's already pretty good right out of the tap, a standard activated charcoal water filteer system is fine. This filter mounts on your faucet and forces water through to filter out biological and some mineral contaminants, resulting in cleaner good-tasting water right at your kitchen sink. Ceramic water filter systems work in an identical fashion, but use diatomaceous earth like most municipal systems rather than carbon.
If you spend a lot of money on bottled water and you really don't like the way your tap water tastes, you may want to consider a reverse osmosis water filter system. In these under-sink systems, a plumber installs your filter and reservoir. The water comes in through the filter, which allow almost perfectly pure water to drip through into the reservoir and leave all contaminants on the other side of the filter, where it is later flushed away. The result: drinking water that is often of better quality than your favorite bottled water.
The problem with a reverse osmosis water filter system: it takes a lot of water to flush away the contaminants, as many as ten gallons for every one gallon of drinking water produced. They also filter water very slowly; it can take all night to fill your reservoir. And a single biological contaminant in the reservoir can contaminate your whole system. Often, reverse osmosis water filter systems use an ultraviolet purifier to shine strong UV light into the reservoir, killing any biological contaminants before they can proliferate and sicken you and your family.
One unique type of water filter system you should consider: the whole house water filter system. If you have a problem with hard water or you have family members with breathing problems, these filtration systems can improve the quality of your entire water supply, removing contaminants from your shower before they get to you, guaranteeing you good drinking water from any tap, and preventing chlorine from entering your house, where it can vaporize and become chloroform, a lung irritant that can worsen asthma. With a whole house water filter system, you can rest easy that your whole household will be a cleaner, healthier place.
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