Water is one of the key things we need to stay healthy and hydrated. Oftentimes, the water supplied into our homes contain contaminants and impurities that are harmful to our health. For this reason, every home should have a functioning water filter. Water filters help to remove impurities and chemicals from water, hence making it clean and safe for consumption.
There are various types of water filters available today that remove various impurities and contaminants. These water filters are available at different prices, and you can even get discount water filters.
However, you might be wondering if there’s a water filter that removes everything. The truth is, there isn’t one water filter that can remove all the impurities and chemicals from your water. Therefore, it’s important to know what kind of impurities you’re trying to remove before you buy a water filter.
In this post, we’ll discuss the different methods of water filtration used in water filters, as well as the chemicals and impurities they remove.
Why You Need to Buy a Water Filter in Your Home
Before we dive into the water filtration techniques used in water filters, let’s start by emphasizing the reasons why you need to buy a water filter for your home. There are a lot of reasons why you need to buy a water filter for your home; some of which include;
Decontamination
One of the most significant benefits of water is that it helps remove contaminants from your drinking water. Contaminants can come from a variety of sources, including industrial and agricultural runoff, chemical pollutants, and even natural sources such as minerals and heavy metals. Ingesting these contaminants can have serious health consequences, ranging from diarrhea to cancer. But with a water filter in your home, you can rest assured that the water you’re drinking is clean and safe.
Softens water
If you’ve noticed that your tap water tastes metallic, it indicates that the water is hard. Hard water contains magnesium, calcium salts, heavy metals, and more. Hard water can cause metal build-up in your pipes which results in pipe damage and corrosion. You can save yourself the stress of plumbing issues by getting a water filter to remove the minerals and heavy metals causing the water hardness.
Saves money
The accumulated cost of buying bottled water per year usually ranges between $500 to $700 for a person consuming 2 to 3 bottles per day. Therefore, it’s a smart and economical move to invest in a water filter for your home. It’ll help cut down the cost of constantly purchasing bottled water.
Protect the skin
The benefits of a water filter aren’t limited to water used for drinking and cooking; it also helps to purify the water used for bathing. The skin is very sensitive and can react to heavy metals, salt, bacteria, and other contaminants in water. These contaminants can cause various skin irritations like rashes, psoriasis, eczema, acne, and more. Therefore, don’t hesitate to install a water filter in your home to help purify your bathing water.
What Are the Chemicals and Impurities the Water Filter Removes
Water filters can remove chlorine, lead, mercury, copper, and other heavy metals. It can also get rid of pesticides, herbicides, and other agricultural chemicals. In addition, it can be used to eliminate bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. However, the impurities a water filter can remove are dependent on the type of water filtration method built into the water filter.
Methods of Water Filtration Used in Water Filter
Water filters are built in several ways, and they utilize different methods to clean water. Some common methods include carbon filtration, reverse osmosis, and distillation. These water filtration methods serve different purposes, and it’s best to choose the right filter that employs a filtration method that’ll meet your needs.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water filtration technique that helps to soften water. This filtration method uses a semi-permeable membrane to remove heavy metals, contaminants, and other dissolved solids from water. The process allows contaminated water to pass through the membrane from a region of higher impurities concentration to a region of lower concentration. As the water moves, the contaminants are left behind, and water becomes purified. Reverse osmosis is effective, but it doesn’t kill some viruses and microorganisms
Distillation
Distillation involves the boiling, recondensing, and cooling of water. As the water boils, it kills the pathogens, the steam is evaporated and re-condensed, and the heavy metals and mineral salts solidify. The distillation process is a suitable water filtration method that helps soften hard water and destroy the microbes present in water. However, it’s important to note that the distillation process might not remove volatile chlorine compounds unless the water filter combines the carbon filtration technique with the water distillation process.
Carbon filtration
Carbon filtration involves the use of physical filters such as activated charcoal. In this method, water passes through the thin pores of the carbon filter, and the filter absorbs the contaminants present in it. It can effectively remove chlorine compounds, organic compounds, metals, suspended solids, and more, but it cannot effectively remove dissolved mineral salts. It’s also ineffective on some types of toxic organic compounds, pathogens, and fluorides.
Ultraviolet filtration (UV)
If you’re looking for a water filter that can kill micro bacteria, viruses, spores, and yeast, the UV water filter will work best for you. Ultraviolet (UV) rays produce non-ionizing radiation that can kill various microbes. Suppose you are thinking of the safety of UV purified water on human health; you’ll be glad to know that UVC is the type of UV radiation used in UV water filters. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVC) is safe for humans and effective in disinfecting contaminated water.
In conclusion, there is not one water filter that removes everything. However, the market is saturated with many water filters that remove specific impurities and chemicals from water. Therefore, it is important to know what is in your water and what you want to filter out before you purchase a water filter. The best strategy to select the ideal filter for your household’s needs is to make sure to conduct proper research.
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