You may be tempted by the lower priced water filter system that retails for around $50, since that sounds like a reasonable price alternative for a family on a limited budget. But, there are several problems with filters at that low of a price scale. Most are really only chlorine filters and not actual purifiers. Although chlorine removal is fine, that in and of itself is not enough anymore. Water contaminants include hormones, drugs, herbicides, pesticides, benzene and gasoline additives because they are present in groundwater and come through the tap, straight into your sink.
Among water filters, reverse osmosis is the most expensive choice for home use. RO filters are used in large industrial applications as well as in public facilities. In certain home applications, reverse osmosis filters are the right choice, but for the most part, the price and lack of filtration of certain contaminants means you are better off choosing another filtration method. The best application for RO systems is desalination, which is the process of removing salt from water.
An under-the-counter water filter system is very similar to the countertop units, in that they have small capacities and only provide treated water to one particular faucet. The real difference is that these systems don’t take up valuable countertop space. They do, however, require more sophisticated plumbing, which makes them slightly more expensive.
Many harmful contaminants, such as trihalomethanes and volatile organic chemicals, which have also been linked to cancer, are not blocked by the cheaper models. In some cases, lead, which is toxic, is not removed. Lead contamination is a big problem for many cities, not because the city water treatment facility isn’t doing the job, but because the pipes that run into homes are old and contaminated.
Bacterial cysts are another type of contaminant that a cheaper drinking water filters typically cannot remove. They cause parasitic infections in the gastrointestinal tract and have been know to cause serious health problems and even death in the elderly, children and people with compromised immune systems.
If those reasons are not enough to invest a little extra cash into a water filter system, then here’s another fact; cheap water filters cost more to use in the long run. They use, on average, more than 25 cents per day, as opposed to the 10 cents per day that more expensive filters use. The companies draw you in by charging a lower price up front, but then charge more for replacement filter cartridges that need to be replaced at a higher rate. They also manufacture the cartridge to have a very short lifespan. Either way you look at it, you end up spending more when you purchase a cheap filter system.
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Tags: best water filters, water filtration, water filtration systems, water treatment