Posts Tagged ‘water treatment’

The Best Water Filters Today

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

For even the savviest of shoppers, buying a water filter in today’s marketplace can be confusing. Hopefully, this article can assist you in making the right choice when purchasing a new filtration system for your home or business. When it comes to water purification, there are quite a few different technologies to choose from, such as loose carbon, distillation, ultraviolet light, reverse osmosis and carbon blocks. Let’s take a look at what are the best water filters available today and how each of them works.

The first step is to decide what you want to accomplish with a water filtration; do you want to reduce chlorine, stop bacterial growth and cysts, or would you like to deal with a wide range of organic and chemical contaminants all at the same time? The best water filters can do all of these things at one time. You should also consider whether or not you want to remove the healthy minerals from your water, such as calcium and magnesium.

If you take a look at loose carbon filters, you will discover that they are actually bacteria factories. They allow oxygen to exist within the filter, which encourages and enhances the growth of bacteria. Although this type of filter is very cheap to purchase, it is expensive in the long run, since the filters must be replaced frequently.

Distillation is effective when filtering bacteria, solids, sediments and organic or chemical contaminants that will not evaporate. There are some chemical contaminants, such as MTBE, that will evaporate, so distillation is not effective in filtering that.

Ultraviolet (UV) light is sometimes used in conjunction with other filters to kill bacteria, and has been found to be a very effective tool. The light affects an organism’s DNA, so it cannot replicate. If it cannot replicate, it is harmless.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a filter which reduces fluoride, radium and numerous other contaminants to a very high degree, although it does have its limitations. There are a large number of contaminants found in water that will easily pass through an RO filter. Reverse osmosis is also used in conjunction with other filters to be very effective, though the process does remove the healthy minerals as well. RO by itself is capable of reducing contaminants such as radium, arsenic, barium lead, nitrates and nitrites, as well as giardia and selenium that are found in tap water.

When choosing the best water filters, performance is the key factor and is actually the most important thing to look for in any water filtration system. Do your research and don’t waste your money on an ineffective water purifying system that simply does not work. Carefully read the packaging to determine which contaminants the filter will reduce, as stated by the manufacturer. The label on the product package should indicate this information based on standards set by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International (a public health and safety company).

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AWho Wants A Cheap Water Filter System?

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

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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What Is RO Water System Is Right For You?

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

A reverse osmosis water filter, or RO water system, can be an effective filtration device. The process uses pressure to force water through a membrane that retains contaminants on one side of the filter and allows the treated water to pass through to the other side. This process is more widely known for removing salt from sea water to get fresh water, also called desalination. RO is also used to purify fresh water for medical and industrial processes. Let’s take a closer look at the stages of RO filtration to give you an idea of whether it is right for your home.

A sediment pre-filter is used to extract larger contaminants like dirt, sand, dust, grit and rust particles from the water when present. An optional secondary carbon pre-filter is used to extract most of the organic chemicals and chlorine; providing enhanced taste and reduction of odor while helping to protect the reverse osmosis membrane, which can be vulnerable to chlorine.

A RO membrane is normally made from a thin film composite. An optional carbon post-filter is used to capture any chemicals that are still present. This step also helps guard against any tainting which might occur within the device’s water storage tank. Another option, an ultraviolet light (UV-C), is incorporated into the process to disinfect the water of any organisms that may have escaped the reverse osmosis membrane.

A RO water system can be extremely wasteful because for every gallon of water purified, three to four gallons are wasted in the process. And they are extremely slow. If you require a large supply of drinking water, then an RO water filter can never keep up. The tank generally holds one to two gallons of filtered water. Once you have used what is in the tank, you will more than likely be out of filtered water until the following morning.

A reverse osmosis water treatment system must occasionally be sanitized with chlorine, a chemical that is highly undesirable and which in many cases is filtered out by other systems. Though chlorine is nearly universally used by city and municipal water systems, it has been shown to cause cancer. Using it to clean the filter that you will use to filter out such things seems to be counter intuitive.

A RO water system may not be appropriate for everyone, since by its very nature it is a wasteful process; it flushes away three to four gallons of water for every one gallon of clean water that passes through. If your water has a poor taste or smell to it, then you could consider a carbon-based, multi-stage filtering system that incorporates reverse osmosis into the process. Whether you choose a reverse osmosis system or a system that incorporates several types of filters into one unit, do your research before you buy; water filtering systems can be very expensive.

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How To Choose A Water Filter

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

If you are one of the many consumers who is not using a water filter, then you really should consider purchasing a multi-stage filtering system; here’s why. If you walk down the beverage aisle in any grocery store in the United States, then you will notice that the most popular item on the shelves is water. Why is that, you may ask? One reason is that it sells like crazy, and another reason is that tap water in a lot of homes tastes bad and is unpleasant to drink. Yet there should be another reason, and that is your health.

Some reasons why tap water is contaminated include improperly disposing everyday items such as paint, cleaning solvents and motor oil into sewer systems. This becomes industrial waste, and the problem seems to be occurring everyday, as you read about accidental leaks or large companies using illegal methods to dispose of toxic waste. It seems that using a good water filter is essential.

Companies that are murky on the specifics of their product should be avoided. If you call them regarding the details, you may learn that what they are offering is not a water purifier at all, but merely a filtering system that blocks some chlorine and eliminates odor. The company’s data sheets should include information about how effectively each contaminant will be addressed and removed. There are drinking water filtering systems that will remove all of them, but you have to be a smart shopper to find them.

Another great way to tell if the filter you are considering is effective is if it is not sold in specific states. There is always a good reason why this is so. In states such as Wisconsin, California and Massachusetts, companies are required by law to have their products certified by independent laboratories. During the certification process, claims must be verified before the product can be sold. It is then obvious that companies who provide inferior systems will avoid the states with regulations.

For those companies that have excellent water quality performance records, California also provides a department of health certification. To receive this certificate, extensive testing is required. If you see that a company has the certification, you can rest assured that you have found a quality, home water filter product that will work as it should.

Typically, a water filter system that costs less initially will end up costing more to use in the long run. Cartridges and filters generally have a short lifespan, which requires frequent replacements. Of course, there really is no such thing as a maintenance-free unit. There are a few disposable filters, but they cost even more and are mostly ineffective. For a kitchen countertop unit, a reasonable price to pay is around $125. You may have to pay more if you buy from a dealer or department store because of mark-up, since everyone wants to make a profit.

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The Appealling Brita 42558 Aqualux Water Pitcher

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

With all of the water filtration systems on the market today you do have a lot of choice in picking the right one. It really all comes down to your particular needs. You can go with the more expensive system that hooks directly into your water supply. You can pick a pitcher filtration system or you can go with a faucet mounted system. All have perks and all have downsides. The pitcher filtration system seems to be the most popular because of its affordability. One pitcher system is the Brita 42558 Aqualux Water Pitcher. It is really great for its portability and for being inexpensive.

Brita has built a name on water filtration products and water accessories, such as faucets in general. So you know that you can trust them. The Brita 42558 Aqualux Water Pitcher is one of there best selling water filtration systems. You can easily find it for around $30.00 and you do not have to search high and low to find it. You can find it online or go into your local Wal-Mart, Target or Home Depot and purchase it there.

The Brita Aqualux Water Pitcher filters out many of the common impurities that you find in ordinary tap water, such as zinc, mercury, copper and lead. You wind up with clear, clean and fresh tasting water without having to deal with plastic bottles. It does make this option definitely attractive and more cost effective in the long run. But there are some disadvantages that you need to be aware of before you purchase this pitcher.

The Brita Aqualux Water Pitcher only holds 48 ounces. That is about six, 8 ounce glasses. So if you drink the recommended amount of water per day, you are going to be filling it up more often. There are other pitcher filtration systems that hold more water. So you have to keep this in mind when you are looking for one because if you intend to use purified water for cooking and for the whole family’s needs, then you may wind up replacing the filters faster than normal.

The Brita 42558 Aqualux Water Pitcher is not going to win any awards for its holding capacity but it does certainly garner interest because it is not bulky and will not take up a lot of room in your refrigerator. Add in the low cost and you certainly do have a viable water filtration system that is good for individual use. However, if your entire family is drinking from it, then remember to refill it often and to keep spare filters on hand.

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