Have you read about this recently, that pharmaceutical drugs we take on a daily basis are ending up in our water supply? Pharmaceutical chemicals are just the newest addition to the many contaminants that are left in our water even after it is treated by the local water treatment facility. Once we understand the uncertainties of tap water and bottled water, a home water purification system clearly becomes the best choice. How do we know which home water purifier produces the healthiest water, though?
The key to choosing a home purifier water system is comparing each product's performance to other alternatives. Compare the following for each product to easily and simply determine which water purifier system best fits your needs:
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Contaminant reduction capability
System cost
Ongoing cost per gallon
The Six Most Popular Home Water Purifier System Technologies
Reverse Osmosis (R.O.)
Reverse Osmosis is a technology from the 1950's that was designed to separate the salt from sea water by passing water molecules through a membrane. Beneficial minerals, like calcium and magnesium are stripped from your drinking water during Reverse Osmosis. The R.O. system is ineffective in removing synthetic chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides because they are smaller than the water molecule and therefore pass through the membrane. The R.O. system should be used along with a carbon filter.
Reverse Osmosis systems also waste approximately three gallons of water for every one gallon they purify and costs about 18 to 24 cents per gallon.
Distillation
Distillation is a process that passes water over a heated coil, causing the water to vaporize and become gaseous. The process separates water from inorganic compounds like lead, calcium, magnesium, etc. Distillation also destroys bacteria. Distillation is not very effective at removing organic chemicals, since they usually vaporize at a lower temperature than water. For this reason, a distiller should be used in conjunction with a carbon filter. The distillation home water purifier system produces at a very slow rate and at a per-gallon cost of about 20 to 26 cents a gallon.
Pitchers and Carafe-Style Filters
In recent years these types of filters (not to be confused with a home water purifier system) have emerged as low-cost alternatives to tap water and bottled water. Keeping in mind that any filter is better than no filter, these products are by far the least effective and the most costly to use. The average pitcher sells for around and includes a 30 gallon cartridge. Because of the small size of these cartridges, they have very limited effectiveness and a low capacity.
Carbon Block and Granular Carbon Filters
Carbon filtration systems are the most common type of countertop or under-the-counter water filtration system. The water is passed through specially treated carbon to remove contaminants. Activated carbon is recognized by the U.S. EPA as the best available technology for filtering Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Trihalomethanes (THM).
Multimedia block filters utilize the benefits of activated carbon with several added advantages. A blended media is extruded or compressed into a solid form with a sub-micron pore structure to filter out sediment and cysts like Cryptosporidium and Giardia. This configuration also prevents water from channeling around the filter media as with the granular carbon filters. The costs per gallon vary with the home water purifier system.
Ultra Violet Light
Ultra Violet Light is used to kill bacteria and viruses found in drinking water, but it's not effective against non-living substances such as lead, asbestos, chlorine, and chemicals. Most Ultra Violet Light purifiers are too large for point of use application. The UV light used in combination with the carbon block technology removes more contaminants than any other system. The initial cost for the UV Light system can be prohibitive.
Combination Filters
Your best choice is a system that uses a combination of two or more water filtration technologies. Choose a system that takes out the most harmful contaminants and leaves in the beneficial minerals. Aquasana water filters for use a combination of carbon filtration' ion exchange and sub-micron filtration to filter out chlorine' lead' VOC's, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) and Cysts (chlorine resistant parasites), and leaves in the natural trace minerals.
Make no mistake about it, home water purification is a real necessity today. Now that you are aware of the potential contaminants and the best technology available to handle each one, your next step is to investigate the top performing brands. We believe Aquasana Home Water Purifier is an outstanding value based on performance, cost and ease of use.
A Simple Guide to Choosing the Best Home Purifier Water System For You A WATER
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