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Tips to Help You Find the Best Water Filters

March 6th, 2010

A few companies and their representatives claim their water filters can produce truly pure water for drinking, but that statement is false, as no water filtration system produces absolutely pure water. Some do reduce the number of contaminants to a greater degree. You should avoid any product or brand that makes such bogus claims. The best water filters tend to incorporate more than one type of technology. Let’s take a look at some water filter options.

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 examine loose carbon filters, you’ll discover that they are actually germ factories. They allow oxygen to exist inside the filter, which enables and enhances the growth of germs. Although this kind of filter is very inexpensive to purchase, it’s costly in the long run, because the filters have to be replaced frequently.

Distillation is useful if filtering microorganisms, solids, sediment and organic or chemical pollutants that won’t evaporate. There are some synthetic impurities, like MTBE, that will evaporate, so distillation isn’t helpful.

Ultraviolet (UV) light is sometimes utilized together with other filters to kill bacteria, and has been established to be a highly effective tool. The light impacts an organism’s DNA, so it cannot replicate. If it cannot replicate, it is not dangerous.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a filter which lowers levels of fluoride, radium and numerous other impurities to a sizable degree, even though it does have its limitations. There are quite a few contaminants contained in water that will effortlessly traverse an RO filter. Reverse osmosis is also used along with other filters to be highly effective, however the process does filter out the healthy minerals as well. RO by itself is capable of decreasing contaminants such as radium, arsenic, barium lead, nitrates and nitrites, as well as giardia and selenium that are contained in tap water.

How do you know if the claims made by the company are correct and true? If the filters are not certified by the NSF, (the National Sanitation Foundation) then simply put it back on the shelf. Those manufacturers of quality water filtration systems put their filters through rigorous testing by the NSF and are proud to have their certification. NSF tests and certifies water treatment units to determine which the best water filters are for consumers.

Why do people buy bottled water? It is because they hate the taste of tap water. But there is a better way that is far more cost effective and far more friendly for the environment. Residential water filters are the way to go, with choices ranging from the faucet units to the portable water filter.

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