Choosing the best water filter is vital to ensuring not only clean tasting water, but to protect ourselves from harmful chemicals or toxins at the same time.
Our bodies are made up of up to 78% of water, and on average, we should be drinking in the region of three liters of water a day to avoid dehydration. Most of this comes naturally through food thought to be around 20%, or other beverages such as tea or coffee rather than drinking water itself, so without noticing it you’re consuming water.
Not only that, water covers around 70% of the earth’s surface, and is vital for all forms of life. In United States alone, we use around 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day, of that the average person can use anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day.
When it comes to drinking water, most people are unaware of the potential hazardous chemicals or bacteria within and the effects it can have on your health.
What are the effects of drinking unfiltered water?
The water which comes from your local public water supplier can contain chlorine, bacteria, lead, pesticides, and volatile organic compound’s (VOC).
The effect this can cause to your health can be short or long-term illness, and range from vomiting to gastrointestinal.
What does a water filter do?
How do I buy the best water filter?
The first and most important point to remember is price. Set an amount for your budget and don’t go over, and remember to include the additional costs if necessary such as any maintenance, replacement filter cartridges, or if the device needs to be installed by a certified plumber.
Next would be the type of contaminants you want to filter. You can find out what types of contaminants are in your water by requesting a consumer confidence report or annual water quality report from your local water facility.
Another important point would be to select a product that has the approval of the NSF, (National Science Foundation at www.nsf.org/certified/dwtu). This certification ensures that the device performs to its claims and according to the manufacturer’s specification on the unit.
There are manufactures who state that their item will remove a various amount of toxins and chemicals including but not limited to bacteria, chlorine, fertilizers, magnesium, sediment, synthetic chemicals etc and not provide any official verification of this claim.
What are the advantages?
What are the disadvantages?
The main factor would be the price. This is dependent on the type of water filter you choose, such as the brand, number of filtration types, filtration method, type of filter.
Another factor in the price is the maintenance on the filter. Most will either need replacement cartridges every month/year, with a Whole House Water Filter needing a certified plumber or engineer to install.
Also the amount of time it takes to filter the water will be an issue. This is more apparent with Water Filter Pitchers, which usually take around a five minutes to fill a .5 gallon pitcher. Most other types of filtration devices don’t generally take as long, and therefore, you wont see a difference.
What are the different types of water filter for home use?
Water Filter Pitcher
These are the most inexpensive of most popular type of water filters. They range in price from around $30 to $100. They generally don’t provide the extensive range of filtration that more expensive filters offer, however they’re cheaper, portable, remove chlorine and improve the taste.
Shower Water Filter
This filter type usually sells for around $40 to $160. They attach to your shower fixture, and remove chlorine and odors to protect your hair, skin from harsh chlorine and other toxins. This is important as choline in a gaseous form can be absorbed into the body up to 500% quicker than consumption through drinking.
Countertop Water Filter
In the price region of $30 to over $300. Countertop water filters mostly attach to your faucet. Their usefulness to decontaminate your drinking water ranges from very poor to very good. Most at least remove some chlorine and will make your water taste better.
Whole House Water Filtration System
This type of filtration device is usually available for $300 to over $6000. They’re the ultimate in water filtration and require professional installation. Although the most expensive, they provide the benefit of filtering all water for your entire house. This includes bathing, showers and drinking. These water filters also tend to remove more contaminants than other filtration types.
