Water Filters: Facts You May Not Know

Water filters that are used in the home are mainly used to remove various metals or chemicals. Examples of substances that can be removed are chlorine or lead. Sometimes the water filters are used to get rid of harmful substances, and at other times they are used to improve the taste or odor of the water. There are many types of filters that can be used in the home. These include microporous ceramic filters, carbon block resin, metallic alloy filters, granular activated carbon filters, ultra-filtration membranes, distillation systems, and reverse osmosis flters. Microporous ceramic filters use ceramic to pass the water through. The pores in the ceramic are so small that the unwanted substances are not able to pass through with the water. When this type of filter gets clogged up, you just need to run water through it in the reverse direction to unclog the pores. Granular activated carbon filters work by passing the water through a type of carbon that filters out the impurities. Carbon filters have to be replaced periodically. They cannot change the acidity of water. Water distillers work by boiling the water and then catching and condensing the steam back into water. The result should be totally pure water. However, this process does remove the good minerals from the water too. Reverse osmosis filters use pressure to drive the reverse osmosis process, and the result is very pure water, just like distilled water. It was originally invented in order to create drinking water from salt water, but it works for taking out other substances too. Like distilled water, there will be no minerals left in the water. There are various points in your home where you can install a water filter. If you want to filter your whole home’s water at once, you can install a whole house water filtration system. A smaller solution would be to install a water filter under your kitchen sink to filter only the water in the kitchen. Other water filters come built into refrigerators and filter the water that is used to create ice as well as the water that is dispensed in the refrigerator door. You can get a water pitcher that will filter just a pitcher full of water at a time. You can even get water bottles with a built in filter. This is great for use at work, since you can just add tap water to the bottle and you will be drinking filtered water. There are numerous health benefits to drinking filtered water. Water filters can remove harmful substances such as lead, chlorine, bacteria, harmful metals, and other toxins. Filtered water often tastes better too, so you drink more of it, which is good for your overall health. Even cooked food can taste better when prepared with filtered water. Home water filters are cheaper in the long run than continually purchasing bottled water. It saves you the time and effort of carrying home all that water too. And you don’t need to find a place to store the water bottles. Having filtered water always available is definitely very convenient.