Archive for the 'Methods of Filtration' Category

Are Reverse Osmosis Water Purifiers a Good Investment?

Reverse osmosis water purifiers seem to be top-selling type of water purification system. Many people have heard that they are the best way to help eliminate contamination in their water supply. However, it is important to understand that many of these products don’t deliver what they lead you to believe they are offering.

Consumers are often led to believe that reverse osmosis water purifiers are high tech and do an amazing job, yet their advertisers fail to tell you what they can do versus what they cannot do. Those facts leave people with the wrong idea about how much this type of product can change the quality of their drinking water.

There are many more types of contamination entering our sources of drinking water today than in the past. As a result, you may need something more advanced to take care of the problem. Reverse osmosis water purifiers often are not as effective as the newer technology in the water filtration niche. That technology offers ways of combating the risks of contaminants in your water with the most power available.

It is important to first identify the source of your household water. From there you can find out from the reports and water samples taken by local authorities what kind of water contamination problems you are up against. The types of contamination and the levels of them are very important. Not all reverse osmosis water purifiers are going to be able to help you. Many of them won’t be able to successfully take on the removal of all the types of contamination that you have.

The other issue with reserve osmosis water purifiers is that they don’t do anything about the levels of chlorine in your water. You definitely want to tackle that issue, especially if you have children in your household. Chlorine is used by most municipal water processing facilities to combat bacteria in your drinking water. Chlorine is a very powerful and harmful chemical for adults, too. In fact, chlorine was originally developed to be used as a method of chemical warfare, so don’t underestimate the risk of chlorine in your drinking water.

The main item that reverse osmosis water purifiers remove from your drinking water is sediment. Sediment is large particles of water contamination. Most people have the false belief that reverse osmosis will remove a wide variety of contamination from their drinking water. Sadly, it doesn’t, and that means thousands of contaminants that can make you sick may still be getting into what you drink. The majority of bacterial or chemical water contamination is too small to be caught by a sediment water filter. Many of those contaminants that are not caught by reverse osmosis water filters have been linked to some serious health issues,including cancer.

Don’t assume you can get quality water with reverse osmosis water purifiers. You have to do your homework to make sure what you put in place is going to work. Aquasana offers you a chance to put an affordable and highly effective water-filtering system in place for your home.

With a quality home water purification system, you will be taking the appropriate steps for everyone in your home to benefit from healthy water. You don’t want to take a risk with something so serious. The contamination levels out there continue to be a problem, and a great deal passes through the water treatment facility. Instead, turn to a water filtration company like Aquasana that can show you the technologies of water purification that can handle all of your water purity needs. You will be glad you did.

Do I Need a High Quality Water Filter or is a Water Softener Enough?

Many people are under the misconception that their water is perfectly safe and clean simply because they are using a water softener to clean their water. This is an unfortunate misunderstanding. Although a water softener may help to make your drinking water taste better, it does not make it a cleaner or safer drink. Using a water softener instead of a high quality water filter will not give you the cleaner water that you want to for drinking, cooking or taking showers.

Water softeners work somewhat like a chemical magnet. Water is forced through a bed filled with beads that are covered with sodium ions. The calcium and other chemicals that make water “hard” then exchange their ions with the positively charged sodium ions. When this happens, the calcium is no longer in the water, preventing those horrible rings in your bathtub and the nasty taste of hard water. However, all the water softener has done is remove calcium from your water and replace it with salt. This water is no safer than hard tap water.

A high quality water filter does more than remove the calcium from your drinking water. When your drinking water is run through a high quality water filter such as those made by Aquasana, you are getting water that is free from chemical contaminants. Chlorine and other chemicals that are left in the water by a water softener are swept away when you use a high quality water filter.

Additionally, the water softener removes nearly all the calcium from your water. Although too much calcium makes the water hard, a bit of calcium in your water benefits your body. By using a high quality water filter such as those made by Aquasana, you are removing the chemicals which will harm your body without disturbing the minerals which help your body. A water softener is clearly the wrong choice for providing your house with clean, healthy drinking water. A high quality water filter such as those made by Aquasana will give healthier, cleaner water.

What Do “Micron Levels” Have to do with Whole House Water Filters?

This is what you know. Water goes through your filter and comes out cleaner. You know that when your drinking water has gone through a reliable inline water filter system, you don’t have to worry about unseen chemicals, bacteria, or pesticides getting into your body through inhalation from the shower or consumption through drinking water.

One aspect about your filter that you might not know is whether it is a whole house water filter. This type of filter is built to remove any imperfections that are found in your water. This process is usually done before the water even gets to your kitchen faucet. It is typical for a whole house water filter to incorporate carbon filtration. Another thing to know about whole house water filters is that it will protect the plumbing of your house from wear and tear. Because the water is purified before it gets into your house, that also lengthens the water heater’s life.

Another aspect of a whole house water filter that you probably don’t know about is the micron level. A micron level is the number of micron sizes that the filter can eliminate of a contamination. The micron level is between .5 and 5 microns. A “micron” is a unit of measurement of the size of a particular unit of water contamination. A small pebble has a much higher micron size number than the microscopic bacteria that might be in your drinking water.

It is helpful to know that the lower the micron number, the more contaminants caught and purified. You should look for the micron level number when you are purchasing any carbon filtration water filter. This number determines how well the filter will process different contaminants. For example, if the filter says it filters contaminants of 5 microns, literally anything below the level 5 is passing through the filter. Many chemicals would be passed over.

A charcoal filter is commonly used in a whole house design for water filtration and, in some cases, in point-of-use water filters such as faucet or shower water filters. This type of filter works the same way as a carbon filter, except the contaminants pass through charcoal instead of carbon. Micron levels are also present in a charcoal filter.

If a charcoal filter can stop anything 1 micron level or lower, the filter is most likely to be able to filter out cryptosporidium and giardia. Both cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis are caused by these parasites that affect the small intestine and can result in symptoms like diarrhea, dehydration, stomach cramps, and vomiting, to name just a few. Remember a lower micron level is better when it comes to cleaner and healthier drinking water.

Micron levels determine how well a carbon filtration water filter will function. Most likely, if a filter only removes so much chlorine or so much lead, it is probably because of the micron level. The price of a good water filter with a low micron level will be a little bit more expensive than a filter with a higher micron level. A low micron-level filter will also eliminate excessive fluoride from your water.

As you look into the best filters with the smallest micron levels, remember Aquasana for your pure and fresh drinking water needs. Aquasana can help you identify the best home water filtration solution for you and your family’s needs.

Is Reverse Osmosis Effective at Filtering Pharmaceutical Drug Drinking Water Contamination?

How clean do you think your drinking water is? It is easy to assume that your water can’t be too bad. It doesn’t smell like rotten eggs or taste bitter. It doesn’t look rusty. The contaminants that you should be worried about, however, do not make your water smell, taste, or look bad. Water contaminants can include anything from runoff from agriculture to pharmaceutical drugs used to treat just about anything.

An Associated Press article revealed the disturbing truth that pharmaceutical drugs are in the local drinking water of most communities. This study found pharmaceutical drugs in drinking water that supplies at least 41 million people. They surveyed 24 major metropolitan cities and found this form of water contamination in every one of them. Pharmaceutical drug drinking water contamination can have drugs like antibiotics, sex hormones, and anti-convulsants. These types of drugs were found in tap water even before the AP’s report in 2008. The report put a spotlight on this serious water contamination issue that should be of concern to all citizens and certainly to parents concerned about providing healthy drinking water to their children.

The AP report opened many people’s eyes to the dangers that could be in a family’s drinking water. The use of various kinds of water filters, including reverse osmosis filters, and turning to bottled water have become very popular ways to avoid the problems of drinking water contamination.

A monthly journal called Environmental Health Perspectives reported that around 100 pharmaceuticals have been discovered in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Water contamination does not just affect families in the United States but also in Europe. MSNBC reported on a study that found a wide variety of pharmaceutical drugs in Philadelphia’s drinking water. They reported 56 traces of not only human drugs but also drugs used in the veterinary field. The drugs found were made to treat pain, infections, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illnesses, and heart problems.

When pharmaceutical drugs are improperly disposed of through flushing them down the toilet, they eventually enter the public water supply. Most water treatment suppliers are not completely able to remove the drugs from the water supply. In other words, the tap water you and your children drink straight from the faucet could be contaminated with pharmaceutical drugs. Even if you throw the remaining pills out with the rest of the garbage, that garbage still finds its way into the soil. Over time, the drugs will seep into the soil and groundwater, making their way to the drinking water supply.

Trying to find the best system to remove these kinds of contaminants is not hard. It is important to note, however, that reverse osmosis devices are not effective systems when it comes to removing pharmaceutical drug drinking water contamination. Reverse osmosis water filters are designed to remove contaminants bigger than a molecule of water. When pharmaceutical drugs are dissolved in water, they weigh less than a molecule of water. The design of a reverse osmosis system will miss these drugs when filtering drinking water. You could be unintentionally giving your children water that has drugs in it even after investing in a water filter system if the design is not efficient at stopping the most common and troubling types of water contamination that might be in your water. Reverse osmosis uses pressure from water to remove contaminants from the drinking water. They are ineffective because they aren’t activated carbon filtration devices.

Aquasana uses activated carbon filtration devices to pick up different contaminants, including pharmaceutical drugs. Carbon filters are different from reverse osmosis devices because they are able to remove very small contaminants. Not only can carbon filters remove pharmaceutical drugs but also herbicides and pesticides that reverse osmosis systems cannot detect. Aquasana has every type of filter that you could need, from shower head to whole house water filters. That is why Aquasana is a reliable partner for you and your family in making sure the water you drink is safe, clean, healthy, and tastes good as well. By working with a reliable water filtration partner like Aquasana, you can sort out what is the best type of water filter system for your family.

Are Reverse Osmosis Water Filters a Good Choice for Your Home?

Although reverse osmosis water filters are a common household filtration device today, they weren’t originally created for the home. Originally, this type of filtration device was designed for industrial and commercial usage. Reverse osmosis water filters have been used successfully in commercial applications,especially in removing salt from salt water.

Reverse osmosis water filter systems work with large amounts of water. This fact makes it a good fit for industrial and commercial usage but not a good choice for your home. Reverse osmosis systems use a semi-permeable membrane to separate contaminants from water. Water can pass through the membrane but contaminants cannot. When different contaminants are caught by the membrane, water pushes any impurities found on the membrane in the opposite direction than the purified water flows.

Reverse osmosis water filters use a larger amount of water than any other water filtration system. This design of water filter wastes three gallons of water as it purifies one gallon of water. The filter uses technology called back flushing. This is when water is used to flush out contaminants. Only 5 to 15% of the water that is actually used comes into your home. The rest is used in the filtration process.

The main reason that a reverse osmosis water filter isn’t a good choice for your home is that it doesn’t remove all contaminants. This type of device is only designed to remove contaminants that are the same size or bigger than the water molecule. Unfortunately, some of the most deadly contaminants like pesticides, bacteria, and chlorine are lighter than water.

Reverse osmosis water filters also remove healthy minerals that can be found in your drinking water. The process of purifying the water strips away trace minerals that benefit you and your family’s health. This process can be more harmful than the condition of the water before it was treated by a reverse water filter because when the water is demineralized, it opens the door for contaminants to attack your body. Some health risks if this approach to water purification is used could include cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and much more.

Reverse osmosis water filters advertise that they are great devices for residential use. This isn’t true. There are wide varieties of filtration devices that work better than reverse osmosis water filters. For example, ion exchange filters soften hard water. They can also remove more lead than reverse osmosis filters can. Ultraviolet radiation treatment kills more bacteria and microorganisms. Of all of these approaches to water filtration, the one that is the most efficient, however, is a carbon water filter.

Carbon filter devices are becoming more popular because they are efficient, easy to install and maintain, and economical. There are different types of carbon water filters that are designed to attach to your water supply entrance or kitchen faucets or even be used as a portable water pitcher filter.

With a carbon water filter, the healthy minerals are not removed from the water. Aquasana has filters for every area in your home that you could need. They are tested against contaminants that could be in your water. Aquasana specializes in providing and supporting carbon filtration devices that will provide clean and good- tasting water that will be healthy for you and your family.

What is the Difference Between a Point-of-Entry and a Point-of-Use Water Filter System?

Many people think that bottled water is the best way to get pure drinking water. There is something about water sold in a retail setting that makes people keep buying and buying the product. What they don’t know is that they might just be wasting their money on these bottles. They are also contributing greatly to the environmental problem we have right now.

The best option is having a home water filter system and a reusable water bottle that could be brought anywhere. This method has the portability and cleanliness that you seek in those water bottles. What you get that is better than bottled water is an unlimited supply at an economical cost and an assurance that the water you are drinking is clean, healthy, and tastes good.

There are two main types of home water filters for you to consider: point-of-use and point-of-entry. Point-of-use water filter system purifies the water right before it used. This is also done at only one area, such as the kitchen faucet.

There are 3 types of point-of-use water filter systems:

  1. Faucet-mounted systems. Water filters are connected to the faucet by a hose. If you want filtered water, adjust it and filtered water immediately goes through the filter and comes out purified. This is good for homes that use a lot of water for cooking purposes or homes with lots of people. Faucet-mounted water filter systems are very easy to install.
  2. Filtering pitchers. These are water pitchers that have a filter attached to it. All you need to do is put water in the pitcher and it immediately goes through the filter to provide you with filtered water. Also, you could put the pitcher in the refrigerator to chill, giving you cold drinking water. This is a convenient option but not recommended for those using a lot of water. You would need to add water to it a lot and even change the filter more often. This could be time-consuming and costly if used a lot. Filtering pitchers also do not give you clean water for cooking, cleaning, or showering.
  3. Under-the-sink filters. Not everyone can install these filters. They need someone with knowledge in installation, which could cost quite a bit of money. This type of filter does not need to be replaced often, which could be more cost-effective in the long term. With this, the filter is also out of your way and out of sight as well.

On the other hand, point-of-entry water filter systems purify the water before it enters the house. Water that runs through the pipes and comes out of all the faucets is filtered. There are many filtration methods used in point-of-entry water filters, including activated charcoal, ultraviolet light, and reverse osmosis. There are two types of point-of-entry water filter systems: in-basement models and outside-house models.

Point-of-entry and point-of-use water filter systems differ greatly. Your choice should be based on the condition of your water before filtration and the contaminants found in your water. You can find out the details about the level of contamination in your water by having a professional test your water.

No matter what type of water filter system you use, know that Aquasana has some of the most efficient water filter systems available today. By taking some time to get to know the wide selection of Aquasana water filters, you will find that they can accommodate any kind of water filtration need you might have.

Why is Aquasana Better than Mavea Water Filtration pitchers?

Water filtration pitchers seem like a great idea at first. They are a cheap way to get cleaner, healthier drinking water. While to some extent, this is true, water filtration pitchers not the be-all end-all solution for drinking water quality that you would hope for.

Many water filtration pitchers do not have the same stringent requirements that Aquasana water filters are subject to. Water filtration pitchers are not subject to any of the government regulations imposed upon standard water systems. You can never be sure what you are drinking when using a water filtration pitcher. Another disadvantage of pitchers is their slow filtering speed. It can take nearly half an hour for a full pitcher of water to be completely filtered. Unless you are only filtering water for a small family, this water will quickly run out and you will be forced to drink unfiltered tap water.

Along with the limited supply of filtered water you can produce, using only water fiiltration pitchers means the water you use to cook, clean your clothes, wash your dishes and take showers in will all still be unfiltered, contaminated water.  You will not be able to filter drinking water that comes from other sources like from your refrigerator water outlet, at a wet bar, from faucets in the bathrooms or the water that fills your automatic ice maker. So you are not getting very good protection from water contamination for you or for your family using only water filtration pitchers.

An Aquasana water filter can filter water at a faster rate and has a much higher capacity tank. It would take an extremely large group to drink enough water to overpower an Aquasana water filter. One advantage that water filtration pitchers do have is the initial investment. Purchasing a water filtration pitcher will be cheaper than a high quality water filter at first.

The filters in a pitcher will not last nearly as long, however, as those in an Aquasana water filter. You will find yourself constantly changing the filters in the pitcher in order to maintain the taste and purity of the water. In the long run, an  Aquasana water filter will save you money on the cost of repeatedly purchasing filters. In the end, it simply makes more sense to purchase an Aquasana water filter instead of a Mavea water filtration pitcher. Over the long run, they will cost less and clean your water better.

Why is Particulate Water Filtration Important?

Your drinking water leaves the water treatment plant and makes its way to the pipes through town and then into the plumbing system under your house. When that water gets to your home’s main supply line, it doesn’t have to simply go through the pipes “as is.” If the water first enters an Aquasana whole-house water filter, you then have one more level of protection against a wide variety of water contamination. After the contaminants in your water that the treatment plant doesn’t catch are captured by your Aquasana water filtration system, clean, pure water flows from your faucet into your glass.

Let’s take a closer look into the filters that you’ve come to depend on. All filters have an area where the contaminants are claptured That area is called particulate water filtration. This part is probably the most important when dealing with water filtration because without it you we wouldn’t have particle-free water.

Particulate water filtration is a mechanical operation that works in filters to remove small amounts of different particles. This filtration step cleans particles ranging from sand to clay from drinkable water. Because most home filters aren’t made to hold a large amount of particles, particulate water filtrations either work with another filter or by itself.

There are a number of different types of particulate water filtration devices. Which one is best for you will depend on what you need for your home. Surface screen and depth filters are the two different categories of particulate water filtration systems. Surface or screen filters remove particials near the surface. Two types of surface screen filters are ceramic filters and resin-bonded filters. Ceramic filters are cleanable which means they are reusable. They are made from a ceramic cylinder. Resin-bonded filters look like they are ceramic but are bound by resin. Both ceramic and resin-bonded filters work to catch contaminants that could harm you or your family.

Depth filters are wide filters that trap particles of various sizes. There are three different types: string-wound filters, spun-fiber filters, and pleated-fiber filters. A string-wound filter uses strings of polypropylene and nylon to form a criss-cross model. The second type of depth filter is a spun-fiber filter of synthetic fibers. These synthetic fibers make what looks like a fuzzy fiber tube. They’re made out of polypropylene and nylon or natural fibers. The third type of depth filter is a pleated-fiber filter of pressed and connected individual fibers. This filter can also be of a continuous membrane with small openings for water to flow through, but particles get trapped so they do not go on to be part of the drinking water that you and your family consume.

These particulate water filtration systems are meant to be used as part of a total water management program. They shouldn’t be left inactive for long periods of times to prevent things like bacterial growth, clogging, and release of collected bacteria when the particulate water filtration device is used again. By understanding the value of a particulate water filtration system and how to include this type of water filtering in your plan for making sure the water that comes to your home is safe and clean, you will be the one in charge of your water quality, not the city, state, or federal government. When you know it is you making the decisions about the quality of water your family gets, you know the job will get done right.

What Are Drinking Water Filters and How Do You Use Them?

Our water supply originates in the form of rain. It falls from the sky, becoming part of the earth in oceans, streams, and lakes, and is absorbed into land, settling in the water underground. Through this process it absorbs many minerals that are essential to human life. Unfortunately, it also absorbs many harmful contaminants. While some of the contaminants have natural sources, most are chemicals introduced into the water and air by humans. Some are introduced through the products we use, manufacturing, and farming. Most are put into the water through water treatment plants as a means to disinfect and clean the water. This makes truly natural water a rarity.

Filtration systems are a way to get the water that enters our home as close to its safe and natural state as possible. The simplest and most effective way is the carbon water filter, according to HeartSpring.net. These carbon filters are made from coconut husks and absorb the contaminants from your drinking water as it passes through. They are easy to install and will filter out all the major contaminants that are still left in your drinking water after it is treated by your water treatment facility. These filters still allow the minerals that are essential to your health through, however.

To use drinking water filters you simply install them on your water faucets, either on the countertop or below. The water from the faucet is first pulled through the filtration system and then back out of the spout. Aquasana manufacturers the best filtration systems on the market. Their systems not only use carbon filters but ion exchange, where lead is exchanged with potassium ions that enhance the pH of the water. They also use sub-micron filtration, which removes cysts from your water.

Which Common Water Purifying Technique is better, Boiling or Filtration?

Boiling water has long been acknowledged as the best way of making sure that water is free of bacteria water contamination and fit for drinking. This notion has been handed down from generation to generation and is one of the common water purifying techniques that is still held as absolute truth in society today.

Unfortunately, there is as much myth as absolute truth about this common water purifying technique. Although boiling water is a common technique, it has numerous disadvantages. Those disadvantages ultimately make filtering your water a far better option if you want to drink the purest water possible.

The common water purifying technique of boiling literally involves bringing water to a boil in order to disinfect it. In short, this particular technique kills many of the microorganisms that live within the water and could potentially cause illness in the individuals that drink it before the bacteria and other organisms are killed. For example, Giardia lambilia and Cryptosporidium are both microorganisms that cause disease and that are also killed by boiling the water. The latter is resistant to disinfection and so it is absolutely necessary to kill it via boiling, although it is possible to remove it filtering as well.

However, although boiling water may purify water by removing bacteria, there are disadvantages with the technique. For example, water has to be boiled for at least one minute to be effective and even at that level, boiling does not necessarily kill all bacteria.

Furthermore, boiling can only remove solids and bacteria. This common water purifying technique will not remove other contaminants and in fact, boiling simply serves to concentrate lead rather than boiling it off. Chlorine is another substance that will not be removed via boiling water. This is because the boiling points for these substances are far higher than for boiling water.

Aquasana filters are far more effective a method for purifying water than the common water purifying technique of boiling water. For starters, the water that evaporates during boiling is automatically lost. There is no water lost at all with an effective and efficient Aquasana water filter.

Similarly, contaminated water vapor may also boil off and thus fill the atmosphere in your home. An Aquasana filter will prevent all contaminants from getting in your drinking water because they are filtered out. This includes chemicals like chlorine and metals like lead. It also includes parasites like Giardia and Crypto. As such, filtering water can remove far more foreign particles and potentially harmful substances than boiling can.

Boiling all of your water is not very practical for most families. By installing a reliable Aquasana filter, you get that little extra peace of mind that your drinking water is pure and safe without any additional effort by you. Aquasana water filters can be fitted to individual showers or faucets, or even the whole house should you so wish.

Filtering your water will remove the vast majority of contaminants and chemicals, improve the taste of your water and will also ensure that no substances that come into your home via water will be floating around your bathroom as contaminated water vapor and get into your lungs. Aquasana most definitely offers a better option for purifying water than relying on the common water purifying technique of boiling it, so it is worth looking at the filter options you have sooner rather than later.

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