| Choosing Great Drinking Water Filters |
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If you're tired of shelling out hundreds of dollars a year for bottled water, or if you are looking for a cheap alternative to your not-so-great tap water, you should look into getting a drinking water filter. There are several different kinds of filters for sale today, each with pros and cons. One is certain to work well for your drinking water needs. Basic activated carbon filters are the cheapest drinking water filter solution you'll find. These filters are sold at your local grocery store for less than $50 for the faucet connection and initial filters, and replacement filters are very inexpensive. The water from these filters is very good; they work by forcing ordinary tap water through layers of activated carbon. The carbon pulls impurities from the water as it passes through, retaining chlorine and bacteria while allowing purified, better-tasting water through. Your water comes out cleaner, and retains most of the healthful minerals like calcium that make drinking water so good for you. If you want to remove other contaminants like chlorine or lead, you need to move up a level, to an reverse osmosis drinking water filter. These filters are very different from the carbon filters; they install under your counter, and your water generally comes from a second faucet that draws from the reservoir of purified water created by the osmotic filter. Ordinary tap water enters the filter at the back, often runs through a carbon filter, and then goes through a series of osmotic filters that allow pure water in, but block everything else. Water that still has contaminants gets rinsed out of the filter system later, and the purified water goes to the reservoir for use. These filters are so powerful they can filter salt out of ocean water, and in fact were first invented to use on submarines to provide a consistent supply of drinking water during long voyages. Reverse osmosis drinking water filters are very slow, but produce a pretty good quantity of water in the reservoir, and it is easily of bottled-water quality. You can figure on your osmotically-purified water costing you about five cents a gallon in most places, a large improvement on buying it in the store. Water that is rejected should be directed into your gray water storage if you have one, where it can be sprayed on your garden and lawn. Though it's not quite a drinking water filter, you may have an ultraviolet filter added at the end of your reverse osmosis water filter, particularly in places that have contaminated water. A good UV filter will destroy any living contaminants, ensuring that your supply of water is as clean as possible. So the best reverse osmosis water filters actually have three different filters in a series to ensure the purity of your drinking water supply. Similar to activated carbon drinking water filters is a ceramic water filter. These are based on the same ideas behind commercial water filtration, and use diatomaceous earth to remove contaminants from water passing through them in a similar fashion to activated carbon. The water that comes out is as good as water from an activated carbon filter. Use your own needs and budget to determine which type of drinking water filter is the best choice for you. Osmotic filters are perfect for people who spend a lot of money on grocery-store bottled water, while those seeking just a little more filtration in their tap water will do well with ceramic and carbon drinking water filters. About the Author: Trent Barrett is a consultant who reviews water filters at whole House Water Purifiers. You can visit their homepage to learn more about Home water Purifiers. |
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