What You Need to Know About Water Filters

What You Need to Know About Water Filters

Nadir Chaudhry30/1/20

Water filtration is an effective way to look after your overall health and enjoy the most popular beverage in the world. The practice dates back to an Ancient Greek physician called Hippocrates—famous for the Hippocratic Oath doctors take—who developed the idea of pouring water through a cloth to clear it of sediment.

Later in the 16th century, Hans and Zacharias Janssen discovered how to cut and polish a lens to make objects under it seem bigger. Their research inspired one Antonie van Leeuwenhoek to invent the microscope some 70 years later, allowing scientists and engineers to test how effective their water filters were against tiny organisms like viruses and bacteria.

Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope led to experiments with a variety of materials like sand, wool, sponge, and charcoal, the last of which is still used today. Scientists arranged them in different filtration processes to figure out which ones produced the purest water. Their efforts culminated in the first domestic water filters hitting the market mid-way through the 18th century.

At PureFilters, we are extremely proud to contribute to the long and storied history of water filtration. This is why, besides providing you with top-quality furnace filters to improve your indoor air quality, we also carry water filters for your home. We’ve curated a selection of sought-after brands so you can cook your meals, clean your house, and hydrate after a long workout in the safest and healthiest possible way.

A city’s filtration system will use chemicals like chlorine to make water that is safe to drink, but it may have an off-putting colour and carry a strong mineral odour. These are not aesthetically pleasing qualities. They are due to the water still containing impurities the chemical treatment was not sophisticated enough to remove. This explains the need for a state-of-the-art water filter to make your tap water taste as crisp and refreshing as can be.

When choosing water filters for your fridge and fixtures, it’s important to know about the different kinds of filters available. That way, you’ll get maximum value out of every dollar you spend. Here’s a look at four of the most effective.

Perfect Water Filter

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis filters use a multi-stage filtration process where larger particles are removed first using charcoal. During the following stage, a motor pushes small organic particles responsible for how your water smells and tastes through a semipermeable membrane, leaving you with nothing but the purest water to keep you energized throughout the day.

Though the particles can be smaller than a micron, reverse osmosis does not protect you from all bacteria, which can be even smaller than that. Read on to learn about how ultraviolet water filters can keep your water free of microorganisms.

A reverse osmosis filter can also be inefficient because its motor forces water as well as tiny particles out of the semipermeable membrane. Depending on the manufacturer, it is estimated that up to 50% of water used is lost in the filtration process.

It is paramount that we empower our customers to make informed decisions about their water quality. We believe it’s the only way to earn your trust when it comes to welcoming PureFilters products into your home. When you order from us, our expert customer service representatives will make your experience stress and hassle-free.

Activated Carbon

Activated carbon filters use charcoal that’s been treated with oxygen to create extra pores on its surface. These pores are perfect for trapping minute particles and keeping them from contaminating your delicious glass of water. Charcoal also has natural crags and ridges that filter larger particles too.

You can use these filters to rid your tap water of chlorine, mercury, lead, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds that can make their way into the water supply. They’re also great for refrigerators with ice and water dispensers. Pay attention to the size of the carbon’s pores, because they determine how effective the filtration will be. Those with the greatest surface area are found in Granular Activated Carbon, while those with the least are found in Powdered Activated Carbon.

As a company that prides itself on customer service, we at PureFilters care deeply about the quality of your drinking water and how it is inextricably linked to your quality of life. To make sure you never drink sub-par water, we now offer a monthly subscription service with door-to-door delivery! Contact us to learn more about how we’ve been improving the lives of our customers one sink or fridge at a time.

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet water filters use radiation to zap harmful bacteria and viruses, but must be used in conjunction with other filtration methods to remove larger particles immune to the radiation, such as:

  • Metals
  • Salts
  • Petroleum products
  • Pharmaceuticals

What you should know is that the water needs to be clear for the radiation to work. If that condition is met, it will kill 99.9% of all microorganisms in your water without using chemicals or producing any kind of waste. The only maintenance you need to take care of is changing the filter’s ultraviolet lamp once a year.

Ion-Exchange

Ion-exchange filters remove calcium and magnesium from your drinking water and put sodium in its place. They can accomplish this because the three elements have ions with similar electrical charges. That means the filter can swap calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions and remove your water’s harsh mineral taste. The effect is known as ‘water softening’ because it makes water lighter and more enjoyable to drink.

These filters are good for houses with pipes prone to mineral build-up. They can also serve as a pre-filter before a reverse osmosis system to prevent mineral build-up on the semipermeable membrane.

Though ion-exchange filters produce less than 5% waste water, they do have a number of drawbacks. For one, you’ll need to periodically refill the filter with sodium ions by purchasing special salts at your local hardware store. We must also point out that these filters are more about taste than purification. When it comes to microorganisms, you’ll want to go with reverse osmosis or ultraviolet water filters instead.

Water is the source of life and perhaps the most important substance to humanity as a whole. Our team at PureFilters takes this very seriously and we strive to do our best to bring you delicious, potable water whenever the craving hits. Give us a call and we’d love to guide you through our impressive selection of water filters to find the right one for you.

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