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When choosing a suitable home water filter, you must consider several important factors. Each filtration system must be individually tailored to the client, not only based on water analysis but also on the required volume or purpose of the filtered water.
Before you start contacting sellers of water filters, you should first have a professional water analysis done in an accredited laboratory and answer several important questions:
What types of contamination did the water analysis reveal?
Is the water cloudy, discoloured, does it have a bad taste or smell?
Is the source of drinking water the water supply, a private well, or a borehole?
What is the required volume of filtered water?
What is the purpose of the water usage?
For choosing the right water filter, the first two points are, of course, the most important. Based on the water analysis, or considering the bad taste or cloudiness, an expert will determine what types of impurities need to be removed from the water, and thus what filtration methods need to be used. This could involve a mechanical impurity filter, various water treatment systems, water disinfection, or a combination of these. By determining the appropriate types of filtration and water treatment, you ensure the optimal composition of the water.
It is equally important to consider the source of drinking water, volume, and purpose of its use. This will determine whether it is necessary to install a comprehensive entry filtration system in the building, or whether much simpler and cheaper tap filters, or even just a filter jug, will suffice.
An entry filter is a large-volume filter system placed on the main water supply to the house. This means that all the water used in the building is filtered through it.
It is a relatively complex device, and you need to account for higher acquisition costs and more demanding maintenance. The size of the filter vessel must be chosen with regard to the volume of filtered water to ensure a continuous supply of clean water to all pipes. The advantage is an unlimited source of drinking water of the highest possible quality and the ability to combine any number of filters and water treatment systems according to the water composition and client preferences.
An entry filter is essential if you draw water from a private well or borehole, especially in year-round inhabited family homes. This large-volume filtration system ensures that quality, safe water flows from every tap. All the water in the building will thus be suitable for direct consumption and cooking, personal hygiene, watering plants, or cleaning. Additionally, it ensures a longer lifespan for household appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, or coffee makers.
Conversely, an entry filter is completely unnecessary if you draw water from waterworks, the water analysis did not reveal any excessive levels of undesirable substances, and the water is not cloudy or smelly. In the case of seasonally inhabited recreational properties, this system may be unnecessarily oversized, and often it is sufficient if the water is filtered with a so-called tap filter.
A battery filter is installed on one tap, usually in the kitchen.
Tap filters, or point-of-use filters, are installed on a specific tap, usually in the kitchen. Water from the remaining taps will thus be unfiltered. These filters are usually installed under the sink, but there are also systems that are installed at the end of the tap – in such cases, the filter is placed on the kitchen counter and has a lower volume of filter media, and therefore lower filtration reliability.
The most common filter medium is activated carbon, which removes a wide range of contaminants and improves the taste and smell of the water. Some tap filters also offer multi-stage filtration with the removal of mechanical impurities or microorganisms. Due to the low volume of filtered water, this filtration is not one hundred percent and can only be considered a way to improve the quality of tap water, not to solve proven problems. The advantage, on the other hand, is the low price, compact size, and easy installation, which you can manage yourself.
A tap water filter is ideal for households that draw water from waterworks and are not satisfied with its quality, especially with the content of disinfectant chemicals. These worsen the taste of the water and can cause health problems for more sensitive individuals. However, if the water is otherwise safe, there is no point in filtering water throughout the building – we consume only 2 percent of water for direct consumption.
A point-of-use filter can also be recommended for recreational properties with their own water source and low consumption, where owners only need one source of drinking water in the kitchen and will draw utility water from the remaining taps – for watering or cleaning. This only applies if the water meets drinking water standards. A battery filter contains a filter cartridge with limited effectiveness and cannot reliably remove dangerous types of contamination.
When is a tap filter not enough? Especially if your water contains various microorganisms or excessive levels of dangerous chemicals. Even if a tap filter provides a source of safe water for direct consumption, it is important to remember that these dangerous substances can also threaten your health during personal hygiene.
Filter jugs or carafes are independent containers with filter media, most commonly with a cartridge containing activated carbon. These containers usually have a volume of up to 2 litres, and the cheapest ones cost a few hundred crowns. The advantage is mainly the low purchase price and easy maintenance. Replacing filter cartridges is also much cheaper than replacing filter inserts in water filters or buying bottled water. The disadvantage is low reliability and a very limited volume of filtered water.
If you only want to improve the taste of water and remove chlorine, a filter jug will suffice.
Container water filters can only be recommended for households that draw water from waterworks and want to improve the taste of water intended for drinking. A carbon filter removes most chemicals, including chlorine, and small impurities causing cloudiness and odour. Given the low volume of water filtered in this way, one filter container can provide a drinking regime for one person.
Filter cartridges do not have one hundred percent effectiveness and cannot be considered a full-fledged filtration. Therefore, if you have a proven problem with the quality of drinking water, choose a battery filter or an entry filter.
The quality of water in the Czech Republic is high, some households even have water comparable to bottled infant water. Therefore, if the water analysis did not reveal contamination, consider only installing a mechanical impurity filter, which will remove microplastics and other small particles from the water.
Trust only specialized companies and have the analysis done in an accredited laboratory. If you draw tap water from the supply, you can obtain information about its composition from the local waterworks. Door-to-door sellers use various deceptive practices and fake water quality tests to sell you expensive and unnecessary equipment. A typical example is sellers of reverse osmosis, which completely devalues quality water and produces non-potable water.
Proper installation and regular maintenance of filters are as important as their selection. If you do not regularly clean the filters and replace the filter cartridges according to the manufacturer's instructions, the filtration will not work properly.
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