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How to choose a water filter for your home

Drinking water is vital for humans, yet we usually do not pay enough attention to its quality. People often solve water filtration only when their tap water is visibly cloudy or their faucets become clogged. However, mechanical impurities are far from the only source of water pollution. How to easily increase the quality of drinking water and what method of water filtration is suitable for a family house?

Water from a public supply, a well and a borehole: which is of the highest quality?

Whether you use water from a water supplier or your own well water at home, it is never absolutely clean. How does the quality of individual sources and types of water differ?

Although tap drinking water from the municipal water supply is subject to strict controls, it also contains various chemicals. It is most often chlorine, which removes unwanted microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria. In addition, there are traces of pollution in the tap water, which the wastewater treatment plant cannot remove well enough. These are mainly drug residues from wastewater and nitrates from industry and agriculture.

Drilled well water is generally of the highest quality. Drilled wells are deep enough to prevent surface contamination from entering the soil. However, even the highest quality wells become polluted over time, and further pollution can occur during transporting water to the water supply system. In addition, this water is not disinfected and contains various soil microorganisms.

On the other hand, water from a dug well is of the lowest quality and may not even meet the criteria for drinking water, because rainwater seeps in into such shallow wells and, among other things, surface pollution from agricultural fertilizers, transport and industry. Home treatment of drinking water from a well is essential for your health.

Drinking water needs to be filtered.

How to find out the water quality

Water pollution can be distinguished between:

  • chemical (chlorine, drugs, disinfectants, etc.),
  • mechanical (sand, rust, microplastics, etc.),
  • organic (viruses, bacteria, etc.).

You can find out the exact content of individual pollutants only by a professional water analysis, which determines whether the individual values ​​meet the limits of the government standards on drinking water requirements. This option is especially important for water from wells and boreholes, as no one else is responsible for the quality of your water.

How to choose a water filter for your home

Water filtration is important for our health, no matter what source we get our water from. When choosing a water filter, focus on:

  • water source: whether you have well or public water supply,
  • volume of filtered water: whether you want to treat it in the whole building or only in one of the taps,
  • the kinds of dirt.

Well or borehole water filters for drinking water

Well or borehole water can be contaminated mechanically, chemically and organically. For well owners, the best choice are inlet filters, which can be part of a domestic waterworks. These high-volume filters manage to clean all your entering water, from mechanical, chemical and organic impurities.

In the case of recreational homes, simpler filters at the point of use or tap filters, which filter water only on a specific tap, are often sufficient. In this way, you can treat the kitchen water or, for example, bathroom water, while you will have unfiltered service water available from the other taps.

Mains water filters for drinking water

If you get water from a municipal water supply, focus mainly on chemical treatment, as the presence of mechanical and organic impurities can be ruled out. But how to remove chlorine from drinking water? You can also use faucet filters for this purpose, which are easy to install and at much lower price than inlet filters.

If your analysis has shown high water quality, a filtering kettle may be enough for you, as you can simply treat only the water intended for consumption. Low sub-limit values ​​of chemical additives do not matter during cooking or washing, but drinking water should always be treated.

Principles of filtration and water treatment and their use for various types of pollution

Each water filter works on a different principle, each of which is suitable for a different type of pollution. For domestic use, the most common combination is mechanical and carbon filtration, which solves most water quality problems. An additional capillary filter is suitable for water from a well or borehole. Depending on the results of the water analysis, additional water treatment options can be added for specific problems.

Mechanical filtration

It is especially important for well water. A mechanical filter uses a fine screen to remove mechanical impurities from water, which improves water quality and prolongs the life of hot water pipes and, consequently, faucets and appliances.

Honeywell water filter.

Carbon filter

In addition to organic and chemical impurities, activated carbon also removes odors, residues of medicines, industrial fertilizers and disinfectants from the water, but at the same time does not deplete your water of essetial minerals. A carbon water filter is a very effective and popular way of filtering water.

Capillary filter

A capillary filter is added to the mechanical and carbon filters in the case of non-disinfected well water where there is a risk of microorganisms.

Other specific water problems

Although minerals in water are desirable, their higher levels (hard water) create limescale, which deposits in taps and appliances. In this case, it is advisable to install a hard water filter, also known as a water softener, which removes excess minerals.

ATTENTION: The membrane filtration or reverse osmosis, which is sometimes recommended for water softening, removes all minerals and creates distilled water, which is not suitable for drinking. This method of filtration can only be used when filtering water into appliances or industry.

In the case of ferrous water, which also does not have a negative effect on health, but causes unwanted corrosion, an iron and manganese filter can be used. Agricultural areas are characterized by an increased incidence of nitrates and nitrites in the water. An annex filter will solve this problem.