Hello World! Welcome Friends! Water is easily the single most important substance required by living organisms. It may share the same level of importance with air. While every living requires water, our focus here is water that is suitable for human consumption which is known as potable water.
Water and its availability in potable a form is so important that it is one of the major goals of the United Nations according to this article here. While some other parts of the world are suffering scarcity of water in general, we have good water supply and in many cases this water supply comes from treatment plants where they are treated. Even with this, we still face some contamination issues that we cannot always wait for the government to come fix.
As a result of this, a lot of homes are having home filtration systems installed to ensure that the water they use is as pure as can be. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Given the above, what we want to do here is look at this subject with a view to discussing the different options available and which will be best for you depending on your purification needs.
Understanding the Need for Filtration
Like we started discussing above, a lot of us live in areas where we receive already treated water so we more or less do not fall into the category of folks who really have a scarcity of potable water. However, because of the quantity of water that these water management agencies have to purify for the population, they mostly use chemicals like chlorine and the water flows through pipes and your faucet before getting into your cup. In some cases, it picks up some contaminants along the way. This can include other chemicals or elements like lead.
In other cases, especially for those who have their own water system taken from ground water like in farms, you could have cases of pesticides used in the farm leeching into the ground water thereby contaminating it. It could also be living organisms like bacteria, fungi, algae etc.
Overall, it is safer to have your personal filtration system as a last line of defense that the water has to go through before getting into your body.
Types of Filtration Systems
Let’s now look at some methods currently used for different filtration systems.
Reverse Osmosis
If you know what osmosis is, then this method is simply the opposite of it. In osmosis, there are two sides demarcated by a semi-permeable membrane. The membrane allows for the movement of water from the side with a lower concentration to the side with a greater concentration of contaminants. The aim of this process is to achieve a balance of concentration across both sides.
In reverse osmosis, there are still two sides and a semi-permeable membrane. However, rather than allowing for the movement of water from the area of lower concentration to the area of higher centration so as to achieve balance, this method uses some form of pressure on the area of higher concentration to further push out more water through the membrane to the area of lower concentration.
The aim of this method is to achieve 100% concentration on one side and 0% concentration on the other side. In water filtration, the concentrates will be contaminants. This method is considered effective for the removal of bacteria and viruses.
Granular-Activated Carbon
This is probably the most common method used in home systems. This involves the use of granules of activated carbon. An activated carbon simply refers to any carbon material that has been exposed to steam and really high temperatures without oxygen being present.
When water passes through these granules, the contaminant particles get attached to the granules, allowing water flow through without them. This happens in a process called adsorption.
Some contaminants that this method can handle include: cadmium, chlorine, copper, sediment, trihalomethanes and some others.
Water Distillation
This method is probably one of the oldest methods used for purifying water. This method involves boiling water to the temperature at which it evaporates. It is then distilled or allowed to cool and reform as water in another container. Other substances that have higher evaporating temperatures are thereby separated from water.
The down side to this is that any substance that has an evaporating temperature that is lower or close to that of water will likely get in with the distilled water. This means that another filtration method has to be added to filter these other substances out.
There is another not so common method known as IE (Ion Exchange) Treatment. Though this method is getting more popular, we will not get into it in this article.
Which is Best for You?
Like we mentioned above, there are cases where more than one method is combined into one filtration system to achieve a higher level of filtration. Based on this and the process recommended by this site: https://www.waterfiltermania.com, we will make some recommendations on how you can choose which method is best for you.
Identify the Problem
The first thing you need to do is identify what exactly the issue is. Does your water smell or taste funny? Does it look or feel funny? Once you have identified what the problem is, you can move to the next step.
Carry out Some Research
Go get a water test kit. There are home models you can use for your personal test. You can also request for and get the report on what your municipality has to say about the water in your locality.
Define the Task
From the second task above, you should now be able to put a finger on the exact reason why what you noticed in step one is happening. This means you know exactly what needs to be removed from your water.
Review Products
Finally, and based on the three steps you have taken above, you should now review the available products to find out which of the different systems available can remove ALL the contaminants you have identified in your water system.
Conclusion
Water is too important for you to leave unchecked or untreated. Take some time today to ensure that the water you and your family take and use is pure enough for consumption.
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Toodles,
Thanks for this comprehensive post on water filtration types. I hope to read more about the ion exchange filtration process. Thanks for sharing keep up the good work.
I had no idea that reverse osmosis can be done to clean water from contaminants and adsorption can get rid of cadmium, chlorine, copper, sediment, and trihalomethanes. My cousin has been thinking about getting a water filter system for his home because he has noticed that the tap water comes out tinged orange and tastes slightly metallic so he thinks that there might be copper in it. Getting a system from a professional for his home could help him ensure that he has drinkable water easily available.
I have been using different reverse osmosis systems throughout the years and living in London (tap water is very hard) it has really helped me in drinking more water. As to the direct effect on my health, I did not really see any difference.