Have you ever come across a question which answers itself? For example, the answer to “Do you need to drink clean water?” is a resounding “Yes''. However, you might not be too sure about how water filters keep you safe or which water purifier for home you need to use or even, whether it is worth getting a water filter in the first place. Today we will take you through the answer to the question "is a water filter worth it?”.
First of all, let us see what are the potential risks if you don’t use a water filter. Not using a whole house water filtration system means that you are at the mercy of the quality of the local municipal water supply or any private water supply (for example, a borewell). Generally speaking, the municipal water supply is filtered and decontaminated at the starting point. However, there is a high chance that the water will get recontaminated while flowing through the supply pipes. This means that you might end up consuming harmful chemicals or get infected by bacteria/viruses, which can cause ailments in the short and long term. You definitely do not want to be brought down by a bout of diarrhoea or cholera now, do you?
Now comes the next question - how a water filter works to keep you safe? The ways are many, but water is purified using a combination of some or most of the following techniques:
1. Filtering
This involves the use of filters with pores of various sizes. These filters remove sediments, soil particles from the water and act as a “protective layer” for further filtration mechanisms. These can also contain charcoal filters to remove organic and odour-causing materials.
2. Reverse Osmosis and Ultrafiltration
In this, dissolved impurities, heavy metals and pathogens like bacteria and viruses are removed from the water.
3. Ultraviolet (UV) sterilisation
Here, a UV lamp sterilises the water and kills ant pathogens leftover from the previous stages.
4. Last but not the least, some filters can reintroduce essential minerals in the water to regularise its pH, which can be affected during the reverse osmosis process.
The last and the most important question is “Which water filter do I need?”. The answer depends on various factors like
1. Original source of water. Water from lakes is generally cleaner than that from deep borewells
2. Presence of suspended solids like soil, sand etc. in water supply
3. Amount of total dissolved solids
4. Condition of water supply pipes. Rusted pipes can increase the number of heavy metals and pathogens in the water
Depending on the number of impurities and pathogens in the incoming water supply, you will need to get a filter with more filters and membranes. More the impurities, more the filters needed. If the water supply contains hard water, you will need to go for a filter containing RO membrane and a remineralising filter.
We hope you have found this article useful. Whatever your water needs may be, Bepure with its large collection is the answer to your question “Which water filter is best?”.
Do check out our wide range of water filter systems and other water solutions products.
