Homemade Water Filter

More people are getting concerned about the quality of the water that flows through our taps for drinking, showering and cleaning purposes because even though it passes quality control...

What is a Whole House Water Filter?

A whole house filter connects to the main water line entering your house so that all of the water dispensers in your house, faucets, toilets, showers, baths, kitchen, laundry, dispense treated water. Typically the whole house water filter is connected to the main water line before it splits into the hot water heater. Customers wishing to purify the water to their garden and sprinkler systems may find this to be a bit more challenging as the main water line coming off the city system often splits off into a "house" water line and a "yard" water line in the house's foundation slab or in the ground before the house. Consult your house's blueprint or city water utility for further details.

Choosing The Whole House Water Filter System Best For You

There are a variety of whole house water filter systems that you can choose from and the main deciding point should be the answer if the house in which you are going to install it is rented or owned; for rented houses you will require whole house water filter systems that can be removed when you decide to move while for your own home you can invest in the more expensive types that are advantageous in the long run and do not need removing.

Whole house water filter are installed directly in the pipe at the source from where water is supplied to the entire house and can cost anywhere from $99 to a few thousand dollars depending on the brand, type, size and life span it carries. All whole house water filters need changing periodically and that needs to be taken in calculation when you decide on any one type, as that can cost you considerable taking in account that the flow of water through this filter of higher than that from just a tap and an inexpensive whole house water filter will probably makes its money in the filter replacements.

We receive our water from the sky.

It falls to earth and percolates through the earth, into streams, whirling, tumbling, absorbing light photons, energy and the minerals essential for healthy life. When it is drunk, the minerals and energy it offers are absorbed and converted to energy, and it passes back into the earth and the sea - where it evaporates to continue this perfect natural cycle. The intricate perfection of the snowflake is testament to water's structural integrity as it falls, pure and new, from the sky. Natural water is a rarity today due to industrial contamination, woodland loss and the need for centralized water storage.

Water must be capable of absorption if it is to benefit us. Water in its natural form can be seen on a previous page. Compare this to the microscope picture of polluted, processed and piped municipal water. This is the meaning of live and dead water.
Filtration is just the first step

Restorative technology has taken giant steps in the last thirty years but it is only recently that it has reached USA shores. Here at HeartSpring.net, we love investigating, testing and learning about the new technologies.

There is not one answer for all water problems.
1. The simple yet effective carbon water filters

These systems are easy to install, relatively inexpensive, and cover the basic functions of filtration. Water filter charcoal medium carbon is derived from coconut husk . This absorbs impurities as the water passes through. This form of filter comprises possibly 95% of those in use domestically. They are simple to install, relatively economical, and depending on micron level, will filter out the most deadly of contaminants, Cryptosporidium and Guardia.

An average charcoal filter will last a family 6-9 months. Some charcoal filters are enhanced by the use of activated nano-silver, which provides extra antibacterial protection, killing around 650 known types of organisms. Minerals in solution can still permeate a charcoal filter. These minerals are essential to health.

In situations where sediment is a problem it is worthwhile to add a second separate in-line sediment prefilter. Otherwise the more expensive charcoal filter will become clogged up long before its normal lifespan.
Charcoal water filters come in various forms

a. Carbon Block is a solidified form of honeycombed carbon. It is the best form of filter but flow rate is significantly slower than with loose charcoal.

b. Activated Silver Impregnated Charcoal. Sometimes called Chlorgon, this adds chloramine exclusion and bacteria killing ability to the basic carbon.

c. Micron Rating.

Anything 1 micron rating or below will inhibit Cryptosporidium and Guardia as the cysts are larger than this in size. Viruses cannot be inhibited by a filter with a micron rating of more than 0.01 microns.

Carbon filters cannot change the pH balance of the water. If you have acidic water, you will still have acidic water, as the minerals causing the acidity will be dissolved and therefore will pass through the carbon filter.

Carbon filters may be susceptible to mould attack if left unused over extended periods. It is important to realize that a filter gathers the 'garbage' in your tap water, and the organic component of this garbage is quite capable of rotting. Add a little summer humidity to the already damp internals of a carbon filter and you may have a mould attack. Taste will always be the deciding factor, and if the taste of the water suddenly changes after an extended period of non-use, such as your annual vacation, change the filter.

Note also that carbon filters reduce in efficiency the longer they are in use. For this reason regular filter replacement is essential
2. Water Distillers

People believed that the purest water had the least chance of allowing harmful organisms to enter the body, and distillation certainly rids water of all impurities. However in recent years there has been growing awareness of distilled water's effects on the balance of minerals in the body, plus the acidic result that a typical distiller creates.
People now realize that dissolved minerals in the water are more natural than pure water, and serve an important function in supporting the body's immune system and metabolism.
3. Ceramic Water Filters

Ceramic water filters come as a cartridge that fits a normal bench top filter. At the core of the ceramic filter element is Diatomaceous Earth, a fossil substance, made up of tiny silicon shells left by trillions of microscopic, one celled algae called diatoms that have inhabited the waters of the earth for the last 150 million years.

Some ceramic filters incorporate nano-silver impregnated into a porous ceramic outer shell that can trap bacteria down to as low as .22 of a micron in particle size [1/100,000 of an inch].

Laboratories consider a filtering medium with an effective pore size of .01 micron to .45 micron to be bacteriologically sterile and .45 micron to 1.0 micron to be bacteriologically safe. Re growth of bacteria that becomes trapped either on the outside of the element or in the ceramic's pores is controlled by the silver which, on contact with water, releases small quantities of positively charged metals ions.

These ions are taken into the enzyme system of the bacteria's cell and thereby neutralize it. The flow rate of the ceramic filter can be renewed by brushing its outer surface under running water. As the top layer of ceramic and contaminants are brushed off and flushed away, a new layer becomes available.

Flow rate of ceramic water filters are slow.
4. Reverse Osmosis Filters

Originally developed to process water in submarines, the reverse osmosis process basically draws water through an extremely fine membrane. The membrane act like an extremely fine filter to create drinkable water from salty (or otherwise contaminated) water. The contaminated water is put on one side of the membrane and pressure is applied to stop, and then reverse, the osmotic process. It generally takes a lot of pressure and is fairly slow, but it works. The result is extremely finely filtered water.

However, as already mentioned, water without minerals can be a health problem. Dr. Zoltan Rona has authored an excellent paper on 'Pure Water' recommending in no uncertain terms against its continued consumption. According to the U.S. EPA, "Distilled water (which is identical to RO water ~Ed), being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact. Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water." Dr Rona adds; "Longevity is associated with the regular consumption of hard water (high in minerals). Disease and early death is more likely to be seen with the long term drinking of distilled water." As Reverse Osmosis produced water is identical in nature to distilled water we can make the same assumptions.

5. Ultra Violet Radiation Systems

UV systems use high frequency light to irradiate water through a glass element. Water passing the element is exposed to the light, which kills all living organisms.

UV systems are very common in Third world hotels etc where the possibility of serious disease occurring from local water consumption is high, especially from fecal matter in the water.

Although an excellent sterilizing system, it is impossible to know whether the system is always working without a laboratory analysis of the output water. For this reason the more sophisticated systems incorporate an hour counter so a new element can be replaced at a safe interval.
6. Atmospheric Water Generators

Atmospheric water generators intake air, processing moisture from the air to create water. Similar to a dehumidifier, refrigerant circulates through a chiller array, (coils or plates) lower in temperature than the humidity (dew point) of the intake air temperature. This causes condensation of water that collects on a chilled spinning disk, shedding and channeling the condensed water into a holding tank. Output performance is dependent on the humidty prresent in the air with operational humidity ranging from 35% to 95%. Once the water is condensed, UV light, ozone, and various filtration methods such as reverse osmosis create fresh, clean drinking water. The system doesn't require a water source since it performs like a "water factory" making water from the mosture in air.
7. THE NEW TECHNOLOGY: A Quantum Leap

In the last forty years there have been amazing advances in water filtration technology. This has come in part from the work of Russian scientists on ionized water, but also from the research of Viktor Schauberger, an Austrian inventor who recognizes that water was far more than something to wash garbage out of our body and quench thirst. His work found that water indeed has a memory, and that this memory can be restored. The systems you will now see all go at least some way to fulfilling the dreams of these inspired pioneers.