green water filters

Looking to buy a water filter or a reverse osmosis system? Here are some of the things you must know to before spending your hard earned cash on investing in your family's health and wellbeing.

You are of course concerned about your tap water and looking to filter it. This article will give you the basic run down to choosing a water filter that is suitable for your family needs.

Our government is responsible for treating our water, but can we trust the age-old pipes the water has to pass through before it reaches our homes? The technology used to treat the municipal water has not changed in tens of years, but the number of contaminants and new chemicals that end up in our water has increased tremendously.

Instead of leaving the fate of your family's health in our government's hands, a good choice would be to invest in a good quality water filter to give us our peace of mind.

The main concerns in our tap water are:

* - Giardia and other Chlorine resistant parasites
* - Heavy metals due to the age-old pipes
* - Insecticides & Pesticides
* - Chlorine
* - Taste
* - Smell
* - Sediments

There are thousands of water filters in the market and so many different technologies in water filtration.

The most commonly used technology is Carbon filtration. Activated Carbon is widely known and used for its chemical and heavy metal absorption properties. It effectively removes Chlorine, heavy metals and Volatile Organic Compounds such as insecticides and pesticides.

The Activated Carbon does have a life span after which its effectiveness reduces. So you need to make sure that you replace the filter periodically. The benefit of using Carbon is that it does not add any contaminants into the water, unlike resins such as Activated Alumina etc.

If you are concerned about Sediments, discoloration or parasites such as bacteria and Giardia - a ceramic water filter water filter can do wonders. The quality of filtration is determined by the pore size of the ceramic, usually measured in microns.

1 micron = one thousandth of a millimeter

A 1micron size ceramic filter would remove most bacteria and also Cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia while providing a good flow rate under gravity or pressure.

Using a ceramic water filter incorporated with Activated Carbon would be the best bet for tap water in first world countries where the water has been treated for parasites such as bacteria and viruses.

Now the actual housing of the water filter - be weary of using plastic water filter housings. They usually need to be replaced every 5 - 10 years, as we all know plastic cannot be used indefinitely as they might leach chemicals in the water. Also, you might have problems with them causing leakages because of cracks formed due to fatigue.

With the pottery and ceramic housings, a commonly caused problem is chipping at the tap or on the lid when filling up the water filter.

These problems are diminished by using a high quality 304 grade stainless steel housing. Stainless Steel water purifier may be a bit more expensive compared to plastic water filters, but you need to think long term before investing in a water filter. Check for the warranty as most stainless steel water filters come with a minimum of 10 years warranty. Along with filter housing and filtration technology, is the types of domestic water filter: Countertop water filter, gravity water filter , under sink water filter systems, or even a portable water filter.

Also, the major cost you need to include when you buy a water filter is the replacement filter cost. Some water filters may be cheap to purchase, but would come with high running costs. A good filter should last you anywhere from 2000 - 3000 liters before it needs to be replaced.