Pure Water Solutions- Are you looking to bottled water as an alternative to tap water? A variety of home water filters allow you get freshly filtered water straight from the tap. They're easy to install and maintain, and may be just what you need to improve the quality of your family's water. Types of Water Contaminants: If you're concerned about the quality of your water, get it tested by an independent laboratory. The filtration system you need for your home depends upon the quality of your water supply. Water filters do require some maintenance. Cartridges should be changed according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Taste- and Odor-Causing Contaminants: If your water smells or tastes bad, there's little doubt that you would benefit from a water filter. Municipal water often smells of chlorine, which is used to treat the water. Well water, which is dependent upon many local conditions affecting the water supply, also may smell bad. Water filters often treat these conditions by using granular activated carbon (GAC), a substance that absorbs contaminants that would otherwise cause offensive tastes and odors. Filters that use GAC may cause cloudy water for the first couple of weeks after a filter change. This is a harmless condition caused by the release of air from the GAC and can be reduced by running the water for several seconds before each use until the air is flushed out. Rust and Sediment: You may notice visible particles in your water. For example, sediment can collect in the bottom of your dishwasher or commode. Larger particles may collect behind the screens of your faucet aerator. Smaller particles may collect at the bottom of a glass of water that sits for a time. Rust and sediment are easily collected by particulate filters. Whole-house particulate filters are easy to install. They not only protect your drinking water, but also appliances, such as dishwashers and ice makers. Water filters aren't effective against clear water iron, which can leave red stains in tubs and toilets. To treat this substance, a water softener is required. Bacteria / Parasites: If your house relies on a well, your water is more likely to be contaminated by bacteria and parasites. Many bacteria and parasites occur naturally in clear water supplies. Others are the result of water-supply contamination by sewage and wastes. Some bacteria and parasites affect the taste and smell of the water, but others don't. Cysts, such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, are particularly hearty parasites and have been known to contaminate even chlorinated municipal water supplies. They can cause illness and are a serious hazard to the young, elderly or those with immune deficiencies. Water filters are available with various filter cartridges, which are effective against many of these contaminants. Lead: Houses built before 1986 may have pipes joined with lead solder. Your municipal water system also may be composed of components that contain or are soldered with lead. If you're concerned about the possibility of lead in your water supply, have your water tested by an independent laboratory. Lead contained in water is tasteless and odorless, but should be avoided as much as possible. It can be removed from your drinking and cooking water by installing a lead filter directly under the sink in your kitchen. This filter placement assures that even if you have lead in the pipes of your home, it'll be removed from your drinking water. Kinds of Water Filters: There are several types of water filtration systems available. Choose the system that meets your needs based upon the contaminants you're trying to remove. Be aware that although the countertop and faucet-mounted filters are easiest to install initially, they're more bulky and less convenient than the hidden under sink filter. They're also less versatile if you're attempting to filter contaminants other than tastes, smells and lead. Whole-House Filters: Whole-house filters are available and easy to install. They're placed in the main water line entering your home and are designed to remove sediment and rust particles from all of the water entering your home. They can also benefit the other types of water filters by acting as a particulate pre-filter. Under sink Filters: Different varieties of under sink filters are available and should be chosen depending upon your home's individual needs. Some of these filters remove bad tastes and odors only. Others also may remove lead, bacteria and sediment or any combination of the four. These units may have multiple cartridges, each designed to filter a particular type of contaminant. Under sink filters are convenient because, once installed, you don't even know they are there. Turn on the water and filtered water comes straight from the faucet. They're also efficient because they allow you to filter only the water going to a specific faucet, thereby reducing the demands on the filter cartridges. You don't need to filter your bath water to remove a chlorine taste, for example, but you may want to remove it from your drinking water. Under sink filters are also helpful if your plumbing is joined with lead solder. By being in line immediately before the faucet, under sink filters provide maximum filtration protection. Faucet-Mounted Filters: These filters connect directly to the faucet and require no plumbing connections. Some models are designed simply to remove bad tastes and odors, while more sophisticated units now have lead- and cyst-filtering capabilities. These filters are small and very easy to install and remove. Also, they filter the water at the point of use. But they are a highly visible attachment to your faucet. Compared to more expensive and versatile under sink filters, they provide limited filtration. Countertop or Canisters Filters: These are the simplest water filters available. They're countertop appliances, like toasters, and can filter drinking water for different contaminants. Unlike under sink filters, their use isn't transparent. Some of these filters must remain on your counter. Others require connection to your spigot and some require that water be poured through them, much like a drip coffee maker. Types of Water Filters: If the only problem with your water is grit, dirt, sediment, rust, or other such particles, a screening filter may be sufficient. Made of fiber, fabric, ceramic, or another screening medium, these simply catch particles—including, in some cases, small organisms like cysts and some bacteria. But don't rely on them to handle disease-causing organisms, VOCs, metals, or the like. Carbon Water Filters If your water tastes, smells, or looks bad, a filter containing activated carbon (AC) may solve the problem. If you want to remove chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, radon, trihalomethanes (THMs), and some inorganic chemicals, carbon may do the trick. Some, but not all, carbon filters are effective at reducing lead content. Solid-block and pre-coat absorption filters trap lead. Check the certification of the unit you're interested in buying and, if claims are made regarding lead removal, ask for proof. You can't rely on a conventional carbon filter to remove salts, nitrates, nitrites, and some metals. And you shouldn't rely exclusively on one to remove organisms. In fact, be aware that a carbon filter will accumulate the contaminants removed from water, and bacteria may even breed in it, so you must replace filter cartridges religiously, according to the manufacturer's recommendations. A carbon filter that contains pesticide silver may be registered—but, remember, is not endorsed—by the EPA. Studies show that these are not fully effective at eliminating bacterial growth or microbiological contaminants. Again, be sure any such claims are substantiated. Effectiveness of a particular carbon unit is a factor of the amount of activated carbon it contains. Reverse Osmosis Water Filters If you must remove inorganic chemicals such as salts, metals (including lead), minerals, nitrates, asbestos, and some organic chemicals, consider a reverse-osmosis (RO) filter. Actually, most models include carbon pre-filters and post-filters, which will catch sediment, pesticides, herbicides, THMs, and radon. RO filters remove lead, but some don't remove chlorine (if this is claimed, request proof of performance). The carbon post-filter is used to improve the water's taste. Pre- and post-filter cartridges should be replaced annually. Most RO filters are connected directly to plumbing and are located beneath the sink. A small tank stores clean water until needed, and tainted water drains out through a line connected to the sink trap. Drinking water flows through a special, separate sink-top spout. Some models have an automatic valve that eliminates the waste typically associated with RO filters—conventional models waste about 3 gallons for every gallon of water they produce. Water Distillers: If you just want a portable, sink-top appliance that will rid water of most dissolved solids, such as salts, asbestos fibers, metals, minerals, particles, and some organic chemicals, an inexpensive distiller may be just the thing. Distillers heat water until it turns to steam and then condenses the steam back into water in a separate chamber, leaving behind anything that won't travel in the steam. Unless coupled with a carbon filter, they will not remove all chemical pollutants and all bacteria. Most have to be filled manually, they use a considerable amount of electricity to operate, and they may take several hours to produce 1 gallon of water. UV Water Purifiers: Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection devices, kill bacteria and viruses, and clear the taste and odor of water, but they are not effective against chemical pollutants and may not work against cysts and spores. It is a proven technology that has no significant drawbacks. In some applications, its initial cost is a bit more than chlorination, but because of its low operating cost, it quickly pays for itself. It is essentially trouble-free. Most systems require only an annual change of lamp--like changing a light bulb--and a change of filter cartridges if the unit has accompanying filters. Use Hydrotech UV Disinfection System with other Hydrotech water treatment solutions to effectively protect against bacteria, viruses, mold, and waterborne contaminants like protozoa.* Designed to provide water-quality peace of mind, our UV systems work well within the levels delivered by all Sterilight® ultraviolet disinfection systems, for water treatment you can count on. • Chemical-Free Filtration - Filters disinfect water without chlorine or other harsh chemicals. • Versatile Design - Easily compatible with other water treatment systems. • Custom Systems - Available in a variety of packages to meet your water's UV filtration needs. Discover why the water in your state could contain bacteria or other contaminants, and learn how Hydrotech can help. We can design and install the right UV water filtration solution for you. *Contaminants are not necessarily in your water, please get your water quality check before taking any decision. FAQ: What is reverse osmosis? Reverse osmosis, often referred to as RO, is an advanced water purification method that was initially developed by the U.S. Navy to produce drinking water from sea water for submarine crews. It is a membrane filtration technology that works by forcing water under pressure through the very tiny pores of a semi-permeable membrane. Modern reverse osmosis units for the home combine membrane technology with carbon and mechanical filtration to produce highly purified, great-tasting water. How does it work? In modern home units water, driven by normal city water pressure, flows first through a carbon prefilter, which removes organic contaminants including chlorine and its by-products. Next, it enters the reverse osmosis membrane, a very tight, sheet-like filter that allows water to pass but rejects dissolved solids like sodium and impurities like lead and arsenic. Some of the water entering the unit is used to cleanse the membrane surface and flows to the kitchen drain pipes. The purified water is stored in a small storage tank until it is needed. When the ledge faucet mounted on the sink is opened, the purified water is forced by air pressure through another carbon filter, which gives it a final polish and from there to the ledge faucet. (This is a simplified description of a three-stage RO unit. Additional stages like sediment filters and additional carbon filters can be included. The simplified description omits a few very essential parts like flow control devices, check valves, an automatic shutoff devices that stops the inflow of water when the storage tank is full.) Is a reverse osmosis unit like a distiller? Both effectively reduce "dissolved solids" content of water, but the processes are quite different. RO filters water through a very tight semi-permeable membrane. A distiller is like a big tea kettle: it boils water, catches the steam, condenses it, and captures the resulting water. Most impurities are left behind in the boiling chamber. Both distillers and reverse osmosis systems rely heavily on carbon filtration for chemical removal. (Cheap distillers often have little or no carbon filtration and are, therefore, of limited effectiveness.) But isn't distilled water purer than reverse osmosis water? Distillers typically remove a few parts per million more of common mineral constituents like sodium. However, distillers don't do a good job with volatile chemicals with a low boiling point. Chloramines, for example, which many cities now use instead of chlorine as a disinfectant, aren't removed well by distillers. Reverse osmosis, with the carbon filters that accompany it, does a very good job with chloramines. Unless volatile chemicals like chlorine are removed by carbon filtration before they enter the distiller, they will be released into the room air or they will end up in the distilled water. But in general, distilled water is very pure, as is reverse osmosis water. Why are reverse osmosis units so popular? They produce great-tasting, very pure water at a very reasonable cost and in a trouble-free, fully automatic format. We've found that RO customers are very loyal. And the most frequent comment we get is: "We drink so much more water than we used to."