Do NOT Buy The Best Water Filter Until You Read This!

Shocking Bottled Water Facts You MUST Know

If you’re like most people you probably think that bottled water is the cleaner option than tap water.

Even though this is true to a large extent, bottled water has some drawbacks, so it’s not always the best solution.

But, in the spirit of fairness, let’s take a look at both the pros and cons of bottled water.

Cons

The plastic is made with dangerous BPA chemicals that can leech into your water.

There is more and more evidence to suggest that bottled water is nothing more than lightly filtered tap water.

Bottle water creates an enormous amount of recyclable consumer waste.

In the long term, bottled water is far more expensive than using a regular filter jug or faucet filter.

Types Of Water Filters

In broad terms water filter systems use 1 of 4 methods. The methods below are commonly used in your water filter pitcher, whole house filters, faucet filters and all the others.

1. Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems

This is by far one of the most well known and popular types of water filtration systems out there.

Reverse osmosis is when a porous membrane (i.e. a piece of material with tiny holes for the water to pass through) removes water contaminants.

Most reverse osmosis systems also use small amounts of activated charcoal filter.

Activated charcoal is excellent at both removing contaminants and re-introducing healthy minerals back into the water.

Reverse osmosis filters are usually installed under the sink and come in the form of a holding tank.

It is so popular because it is highly effective. RO effectively removes almost all contaminants. For instance, contaminants like: fluoride, asbestos, heavy metals and arsenic.

Drawbacks?

Yes, RO results in a high amount of water waste and removes some minerals like magnesium and calcium from the water.

Read: Reverse Osmosis System: What The Experts WON’T Tell You

2. Activated Carbon Filter: What Do Carbon Filters Remove From Water?

Activated carbon filters your water with its highly absorbent carbon. This carbon has a positive charge that effectively traps water contaminants.

You can buy this in the form of a counter top filter, under the sink filter or as a faucet filter.

Activated carbon filters are popular because they improve taste, remove odors and even chlorine.

This filtration method is also good at removing contaminants like pesticides, parasites, heavy metals (lead, copper and mercury) and disinfection by-products.

3. Distilled Water Filter

This method essentially captures the purified steam of boiling water. You can use a distiller as a whole house filtration system, in which case it will filter water at the point of entry.

Alternatively you can get a distiller based counter top filter.

Water distillation removes fluoride, arsenic, selenium, sodium and heavy metals like lead, mercury and copper.

4. Ultraviolet Disinfection (UV Disinfection Water Treatment)

As suggested by the name, this method filters water with ultraviolet light that kills off any bacteria in your water.

You can get an ultraviolet disinfection filter installed under your sink and even get one that includes a carbon filter.

Which Is The Best Water Filter?

Before deciding which water filter system is best, you need to think about what you need it for the most.

• Do you need a point of entry filter?
• How many people are in your household?
• How much is your budget?
• Is the need urgent? Do you need clean water immediately or can you wait a week of two.
• Are there specific contaminants you need to get rid of?

Answering these questions will help you get a better understanding of what type of water filter system is best for you.

Remember that choosing a system that provides water for the whole house will most likely need professional installation. On the other hand, getting a smaller system that you start using straight away won’t provide you with full coverage.

Water Filter Pitcher

This has to be the easiest, quickest and cheapest solution. If you don’t want to spend any time trying to set up an install a water filter this is for you.

You can literally buy a water filter pitcher today and get filtered water as soon as you take it out of the box.

Water filter jugs filter your water with granulated activated charcoal to remove water contaminants.

Pros

You can buy one today and immediately start enjoying clean filtered water.

They improve the taste and odor of your water.

They can reduce chlorine.

Very attractive and portable so you can do things like put them on your dinner table.

Cons

You need to replace cartridges very frequently.

It’s a lot of hassle trying to use filtered water for your kettle, coffee machine, cooking etc.

Your home appliances could still suffer from things like hard water damage (think washing machine, faucets and dishwasher).

You will not get filtered water for your showers, which means that you could still be bathing in hard water, which can leave your hair and skin dry.

They are not the best home water filters for removing VOCs, fluoride, heavy metals and endocrine disruptos.

Faucet Water Filter

If you want filtered water direct from the tap but don’t want the hassle or expense of getting a whole house system then consider a faucet filter.

It wont give you filtered water for laundry and bathing.

But it will give you clean water for drinking, filling up the kettle / coffee machine and cooking, laundry and other similar uses. Many faucet filters have a “1-click install” process and can filter between 100-200 gallons before you need to replace them.

Pros

Very affordable.

Easy to install. No screws or plumbing knowledge needed.

Filters are easy to replace and last up to 3 months / 200 gallons.

Instant filtration, water gets filtered on-demand when you open the tap.

You can easily move between filtered and unfiltered water. This means that you don’t waste the filtered water when you do things like wash your car or water your garden.

Very attractive modern designs are available.

Cons

You won’t have any filtered water to protect your laundry, shower or expensive home appliances.

Whole House Filtration Systems

This is the big daddy of domestic water filtration. As the name suggests, this method is when you install a water filter machine into the mains water supply. And all of the water that comes into your home is filtered (including the water you flush the toilet with!)

The whole house water filter machine is usually a little bit expensive.

But, for that price, you will never have to worry about contaminated water again (while you are at home).

These machines also offer the most comprehensive removal of contaminants. You can expect a whole house filter to remove things like heavy metals, microbial organisms and other water pollutants.

They last very long and are typically able to purify approximately 100,000-150,000 gallons before you need to buy a replacement.

Water Filter Comparison Table Chart