Residential Water Filters

Description

Water filters are devices that can improve the overall taste, smell and appearance of drinking water and can remove some chemical substances. Used mainly for drinking and cooking purposes, filters are the most inexpensive and most easily available method of water purification. However, purification using filters is not 100 per cent.

In general, water filters remove only specific types of substances and are labelled for what they will remove, such as chlorine or lead. Water filters do not remove microorganisms and are intended for use with water that is known to be microbiologically safe. No single water filter can be used to remove all types of substances from water.

There are many types of water filter models on the market. Different drinking water treatment systems have their own advantages and disadvantages and must be investigated individually to identify the unit or combination of units best suited for your household.

If your municipality or utility supplies your drinking water, it is likely that you do not need a water filter. Municipally supplied water is treated to meet health, taste and odour requirements and is subject to routine testing for microbiological contamination. In this case, use of a water filters for additional treatment is essentially for taste and odour purposes.

If your drinking water is from a private supply (such as a well) it may not be safe from microbiological, chemical, or other types of contamination. Drinking water taken from private sources should be tested periodically to determine if treatment is required and if so for what contaminants.

In the next part of this assignment I will be focussing on the pros and cons of residential water softeners as well as their impact on society.

Water Softeners (Pros)

A well designed water softener system only removes the minerals causing hardness. The least expensive systems are magnetic, removing dissolved metals from the water by passing the source water across a magnet. By removing the metals, the remaining water is acceptable. More expensive systems trade calcium and other minerals for salt ions, leaving less hard water where the salts pass through with little impact.

Water