Quality water filters: which one to choose for home use

The consumption of low-quality water is one of the main factors in the well-being of most people. Therefore, filters for water purification have become a common attribute of most apartments and offices. They differ in the principle of operation, installation method, degree and range of cleaning. We will figure out which water filter to choose for the home in different cases.

What types of filters are there?

Tap water can be called drinking not always and not everywhere. It upsets the scum on the kettle, worsens the taste of even the most exquisite dishes and drinks. In response to consumer demands, the market offers an abundance of filters for water treatment.

Here are many models and types that differ in technical parameters and device - there are plenty to choose from.

Water filters vary in their degree of mobility (mobile or stationary) and the depth of treatment (from initial coarse to final fine). The purest water is obtained from fine filters. They are single or multi-functional. The former fight chlorine, salts of heavy metals, the latter perform several more functions.

Choosing a filter, one should proceed from several factors: how much water is needed, what impurities it should be purified from, what funds you are ready to invest in the purchase.

As practice shows, for active people who are not burdened by family, or small families, a jug or a nozzle on a crane is best suited. For a large family, as well as people with increased demands on the quantity and quality of water, it is optimal to choose a solid stationary device. It is worth recognizing that the more levels of water purification is provided, the more high-quality product is obtained at the outlet.

Consider the main types of water filtration systems. In any of them, there are necessarily filters for rough cleaning and carbon filters.

Rough cleaning

The mechanism for this stage is provided in all types of cartridges. It purifies water to a minimum, but eliminates the largest mechanical impurities (such as sand), thereby facilitating the operation of the following sections of a multi-stage filter. Such devices are mounted before wiring pipes to the kitchen and bathroom. If a water meter is installed on the water pipe, the filter is mounted in front of it so that the delicate meter does not break if coarse particles get inside. Modern new buildings, as a rule, are immediately equipped with such filters. If they are not, you can easily solve the problem by purchasing the necessary components and mount with the help of a specialist.

Before choosing a main water filter, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the type of device. Some have a self-cleaning mesh, with which particles falling on it are washed off into a special pipe. There is no trouble with them. For others, such a function is not provided, therefore, as the device becomes dirty, it will be necessary to dismantle (remove) and clean it, having previously blocked the water.

Carbon filter

Contains hard, charcoal or activated carbon. The device in the form of a plastic flask serves to neutralize the chlorine present in tap water, as well as to cleanse suspended matter and microorganisms.Its advantages are affordable price, high degree of water purification, long service life, universal possibility of use, stationary or mobile: in offices, private or apartment buildings, outside the city.

Jug

Least of all fluctuations is the problem of how to choose a filter for jug ​​type water. These are the most popular and simplest devices that purify water from chlorine, odors and partially soften it. The resource of a replaceable cartridge is from one hundred to five hundred liters (different manufacturers have different ways, the specific volume is indicated on the package). For one or two people, a cartridge with a resource of three hundred liters is enough for two to three months. The popularity of this type of filter is due to numerous advantages:

• extremely simple operation that does not require special control;
• mobility and compactness (you can take it with you on the road or trip, the apartment does not take up much space, you can even put a jug on the windowsill, if there was no other place);
• connection to the water supply system is not required;
• reasonable prices for a jug and replaceable cartridges.

Cons: a very small degree of purification, a small one-time volume of purified water (up to two liters).

Nevertheless, the filter jug ​​is the most affordable water purification device, a budget option for people with low incomes and a solution for owners of small kitchens that do not provide space for a more bulky stationary system.

Nozzles

This is a type of jug filter, presented in the form of compact devices. The nozzles are worn directly on the tap with water before a set of filtered liquid and are removed at the end of the process. For a person who thinks how to choose a filter for water purification outside the apartment or at home, mobility, compactness of the system (it can be taken to the cottage, to work or on a business trip, and it takes up very little space) and an affordable price will be decisive.

Although there is a minus - slowness (no more than half a liter of water is filtered per minute). Therefore, when using the device at home, it is necessary to provide permanent containers for storing a stock of purified water, for example, before preparing a family dinner or in case of an unscheduled tea party.

Flow filters

A more complex option, installed on or under the sink, consists of two or three flasks for various purposes.

When deciding which water filter to choose for washing, you need to understand that it will take a certain place there. Therefore, it will be useful to compare the dimensions of the apparatus planned for installation and the amount of space under the sink.

To the sink

The water purifier is located next to the sink, and not put on the faucet. The filter is attached to the tap using a flexible hose. Compared with the nozzle, this option is three times more productive and gives up to one and a half liters of purified water per minute. Therefore, additional water tanks are not required. The downside is that such a filter takes up space on the sink. However, if it is sufficient in size, and the filter itself is aesthetically attractive, then this can not be considered a disadvantage. The main thing is not to forget to connect it before a set of water and disconnect after filtering.

Under the sink

If you do not want to clutter the surface near the sink, it is worth considering how to choose a water filter for washing. This is a stationary model that is mounted in a water supply system. The unit is installed under the sink, and a special faucet for purified water only is connected to it, connected to the filter using a flexible eyeliner.

For such units, connected directly to the water supply system, the strength and reliability of the structure are of particular importance. In most cases, it is glass-filled plastic.

If there is not enough space under the sink, then the unit is placed next to the wall, and the tap is also mounted on the sink. One or more cartridges with different specialties can be used.The first removes the largest particles, reducing the filtering load on subsequent modules.

Organics, chlorine residues, small particles that have slipped through are trapped by a second filter with briquetted coal inside. The next one, with coal granules, traps heavy metals, eliminates gases and odors. In the form of additions, filters are installed for structuring (i.e. restoring the natural structure) of water and a mineralizer that saturates the water with minerals to the norm. New cartridges are installed every six months.

There are several advantages to this type of filter:

• high degree of water purification;
• the presence of a special tap for purified liquid;
• an arrangement in which additional space is freed;
• simplicity and ease of use;
• significant one-time resource;
• Constant availability of the right amount of filtered water.

Such filters are chosen by people who value their health and family members, who are ready to invest the necessary funds for this.

The system is not cheap, it costs up to $ 100, replaceable cartridges will cost even up to $ 60 per year. Despite this, a significant cartridge resource - an average of seven thousand liters - significantly reduces the cost of a liter of water. In addition to a city apartment, this is a good solution to the problem of which water filter is better to choose for a summer house or a country house.

Reverse osmosis

The most complex, expensive, but reliable and the best type of filters for water treatment today. Purifies water by 98-99%, softening it, removing excess chlorine, iron, bacteria, viruses, odors. If desired, an additional faucet can be installed on the sink for filtered water.

By design, the system resembles flow-through sorption filters, but it has additional nodes. From one to four (five in the premium segment models) filter modules are mounted on a common console. The module is a plastic container with filter cartridges inside. Each of them specializes in a specific job. Main filters:

• to remove solids, usually made from polypropylene;
• with a carbon sorbent to remove organics, salts of heavy metals, taste and smell of chlorine;
• with an active reagent that removes iron dissolved in water.

After passing through these barriers, tap water gets to the main component of the system - the membrane. Its pores are microscopic, they are much smaller in size than most viruses known to science. It passes only water and air through itself. In order to avoid misunderstandings with pressure drops in the central water supply, the kit is often equipped with an electric pump. Some models are equipped with an ultraviolet lamp to disinfect water and destroy dangerous microorganisms.

The human body consuming such ultra-purified water will be protected to the maximum. However, the water that underwent such a multi-stage purification is more similar to distilled, that is, practically free of any mineral substances. But natural pure water always contains them; they are necessary for the normal functioning of the human body. Therefore, to supplement them, a number of reverse osmosis systems have a special mineralizer.

Home-made reverse osmosis made it possible to produce water comparable in quality to bottled water without leaving home.

Since the liquid passes through the membrane relatively slowly (only a glass of water or a little more is collected per minute), the system is equipped with a storage tank - usually up to ten liters.

So, the advantages of reverse osmosis filter systems over cheaper counterparts are obvious:

• the highest possible degree of purification;
• relatively low cost of water obtained;
• significant permanent reserve of clean water.

The basic kit, consisting of a pre-filter cartridge, a reverse osmosis membrane and a final filter, is optionally supplemented by a water structurizer. This option improves the structure of the liquid, which has a beneficial effect on the well-being of the person consuming it.

The life of the reverse osmosis membrane is 3 years, and cartridges for final cleaning are 1 year. That is, for the normal functioning of the system, they need to be replaced with new ones through such a time frame.

The main disadvantage of the device is the complexity of installation and subsequent maintenance. Here initiative does not work out, how to carry out even the simplest operation correctly, only a specialist knows who performs all of them.

The price is also solid: even for a cheap model, you will need to pay up to 1.5 dollars. Despite this price and maintenance costs (replacing cartridges), the reverse osmosis system reduces the cost of the outlet water, while at the same time making it exceptionally clean and useful.

This option is chosen by adherents of pure water who do not want to overpay at the same time (water of comparable quality sold in a store is even more expensive).

The effectiveness of the reverse osmosis system has been scientifically proven, consumer feedback is also positive. Naturally, it is she who is at the top of the rating in her segment.

Each cartridge has its own cartridge.

Since the filter directly interacts with water, it must also be selected correctly. It should be made of environmentally friendly materials that do not have a toxic odor. To check the quality, just smell the plastic filter, and everything will become clear.

Experts do not advise using a cartridge after it has exhausted its resource: money will be saved, but health will deteriorate because water will not be cleaned properly.

Water purification filters connected to the water supply must have a housing made of durable, reliable materials. The best solution is plastic with glass filler.

To choose the most suitable model of a water purifier with specific cartridges, you need to know its composition exactly - specifically in your house or apartment. To this end, a clean bottle (new or from purchased water) is filled with liquid from the tap and go with it to the local SES. In the sanitary and epidemiological station, the material will be analyzed for radiation, excess salts, iron, organics (bacteria, germs, viruses), chlorine. They will tell you about compliance (or non-compliance) with standards for color, smell, transparency. In a few days, you will be given a written opinion free of charge. You can use the services of a commercial structure: the result will be issued almost immediately, but for money. In any case, you will definitely know what exactly you need to purify the water in your apartment from.

A water filter is useful anyway. Even the simplest, in the form of a jug, is able to purify water to a level that is safe for human health. Spending on more expensive systems, you can get premium quality water regardless of where you live and the condition of the fluid coming from the water supply, well or well.