What Is The Best Water Filter For The Home And How To Choose It?

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Types of filters to improve drinking water

Find out which are the main differences between the various water filters.

The public water (also known as the mayor's) which flows every day from the taps of our homes is usually drinkable as by law it is frequently checked and analyzed to verify that it does not contain substances harmful to the health of citizens. Often, however, the dosage of chlorine used for water disinfection and the state of the aqueduct pipelines is not optimal so that the water inevitably suffers contamination during transport and, moreover, some aquifers from which the aqueducts draw often contain traces of chemical pollutants (nitrates, arsenic, pesticides, iron, manganese) which, although tolerated within the limits of the law, should not be present in drinking water used also by our children.

The commercially available refining systems, commonly called water purifiers, carry out a further treatment, eliminating any harmful and unwanted substances such as chlorine, iron, nitrates, pesticides, arsenic and bacteria in addition to the excess of mineral salts. The result is pure and light water, with a pleasant taste, excellent to drink, ideal for cooking and can be used with tranquility for all other domestic uses. The devices capable of performing this function are of different types and can be installed easily in the kitchen, even without cluttering the compartment under the sink. Unlike water softeners, water filters use a physical and not a chemical process, guaranteeing a high quality of the water treated in this way.

There are many types of water filters but mainly this type of purifiers are divided into two macro-categories:

· Water filters with reverse osmosis membrane ;

· Water filters with microfiltration .

Reverse osmosis purifiers

The most commonly used water purification process for household appliances is reverse osmosis. These devices exploit the properties of special semi-permeable membranes, which allow water to pass through and retain the substances dissolved in it. Normally the physical phenomenon of osmosis leads to equilibrium, so the concentration of substances is the same in the two compartments separated by the membrane.

Applying a pressure the opposite phenomenon is obtained, whereby the water that passes from the membrane loses most of the dissolved substances. A part of the water continues to flow, to load waste substances and is eliminated. While a water softener is essentially intended to make the water destined to power appliances and other appliances less calcareous, a reverse osmosis water filter supplies pure and drinkable water, which can completely replace bottled water.

Before the actual filtration treatment with a reverse osmosis membrane, the aqueduct water undergoes a preventive pre-filtration process, using cartridge filters with microfiber PP and extruded activated carbon. The activated carbon filters take advantage of the properties of this material, which thanks to the high specific surface and its porosity is able to absorb chlorine and dissolved organic substances from the water. Activated carbon retains its adsorbent properties for a certain period (about 6/12 months), after which it must be replaced.

Discount Water filters with microfiltration

As an alternative to reverse osmosis devices, purifying dechlorinator filters are available , which purify the water with a series of filters made with microfibre PP and activated carbon, as well as a special hollow fiber membrane. The hollow fiber membrane, with a porosity of less than 0.1 micron, is able to eliminate most of the micro-polluting particles and bacteria from the water. Of course this kind of treatment is not able to remove excess mineral salts and the various unwanted chemical substances.

All water filters require periodic maintenance necessary to replace cartridge filters subject to wear. However, this scheduled maintenance can be carried out directly by the user in a simple way and without any particular problems thanks to the bayonet connection with which the filters are equipped. The spare parts are available at Depur Sistem Italia where you can also turn to all the needs regarding technical assistance and for the purchase of water softeners, refrigerators and other water treatment products.