Doctors say: most diseases are caused by poor quality drinking water. The fluid flowing from our cranes can conceal a huge amount of harmful impurities: heavy metals, microorganisms, salts. Those who are not ready to put experiments on themselves, checking their body for endurance, experts recommend to buy one or another filter that can qualitatively clean the water at home. In this article we will try to talk about the types of filters, water purification methods and the worst mistakes of customers.
Main selection criteria
It is important to bear in mind that water filters differ in both the method of purification and the volume of water that they are able to qualitatively clean for a specific time period.
Types of household water filters
Filter jug
The simplest and, as a rule, cheap filters are a container, in the form of a jug, in the upper part of which there is a cleaning cartridge. The principle of operation is quite simple: water is poured into the upper part of the jug, passes through the cartridge and in small portions (1 l for 5-7 minutes) enters the main tank. The resource of such filters is rather limited and rarely exceeds 300 liters. The cleaning element removes water from sand and dirt, partially retains chlorine, heavy metals and various chemical compounds.
Filter jugs, because of their compactness and low cost, are in great demand. But it is worth remembering that they perfectly clean only relatively clean water, such filters will not cope with serious pollution.
Attachment on the crane
With the help of a special nozzle such a filter is put on the faucet. The cleaning quality is close to the jug-type filters, but the tap nozzle is much more convenient to operate. Some models need to be removed from the tap, while others have a special valve that allows water to bypass the filter cartridge. The performance of the filter nozzle is from 0.5 to 1 l / min. The filter cartridge resource is also quite limited.
Flow filter
Filters of this type are embedded directly into the water supply system itself. At the same time, water accumulates in the tank, and multi-stage filtration allows purifying water from both mechanical impurities and harmful chemicals. The main advantage of the flow filters is the high quality of cleaning and maximum performance (1.5-5 l / min). However, flow type filters are quite expensive, difficult to install, and require periodic replacement of expensive consumables.
Cleaning method
It is advisable to find out in advance what impurities are present in the water that you want to clean. By the method of cleaning the filters are divided into:
- Mechanical.Used to remove sand, rust, silt, clay, dirt and other mechanical particles from water up to 20-40 microns in size from water. Often, these filters serve as a preliminary rough cleaning of the liquid, retaining contamination that can lead to breakdown of household appliances.
- Ion exchange.Used to soften hard water. The principle of operation of this filter is concluded in the replacement of calcium and magnesium ions, forming insoluble compounds, with chlorine, sodium ions or other soluble chemical compounds.
- Reverse Osmosis. The best water treatment systems that exist today. They not only remove hardness, chlorine and excess iron, but also destroy various bacteria and even viruses. As a filtering element in such systems, a reverse osmosis microscopic membrane acts, the pore size in which is many times smaller than the number of viruses.Thanks to this, it is possible to obtain artesian drinking water at home.
Manufacturing material
Since the water filter will be in constant contact with water, it must be made of high quality and environmentally friendly materials.
- Plastic parts should not have odors.
- Water filters with a separate faucet, which are connected directly to the water supply, should be made of durable materials.
- Well, if the water purifier is made of glass-filled plastic, which is much stronger than plastic.
Photo: bt-test.ru
Other selection criteria
- Cleaning steps. The more of them, the, accordingly, the final result of the filter will be better. Flow-through and reverse osmosis-based filters have a multi-stage purification system, which makes it possible to purify water from almost all impurities. But the more replaceable cartridges in the filter, the more expensive it will be to replace them in the future.
- Storage tank.The jugs and filters under the sink have storage tanks for purified water. This is convenient because you do not have to constantly wait until the filter filters the required amount of water.
- MineralizersSome models of stationary filters are equipped with mineralizers that saturate water with the most essential minerals for humans: calcium, magnesium and sodium.
- Bioactivators. Called to restore the natural structure of water. Passing through the bioceramic cartridge, the molecules get the right structure. Such water has a beneficial effect on the body, stimulates blood circulation, destroys toxins, removes fats, increases the oxygen content in the blood.
- Ultraviolet.Provides additional bactericidal treatment of purified water.
- Ultrafiltration.It perfectly cleans the water, but, unlike the reverse osmosis system, it does not change the mineral composition of the water.
Most Popular Manufacturers
There are quite a large number of both domestic and foreign manufacturers of water filters on the market.
- The best firms have recommended themselves: "Aquaphor", Brita, Instapure, Nivona, Ariete, Aquafilter other. Their products are of excellent quality and have a low rejection rate.
- Water filters from companies Electrolux, Atoll, Raifil, Dewberry and Lead have an average price category and impeccable quality.
- Manufacturers such as "Geyser", Cristal and "Barrier" produce the cheapest products.
Photo: www.superfilters.ru
Common customer mistakes
The main criterion for choosing a water filter is not the price or design, but the condition of the tap water. You can identify problems with water by the following features: scale on the dishes indicates a large amount of salt. In this case, it is worth buying hard water softening filter. An unpleasant odor and green sediment indicates the presence of organic compounds in water. Suitable for such water reverse osmosis system filter. Water from the well also requires additional treatment, since it contains impurities of manganese, iron, hydrogen sulfide, etc.
Any, even the most expensive filter requires regular change of cleaning cartridgesit is therefore unwise to acquire a high performance filter if it is used only occasionally. A cartridge in a jug filter must always be in water, otherwise the quality of water purification will drop dramatically.
There is an opinion that imported filters are best to purify water, but this is not always correct. Water treatment systems from Russian manufacturers in no way inferior to foreign ones, and in some cases even surpass them in their characteristics. In addition, foreign manufacturers pay more attention not to the internal content of cartridges, but to the external design of their products. Another advantage of filters for water purification from domestic firms can be called the fact that they adapted to the peculiarities of our water.
The choice of domestic water filter should be based on the principles of common sense. The usual filter jug will not clear water of all types of pollution. If there is a small child in the house, it is better to purchase a filter with a reverse osmosis system, despite the low water consumption.
