How to Choose the Best Water Purification Technology For Your Home

Are you concerned about the quality of the water you get in your house and you are at the stage of looking for the best water purification technology?

In this article, I will give you a broad overview of the different methods of water purification that are now commercially available and offer you some guidance on selecting the right one for your home.

There are four basic types of water purifiers for home use:

1. Filters: All filters use an active substance that traps, absorbs, or modifies pollutants in the incoming water. This substance is called a medium and there are different types of media. The most common is carbon. The way that they trap pollutants also varies. For example, some use mechanical action, while others employ a process called adsorption, in which pollutants are trapped with chemical attraction. There are different types of filters (sediment, redox, pathogen etc) which are classified primarily according to the range of pollutants that they trap.

2. Reverse Osmosis (RO) units: This water purification technology works by pushing with high pressure, water through a membrane. This membrane has pores large enough to allow passage of water molecules but too small for larger molecules of pollutants.

3. Distillers: In the case of this water purification technology, water is boiled, producing steam. The steam is cooled and condenses back to water. Any substances that do not evaporate are left behind in the boiling chamber.

4. Ultraviolet units: Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is known to be effective in killing bacteria and other pathogens. It is worth mentioning that UV purifiers are made for the specific purpose of disinfecting water and are not effective in removing other pollutants. Therefore, it should always be combined with other methods of water purification.

5. Combinations of technologies: As you understand, every water purification technology mentioned back has its merits and drawbacks. What some manufacturers do is to combine different methods of water purifications into multi stage systems. In this way, they extend the range of pollutants that they can get rid of.

As for criteria that you should base your choice of water purification technology on, here is what I recommend:

1. Performance: This is measured by the ratio of output volume of clean water in terms of the input water as well as by the speed of the process, i.e. how long it takes to produce one gallon of water.

By comparing the different methods of water purification, both RO and distillers have very slow processes (for RO it typically takes two to three hours to produce one gallon of water).

RO also wastes a lot of water. It typically takes between 3 to 10 gallons of tap water to produce 1 gallon of purified water; the remainder drains away.

2. Overall cost (initial cost plus cost of ownership): As for initial cost, there is a large variation, depending on many factors such as the type of water purification technology employed (or a combination), whether you will install it yourself or someone else, etc. Prices might range from $25 for a single carbon filter and might go as high as $1,000 for a 3 stage combination system.

What is also important to know is its ongoing cost. This is measured in cost per gallon of water and includes replacement filters or cartridges as well as other costs such as electrical power bills, water bills etc.

3. Quality of water: This is measured in terms of the range of pollutants that are removed as well as by the taste and look of the water. In order to be better informed, it is essential that you have made your research beforehand, on what's contained in the water that you are getting in your house. Get hold of the annual report of your public utility, or get a comprehensive report from a private laboratory.

4. Practical aspects: These include maintenance required (how frequently you have to change the filters), as well as capacity issues, such as whether it needs a tank (RO and distillers do), ease of installation etc.

As you understand, selecting a water purification technology that is tailored to your individual needs requires serious consideration on your part and the key to the best possible decision is access to objective information.

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