Whenever we step outside the door, we are exposed to thousands of harmful elements that can be detrimental to our health. That’s probably why we often prefer to stay indoors. However, did you know that your home can be a source of multiple health hazards as well? There’s something in your home that gets inside without going through the front door, and that’s none other than the water you use for a variety of purposes.
Unfiltered water, whether you use it for drinking, cleaning, or bathing, may include contaminants that endanger you and your family’s well-being. That’s why it’s important for us to install water filters if we wish to stay healthy. This article will teach you a few things about them.
Water Filters
Water filters are generally designed to strip the water out of any impurity, bacteria, or harmful chemicals that may otherwise damage your pipes, appliances, or even your body. Without filters, there is a huge chance that your water would have a foul odor, poor taste, or dangerous contaminants.
How Does It Work?
The magic of how water filters work depends on the type of filter you use. Generally, what it does is that instead of letting the water run directly from the source into your house, it goes through a tank where minerals would remove the impurities out of it.
Types of Water Filters
Water filters come in three types: mechanical, absorption, and reverse osmosis.
- Mechanical Filter
This is perhaps the most basic type of filter because it only utilizes a physical barrier to filter the water. The filtering capabilities of a mechanical filter depend on the rating of the material used.
Ratings may range from 5 microns, which can mostly filter visible particles, to 0.5 microns, which can filter out cysts and particles that can only be seen through a microscope.
- Absorption Water Filter
Most absorption water filters utilize the properties of carbon materials. Carbon has crannies and nooks that can easily remove impurities and other contaminants in the water, such as chlorine.
- Reverse Osmosis
This process utilizes the power of a semipermeable membrane in which the water is forced to pass through. Because of the pressure that this membrane receives, only water can enter, and all the other contaminants in the water are filtered out.
Reverse osmosis is often combined with other different filtration methods to guarantee the best quality of water possible.
How Are Water Filtration Systems Installed?
If you live in an old house or building, there is a huge chance that it doesn’t have a filtration system or at least an updated version of it. This is why filtration systems can be installed in different ways to ensure that they can accommodate all types of homes.
Countertop Filtration System
This system is perhaps the easiest installation method used in water filters. A countertop filtration system is installed on top of your sink. The water that comes out from your faucet is redirected to this simple yet effective device and is then filtered. A nozzle is attached to the countertop filtration system wherein the filtered water comes out.
Under-the-Sink Filtration System
The next installation method is pretty straightforward. An under-the-sink filtration system means that the water filter is literally under your sink.
It works in pretty much the same way as the countertop filtration system, but instead of redirecting the water from the nozzle of your faucet, this system is installed directly to the waterline. This means that you don’t need a different faucet for drawing out the water. However, this installation method is a bit harder compared with the countertop filtration system.
Whole House Filtration System
The whole house filtration system is the most elaborate installation method on this list. That’s because it doesn’t just filter the water that comes out of your faucet but filters out the entire water supply that comes into your house. Various levels of installation and layers of filters are used in this method. However, having a water filtration system in your bathroom may be quite complex and difficult. That’s why you need specialized services to install bathroom components and fittings to ensure that the whole house filtration system you’re using works in this part of your home as well.
Every day, we are surrounded by many things that can do us harm. Even the place we call home can be a source of multiple health conditions if we don’t address various problems immediately. For the water that gets into your living spaces, make sure that it’s harmless by installing filters that remove chemicals and contaminants.
