Choosing an Economical Water Filter System for the Home

Often we hear something like this when people approach us about choosing a water filter system for their home: "I want a good system that will do the job but is at the same time economical."

This question takes a little bit of analysis of what you are trying to removed from the water in your home in order to come up with some suggestions.

If you want to eliminate the potential of drugs in your drinking water you will need either reverse osmosis or distillation. Both reverse osmosis and distillation will remove up to 99% of all contaminants as well as minerals from your drinking water. The World Health Organization cautions against drinking water that has been demineralized siting that magnesium, calcium and other minerals in water can help protect against nutritional deficiency. Demineralized water also doesn't taste "right" to most people because it is the minerals that give it taste. So that will be the decision you have to make based on how concerned you are with pharmaceutical residuals in the water (which may or may not be the case in your city).

I generally don't recommend these types of filters unless you have a specific problem that you're trying to eliminate that a good quality carbon/kdf filter just won't handle.

So, drugs aside, that leaves the most common contaminants of Trihalomethanes (chlorinated by-products) which are known to increase your cancer risk and fluoride which causes a number of health risks including increased risk of bone cancer in children.

You have two choices here, a whole house filter or individual filters at the point of dispensing.

To remove fluoride, you will need a filter designed specifically for that purpose (unless you decided on reverse osmosis/distillation). Fluoride is only harmful if ingested so you only need to remove it at the kitchen faucet (or any other place you drink from).

Chlorine by-products can also be absorbed from your shower through your skin and from the steam you inhale. So I'd recommend a shower filter and a bathtub filter if someone in your home loves frequent long hots soaks in the bath.

So, the bottom line, is that you can decided to go several ways:

Reverse Osmosis or Distillation for the whole home which has some draw backs in demineralization of your water but the benefit of removing the potential of pharmaceutical residuals in the water.

Carbon with KDF filters for the whole home (fluoride included if your city adds fluoride) or at point of dispensing.

If you go with point of dispensing, you'll want kitchen and shower filters.

Now the shopping is up to you. We compare water filters by brand and by function at Home Water Filters. For more technical details visit Crystal Quest.

Home Water Filter to Remove Iron

I am often asked if any water filter such as a counter top model or a shower model will remove iron. The short answer is no. Let's start by learning more about iron in drinking water (typically well water).

Iron and manganese are not hazardous but can be a real nuisance in your water supply. Iron and manganese are chemically similar and cause similar problems. Iron is the most frequent of the two contaminants in water supplies. Manganese is usually found in iron-bearing water.

How do you know if you have iron and/or manganese in your water?

In deep wells, where oxygen content is low, the iron/manganese-bearing water is clear and colorless (the iron and manganese are dissolved). Water from the tap may be clear, but when exposed to air, iron and manganese are oxidized and change from colorless, dissolved forms to colored, solid forms. Water from shallow wells containing iron/manganese will come from the tap with a red or brown tint.

Depending on the amount of iron in the water you may see rid specs once the iron settles out or your water may have a red tinge which stains. Manganese will leave a black tint.

Iron and manganese deposits will build up in pipelines, pressure tanks, water heaters and water softeners. This reduces the available quantity and pressure of the water supply.

Another problem that frequently results from iron or manganese in water is iron or manganese bacteria. The bacteria is not hazardous but will leave a red or brown/black slime particularly where water sits like in the toilet.

A rotten egg smell from the water along with the red or brown tint indicates that there is also hydrogen sulfide in your water - which is not unusual with water that contains iron (with or without manganese).

Now, on to the question of how to get rid of this iron and the manganese and/or hydrogen sulfide.
There are two ways you can remove the iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. Find a new source or water or install a quality water filter system that is designed specifically to remove iron and/or manganese and/or hydrogen sulfide.

These specially designed water filters passes the water through the filter media and there it gets oxygenated. Once the water is oxygenated, the iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide can then be trapped in the filter. A good quality water filter will pass the water through several filtering materials which will remove any other contaminants that might also be present. The result is clean, clear water that won't leave stains in your toilet or on your clothing.

Learn more about high quality water filters to remove iron at Crystal Quest.

Other home water purifiers

Will Fluoride Water Filter Remove Chlorine?

This is a question I get asked a lot. Many people want to remove both fluoride and chlorine from their tap water but are unsure whether one filter can remove both or if they will need two different water filters.

What materials are removed by running water through a water filter depends on the type of media, or filtering materials, used in the manufacture of the filter. Some water filters use only one type of filter medium while other will contain a number of different filtering media. In general the more media used in the construction of the water filter, the more levels of filtration that are provided and the more contaminants that get removed.

If the goal is to remove a single material from your drinking water, such as fluoride or arsenic, then a water filter designed to remove that material and containing only the necessary filtering medium will do the job. One such filter is the Crystal Quest Model CQE-CT-00131.

If, on the other hand, the desire is to remove many materials, a water filter with multiple levels of filtration and filter media will be required. For a good explanation of how this works, take a look at the Crystal Quest Model CQE-CT-00144 with seven levels of filtration.

For more information and comparisons of water filters visit us at The Best Water Filters.