Anna Martinelli, Now

Water Filter Technology

There are many portable drinking pitchers to choose from but are they safe?  I’ve outlined some basic information that you will want in order to make an informed decision. The best method to drink contaminant free water is by using a carbon”Block” filter.  Reducing contaminants in your drinking water is typically hooked up to your main water line under your kitchen sink. There are hundreds of filters but not all drinking systems are created equal and the effectiveness of the system varies.

Some filters use one technology while others use a combination of technologies.  Filters vary in their quality and ability to remove specific contaminants for example, some carbon filters can remove chloramine from your water, but others cannot. Others remove hardness but won’t remove arsenic, lead or nitrates, nitrites or other contaminants. To ensure that your  filter removes a particular contaminant, check that it has been certified by a third-party independent agency such as the Water Quality Association or the the National Safety Foundation (NSF). Ask for the company’s Data Performance Sheet for the system you are interested in. It should have a ‘Gold Seal” approval rating. The Gold seal guarantees that the equipment has been test over a year and has proven to be consistent in removing specific contaminants but you will still want to see what the contaminants 

The best source of contaminant free water is a Reverse Osmosis/RO: This process pushes tap water through a semipermeable membrane that blocks particles larger than water molecules. Reverse osmosis using a carbon block is effective at removing many contaminants not removed by activated carbon, including arsenic, fluoride, hexavalent chromium, nitrates and perchlorate. However, reverse osmosis does not remove chlorine, trihalomethanes or VOCs. This is why many families buy a whole house purification system when they install a RO system. Ultra Tech Water Systems™ provide the best carbon block with silver impregnated in the carbon. Ultra Tech Water Systems™ provides a membrane that reduces contaminants from entering your drinking water down to 1/10,0000 of a micron where other RO systems reduce contaminant levels to only 5 microns. Find a whole house water filtering system that removes contaminants without showering in salt water.