No food is as well controlled as drinking water. Therefore, the additional “processing” in the household is usually superfluous. If used incorrectly, it can even worsen the quality of the water.

Mechanical particle filters, which are located directly behind the water meter system, are mandatory and useful. These filters are expressly not meant in the following explanations. On the other hand, we are taking a close look at different types of water treatment, which are carried out using table water filters or under-sink devices.

The market for both variants is flourishing. Misleading advertising promises and sales methods are often used to persuade consumers to buy the mostly expensive systems. So it’s good to know the advantages and disadvantages of water treatment in the home. Choosing the right water filter cartridges manufacturers would be the best choice here.

Different Methods of Treatment

Basically, water filters and filter systems in the household only make sense if the water is actually contaminated with undesirable substances. But then the filter method must be chosen to match the fabric. Nevertheless, when used in the home, the risks often outweigh the promised benefits:

Activated Carbon Filter

Activated carbon can retain some large, non-polar, organic water components, e.g. B. chlorinated hydrocarbons, plant treatment products or medicines. However, heavy metal ions (e.g. lead), nitrate and calcium or magnesium (lime) cannot be filtered out with this method.

ION Exchange

Ion exchangers remove inorganic, polar particles (ions) from the drinking water and exchange them for others. For example, calcium or magnesium ions (limescale) can be removed from hard water and replaced with sodium ions.

Membrane or Reverse Osmosis Process

Reverse osmosis processes use electric pumps to force water through a membrane that is only permeable in one direction. This skin only allows very small molecules, such as water, to pass through. Larger substances such as nitrate, phosphate, heavy metals, but also minerals are retained. In this way, “high purity water” for laboratories and space travel is also produced.

Stills

Distillers heat the drinking water to 100 degrees Celsius. It evaporates and drips into another vessel via a cooler “bridge”. Any pollutants with a higher boiling point and minerals remain. Stills are used, for example, for the “desalination” of water in the laboratory. However, volatile substances with a low boiling point, such as solvents, are not retained.

Micro Filter

Micro-porous hollow fiber membranes with pore sizes of 0.2 microns (i.e. 0.2 thousandths of a millimeter) retain bacteria. Connected to the tap, they can be useful in motorhomes, boats and developing countries.

Esoteric Water Treatment

Caution is advised with devices that promise “harmonization”, “vitalization”, “levitation”, “energization” or “transformation” of the water. The improvement in drinking water quality through such methods cannot be proven. Opinions from dubious, pseudo-scientific sources are often cited as proof of the alleged success.

Can Limescale Be Filtered Out Of Water?

When using water filters, many consumers hope above all that the water will be softened and that kettles, irons or coffee machines will not calcify so quickly. When tried to soften the water using a filter, it was only possible to a certain extent to reduce the test water with a hardness of 17 (in the lower range) to the optimum tea water hardness. They reliably reduced the water hardness below 10 degrees up to half of the promised capacity.