Drinking water filters are important to us for many reasons. A good drinking water filter will provide enough chemical free, healthy water to help us replenish the fluids that we lose every day. If you have kids, you really need to invest in good drinking water filters, just remember that all of them are not the same.

There is a lot of bacteria in tap water. Children are particularly susceptible to water borne illnesses. Most treatment facilities use chlorine to kill bacteria, but some of the more dangerous ones are resistant to chlorine disinfection. In order to protect your family's health, you should look for a drinking water filter that is certified to block "cysts", the term used to describe bacteria during the spore stage, when they can live outside of a host for very long periods of time.

There are some drinking water filters on the market that de-mineralize water, either through reverse osmosis or distillation. Studies have shown that drinking distilled or de-mineralized water is bad for your health. Our bodies need trace minerals in order to function properly. Minerals also give the water a fresher taste.

The most technologically advanced drinking water filter uses ion exchange to balance both the mineral content and the pH level of your tap water. The majority of drinking water filters on the market do not have this step. Most of them only remove chlorine and odor. You have to be a smart shopper to find the best drinking water filters.

The history of the modern drinking water filter is long. Years ago in India, they took a rounded clay pot and put drinking water in it. The clay absorbed some of the impurities and left the water tasting good. Some drinking water filters use a form of porous clay in their systems. Others use copper and zinc. Still others use activated carbon.

The most advanced drinking water filter systems use a combination of different filters to provide the cleanest water possible. You see, years ago, clay may have been enough, because there were few chemical contaminants in the water.

Today, there are thousands of different chemicals in tap water. The federal government says that consuming these chemicals is safe, at certain levels. But, there are two big problems with the EPA standards.

The first is that the "safe" levels assume that everyone is an adult weighing 175 pounds. The second, they assume that only "one" chemical will be present at a time. That's why drinking water filters that remove chemicals are so important, especially if you have children.

We simply do not know what the long term effects of ingesting these chemicals will be. Scientists report that if there are two different chemicals in the water, the potency could be as much as 6000 times greater. The only way to be truly safe is to invest in a drinking water filter that blocks chemical contaminants.

We may not know what other chemicals will do, but researchers believe they know what long term consumption of chlorinated water will do. An increased risk of cancer is found in people who drink chlorinated water.

Most drinking water filters remove chlorine, but some do the whole job, by blocking other chemicals and cysts, while balancing mineral content. For the healthiest water, for the health and well-being of your children, it's worth your time to shop for the most advanced drinking water filters on the market.