Most water filtration system manufacturers would love to call their purifiers "drinking water filtration systems". While they often can't do that because of various government regulations, they succeeded in convincing us that most water filters are able to produce safe and tasty drinking water. Filtration system manufacturers only concentrate on stating how good their filters are at coping with some contaminants - they don't usually tell us what their filters won't do. And most of them won't do a lot of things.

An effective drinking water filtration system must be able to cope with:

(1) dirt and other large particles in the water

(2) all odors and unpleasant taste that water might have

(3) any chemical contaminants – from chlorine to industrial grade chemicals known only by their alphanumeric abbreviations

(4) bacteria and any other microbes.

What is more, the filtration system must be able to withstand a concentrated attack of any of those contaminants - ie. it must not stop working at the time we really need it. We have to be sure it works regardless of what it needs to filter – otherwise we may end drinking bottled water only (and research shows that much of that water isn't what the company claims, either!)

How to get 100% pure drinking water:

It depends mostly on your budget and the water you need to filter, but here are a couple of guidelines you might find useful. A decent drinking water filtration system should:

1) Employ many filters. No single method is able to cope with all contaminants, regardless of what water filter manufacturers tell you. For example, using a carbon block filter with a UV water treatment should be considered as a plus – these methods are very effective, but neither will do the job all alone.

2) Be inspected often. The filters have to be replaced at least a few weeks before they they expire and checked at least three times between replacements. Contaminants can often clog filters or even create a growth place for the bacteria that the filters supposedly kill. All of these problems are caused by the inadequate maintenance.

3) be expensive. This is sad, but true – no good filtration system is both flawless and cheap. And never ever buy from the lowest bidder! You will risk both expensive maintenance and your system may fail exactly when you need it the most - that is, in times of emergency. Keep in mind that a 95% effective drinking water filtration system is virtually useless. You have to find a system that is 100% effective – and it will be expensive.

How to be 100% sure you have the right filtration system:

Frequent checkups and a lot of maintenance is required if any drinking water filtration system is to work flawlessly. The maintenance details vary a lot depending on the system's model, but whatever they are, you must strictly follow them.

What is more, it is often a good idea to check the water quality from time to time by testing it against the presence of your most probable contaminants. Some of the tests are relatively simple and inexpensive, yet they add a lot to your safety. In this way you can be certain that your drinking water filtration system does exactly what you need it to do.