Print Article for : Drinking Water Purification System

Your Online Guide » Quality Home Improvement » Water Filters

[D689]Drinking Water Purification System

by Monti Sheppard, Mon

Drinking water purification systems can be of many different varieties. It is always better to educate yourself as to their workings, because when you get ready to buy one you will know the quality that each one has to offer. The right drinking water purification system can help keep you healthy. Here is a brief outline of what you should look for.

Depending on where you live, there could be any number of dangerous contaminants to worry about. The EPA sets standards, but there are two big problems with them. One, they are based on what would be toxic to a 175 pound adult. Two, they presume that only one contaminant will be present at any given moment.

Research groups have informed us that there are 2400 chemicals to worry about. All of them cause cancer. Scientists have informed the EPA that the presence of two or more chemicals will increase the toxicity of each exponentially.

In other words, the standards are not enough to protect your health. Many health care professionals and other experts are now suggesting that every home should be equipped with point of use (that's in home) drinking water purification systems.

You can choose a drinking water purification system that is installed at the point where your water enters your home, so that all of it will be filtered or you can choose to have several different units around the house. Depending on the size of your home and your family, whole house drinking water purification systems may be a more economical and time saving choice, but of course, if you rent or live in an apartment, a unit for the kitchen, one for the shower and the bathroom tap, should suffice.

One of the advantages of a whole house drinking water purification system is that the icemaker and chilled dispensers will stay cleaner and beverages will taste better. Their filters in your refrigerator will last longer, too.

Even, coffee tastes better if you use filtered, rather than unfiltered. So, not only do drinking water purification systems protect your health, they improve the taste of just about anything that you drink.

Now, to choosing the right drinking water purification system, look for certified performance data, before you buy. These data sheets show what contaminants are blocked and to what degree. They also show how much a drinking water purification system will cost to install and operate.

You may be attracted to low priced drinking water purification systems, but once you see the cost of filters or other operating costs, you will see that they are not really cheaper. With today's technology, it is possible to operate an effective drinking water purification system in the home for less than a dime per day. The cheaper systems get your business by lowering the price for the initial unit, but then charging more for replacement parts.

It's worth your time to shop for the best.

Knowing this, most people use a "point of use" in their home, if only to remove the chlorine that the treatment facility relies on for disinfection purposes. Advanced in-home water purifiers can do much more. Let's look at a bit of history.

Using the chemical for disinfection began in the 1800s. Outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne illnesses were all over the United States. The cities had quickly become crowded over the years and no plans had been made for water purification.

The first water purifier was a distiller type. People who understood the dangers could use a simple version at home. Basically, if one boiled the water before use, it would be "safer".
Moving forward in time, we see the development of reverse osmosis water purifiers. RO became a popular step in the public's water purification process. It could remove trash, dirt, and other particles. In areas where it was necessary it could also remove salt.

It was a major advancement in water purification, but because people didn't understand that it was only one step, they began to buy the units for use at home. As a , RO leaves much to be desired. Just one disadvantage is that it cannot remove chlorine.

Removing the chemical became desirable at first because of bad taste and odor. Activated carbon and charcoal water purifiers began to appear in homes. Today, you will find a carbon step in nearly every water purifier on the market. The step has even been added to the pricey RO systems.

Now, we know this. Not only does the chemical taste bad, but drinking chlorinated water is also bad for the health of human beings. The fact that it killed bacteria should have been an indication, but sometimes scientists don't think ahead. They solve one problem and unknowingly create another or two.

In order to solve the new problems, newer water purification systems were developed for home use. Many people still cry for the government to do something, but it seems that in this situation, we have to take care of ourselves.

There is no realistic way that they can stop using chlorine as part of the public water purification process. They can use UV lights at the facility, but once the waters leave the facilities and are stored for use by people, bacteria, protozoa, parasites, algae and other biological matter could begin to grow. That's why it is added again as a last step.

The only option that we have is to use a in the kitchen. that remove chlorine are good, but those that remove THMs (by-products of chlorination) are even better.

The ill effects of drinking chlorinated water include digestive problems, respiratory illnesses and allergic reactions. The long term adverse health effects include cancer. Both chlorine itself and THMs have been linked to rectal and breast cancer. It is obviously necessary for complete water purification, but no one should drink it.

Article Source : Pg. 4

About Author

Both Monti Sheppard & Sabrina Fox are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Monti Sheppard has sinced written about articles on various topics from Water Filters. Monti Sheppard is a natural health advocate. To discover which drinking water purification system he recommends after extensive research, visit