The thing about these iron water filters is that they really don't have much to offer you in the way of protection from the many contaminants that can be found in our water supply. They are too contaminant specific to offer you much help at all.
What these iron filters are primarily for is removing toxic heavy metals from your drinking water. They are highly recommended by some for their ability to effectively block iron, sulphur, manganese, sediment, and turbidity from your water, which is great.
However there are thousands of contaminants in our water supply that these types of filters are not equipped to deal with.
These iron water filters will do absolutely nothing to protect you from all of the chemical agents that are in our water supply.
There are about 2,100 of these chemicals in our water that are known to cause cancer in human beings. You need a filter that will effectively block these chemicals out. This is not the filter to do it with.
Another group of impurities that iron filters fail to deal with are the numerous parasites and cysts that breed in our water.
These microscopic menaces will many times survive the chlorine disinfection process, and will make anyone who is unlucky enough to ingest them severely ill. This illness can often be fatal in the elderly, and in small children.
Iron water filters are too limited in what they can offer you, and at a starting price of around $400, they should be able to offer you much more.
If you want to be able to remove heavy metals from your drinking water there is a much more affordable way in which to not only accomplish that task, but also get help with the other contaminants also.
Instead of iron filters what you need is an all around water purification unit that features an ion exchange filter.
This filter removes metals from you water just as effectively as those other types of filters do.But the reason that they are named as they are is because when they trap these metal traces, they release sodium and potassium in its place.
What iron water filters don't offer you is the protection that can be had by the combination of an activated granular carbon filter, a multi media block, and a sub micron filter.
These three filters will effectively block 99% of all of the chemical and microbial contaminants that are currently present in your water. This combination is what you need if you want to feel totally safe.
You can buy the top rated counter top unit for a mere $125 dollars, which as we have learned is considerably less expensive than any of the iron filters that are available.
This unit contains all four of the filters that have been mentioned, and with all of this protection in your counter top, your family can rest easy at night knowing that nothing can harm them.
Similarly portable ultraviolet water filters are now available for people who are camping or traveling abroad.
But even though Ultraviolet purifiers can reduce bacteria to levels that don't cause illnesses, there are some pathogens that are resistant to UV treatment. They are known as cysts.
Cysts are parasites in a very early stage of development that can only be neutralized by boiling or by filtering them out. They are greater than a micron in size. So, any purifier that filters down to at least one micron will remove them. Some of the better kitchen units filter down to a half micron.
Depending on where you live and the quality of your supply, you may need both ultraviolet water purifiers to kill common bacteria and sub-micron filtration to reduce cysts.
The amount of cysts in the environment depends on the year round temperature, the number of animals that are in the area and the season of the year.
In the US, public treatment facilities test for them on an occasional, but not a regular basis. The EPA has said that regular testing is impractical. They warn that at-risk individuals should make every effort to protect themselves from this type of infection.
Those that are most at-risk include infants, toddlers, the elderly and those with weakened or absent immune system function.
In addition to cysts, many homeowners must worry about the chemicals that are used to kill bacteria and control algae growth in the pipelines. The most popular chemical for this purpose is chlorine, because it is cheap and readily available.
Chlorination causes the release of byproducts known as THMs. Exposure to THMs greatly increases the individual's cancer risk.
Ultraviolet water purifiers serve some purposes, but like reverse osmosis and distillation devices, they cannot kill cysts, nor can they remove chlorine or THMs.
If you do have the need for ultraviolet purification in your home, you should know that recent studies done for the EPA showed that all methods of disinfection cause the production of THMs, even ultraviolet.
Other studies have shown that THMs become airborne when chlorinated water is heated for showering, cleaning, cooking or other purposes. Well-insulated homes have some amount of chloroform gas (a known carcinogen and a THM) in the air.
So, if you do have ultraviolet water purifiers in your home, it is a good first step to having the cleanest water in your home, especially if you get water from a private well. This is because private well owners are responsible for their own water treatment, not the local water authority.
However, be aware that there are better water purifiers available which are capable of removing both chlorine and THMs. Some top of the line kitchen and shower water filters are capable of removing both these type of contaminants.
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