Home water purifiers and filters are a good investment in your family's health and well being, as long as you buy the right ones.  There is a wide range of quality among the popular home water purifier and filters.  

We looked at some of the popular home water purifiers and filters.  We looked at what they do and do not do.  Some of the best ones are not advertised on TV.  You can't always use price as a guideline.  Usually we think that more expensive equals better, but that is not true in this case.  

Any reputable company should provide product performance data for their home water purifiers and filters.  In some states they are required to, but you may have to ask.  The better companies publish the information freely on their websites.  Just a hint, the better companies are not the most highly advertised. 

Product performance data lists contaminants that the home water purifiers and filters are certified to remove and to what extent.  Here's just a little information about possible contaminants, so you'll know what to look for. 

Every year, your local water treatment facility releases a report concerning the safety of your tap water.  The problem is that they are not 100% reliable.  Reliable new reporters recently found that some of the local utilities are changing their numbers.  So, no matter what the report says, you can only be sure that your drinking water is safe if you use home water purifiers and filters that have certified performance data. 

There should be nothing is in your glass except pure chlorine and chemical free water with a proper pH and mineral level, but it is possible that any of over 2000 different chemicals are present.  Some of them cause illness.  Some aggravate existing illnesses.  Some of them cause cancer.  Some biological contaminants can kill you. 

Most of the chemical contaminants fall into several major categories.  If your home water purifiers and filters only blocks chlorine, you could be in trouble.  One of the most popular pitchers blocks only chlorine and lead and only a small percentage of that.  Other chemicals pass right through the systems filter. 

If there are no details about exactly which chemicals and other contaminants are blocked, there is cause for concern.  Let's look at MTBE for example. 

MTBE is a chemical used primarily to raise the octane in gasoline and reduce knocking.  Leaks from underground storage tanks caused this chemical to be released and enter the ground water.  You may have seen stations in your area digging up and replacing the tanks.  They were following EPA requirements. 

MTBE is a problem in a number of cities around the country.  Only two of the more popular home water purifiers and filters can block MTBE.  Then, there are THMs. 

THMs are chemicals commonly used as refrigerants and solvents.  They are also by-products that are created when chlorine is used to disinfect water.  Chloroform gas is an example of a THM. 

The EPA estimates that there is a measurable level of chloroform gas in most homes in the United States.  Most home water purifiers and filters block chlorine, to a certain extent, but they don't block THMs, the by-products of disinfecting with chlorine.  

Government agencies limit the amount of THMs that can be present in public drinking water, but since we can't trust the reports, then we don't know if our water supply passes the standards or not.   The only way to be sure is to buy home water purifiers and filters that block THMs.  Only about half of them do.  Take the time to do a little research and make the right choice for your health.