There are even more methods of well water filtration systems than types of air filters. That's not surprising, however, as drinking clean water is much more important for us than getting rid of cigarette smoke. Though well water is supposed to be a healthier solution, it still needs filtrations systems to be 100 per cent sure that we can drink it safely.

What's more, well water filtration systems (at least some of them) are supposed to be able to provide drinking water even in case of serious groundwater contamination ? a common situation in case of floods, tornados or earthquakes.

Below there's a short list of well water filtration systems. What is universal to all of them is the fact that they need much more maintenance than air filters. While unattended air filters will usually simply cease to work, water ones can even contaminate water if not maintained with scrupulous care.

1. Distillation:

Probably the oldest technology of water filtration, distillation is simply boiling water to the point it turns into vapor and then gathering the vapor. It doesn't remove all dangerous pollutants like trihalomethans and all other whose boiling temperature is over the water's one. Distillation is also quite slow, taking hours before you can get the first few litres of water. It is not recommended that you buy water distillers, especially if you want to purify well water. Go for some other, more effective, well water filtration systems.

2. Reverse osmosis water system:

Reverse osmosis technology was used for a long time to desalinate water. For the last ten years or so, however, it has been aggressively introduced as a universal water purification method. The most important part of an RO water purifier is the membrane that is used to separate water from the contaminants. Generally, reverse osmosis can cope with virtually any type of contamination, but it comes with a price.

* First, RO filters need a lot of maintenance, including frequent changing of the membrane.

* Secondly, they work best when the contamination level is low - and in case of severe contamination they won't be able to stop everything. Nevertheless, RO well water filtration systems are excellent "good weather filters". Just don't rely on them in case of emergency.

3. UV water treatment:

Ultraviolet water treatment is basically a chamber where water flows through and this chamber is lit by strong UV lamps. This method is extremely effective against all bacteria and other similar contaminants. However, it works best with clean (ie. not muddy) water, as dirt particles greatly reduce the effectiveness of UV treatment. However, UV treatment is a common part of many high quality well water filtration systems, usually used as one of the second-stage purifiers.

4. Ozone water purifier:

It is not recommended that you use ozonation as one of well water filtration systems, at least if you intend to drink the water afterwards. Ozone kills only some of the bacteria and has little impact against other pollutants. However, it is an excellent solution for your pool water purifier, as the ozone water purifier is capable of quickly purifying large quantities of water.

5. Solid carbon block:

This is a common method of water purification. In this kind of filter water is pushed through the densely packed carbon block. This cleans the water from most chemicals, dirt and all unpleasant odors.

Even more interestingly, it doesn't require any electricity to run and is relatively easy to maintain.

The only problem is that solid carbon block filters can do little against bacteria and other microbes.

6. Granular activated carbon (GAC) filter:

GAC filters are often considered as just as universal as reverse osmosis filters and that is true only if the granules consist not simply of carbon, but also of silver nitrate, which has some anti-bacterial effects. The problem is that GAC won't be effective enough to be the the backbone of superior well water purification systems. As the water flows through a bed of coal granules, some of the water comes through without contacting the filter at all and this is enough wiggle room for some contaminants to slip through.

It is obvious that all well water filtration systems have their limitations and the only way to destroy the vast majority of well water contaminants is to use more than one system. Know your well water needs and you will be able to choose the best system.