The scary facts that are coming out regarding the safety and content of tap water has made the water treatment systems increase in popularity and become a priority in many households. Nevertheless, not all the available systems on the market are of the same quality or efficiency. It is important to compare these systems not only by cost, but by how safe and pure they make your water as well. We will need to take a quick look at the most popular systems and give you some insight on the pros and cons of each.

The most popular system is the pitcher system. Filtered pitchers are available at most grocery, drug, and department stores. While initially inexpensive, when the filter cost is factored in, this is actually the most expensive method of obtaining filtered water available. In addition, these filters only remove large particles such as sediment and lead, and leave in numerous chemicals and bacteria. While far better than tap water, these systems are not the most effective or cost-efficient.

If you want to compare water systems that work effectively, the two you need to look most closely at are reverse osmosis and multi-stage systems. Both of these systems provide far healthier water than either tap or filtered water. In the next few paragraphs we will examine the cost and effectiveness of each of these types of units.

Reverse osmosis is a water treatment system that works by passing water through a semi-permeable membrane that filters out anything larger than a water molecule. These filters must also be used in conjunction with a carbon block filter, because bacteria and chemicals are smaller than water molecules.

These systems do remove the majority of contaminants and impurities from water. They also remove trace minerals such as potassium and magnesium that are needed by the human body to maintain health. It is important to note that these systems waste about two gallons of water for every gallon that is made drinkable. The cost of these systems ranges from 200 dollars for a kitchen unit to about 1,500 dollars for a whole house system. The total cost per gallon of water is roughly twenty-five cents.

Multi-stage water treatment systems work by passing water through a number of different patented filters. These systems remove almost all impurities while leaving in the valuable minerals your body needs. These systems remove chemicals, lead, rust, and even the chlorine that is added to all tap water.

The cost of a multi-stage system ranges from approximately 150 dollars for a counter unit to 1,000 dollars for a whole house system. That's the total cost for the system including filter replacement, which is only every three years. With these systems you end up paying about 10 cents per gallon of water. They also consume far less water than reverse osmosis systems, and discard less.

In order to compare water treatment systems, we need to emphasize the distinctions between kitchen and whole house systems. Kitchen systems are very important because they clean and purify the water that you and your family drink, but whole house systems also purify the water in the most important room in your home, the bathroom where water toxins are taken in.

While taking a shower or hot bath you the toxins from your water into your blood through your pores, and also you inhale them in the water vapor you breathe. Practically every chemical in your water is dispersed into the air in the form of water vapor. Because of these facts it is extremely important and strongly encouraged the use of a whole house water filtration system.

Concluding, we can tell you that water treatment systems are extremely beneficial. No matter what water system you choose, whether the recommended whole house system or simply a kitchen unit, cleaning and purifying your water is one of the noblest decisions you can take for your family's sake. The presence of so many pollutants, carcinogens, and toxins in our tap water, makes it imperative for us to use a purification system to maintain health.