The moment you turn on the TV, flip through a magazine, or take a look at the newspaper, you find advertisements with terms like water purifier, water purification process, reverse osmosis, distillation, filtration, and so on. A lot of people have no idea what these terms actually mean and they buy water filters randomly. But a water filter is not meant to be bought that way. You need to understand the concept of purifying water and you need to buy the best product in order to stay away from waterborne diseases.

First, let me explain water purification. The water distributed through public system has lots of contaminants. Some of them are less dangerous and some of them are more dangerous. But all of them are harmful for your health. So, you need to purify the water you drink. In order to do so, you need to get a water purifier. Each water purifier has its own method to purify water.

In order to explain water purification further, I need to tell you about the different methods of water purification. There are three methods which are very popular these days - reverse osmosis, point of use filtration, and active carbon block filtration.

The water purification process behind an RO unit is simple. It has a semi permeable membrane and a fine porous structure. Water is passed through these layers under pressure and the unit blocks any substance which is larger than water molecule. However, there are two major disadvantages with this method. First, herbicides, which are smaller than water molecules, pass through this filter easily. Second, this method tends to destroy the essential minerals present in water that are good for your health. The bottom line ? the water you get is neither pure nor healthy.

The water purification process behind point of use distillation is a little complex. Water is first passed through a very hot coil and it becomes water vapor. Then, it is passed through a cooling chamber where it becomes water again. In this process, the inorganic contaminants present in water are removed. However, the organic contaminants still remain and like RO, this method tends to destroy the essential minerals present in water too.

The third, and perhaps the best method, is active carbon block filtration. The reason why it is considered the best is very simple. Unlike RO and filtration, it destroys the contaminants present in water completely. Also, it retains the essential minerals present in water.

Doctors around the world explain water purification in two points. First, the contaminants present in water should be removed entirely and second, the essential minerals present in water should not be removed. Going by this rule, active carbon filtration is the only method which can be considered effective.

So people, there you have the opinion of the experts. Remember, a water filter unit is only as good as the water purification process behind it. So, make sure you buy the right one and enjoy the goodness of pure water.