The Importance of Home Drinking Water Filtration
Now more than ever, having clean drinking water in your home is essential. With more people working from home than ever before, tap water has quickly become the main source of drinking water for many homeowners and their families. One of the best ways to know that your tap water is safe is to install a home drinking water filtration system. These systems clean your water directly before consumption, making them one of the best ways to know that every glass you pour will be clean and safe.
Common Drinking Water Issues
Sources of contamination can vary wildly and will have different effects on your water. Some signs are more obvious than others and there are some contaminants that you may not be able to detect at all. Today we will be looking at a few of the most common issues that can come up with drinking water and their causes.
Turbidity
The most common issue with drinking water is turbidity or cloudiness. There are a lot of different reasons why your water might be cloudy, but the root cause is small particles that are suspended in your water. This can be anything from silt or other inorganic particles to soluble organic compounds. In some cases turbidity can even be caused by microorganisms and algae.
Luckily most of the causes of turbidity are easily remedied by thorough water filtration. Most filters are designed to strain out the “large” particles that cause turbidity. In this case, large is a relevant term. These waterborne contaminants may be nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, but they are usually quite massive when compared to water molecules. This means that filters are designed to let water pass through easily while trapping these particles are producing crystal clear water.
Odor
Another common indicator of poor water quality, sometimes paired with turbidity and other factors, is a foul odor. There are two main sources of drinking water odors: chlorine and organic sources. Chlorine will give your drinking water a “pool water” or mildly bleach like aroma and is usually caused by too much chlorine and chloramine being used in water treatment plants. While this can be extremely unpleasant to drink, chlorine levels are carefully monitored to make sure that they are not dangerous.
The other source of foul odors is usually organic. Microbes somewhere in your water line are metabolizing and producing sulphuric compounds. This will leave your water with a rotten or sewage like odor. These compounds can also build up in wells and pipes, which can lead to a lasting issue. Filtering your water directly before consumption can help to remove the smell from your drinking water by trapping these smelly compounds in the filter cartridge.
Taste
If you have noticed a foul odor, then you will probably also have noticed an equally unpleasant taste to go with it. Organic compounds and any other contaminants that will produce a smell will usually also ruin the taste of your water. You may also experience some off tastes if you have over chlorinated water. In some cases, you may even notice a somewhat metallic taste to your water, which is usually a sign that your pipes are leaching metals into your water. Using a filter to clean your water before drinking can help isolate and remove these contaminants from your water so you will get to enjoy a fresh, crisp taste in every glass.
Heavy Metals
A metallic taste is just one sign of heavy metal contamination, but sadly metals like lead are not always so easily detected. Lead pipes can still be found in water transportation systems across the world due to the fact that they were once the most common option used in plumbing. Lead and plumbing are so intertwined that the word plumbing actually comes from the latin word for lead, plumbum.
Sadly the detrimental impact of lead on humans was not fully understood until the second half of the 20th century. This has led to the removal of lead from gasoline, paint, and other common items. Sadly lead pipes can last centuries and many pipes have not been replaced simply due to the fact that they are literally buried, making the process of replacing them both inconvenient and expensive. Using a filtration system that is rated to reduce the amount of lead and other heavy metals to safe levels can help ensure that your drinking water is always safe to consume.
Biological Contaminants
Another type of waterborne contaminant that can have negative effects on your health are biological pathogens. These pathogens are often delivered via cysts. A cyst is a hard protective layer that forms around certain parasites, allowing them to safely enter the body before the cyst breaks down and releases the parasite inside. The destruction of cysts is one reason why natural water has to be boiled before it can be consumed.
If you draw your water from a natural source, these cysts can be a big issue. Luckily, they are slightly more rare in commercial water lines, though it can still happen due to their resilience. Cysts like giardia and cryptosporidium are some of the most common waterborne pathogens in the world and are commonly found in natural water sources that are contaminated by infected animals. These cysts can cause extreme gastrointestinal distress, fever, and other flu-like symptoms. Luckily cysts are fairly large in terms of waterborne contaminants, which makes them easy to filter out of your water supply.
VOCs
The final source of contamination that we will be looking at are volatile organic compounds or VOCs. This includes a huge list of compounds that can evaporate into air or dissolve into water. Sources of these compounds are widespread and include everything from solvents like gasoline or paint thinner to household cleaners and other chemicals. Many VOCs can have negative impacts on human health, especially in high quantities.
Because VOCs are so widespread, they can easily contaminate water tables. It is often difficult to determine if you have an issue with VOCs without having your water tested, due to the fact that they can be hazardous at low concentrations. Because these compounds are so diverse, finding a catch all solution for removing them can be incredibly difficult. Even extremely powerful water purifiers like reverse osmosis filtration systems can have difficulty removing some VOCs from your water. Luckily there are special water filter systems that are designed to reduce the presence of VOCs to safe levels, typically using a separate filter cartridge.
Dealing with Waterborne Contaminants
So when it comes to drinking water, there are definitely a wide variety of different potential sources of contamination. Sadly it is almost impossible to know whether or not your water is going to be safe to drink unless you have a water quality test performed. Even these tests can only provide a snapshot of your water’s quality at any given time.
The only real way to know that your water is safe to drink is to take matters into your own hands. Adding a home drinking water filtration system to your kitchen sink can help ensure that your water is always freshly filtered and ready to drink. Some homeowners will resort to budget options like water filter pitchers, but pitcher filters are not capable of providing the same quality of filtration compared to a dedicated water filtration system. They also tend to require frequent replacement filter cartridges, which can add up over time.
Our Filtration Solutions
We have been working with water filtration systems for years and have had to deal with many different filtration brands. Everpure home drinking water filtration systems have become our focus because they offer the perfect balance of water quality and ease of use. All of our home Everpure systems are designed to be mounted underneath your kitchen sink, so you can get your drinking water from the same location you always have.
One of the main mechanical considerations to make when choosing a filtration system is how your filtered water will be dispensed. Most of our filtration systems are designed to deliver filtered water using a small dedicated faucet while your normal faucet will continue to dispense unfiltered water. For homeowners who are not interested in installing a new fixture in their kitchen, our Full Flow systems are designed to dispense filtered water using the cold water side of your existing faucet. This lets you use your cold water for drinking and cooking, while still retaining the hot water side of your faucet for cleaning and other tasks.
Installation
The process of installing a filtration system that hooks directly into your home’s water lines may seem daunting, but Everpure filters are designed to be easy to install. You can install almost all of our Everpure filtration systems using only a few basic hand tools including a screwdriver, tape measure, a wrench, and a pencil. Once the filter head is screwed into place, leaving sufficient room for installing replacement cartridges, you have to hook the system up to your water line.
This process will differ slightly based on the type of filtration system you are using, but the first step is always to turn the shutoff valve at the base of the cold water line. If your system uses a dedicated dispenser faucet, then you will install an adapter that will divert some of the water to your filter head. You will then install your new dispenser and hook the filter head output to it using the included flexible cut and fit tubing. If you are using a full flow system, then the adapter will completely divert the flow of water to the filter head and then return the water to the other side of the line.
Once the filter head is hooked up, you can screw your filter cartridge in place and run the system for a few minutes in order to purge any air from the system. After the water flow is clear and uninterrupted, you will be able to enjoy up to a full year of filtered water before you will have to change your cartridge.
Filter Cartridges
The actual filtration all takes place inside the system’s filter cartridge. Each of these cartridges are filled with Everpure’s proprietary Micro-Pure filtration media, giving them some truly impressive filtration power. They are rated to remove a wide range of contaminants and are also rated for removing chlorine odors and tastes from your water. The lifespan of your filter is based on how many gallons of water it is designed to filter.
Once the flow rate from your filter begins to noticeably decrease or a full year has passed, you will need to replace the cartridge. This process takes only a few minutes and is about as difficult as changing a lightbulb. If you notice that you have to change your cartridge more than once per year, you can always upgrade your cartridge. Almost every Everpure filter cartridge is designed to fit a standard filter head size, so it is easy to install a higher capacity cartridge on your existing system.
NSF Certified
One huge advantage of using our filtration systems as opposed to cheap pitcher filters and similar systems is that our Everpure water filter cartridges are NSF certified to remove lead and other harmful contaminants. The NSF, or National Science Foundation, is an agency that is responsible for carrying out scientific research in non medical fields. One of the jobs that this agency is tasked with is testing the effectiveness of different water filtration systems. If your current filtration system does not have an NSF certification, you cannot be certain about its effectiveness.
If you are looking for a home drinking water filtration system, we have plenty of amazing options to choose from. Each of our home filtration systems is designed to offer the convenience of always having freshly filtered water available on demand. Feel free to reach out to one of the filtration experts on our team if you have any questions about these amazing water filters.