How does a water filter work?

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Filters work to keep your environment, including your water, clean and safe.

Before you decide on installing a water filter system in your home have your water tested. Ask your local authorities for a report on your water so you know what it contains. Often, you can find data on the quality of your local water online at your municipality’s website.

Decide how much water you use and based on that decide what type of water filter is best for your home. There are various types of water filtration systems available.

Most importantly, knowing how does a filter work helps you make an informed choice.

Water filters are generally activated-charcoal or charcoal, which primarily consists of carbon. A charcoal filter works because it?s absorptive. Charcoal is the remainder of organic material that has been burnt or distilled.

When chemical processing or unique heating is added to charcoal this makes charcoal even more absorptive. This is called activated charcoal. Gases, including poisonous ones, adhere to the porous charcoal, which can absorb volumes of impurities because of its porosity.

Activated carbon filters do not remove cooper and lead and other metals of this nature, but they do remove bacteria, nitrate and dissolved minerals. These filters often remove chlorination by-products and may well remove pesticides and solvents depending on the model that you purchase. Activated carbon filters absorb organic contaminants that are the culprits and which cause odor and a bad taste in your water.

Some water filtration systems employ reverse osmosis, which means that water is pushed through a semi-permeable membrane at which time the tap liquid is separated into the pure permeate that is sent to a storage tank for later use. The brine (salt water) concentrate goes down the drain. Before the tap liquid comes out of your faucet it sits in a pressure tank and is treated to one more activated charcoal polishing filtration process that takes away the remaining tastes and odors.

When using reverse osmosis filters this removes bad tastes, colors and smells and may reduce the concentration of some dioxins, pesticides, petrol chemicals and chloroform. This type of unit also removes sodium, nitrates, dissolved organic compounds and dissolved inorganic compounds. A reverse osmosis filter does not remove all organic contaminants or inorganic contaminants.

An additional type of water filter system is the ion exchange system, which means the calcium and other dissolved salts in the water are removed, which makes the water softer. Another outcome is that the natural forming mineral ions found in the water are exchanged with its own ions, which neutralizes the bad effects of scale build-up. Ion exchange is used in combination with carbon.

Ion exchange units do not soften water that has oxidized iron bacteria or oxidized iron in it that clogs the system when the ion-exchange resin becomes coated. Resin is a semi-solid substance that comes from trees and plants. Ion exchange units do remove calcium and magnesium and other minerals that cause water to be hard. This system also removes fluorides. Some models eliminate barium and radium from the water.

Boiling water and creating steam is the process of distillation, which is another filtering system. When the steam cools it condenses and makes pure mineral?free water droplets that are put into a container. When coupled with carbon, the outcome is 99.9 percent pure contaminant-free water. The distillation systems are dependable and effective and are considered one of the best ways to get contaminates out of water.

If you select a distillation water filter unit this will remove sodium, water hardness, nitrates, dissolved solids, bacteria, radionuclides, bacteria and heavy metals, but it won?t remove certain volatile solvents, pesticides, volatile organ contaminants and it doesn?t prevent bacteria from re-colonizing on the cooling coils during periods of inactivity.

While we?re on the topic of filters, each year you should put clean filters in your furnace. Your aquarium needs a filter as does your air conditioning unit and heaven only knows what else around your house.

Filters keep your environment clean and safe.