Whole house water purification means just what it says. The idea is to filter all the water coming into your home by installing a water filter system near the point your water supply line enters the home. That way all the water past that point has been filtered and you can have good, safe water everywhere, in your sinks, showers, bathtubs and even for laundry and the dishwasher. In this article we will look at whole house water purification systems, what they do, how they do it, and the best technology to use to get the job done.
1. Any good home water purifier should do what?
Simply put, any good whole house water purifier should give you clean, healthy water by removing virtually all (over 99%), of the debris and harmful contaminants from your water. This would include chlorine, THMs or the toxic byproducts of chlorine, SOCs or synthetic organic chemicals, lead, weed killers, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, etc., the list goes on and on.
2. How are these systems able to get out all of these pollutants?
First, keep in mind there is no single filter that will do the job, so, all whole house water purifiers will consist of a series of filters one after another. The series will begin with a pre-filter to remove larger particles of debris that might clog the finer filters to follow.
The best filter for removing the deadly chemical compounds that are showing up more and more in our water supplies is activated charcoal. So, a filter with activated charcoal will follow next, since there no technology has been found that will do a better job.
Stage three of the process is where things differ. This stage may be a distillation process, it might use reverse osmosis, or stages two and three could be combined together in a newer technology using ion exchange, called multi-stage or selective filtration.
With distillation, water is heated until it vaporizes and the steam is transferred to a cooling chamber, there it condenses back to the liquid state. Any bacteria that survived the chlorine are killed and minerals like lead, calcium, magnesium, etc. are all removed. Distillation, however, cannot handle organic chemicals which is why it must be used together with a carbon filter.
Only three or four gallons a day is produced by these units so you can see they are very slow. Also, the electricity needed makes them have a relatively high energy cost.
Reverse osmosis units push water against a semi-permeable membrane with very fine pores, the size of water molecules. The process rejects certain contaminants, minerals, and even a large part of the water itself. Most SOCs, such as herbicides and pesticides, are smaller, molecularly, than water and will pass through the membrane and will not be filtered out. That is why these systems must be used in combination with a carbon filter.
Reverse osmosis systems waste as much, or more, water than they produce, and they are slow producers as well, producing one four or five gallons of water a day. If the home water is inadequate, a booster pump may be required and, in order to accumulate a volume of water, special storage tanks are needed. Component cost, waste and operating cost make the complete systems about equal in cost with the distillation units.
Each of these systems, distillation and reverse osmosis, strip the all minerals out of the water, even the ones beneficial to your body. When minerals are missing from drinking water, it becomes slightly acidic and will leach calcium from the body in an attempt to neutralize itself. Consequently, many health professionals caution against drinking such water.
The third system starts with the adsorptive power of activated charcoal and it is blended with a chemically charged resin to create a very different, but highly effective, filter media.
Its final form is extruded into a solid block of carbon composed of sub-micron pores. Chemicals like chlorine, drugs, pesticides, etc., physically bond to the surface of the charcoal thru adsorption, and minerals such as lead are chemically altered by the resin, through an ion exchange, allowing them to be filtered out as well. Finally, even very tiny cysts such as Giardia or Cryptosporidium, and any remaining inorganic contaminants, are trapped by the sub micron pore structure.
Brackish or salty water cannot be handled by selective filtration systems. However, this would only be an issue with about 5 percent of households in the U.S.
Selective filtration does not require any electricity and, since the system operates quickly, they don't need storage tanks either. Also, they barely impede the water flow so no booster pumps are needed. Another big factor is they cost less to purchase and operate than either of the other two systems.
3. Of the three systems, which one should you choose?
No question about it, if you have a salt water problem, I don't think you can beat a reverse osmosis system. It is what is was designed for years ago, and it does a great job.
If you don't have the salt problem, you will be happy with the selective filtration process. They are very compact, less expensive to own and operate and, if they are installed properly, they work virtually maintenance free.
1. Any good home water purifier should do what?
Simply put, any good whole house water purifier should give you clean, healthy water by removing virtually all (over 99%), of the debris and harmful contaminants from your water. This would include chlorine, THMs or the toxic byproducts of chlorine, SOCs or synthetic organic chemicals, lead, weed killers, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, etc., the list goes on and on.
2. How are these systems able to get out all of these pollutants?
First, keep in mind there is no single filter that will do the job, so, all whole house water purifiers will consist of a series of filters one after another. The series will begin with a pre-filter to remove larger particles of debris that might clog the finer filters to follow.
The best filter for removing the deadly chemical compounds that are showing up more and more in our water supplies is activated charcoal. So, a filter with activated charcoal will follow next, since there no technology has been found that will do a better job.
Stage three of the process is where things differ. This stage may be a distillation process, it might use reverse osmosis, or stages two and three could be combined together in a newer technology using ion exchange, called multi-stage or selective filtration.
With distillation, water is heated until it vaporizes and the steam is transferred to a cooling chamber, there it condenses back to the liquid state. Any bacteria that survived the chlorine are killed and minerals like lead, calcium, magnesium, etc. are all removed. Distillation, however, cannot handle organic chemicals which is why it must be used together with a carbon filter.
Only three or four gallons a day is produced by these units so you can see they are very slow. Also, the electricity needed makes them have a relatively high energy cost.
Reverse osmosis units push water against a semi-permeable membrane with very fine pores, the size of water molecules. The process rejects certain contaminants, minerals, and even a large part of the water itself. Most SOCs, such as herbicides and pesticides, are smaller, molecularly, than water and will pass through the membrane and will not be filtered out. That is why these systems must be used in combination with a carbon filter.
Reverse osmosis systems waste as much, or more, water than they produce, and they are slow producers as well, producing one four or five gallons of water a day. If the home water is inadequate, a booster pump may be required and, in order to accumulate a volume of water, special storage tanks are needed. Component cost, waste and operating cost make the complete systems about equal in cost with the distillation units.
Each of these systems, distillation and reverse osmosis, strip the all minerals out of the water, even the ones beneficial to your body. When minerals are missing from drinking water, it becomes slightly acidic and will leach calcium from the body in an attempt to neutralize itself. Consequently, many health professionals caution against drinking such water.
The third system starts with the adsorptive power of activated charcoal and it is blended with a chemically charged resin to create a very different, but highly effective, filter media.
Its final form is extruded into a solid block of carbon composed of sub-micron pores. Chemicals like chlorine, drugs, pesticides, etc., physically bond to the surface of the charcoal thru adsorption, and minerals such as lead are chemically altered by the resin, through an ion exchange, allowing them to be filtered out as well. Finally, even very tiny cysts such as Giardia or Cryptosporidium, and any remaining inorganic contaminants, are trapped by the sub micron pore structure.
Brackish or salty water cannot be handled by selective filtration systems. However, this would only be an issue with about 5 percent of households in the U.S.
Selective filtration does not require any electricity and, since the system operates quickly, they don't need storage tanks either. Also, they barely impede the water flow so no booster pumps are needed. Another big factor is they cost less to purchase and operate than either of the other two systems.
3. Of the three systems, which one should you choose?
No question about it, if you have a salt water problem, I don't think you can beat a reverse osmosis system. It is what is was designed for years ago, and it does a great job.
If you don't have the salt problem, you will be happy with the selective filtration process. They are very compact, less expensive to own and operate and, if they are installed properly, they work virtually maintenance free.
About the Author:
David Eastham has done many hours of research on such subjects as reverse osmosis to discover the best way to give you good, clean drinking water. Go here for his selections as the best dollar for dollar buys, and the best products overall, in whole house water purfication systems.
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