Water Filtration

There are now many different refrigerator water filters on the market that could ensure the provision of safe cold drinking water for your family. Because of this, you shouldn’t have any difficulty in finding water filters or replacement cartridges that could fit the model of refrigerator that you have in your home.

As these water filters are guaranteed to enhance the odor and taste of the water coming out of your refrigerator’s water dispenser, you can be sure that they are able to get rid of water contaminants as well. In fact, water filters for refrigerators are proven to eliminate impurities such as heavy metals like lead and mercury from water by 99.31 and 96.7 percent, respectively.

As much as 99.09 percent of lindane, 95.9 of atrazine, 99.99 percent of cysts, 96.3 percent of benzene and 99.9 percent of class I particulates are also removed through these water filters. Of course, turbidity is also lessened by 99.3 percent and 97.6 percent of odors and tastes from chlorine are also eliminated. However, even with if your water goes through this rigorous filtration process, the natural minerals present in it like fluoride will not be removed, thus retaining the healthy elements you can get from it.

Which Refrigerator Water Filter To Choose

Most refrigerator water filters have universal fittings so they fit almost every type and style of refrigerator.

Replacing the Cartridge for Refrigerator Water Filters

Although most refrigerator water filters are recommended to be replaced after every six months of usage, there are also times when replacement depends on several other factors. One of these factors is the consumption of cold water in your household everyday. If your family consumes a lot of drinking water everyday, then it is expected that the wear and tear of your water filter would be more than if lesser water is consumed.

The quality of the water that you use in your refrigerator’s water dispenser is also a deciding factor when it comes to the date of your filter replacement. If you are using water that has not been treated before it is placed into the dispenser, then there is a greater chance for you to replace your filters in less than six months. This is because the performance of your water filter might be optimized at an earlier date because of the amount of filtration that it has to do on your water.

If you notice an unpleasant odor or taste on the water that comes from your refrigerator’s water dispenser, then the chances that you need to replace the filter immediately. So, you have to always be on the lookout for this to make sure that you are providing clean and safe cold water for your family at all times.

Remember that installing refrigerator water filters is not enough to ensure the provision of healthy and clean water for your entire household. There are also certain responsibilities that come with this, which you should not forget. The most important of these is looking into the performance of your filter and into the odors and tastes that your water is already emitting.

Excerpted from an Ezine article

For the health conscious the idea that drinking plenty of water is very important is well known. Our bodies are made up of 70% water, and we require a steady influx of pure, clean water to keep our systems functioning normally. Unfortunately, even with the availability of clean water to nearly every household, very few Americans actually drink water. One of the reasons is that people prefer a cold drink, and many actually complain about the taste of water (though most would say water is tasteless). If you are concerned about your health, then a refrigerator water filter may be just what you need.

Refrigerator Water Filter: Affordable Luxury

Most modern refrigerators now come with ice-makers and water dispensers. These features used to be the domain of only the highest priced units, but the cost of these refrigerators has come down considerably in the last few years, and now ice-maker ‘fridges are very competitive.

An ice-maker refrigerator is attached directly to the household water supply, generally via a copper pipe in the back of the unit. Many of these refrigerators already have a refrigerator water filter installed. This can usually be found inside the ‘fridge cabinet, and on some models in the bottom tray of the refrigerator.

For those that have an ice-making refrigerator that does not come with a built-in refrigerator water filter, it is still possible to have one installed. The refrigerator water filter would need to be installed into the water line that supplies the ‘fridge, either behind the unit itself, or in an adjacent cupboard. Remember that you will need to change the filters occasionally, so determining an easy-access location is important.

Refrigerator Water Filter: Charcoal for Health

Refrigerator water filters usually consist of an activated charcoal capsule. This system allows for a small space consideration, and is one of the best water filtration methods available, owing to the incredible absorptive qualities of activated charcoal. The refrigerator water filter is excellent at removing contaminants such as lead, mercury and copper from the water supply, as well as the commonly used chlorine.

Once these contaminants are removed from the water, and the water has been chilled to a nice, cool temperature, you will find the taste incredibly refreshing. This will encourage you and your family to drink a lot more water, and fresh, purified water at that! The overall benefit to you and your family’s health is the best reason to consider investing in a refrigerator water filter.

An Ezine Article

The latest craze in the ongoing battle to keep our families safe from the deadly contaminants in our reservoirs is water filters for refrigerators.  What these offer you is the opportunity to enjoy pure water and ice from your refrigerators dispensing unit.  If this is the site where your family primarily gets your drinking water then it is a very good idea to have one.

The fact is though that the contaminants in our water supply affect us in far more ways than our simply absorbing them through ingestion.  These chemicals affect us through many portals of entry into our homes that we never really think of as being areas through which harm could come to us.  You will probably be surprised to learn at what is happening in your home.

Water filters for refrigerators are useful, but highly inadequate in protecting your family.  Did you know that your body takes in up to 6,000 times more deadly chlorine during an average shower than what you would get from drinking unfiltered water throughout an average day?  This happens both through inhalation primarily, but chlorine is also absorbed into your open pores.

Chlorine is a chemical which turns to vapor much more quickly than does the water that carries it, and therefore when you are breathing in what you thought was primarily water vapors into your lungs what you have actually been doing is sending massive doses of this carcinogen almost directly to your bloodstream.  You are also releasing chloroform gas into your home.

In addition to water filters for refrigerators you need to get showerhead filters in order to reduce the amount of chlorine that you and your family are exposed to.  You really should at least consider getting either a countertop, or under the counter water purifier for the kitchen sink also.  This faucet may not be the site from which you draw your drinking water, but I’ll bet that you do wash food in this water.

I mentioned earlier that during your shower you were releasing chloroform gas into the air, which is the true form of the THMs that are in our water supply due to chlorine disinfection.  This gas also enters your home every time that you run your washing machine, and your dishwasher.  It is for this reason that many people opt for a whole house water purification system.

Of course, if you ended up investing in a whole house purification system then you would not have a need to purchase water filters for refrigerators would you?  They are good for serving the limited purpose for which they are used, but as you can see they are not nearly enough to keep your family safe.  Take my advice and either go with countertop and showerhead filters, or invest in a whole house unit.

I’m not saying that water filters for refrigerators are not nice to have, because I have one myself.  All that I am saying is that if you truly want your family to remain healthy then you are going to need a lot more.

An Ezine Article

The life of refrigerator water filters is dependent upon the volume of contaminants in the water as well as the amount of use of the filter. Well water is more likely to contain contaminants not found in publicly treated water and may need more frequent filter changes. As a rule of thumb, the filter should be changed as specified by the manufacturer or at least every six months.

Carbon is the primary substance used in water filtration methods because carbon has the potential to absorb many of the chemicals found in water. Most refrigerator water filters, which meet NSF/ANSI 42 certification standards, use granular activated carbon (GAC) to attract chemicals and impurities responsible for bad taste and odor, such as those that are a by-product of chlorine. These filters are not capable, however, to rid water of more dangerous, health-threatening contaminants. The method by which water is channeled through GAC filters does not allow sufficient time to complete the absorption of such substances. Various bacteria are formed, trapped and allowed to multiply, which further contaminates water processed by the filters. Carbon is not capable to absorb heavy metals, such as lead. GAC filters may trap some heavy metals and sediments, but allow others to filter through to the output water. Failure to change the water filter, every six months, allows unabsorbed water contaminants and newly formed bacteria to saturate the filter, forcing the filter to leak contaminants back into processed water. The water output may contain more contaminants than the filter was intended to remove in the first place.

Technology has lead to the development of more absorbent carbon-based filters, solid carbon block filters. These filters include solid blocks of carbon to absorb contaminants from water. Water takes longer to strain through carbon blocks than it does carbon granules, so that carbon blocks provide sufficient time for the absorption of more health-threatening containments. While carbon block filters are capable to absorb toxics, pesticides, TTHM’s and other contaminants, they cannot absorb heavy metals or contaminants that are by-products of agricultural fertilization, such as nitrates or sulfides. The composition of carbon blocks allows them to restrain heavy metals and bacteria away from output water, however, nitrates and sulfides are not filtered. Even so, carbon block filters are sufficient to meet NSF/ANSI 53 certification standards. Failure to change carbon block filters, every six months, allows contaminants to saturate the filter, forcing the filter to leak contaminants into the processed water. When sediments are not removed from water, those sediments buildup and corrode filter fittings and water fixtures, causing them to leak. This type of damage to filters and fixtures may cause the output water to contain more contaminants than the water input to the filter. Failure to change the filters might also reduce the water pressure, within the filtering system, forcing it to be ineffective.

Some refrigerator water filters may include fiber water filters. These filters are made of tightly wrapped fibers of rayon or spun cellulose, which trap rust, lead and other sediments found in water. When used alone, these filters are ineffective in reducing any chemical or health-threatening contaminants. Fiber filters are best suited for use with other types of filters to reduce the concentration of sediments. They should be replaced, every six months, to avoid a build-up of sediments that would force the filter to leak the contaminants back into the processed water.

An Ezine Article

The earliest recorded method of water filtration dates back to 2000 B.C. where hieroglyphics depict methods of boiling water, placing hot metal instruments in water and filtering water through charcoal and sand. These early methods are thought to have been instituted to make water taste better, thus, cleaning it. Water filtration was further developed with the advent of the microscope, which made it possible to see foreign particles and contaminants in water that would have otherwise been considered to be pure and clean. Most notably, the microscope was responsible to identify cholera bacteria in drinking water during a disease outbreak in 19th century London. The outbreak was rampart in all areas except those areas where drinking water was filtered through sand. Chlorine was also discovered to be an effective, chemical disinfectant capable to rid the infectious water of cholera. It was further discovered that the chemical, chlorine, when used in combination with sand filtering, was effective in combating cholera as well the water borne diseases, typhoid and dysentery.

In an effort to achieve drinking water purity, chlorine disinfection and sand filtering became prominent methods of municipal water treatment throughout Europe, and then, the US. These primitive methods of disinfecting and filtering water to achieve purity have been studied and evaluated with the use of technology. Chlorine, despite its history of ridding water of contaminants, is a poison. It has since been found to exhibit side effects that aggravate and induce respiratory complications, such as asthma. The poisonous chemical vaporizes at a faster rate than water, making it dangerously harmful when inhaled, especially during showering. Fluoride has since been added as an additional chemical disinfecting agent, but also has side effects of dental damage and other health complications in young children. Lead and other chemical contaminants and by-products further compromise drinking water during the piping and delivery of treated water.

Business and industry have been instrumental in the disposal of waste materials into our fresh water supply sources. This inhabitation has directly contaminated the water supply and also upset the balance of water flow and creation established by nature. The US Clean Water Act, legislated in 1972, was intended to restore the physical, chemical and biological balance of water that had been disturbed by contamination. The Act specified that all natural water supplies would, at least, be safe for fishing and swimming by 1985. This specification led to the development of some form of water filtration and disinfection in every US city as well as advanced technological innovations in the filtering of water used in industry. Even so, the severity of past and continued damage has left more than 1/3 of all water supplies still polluted with contaminants.

In an effort to reduce the contaminants in drinking water and also to comply with national efforts to make drinking water safe, water-filtering systems have been developed to filter water within individual homes. Systems exist to filter incoming water for the entire house and also systems are designed to filter water inline at various points of water distribution within the house, such as at faucets and refrigerators or in water pitchers. The US based company, Omnipure Filter Company, credits itself with developing the first small, disposable, inline water filter in the world. The Omnipure CL Series of water filters, developed in 1970, were carbon-based, inline filtering systems designed for water coolers and ice machines. This benchmark water filtering system used granular activated carbon (GAC) to create cost effective methods of filtering water inline. Advances in the functionality, using the same basic design, have since led to the development of whole-house filters, faucet filters, countertop filters, pitcher filters, refrigerator filters and portable filters for camping.

In 1996, KX Industries developed and supplied the first refrigerator water filter for ice cube and cold water dispensing. KXI is credited with developing the initial end of tap filter for the Proctor and Gamble/PUR and the Clorox/Brita water filters. The new technology has been adopted and revised to suit a number of refrigerator models, creating a $200 million refrigerator water filter market.

Today,  there are a number of leading online retailers of refrigerator water filters that carry filters for every major brand of refrigerator that will filter out anything from chlorine to lead to pesticides. All of these filters come with a manufacturer’s recommendation that the filter be changed at least every 6 months to keep your water at it’s best quality.

An Ezine Article

The life of refrigerator water filters, and for virtually all water filters, is dependent upon 3 things: the volume of contaminants in the water, the amount of use of the filter and the quality of the filter. For instance, well water is more likely to contain contaminants not found in publicly treated water and may need more frequent filter changes. As a rule of thumb, the filter should be changed as specified by the manufacturer or at least every six months.

Carbon is the primary substance used in water filtration methods because carbon has the potential to absorb many of the chemicals found in water. Most refrigerator water filters, which meet NSF/ANSI 42 certification standards, use granular activated carbon (GAC) to attract chemicals and impurities responsible for bad taste and odor, such as those that are a by-product of chlorine. These filters are not capable, however, of ridding water of more dangerous, health-threatening contaminants because the method by which water is channeled through GAC filters does not allow sufficient time to complete the absorption of such substances. Various bacteria are formed, trapped and allowed to multiply, which further contaminates water processed by the filters. Carbon is not capable of absorbing heavy metals, such as lead. GAC filters may trap some heavy metals and sediments, but allow others to filter through to the output water. Failure to change the water filter every six months allows unabsorbed water contaminants and newly formed bacteria to saturate the filter, forcing the filter to leak contaminants back into processed water. The water output may then actually contain more contaminants than the filter was intended to remove in the first place.

Technology has lead to the development of more absorbent carbon-based filters known as solid carbon block filters. These filters include solid blocks of carbon to absorb contaminants from water. Water takes longer to strain through carbon blocks than it does carbon granules, which provides sufficient time for the absorption of more health-threatening containments. While carbon block filters are capable of absorbing toxics, pesticides, TTHM’s and other contaminants, they cannot absorb heavy metals or contaminants that are by-products of agricultural fertilization, like nitrates or sulfides. The composition of carbon block filters allows them to restrain heavy metals and bacteria away from output water, although nitrates and sulfides are not filtered. Even so, carbon block filters are sufficient to meet NSF/ANSI 53 certification standards. Failure to change carbon block filters every six months allows contaminants to saturate the filter, forcing the filter to leak contaminants into the processed water. When sediments are not removed from water, those sediments build up and corrode filter fittings and water fixtures, causing them to leak as well. This type of damage to filters and fixtures may also cause the output water to contain more contaminants than the water input to the filter. Failure to change the filters might also reduce the water pressure within the filtering system, forcing it to be ineffective.

Some refrigerator water filters may include fiber water filters. These filters are made of tightly wrapped fibers of rayon or spun cellulose, which trap rust, lead and other sediments found in water. When used alone, these filters are ineffective in reducing any chemical or health-threatening contaminants. Fiber filters are best suited for use with other types of filters to reduce the concentration of sediments. They should also be replaced every six months to avoid a build-up of sediments that would force the filter to leak the contaminants back into the processed water.

An Ezine Article

Refrigerator water filters are an excellent option for individuals or families that are looking for a way to combine the health benefits of a water filter and the enjoyment of chilled water. This type of water filter is designed to be installed on the outside of a refrigerator. Although many refrigerators are designed with a built-in water filter, any refrigerator that has an ice-maker or water dispenser on the door can be outfitted with a water filter. In additions to refrigerators, this type of water filter can be used in conjunction with water fountains, ice machines, commercial coffee makers or water coolers.

Most refrigerator water filters run in the price range of sixty to one hundred dollars depending on the quality of filtration they offer, along with their life span. The majority of refrigerator water filters can be connected to the desired device via 1/4” plastic or copper tubes. The filters use a high-pressure connection to provide a steady flow of cool, filtered drinking water. A refrigerator water filter can remove impurities such as chlorine, rust, lime and dust from tap water. By removing these impurities, the filter greatly improves the safety of the water, along with making the taste and odor much more pleasant. Although the filter removes impurities, it does not get rid of minerals and fluoride that are actually beneficial to consume.

Different brands of refrigerator water filters employ a variety of methods and devices to turn tap water into water that is appropriate for consumption. However, all of the filters have certain elements and processes in common. Water is first forced through a filter to remove large impurities, such as silt or sand. Once the larger, un-dissolved particles are removed from the water, water normally flows through a blend of copper and zinc, which is vital in the removal of chlorine. The final stage of the filtration process involves carbon. Carbon is a very porous substance, which provides a large surface area for water contaminants to collect. Carbon has the ability to remove any impurities that have not been previously filtered. Carbon also removes the unpleasant taste and odor that plagues the majority of tap water.

As mentioned earlier, one of the major advantages of refrigerator water filters is the combination of a filtration system and the ability to dispense cold water. The downside to refrigerator water filters is that they do not offer any portability, and some require a licensed plumber for installation.

An Ezine Article

I like the idea that water filtration system can be easily installed at my own home. Since I cannot totally rely on consuming the water that comes out straight from our faucet, I think this is the solution that seems to have so many advantages that I could think of.

I got from this online store the reverse osmosis water filtration system that was easy to install and functions just right. No more worries for me running out of bottled water. I also noticed that they are selling affordable refrigerator water filters which reminded me that I needed to replace mine soon. This web store is a one stop shop for all my water filtration needs, from products to customer service, everything is of great value.