Water Filtration

Water from the tap in the kitchen is the most important source of water that we use to drink and cook our daily meals thus the kitchen sink is where most households install their under sink water filter. There are plenty of under sink water filters available on the market and most of them are equipped with filtration systems that claim to be able to purify tap water. Water that is processed by these under sink water filters appears to be clear and clean, safe for consumption and cooking purposes. Well, I believe most of these under sink water filters can reduce or may be able to remove the majority of the four categories of contaminants found in tap water such as Microbial Pathogens (bacteria and parasites), Organics (volatile organic chemicals and THMs), Inorganics (arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury) and Radioactive Elements (decay of uranium in soils and rocks).

If every under sink water filter was of similar specifications and able to produce the same quality of water, there would be nothing to compare. The question here is, “Why are these under sink water filters being sold at different prices?” The simple answer is, these are different products being manufactured by different companies, each with different specifications for their water filter cartridges which in turn affects the cost.

Generally, most under sink water filters have sediment filters that remove sand and large particles, while others have activated carbon filters to trap synthetic chemicals and some also trap organic contaminants. However, not all these under sink water filters are made of the same quality parts and components. As for an activated carbon cartridge, it can be either in granular form or porous carbon block which performs much better than the others. Some carbon cartridges have incorporated KDF-55D which is zinc and copper to make them bacteriostatic. That means that bacteria cannot grow inside the filter. Advanced features such as a combination of carbon filtration’ ion exchange and sub-micron filtration are able to produce top notch quality water that no other undersink water filter can match.

Since the undersink water filter uses cartridges, especially the activated carbon cartridge, to trap and capture the harmful contaminants, it has a finite life span to ensure its best performance. Therefore, the cartridge needs to be replaced at six to nine month intervals. In case you forget to replace the cartridge, an added service like email reminder or auto shipping that some companies offer can be of great value.

In short, different undersink water filters produce different levels of quality water, thus the actual types of contaminants which are being filtered, percentage of harmful chemicals being reduced and species of organic bacteria being eliminated relate directly to the undersink water filter’s performance. Needless to say, regardless of which filter you choose, never trade your health for a sub-performing undersink water filter simply because of cost.

An Ezine article

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