Replacement water filters. Is the cost of replacement cartridges a problem?

Are you in need of a good water filter? If you understand the risks associated with drinking water from the regular municipal water supplies then you understand the need for a great water filter, not just a good one. What do you need to know about replacement water filters?

Replacement water filters are water purifiers that have a part that needs to be replaced from time to time. Not all water purification systems have parts that need regular replacement, but some do.

What needs to be replaced is the cartridge that actually holds the filter medium. From time to time this cartridge become clogged with contaminants and won’t work as effectively as it once did, or if left too long can even block up completely.

This is good. This means that the water filter is working and the contaminants that you would otherwise be drinking are now captured in the cartridge. When you throw the cartridge in the trash you’ve just thrown out all the impurities that you would have drunk. You can feel good about this.

But there can be  a problem. The problem is this. Replacement water cartridges cost money and people buy their water filters based not on whether they are buying the best water filter but on what the replacement cartridges cost. And for this reason a customer can end up with a water filter that isn’t the best because of the perception of cost of replacing the cartridges.

There’s a couple of things you need to think about before buying a water filter that needs replacement cartridges. The first is that you are buying a water filter to filter out impurities and keep your water healthy to drink. You need to be buying the best water filter, regardless of the cost of the replacements or you are compromising the quality of your water because of cost. Buy the best, not the cheapest.

But of course for many cost is an issue. So here’s the good news.

The best water filters are not even the most expensive filters. The best water filters are Aquasana water filters, and on a cost comparison they are relatively inexpensive to use, including factoring in the cost of replacement cartridges.

In fact the figures show that the Aquasana AQ-4000 (their countertop water filter) sells for around $100 and with replacements factored in costs 9.6 cents per gallon. Compare that to the equivalent products for Aqua-Pure, 13 cents per gallon, Brita, 20 cents per gallon, PUR at 20 cents per gallon and more.

In fact of 10 drinking water filters tested the Aquasana water filter was the cheapest water filter to buy and use. Good news for anyone on a budget because not only are they the cheapest water filter but also the best. Read the rest of this entry

What exactly is a charcoal water filter, and what is “activated carbon”?

If you’ve been learning a little about water filters because you’re convinced of the benefits of drinking clean purified water you will have come across “charcoal water filters” or “carbon water filters” or “activated carbon water filters”. What are these?

A charcoal water filter is a water filter that uses charcoal for the filter process to remove the impurities. Charcoal is carbon that has been created by heating organic material in the absence of oxygen. The good ones are derived from coconut husks.

Charcoal is quite porous and absorbs many compounds in it’s pores and it is this quality that is relied on for successfully filtering the water. That’s why charcoal is used in gas masks, it absorbs things quite easily, both from gases and liquids. The pores are tiny holes made in the charcoal, or carbon, and the contaminants are absorbed into the charcoal. This is achieved by means of chemical attraction, because a wide range of organic compounds are attracted to carbon.

What then, is activated carbon? Activated carbon is charcoal that has been treated with oxygen in the manufacturing process to result in a much higher percentage of pores. In other words it is more porous than ordinary charcoal. The best charcoal water filters use activated carbon.

It’s so porous in fact that it can have up to 20000 square yards  of surface area per ounce of activated carbon. That’s really porous.

Because the carbon filter absorbs contaminants it slowly fills up with these contaminants, so needs to be replaced periodically.

An activated carbon water filter works well filtering a wide range of contaminants, but doesn’t filter all of them, and for this reason the best water filters use a multi stage water filtration process. Not only is the carbon block, or activated carbon filter used but there is a second stage to the process that removes the contaminants that are not removed by activated carbon filtration.

For instance in Aquasana water filters, considered to be the best water filters, there is a 2 stage filtration process. The second stage is used to filter those contaminants not removed by the first, like lead. This is achieved by an ion exchange process where the lead ions are replaced by potassium ions. Potassium is a mineral that occurs naturally in water and is not harmful.

And the second stage of an Aquasana water filter removes tiny organisms that remain in the water after stage 1 like cryptosporidium and giardia through the use of an extremely fine filtration process. These are the most dangerous water contaminants.

Some activated carbon filters do not remove heavy metals like lead, but Aquasana water filters remove 99% of lead, as well as synthetic chemicals which are not removed by some other forms of water purification. Read the rest of this entry

You may have heard of ceramic water filters. How do they work and are they any good?

Gradually consumers are learning that our drinking water is polluted with many substances. Some are removed by water authorities, but most are not, and so many are turning to water filtration. How do ceramic water filters work, and are ceramic drinking water filters the best way to purify your drinking water?

If it’s news to you that our water supplies are polluted then read on. The Ralph Nader Institute estimates that our drinking water and tap water is polluted with up to 2100 toxic chemicals. Nasty bugs are killed by chlorine, but then chlorine contamination is an issue in itself.

PCBs, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, drugs like antibiotics and many many more find their way into our water storages and are not removed before we drink that water or shower in it or wash our clothes in it. Tap water is not healthy to drink.

Modern water filtration systems are very good, and it’s perfectly possible to purify your drinking water to the point that it is way cleaner than any naturally occurring water supply on earth, including bottled water.

One major form of drinking water filter is ceramic water filters. Are these the best form of water filtration?

Ceramic drinking water filters work by forcing water through a filter made of Diatomaceous Earth. This is a substance made up of countless numbers of fossilised shells from millions of years ago. The reason it filters water is that the pore size, or the size of the hole that the water passes through, is very small, so molecules larger than water molecules are caught and removed.

A silver compound can be incorporated into the ceramic filter to counter the growth of bacteria, mold and algae on the filter.

There are some very well known ceramic water filters like Doulton ceramic filters.

Although drinking water systems like ceramic filters are good water purifiers, they have their drawbacks though, and do not produce the highest water quality that good purification can achieve.

What are the drawbacks? Firstly the filter itself is brittle and can be very prone to developing hairline cracks. This of course increases the size of the hole that contaminants can pass through, and some contaminants can remain.

Secondly the colloidal silver method of filtering bacteria does not meet the approval of the FTC who regard it as insufficiently effective.

Thirdly they are not particularly effective against chlorine, one of the major chemicals that you don’t want to be drinking. And they allow volatile organic compounds through.

Finally if you don’t wash or replace the filter regularly they can become contaminated and don’t filter well.

So if you’re looking for the best water filter money can buy a ceramic water filter isn’t it. They’re good, but not the best water treatment.

The best water filters are Aquasana water filters.

And not only are they the best they are also extremely cost competitive, both on initial price and on cost per gallon over time. Read the rest of this entry

Why would you consider a whole house water filtration system?

We’ve talked about the problem of contaminants in our drinking water, we’ve talked about lead in water, chlorine in water and other contaminants like drugs in your drinking water.

And we’ve suggested that you health demands that you filter your drinking water to remove these contaminants. It’s perfectly possible to filter them out so you’re drinking clean water.

But that’s just about drinking water, so for example you could use a good quality benchtop water filter or a faucet water filter. Remove the contaminants and chlorine taste of your city water and you’re looking good.

But how about whole house water filtration systems? Why would you consider using a whole house water filter? They are more expensive and more of a problem to install.

There are good reasons why house water filters are worth considering. A water treatment system that filters ALL the water you use in your house has real benefits. Lets look at those benefits.

1. Believe it or not one of the biggest reasons to consider home water filtering is to keep the air clean. Whether residential or commercial, home water treatment systems will result in improved indoor air quality.

Using contaminated tap water in such appliances like dishwashers releases compounds into the air.

How? By making sure that contaminants such as chlorine are not released into the inside air. These can be compounds like chloroform and other VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which are compounds formed by such actions as heating, and of course you then breathe them in.

According to the U.S. E.P.A., “Every home has an elevated level of chloroform gas present due to the vaporization of chlorine… from tap and shower water.”

2. Filtered water reduces or eliminates scum and soap residues on your dishes from dishwashing, and it makes the detergent work more effectively so you use less.

3. Showering in filtered water is way healthier than showering in tap water. Your skin absorbs chemicals, so if you’re showering in contaminated water you are getting contaminants into your body just like if you’re drinking it. That’s why things like anti smoking patches work, the skin absorbs the chemicals in the patch.

We’ll look at shower water filter systems in another article.

4. Washing your clothes in filtered water provides a noticable difference to the clean. Filtered water has all the contaminants removed, including some that may stain your clothes. Which contaminants may stain your clothes depends on the particular type of water contaminants in your area. But chlorine is everywhere and chlorine can become embedded in your clothes and is thus in contact with your skin. Read the rest of this entry