A Brief Review of Home Water Purification Systems

A home water purification system is a logical choice for providing safe, affordable water for drinking and bathing. While most of us have access to tap water which is technically “safe”, it can still contain undesirable chemicals, metals, or microorganisms which, let’s face it, we’d all be better off not ingesting or bathing in.

Here’s a brief description of a few common types of home water purification systems;

POE- A “point of entry” system treats the water as it enters the home at the water main. One disadvantage is that the water may pick up some contaminants from the pipes. It is also a more difficult area to access in order to change and maintain the system.

POU- A “point of use” system can come in a variety of forms. These can include the common counter top pitchers, tap and shower head attachments, and under-the-counter systems.There are also portable sports bottle and even drinking straw filters.  Under the counter filters are fitted directly to the pipes under the sink. Some of the advantages of these are the fact that they free up counter space and do not have to be turned off and on. After the one time installation, they only need to be serviced when it is time to change the filter. Other POU filters also attach to a faucet in the house.

Distillation and reverse osmosis systems are common, but may not remove all dangerous materials. In addition to that, they may remove desirable minerals from the water, also resulting in less than desirable quality. A carbon based set of filters used in a multi- staged process may be more reliable. 

What is the Best Type of Home Water Purification System for Me?

With so many different types of home water purification systems out there to choose from, you may be a bit uncertain about which one best fits your needs. Everyone’s lifestyle and living spaces are different and so one type of water purification system might work well for one type of person and not for another.

Let’s say, for example, that you are living in a small, rented flat with a miniscule kitchen. You would probably not be willing to invest too much into setting up an elaborate whole-house water purification system, but would still like to have a reliable and space saving purifier.

Or you may be living in a house that you own and are planning to stay in this house for the foreseeable future. In that case, a whole- house system might make a great deal of sense.

You may be a nomad who spends very little time in one place and needs something portable for camping or even a sports bottle with a filter straw for filtering tap water in foreign countries.

There are a lot of options and great products out there to choose from. Whatever your lifestyle, there is sure to be a home water purification system which will suit you and help you keep hydrated and healthy while filtering out the stuff you don’t want in your system.

Safe Water Storage and Bottled Water

The ideal way to store water is in glass bottles, as clean glass is a neutral material and will not add any contamination to the water. Some bottled waters do indeed come in glass bottles but the majority of them come in plastic bottles, as this material is lighter and much less prone to breakage. The problem with plastic bottles is that chemicals from the plastic can leach into the water and also negatively affect the quality. Ever notice how your water tastes like plastic when you leave it out in the sun in a plastic bottle? According to a 2006 article in the Toronto Star antimony (antimony trioxide) has been found to leach into containers. The cumulative effect is something akin to the effect of lead poisoning and it is also a suspected carcinogen. The presence of this substance was found when William Shotyk, the Director of the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry at Germany’s Heidelburg University, was studying the groundwater in an area known for having very pure water and noticed the presence of the chemical in bottled water from the area, but not in the groundwater itself. This lead him to suspect that the chemical originated from the containers and not the water itself. The highest concentration of antimony is found in the PET containers which are most commonly used for soft drinks and bottled water. Although the concentration is well below the minimum allowable standard, evidence suggests that antimony tends to accumulate in the body over time. Professor Shotyk acknowledges that it is too early to declare that such containers are a threat, but does state that he has decided not to drink bottled water for the time being. Here’s a link to the doctor’s research.

More on Bottled Water

Another important piece of information to take into consideration is the fact that there are in fact many different types of bottled water. Jim Mc Mahon has put together a thorough breakdown of the different types of bottled water which are available and which can help you better choose the type which most suits your needs.

Home Water Purification vs. Bottled Water

There is very little outside regulation of the quality of the bottled water industry, while manufacturers of home water purification systems are required to demonstrate the effectiveness of their products. That is not to say that there are not some extremely high quality bottled waters from pure sources. But, many bottled waters turn out to be little more than filtered municipal tap water. You could do that yourself at home with a decent water filter and save yourself hundreds of dollars in the long run, not to mention sparing yourself the guilt of not always being able to recycle all those plastic water bottles.

If you are at all concerned about your “carbon footprint” you may want to take into account the distance your bottled water may have traveled in order to get to your local shop. Just look at the label to see where it was bottled.

By the way, don’t be fooled by the images of pristine glaciers and mountain springs on the bottle. The source of the water in that bottle probably bears very little resemblance to them. Regarding that topic and more, here’s this eye-opening little video for your entertainment. If you have delicate sensibilities you may want to skip this one due to some profanity. It’s Penn and Teller, after all…

What’s Wrong With My Tap Water and Why Should I Bother With Home Water Purification?

Why would you need to bother with home water purification if you live in an area with treated water?

Water pollution is a massive problem all over the world, and lack of access to clean water is a direct cause of death and disease in many third world countries. It is estimated that over 1 billion people are currently facing a drinking water crisis.

This is not, however, only a problem in the developing world. Pathogens can still be present in chlorine-treated drinking water. In 1993, 400,000 people in Milwaukee caught an intestinal parasite from municipal tap water and suffered severe gastrointestinal illness as a result. Water treatment with chlorine was originally introduced as a method of preventing cholera outbreaks. While it has been effective in this respect (met anyone who’s contracted cholera lately?), it still happens to be a dangerous chemical to ingest or bathe in and such exposure has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. Chlorine is most harmful when absorbed as vapor (during showering and bathing), which is essentially chlorine gas.

Other threats include contamination from pesticides, fertilizers, lead and other metals, animal waste, sewage, and excessive acidity due to air pollution and acid rain.

Most public water systems contain some level of contaminants. These systems are tested by the utility companies and potentially harmful substances must be below the legal maximum level allowable for it to be considered fit for human consumption. You probably even get an annual report stating that your tap water meets the government’s standard as well as a breakdown of what is in your water and at what levels. Obviously these substances are found only in trace amounts and consuming this water will not, in most cases, cause noticibly ill effects. However, the result of cumulative, long term exposure is not taken into consideration when determining these levels. This maximum allowable limit is largely based on the known effects of a single chemical on an average sized adult. Combinations of chemicals and their potentially adverse effects are not factored in, nor are the effects on the young, the elderly, and otherwise less resilient individuals.

Ready to find out what’s in your morning cuppa joe besides milk and sugar? Here is an example of a device which you can use to test your water.

Liv Sure Water Tester

Another great source of information on the state of tap water is this site. It’s run by an ecologist who really knows his stuff. He’s not an affiliate link or anything, I just find his site to be very informative and high quality. He’s also quite cool about personally responding to any questions you may have about getting your self set up with the appropriate home water purification system for you.

Home Water Purification – Why am I doing this?

I’m researching home water purification because clean water is such a fundamental and often overlooked requirement for good health. As I research this topic, I’m becoming convinced that each of us needs to look carefully at the water we use every day for drinking, cooking, and bathing. I’m sure you’ve all heard that a person can survive a month or more without food but no more than a few days without water. You’ve no doubt also heard that our bodies are mostly made of water. When you take these two facts into account, it follows that the quality of your drinking water has a direct influence on the state of your health. Obviously,there’s no way to avoid contact with harmful substances in our environment. It’s just an unfortunate part of modern reality and to make yourself paranoid trying to do so is probably going to be worse for you in the long run than drinking iffy tap water, or chain-smoking, or a steady diet of trans-fats, or living in a polluted city, etc… However, when we are conscious of what we choose to put into our bodies, it empowers us just a little more. One way of doing this is by implementing a high quality system of home water purification.