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.