Ever wondered how to decide which of the pure water systems on the market is going to do the best job for your family? Then read on. By the time you finish reading this you will know what types of water systems are available and what each one can (and can't!) do.
For many years the carbon water filters were probably the best known of the pure water systems.
The carbon comes in several forms, and some of it is enhanced to give extra protection against certain bacteria. But all of them are cheap, economical to run and easy to install. Mould can grow on these filters and you might have to clean them if they get clogged with it. But that aside, they're effective, as they remove most contaminants including the organisms Cryptosporidium and Guardia and yet permit the essential, healthy trace minerals found naturally in water to get through so you are not drinking sterile water as you do when you take water from pure water distillers.
Distillers are not as common now as they used to be.
We've all seen the college science experiment where water is boiled, the steam passed through a glass coil, and condensed back into pure water at the other end of the apparatus. That is distillation at its simplest. Commercial distillers remove everything with a boiling point the same as water. Unfortunately that includes those essential trace minerals. In addition pure water distillers change the pH of water and some researchers are sure this causes health problems.
Ceramic water filters work using a fossil substance.
This is called Diatomaceous Earth, and its made up of tiny silicon shell remains of trillions of microscopic, one-celled algae. Some ceramic filters have nano-silver added to the filter's porous outer shell to get rid of any bacteria that clogs the surface. The filters trap all but the smallest bacteria, and produce a slow flow of water that is almost organically sterile. Also, they permits the passage of healthy, trace minerals.
Reverse osmosis filters are found in many large scale pure water systems.
The equipment takes water on one side of a special membrane barrier and uses a difference in pressure on both sides to force that water through the extremely fine pores in that barrier. It needs a lot of pressure -- an osmotic pressure of 60 atmospheres, to be exact -- but clean water does flow slowly out the other side. Too clean, unfortunately. The essential minerals are not able to pass, so the potable water is not safe to drink for long periods. It is used in submarines, in industry that needs demineralized water, and in big desalination plants in the Middle East where Arab governments can get away with providing water for farming and desert populations who are used to rougher living. You can find RO equipment in US city water departments where the outflow water is also treated with chlorine and other things. But because it removes essential minerals it is not among the satisfactory pure water systems.
New technologies developed since the 1960s have produced some novel pure water systems.
Magnetic fields are used in some equipment that purify water by rearranging the ions in water. These units have uses in some parts of industry. But the ionization change is temporary, so it needs to be quickly consumed for the (dubious) benefits to be achieved. Basically, this process just "softens" water.
Infra red systems are being sold. By passing water over minerals that emit these rays naturally, these units also soften water, give the ions a negative charge and change the structure of water in ways that may be beneficial for our health. But there is a fair amount of science fiction in them, I feel.
Catalytic converters are more promising and produce water up to World Health Organization standards. In this process heavy metals, chlorine, pollutants and viruses are converted into their harmless oxidized form with technology similar to that used to control emissions in your car. At the same time they give water a negative charge that alkalizes it. There is no filter involved, so a unit will last for a million liters.
Electrolyzed alkaline water filters are interesting. They are a little complicated, but use magnetic plates and a ceramic filter to charge water into two streams -- one acid and one alkaline. Both still have the essential minerals, and you use the alkaline stream for drinking and the acid stream for washing. Water can flow through these units at the same rate as a kitchen tap. And they can alkalize up to 1000 times more than that tap water. But they only work if there are minerals in the water supply.
Bottled water is the final source of pure water, in the mind of most people.
But since there are no significant regulations government bottled water production, it does not need to be any more clean and pure than tap water. So in many cases, that is exactly what you get when you buy "pure" water in a bottle!
So, there you have it. A range of pure water systems to choose from. I have summarized this on my web site, pure-drinkingwater.com, and added some more information. You might like to click there now and read more about how to get the best and safest pure water you can, at a reasonable cost, for your family.
