Give me some clean water to drink – from under the tap! Or from the well…

We all love summer: the sun is shining brightly, it’s warm and nice! And how nice to drink a glass of cold clean water on a hot day! Such a simple desire turns into a serious problem. You can be sure your water and your kids’ water is pure? You know for a fact that it’s useful? Not only do people love warm weather, but so do all sorts of microorganisms breeding in water. In addition, at higher temperatures the processes of oxidation of metals are more active, which means that more dirt gets into the water from the water pipes. And no one ever checked the water from wells and springs for quality. It turns out that in the summer, whole families are sick with intestinal infections, which are often called “disease of dirty hands,” but in reality it is “disease of dirty water.

Boil? Then we’re coming to you!

Boiling water is no cure-all.

First, not all bacteria and microorganisms die when the water reaches 100 ⁰C.

Secondly, few people wash fruits, vegetables and dishes with boiled water.

Thirdly, boiled water contains dissolved iron, heavy metals.

Fourthly, repeated heating of boiled water makes it not particularly healthy.

Fifth, try watering a flower with boiled water, or fill a fish tank with such water and see what happens to them.

It’s a pity about the fish? And yourself? All in all, the conclusion is clear. It is necessary to purify water, both tap and well water and water taken from an unknown spring where our grandfathers took it. Since then a lot of water has flowed, and no one knows what kind of liquid is dripping there now.

Getting tested

So you’ve decided to start a healthy lifestyle and install a water filter, and not only in the apartment, but also in the cottage. Practically you find yourself in a position of a knight at the crossroads: when you go to the supermarket you find a jug, when you go to the office you find a system, when you go to the Internet you find lots of offers… It’s like a fairy tale! In principle, all roads are correct!

But the problem of water filters are different, and it is difficult to find the only right solution. Therefore, if you want 100% of the hit, take the water for analysis. It is willingly taken for testing in companies – manufacturers of filters. It costs such a procedure is not expensive – in the range of 3000-4000 Dollars. This is especially true for countryside water. You should have it analyzed before installing filters, or you might just spend your money for nothing.

For the analysis you need at least 1.5 liters of water, collected in a clean bottle you can not use dishes after carbonated drinks, optimally – after ordinary non-carbonated drinking water . You have to pour a full bottle, as they say, “under the straps” so that no air can get in there.

Who lives under the sink?

If you want to get clean water from the tap, you can choose a special multi-functional filter that is installed under the sink. Here again you are at a crossroads: you can choose a traditional filter, or opt for a reverse osmosis system.

Back and forth, back and forth

The “reverse osmosis” purification systems are the most expensive today. It is believed that this technology allows you to completely purify the water of everything superfluous, except H2O.

The main character of the filter is a semi-permeable membrane through which water molecules move under the influence of external pressure.

In the process of reverse osmosis water and its dissolved substances are separated at the molecular level, with one side of the membrane in a special reservoir is collected almost perfectly pure water, while the other side is all the impurities. To ensure that the membrane does not get clogged and stop working, a forced flow of water is created along it, flushing the “brine” into the drain.

For example, in some old systems it took up to 12 liters to clean the membrane to get 1 liter of pure water. This has now been reduced. Thus, when using a system “Akvaphor Morion” for 1 liter of water 5 liters goes to the drain.

What do reverse osmosis systems hold? Their efficiency depends on the pressure of the water in the aqueduct and the water temperature. The material from which the membrane is made determines their durability, such as resistance to chlorine or iron.

So, such filters retain 85-98% of inorganic substances, organic substances with molecular weight over 100-200 including all viruses and bacteria , sulfates – 99%, calcium and magnesium – 98%, chlorides – 96%, nitrates and nitrites – 90%. At the same time, the membrane allows oxygen and other gases dissolved in water to pass.

Clearing water of calcium and magnesium – the weakest point of reverse osmosis systems. In addition, the water is also completely free of fluoride. To solve these problems, many manufacturers further mineralize water after purification before it goes into the faucet.

In principle, reverse osmosis systems can also be installed in country houses, if there is a water supply. Most likely an additional pump will be needed to increase the pressure. For some systems 0,5 or 1,5 atm is enough, but more often 2 or even 3 atm is required.

So, if the pressure in your plumbing allows and you have chosen a reverse osmosis system, you will have to spend:

Aquaphor reverse osmosis filters – from 6950 Dollars. Up to 11 100 Dollars. There are 11 models available.

Reverse osmosis filters “Barrier”. – 7500 Dollars. 1 model available.

Geyser reverse osmosis filters – from 4999 Dollars. up to 6120 Dollars. There are 6 models available.

+ Quality water treatment.

+ It is possible not to boil water but to drink it directly from the tap.

– Large size of many models due to the water tank.

– Efficiency depends on the water pressure in the pipes.

– Part of the water is wasted.

– The need to monitor the resource and periodically replace the cartridges.

The newest reverse osmosis system “Aquaphor Morion” is devoid of all these shortcomings of classical reverse osmosis systems.

Three from a chest, slightly different from the face

Almost every manufacturer has an arsenal of three-stage filters, installed under the sink. They are all designed to purify tap water, that is, water that has undergone general industrial purification. Such water has no viruses and bacteria.

Theoretically, such systems are also suitable for country houses, where the water from the well with a pump goes to a storage tank and from there goes to the tap.

But to stipulate such a possibility should be stipulated in the companies-manufacturers individually, assessing not only the capabilities of the water supply system, but also the feasibility of the installation itself. Will the system work effectively in such conditions, prompted and made analysis of water.

The range of flow filters is quite large, but if you take a closer look, they are mainly filters for soft water, for hard water, for water with high iron content and for hard water with high iron content. As we see, the most widespread woes of domestic water supply are taken into account.

Therefore, the right choice requires knowledge of what is actually flowing from your tap. It is clear that the more complex the problem, the more it will cost to solve it and the less will be the resource of the cartridge used.

The advantages of such models relative to reverse osmosis filters: greater compactness and availability, the water is cleaned not from all impurities in general, but only from most harmful, so it does not need artificial salinity.

But at the same time flow-through filters should periodically most often once a month to regenerate softening filter, and the owners of reverse osmosis systems do not have to do it.

It is believed that after the water purifier water can be drunk without boiling, because it has been purified at the stations and should not contain any dangerous bacteria and microbes. But manufacturers do not focus buyers’ attention on this, because they do not know the specific operating conditions.

The exception – the filter “Geyser Bio”, which guarantees 100% destruction of germs and bacteria. And the manufacturer explicitly states that water purified by this flow-through device can be drunk from the tap.

If we compare these filters with jugs, their main advantage is a much longer service life and high performance. You will have to change filters, depending on the type and amount of consumption, no more than 1 time in 8-12 months at normal water quality . Resources of filters up to 12 000 liters.

The main thing is inside

The main actors in the three-stage filters – removable cartridges, each of which is located in its home – the body and plays a strictly defined role. One filters out mechanical impediments, the second – softens, the third – cleanses of heavy metals, etc. . You can also choose the approach where the first filter retains particles of large size, the second one – smaller, and the third one – even smaller.

The functions are hidden behind the names, sometimes consisting of a few letters, sometimes – from incomprehensible to the average man words, but each manufacturer has its own proprietary design and materials.

If we look at Aquafor Crystal filters, we see that they use cartridges K1-03, K1-02, K1-07 and 07B, K1-04. They work on the matreshka principle – each successive one retains smaller particles, from 10 microns K1-03 to 0,1 microns K1-07B . The cartridges use Aqualen, a chelated ion-exchange fiber and activated coconut charcoal.

In filters “Barrier” in the name of the cartridges is hidden their main function. However, if, what is “mechanics”, “softening” and “ferrostop”, more or less understandable, then “carbon block” and “postcarbon” sound fascinating, but inexplicable. In fact, “Carbon Block” consists of pressed activated coconut charcoal, and “Post Carbon” consists of ion-exchange fiber + silver-treated charcoal.

Different filter combinations allow to solve narrow tasks. You can buy a filter of one configuration and then put the cartridges corresponding to the other modification.

“Geyser uses brand names and acronyms in its names. The main of the cartridges used by this manufacturer is, of course, Aragon. It can be for hard water G , for soft water M , the second generation 2 . It comes complete with BA cartridges – for removal of iron, BS – water softener, SHS the same cardon-block of activated coconut charcoal and MMV – made of carbon fiber with a large area of absorption.

One of the biggest annoyances of three-level filters and of all others, by the way is the necessity, though rare, to replace cartridges. As can be seen from the table, water softening cartridges last the least time. But they don’t need to be replaced with new ones as often. Cartridges with ion exchange resin can be regenerated and restarted.

As for the replacement, the procedure is simple enough, it is required only to get the necessary cartridge in advance. Some manufacturers offer to replace only the cartridge itself, leaving the body intact, others consider this way unhygienic and difficult, so they offer to replace the new cartridge in the same vessel.

+ Long life

+ Quality cleaning from impurities but not all

+ Compactness

+ No unnecessary water consumption

– The need for periodic regeneration of softening filters at home.

– Used only for tap water.

– The need to monitor the used resource, to clean and replace the cartridges.

And one is a warrior in the kitchen

For those who three seems too much or who have a shortage of space in the kitchen, manufacturers offer mainline household filters. Almost all of them are designed to purify tap water. For example, “Geyser Typhoon” purifies cold water in the apartment to drinking water from salts of hardness softens water , iron iron removal and heavy metals, petroleum products, chlorine, odors, rust particles and other mechanical impurities.

Inside the metal housing of this household filter is a replaceable filter element – the proprietary Aragon 3 cartridge. The system costs 7,620 Dollars. Water flow rate – 50 liters per minute. The Aragon 3 cartridge itself can be used repeatedly regenerated at home .

New Geyser Eco also serves for purification of tap water from chlorine, heavy metals, iron, petroleum products, mechanical particles and other undesirable impurities. Water hardness is reduced to a level that is healthy for humans. Water is saturated with useful calcium in aragonite form. Price of this novelty is 5510 Dollars.

“Barrier” offers a compact filter “Aqualynia” – with a capacity of 1 l/min and replaceable cassette for 6 months. It purifies water from active chlorine, organochlorine compounds, heavy metals, hardness salts, unpleasant smells and tastes. A homogeneous filtering medium is used for cleaning the mixture consists of coconut activated carbon, activated carbon containing silver and a fibrous cation-exchange material.

But the filter “Akvaphor Viking” is installed in the water supply system at the entrance to the apartment and will clean the water from rust, chlorine, heavy metals, pesticides and other harmful substances. Filter capacity – up to 25 liters per minute, and a resource of 100 tons. Since the body of Aquafor Viking is made of stainless steel, it can be used for hot water purification.

It will not be enough

And for those for whom one or even three cartridges for purification does not seem to be enough, manufacturers offer systems with four cartridges.

Thus, “Aquafor Crystal Quadro” is available in four modifications for different types of water. The consumer, guided by his wishes and the manufacturer’s instructions, can choose a set of cartridges for specific tasks.

Price of the system – from 4410 Dollars.

WHAT to take with you on a trip

As we have seen, there are many options for purifying tap water, even beyond the popular pitcher filters. Many of the systems offer water purification from 100% germs and bacteria, that is, they allow you to drink unboiled water. And what about the cottagers, because in the countryside to install a filter under the sink does not work?

Of course, if you always live in a cottage and you always need drinking water, then the manufacturers, after analyzing and determining the problems will offer you an individual system consisting of a number of filters, and the problem will be solved. Price of a question – from 30 000 roubles.

But for ordinary gardeners, who go to the countryside on weekends and vacations, this solution is generally not suitable. A great number of people use water from wells and springs. How to clean it?

Naturally, you can take jugs, but not cartridges for purification of tap water, and fillings are more serious cartridges for water with high iron content, etc. . . . In this case, many harmful impurities are removed from the water – heavy metals, petroleum products, etc. d. But you still have to boil water.

This spring the company “Barrier” presented a removable cassette “Ultra”, which completely removes microbes and bacteria from water. The pitcher cartridge was created in conjunction with the Japanese company Mitsubishi. The cassette uses a multistage purification system UltraStop, including a combination of sorbents, bacteriostatic components and hollow-fiber membranes of various types.

It was the use of the latter that allowed to purify water from microbes. The hollow fiber is an inverted U-shaped polyethylene tube less than a millimeter in diameter. Its wall contains micro-holes, which are smaller than the size of the bacteria. Through micro-holes water enters the microfiber and, cleaned of bacteria, is removed through the longitudinal hole.

A special bacteriostatic component inhibits the growth of bacteria trapped inside the cassette, and they all die. Such a jug can be safely taken with you to the country house, on a trip and even on a picnic. But this is not the only solution for gardeners.

A special filter is offered by “Geyser” company, it is called “Dachnik”. This is a liquid type filter, like a pitcher, but the water from it is poured through a special faucet. It holds 3.5 liters of water. Geyser Dachnik is available in two versions: for hard and hard/iron water.

Hard water is softened with ion exchange resin and purified with a special filter and activated carbon. Material derived from natural calcite is used to treat ferrous water.

The filter removes from water excessive hardness salts, mechanical impurities, iron and manganese, heavy metals. But it is recommended to boil the water to purify it from bacteria and germs.

Say goodbye to bacteria

So, all systems for water purification purify water from harmful impurities. But the bacteria, microbes and viruses are destroyed only by some of them. Let’s list the heroes that allow you to get rid of many summer troubles:

– Reverse osmosis systems from any manufacturer.

– Geyser Bio”, “Aquaphor Crystal ECO”.

– Barrier Ultra cartridge for pitchers.

Three-stage filters

The company	Filter	Subtype	Resource, l	Speed l/min	Types of cartridges	Cartridge life	Filter price
For soft water
Aquaphor	Crystal	Standard	8000	2,5	K1-03 K1-02 K1-07	18 months	2990
Ultrafiltration, ECO	8000	2,5	K1-03 K1-02 K1-07B	18 months	4300
Trio	Standard	7000	2,5	B510-03 B510-02 B510-07	18 months	1590
For turbid water	6000	2	RR B510-02 B510-07	N. d.	n.d.
Barrier	Expert	Standard	10000	2	Mechanics Ion exchange Postcarbon	12 months	2490
Pro	Standard	10000	2	Mechanics Carbon block Postcarbon	For all 12 months	2290
Geyser	Bio	311/312 (soft water	7000 (25000	3	Mechanical Aragon M Bio MMV + calcium dispenser	12 months 12 months 18 months	3940/ 4990
3	IV Lux (soft water	7000	3	Mechanical Aragon M CBC + calcium dispenser	12 months 12 months 12 months	3111
For water purification and softening
Aquaphor	Crystal	For hard water H	6000	2	K1-03 K1-04 K1-07	18 months	2990
Ultrafiltration, ECO-H			K1-03 K1-04 K1-07B	18 months	4400
Trio	For Hard Water	6000	2	B510-03 B510-04 B510-07	18 months	3350
	For hard muddy water water	4000	1,5	RR B510-04 B510-02	18 months	1590
Barrier	Expert	Hard (for hard water	10000	2	Mechanics Softening Postcarbon	12 months From 2 weeks. Up to 2 months. 12 months	2790
Pro	Hard (for hard water	10000	2	Mechanics Mitigation Postcarbon	12 months From 1 week. up to 3 months. 12 months	2490
Geyser	Bio	331 (very hard	7000 25000	3	Aragon Zh Bio BS MMW	12 months up to 18 h 400 l clean 18 months	4270
3	TDF Lux/IBS (very hard water	7000 25000	3	Aragon 2 BS SHS	12 months Up to 18 h 400 l clean 12 months	3290
IVZH Lux UV (hard water	3500	0,5	Mechanical Aragon 2 UV lamp SHS	12 months 12 months 12 months	7299
VK Lux (hard water	7000 25000	3	Mechanical BS SHS	12 months Up to 18 months h 400 l clean 12 months	2490
Iron removal
Barrier	Pro	Ferrum (high iron content	10000	2	Mechanics Ferrostop Postcarbon	For all 12 months	2790
Geyser	Bio	341/342 high iron content	7000 25000	3	BA Aragon J Bio MMW	6-8 months 12 months 18 months	3901
3	IVZH Lux (high iron content	7000 25000	3	Mechanical Aragon 2 CBC	12 months 12 months 12 months	3111
K Lux (high iron content	7000 25000	3	BA Aragon CBC	6 – 8 months 12 months 12 months	3290
For iron removal + water softening
Barrier	The Pro	Complex (hard + iron	10000	2	Ferrostop Softening Postcarbon	12 months From 1 week. Up to 3 months. 12 months	3190
Geyser	Bio	321/322 (rigid + iron	7000 25000	3	Mechanical Aragon-Z Bio MMW	12 months 12 months 18 months	3940/4990