Drinking Water Filters

Before you go out to buy any drinking water filters, do take a little time to research the products available. There is absolutely no doubt that everyone who has piped public water supplies, and many water spring and well owners, need some sort of effective drinking water filter, but there are a variety of differences in the quality of these water purifiers and filters, as well as big differences in the price or value for money between products.

You probably already know that a high price does not always indicate good quality. It is not necessarily essential to pay the highest prices that are attached to the ‘reverse osmosis’ types of water filter, but the cheapest department store brands are also not your best choice either.

The average drinking water filter that is available will reduce chlorine content, lead and parasitic cysts. However, there is also a group of very hazardous contaminants that most of these filters do not eliminate. Those contaminants are called THMs, or trihalomethanes. The contaminants are created by chlorine’s interaction with the bacteria in the water and other water-dwelling creatures. Essentially, wherever you have chlorine, you will also find THMs.

There are a variety of reasons why most drinking water filters do not remove these THMs from the water. Firstly, the general public is only just becoming aware of their existence. You won’t be able to see them or taste them. It is possible that you may be able to smell them when you are in the shower, but as you are used to the smell of chlorine, you will probably associate the smell as being chlorine and not think it is anything else.

One of the THMs is a chloroform gas. Researchers have discovered that there are measurable levels of this gas in the air that is in many homes. They even suspect that there are quantifiable, or measurable, levels in the majority of homes. This is most likely due primarily to the fact that we are usually showering in chlorinated water.

Among the reasons that a drinking water filter companies may not make very much effort to remove THMs with the filters is because it is very difficult to filter. The employment of some special resins is a necessity to remove this health hazard. You are probably wondering exactly what the hazard is? It is cancer!

Exposure to the level of THMs that is commonly present in water used for cooking, drinking, bathing and showering, increases individual’s risks of developing cancer later in life. Researchers have not yet come to an agreement on exactly how much of an increased risk it causes, but there is one group that says the risk has been extremely underestimated… likely by as much as two hundred percent. They claim that, when the risks were originally evaluated no account was taken of the issues related to heating for cooking, or for showering. They only measured the amount present in cold water and that the amount does increase greatly when the water is heated up as it is in cooking and showering.

In order to find drinking water filters that remove THMs, it is essential to read the information about the product, and particularly the product performance data. Unfortunately, there are no current requirements for manufacturers to provide this data.  However, the best companies and brands do provide the data, even if they don’t have to. Basically, don’t buy drinking water filters unless they have this information detailed for the product. If it is a good filter the company will list the type of contaminants that are removed during the filtering and purifying of the water, such as the THMs. They will also tell you the extent of the reduction during the process. The products that are the best quality in this respect will remove more than ninety nine percent of any cancer causing chemicals from your water, and that is exactly what you will want to know before you buy it.

You can also buy shower head filter systems that will remove chemicals from the water you are showering in. That is an excellent idea, not only because the water enters our body through the pores of the skin, but also because we inhale these chemicals too and they are very fast to enter the bloodstream.

You can buy combo packs that include drinking water filters and a showerhead. Many of these are at a reasonable price but just make sure you get the details of the quality of filtering too.

Once you start using one of these systems you will be taken by surprise at the difference it makes to how healthy you feel.

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