The Best Home Water Filters

The best home water filters can clean various contaminants out of your drinking water but there are many different water filter options available and many people do not know which to choose as the best water filters for home use.

Remember that drinking the occasional glass of tap water will not do you any damage unless it contains microscopic contaminants such as worms or giardia for example, but the cumulative effect of drinking unfiltered water throughout your lifetime can cause irreversible damage to your heart, reproductive organs, kidneys and bladder.

With this in mind, a water filter will give you peace of mind and improved health. Here are some tips to help you decide on the best home water filter for your household.

You might want to filter only your drinking water or you might want to filter all the water coming into your house. You cannot get a whole house filter as such because you will have both drinking water and utility water. A whole house pre-filter system can be used to remove sediment and dirt to about ten microns. You can also add a water softener to get rid of hard minerals and a drinking water filter to remove most contaminants from your drinking water.

Which Contaminants to Target

You might choose to target specific contaminants in your water, such as PCBs or trihalomethanes, both of which are dangerous carcinogens found in drinking water in certain areas. It is always best, when comparing water filters for home, to choose the water filter which removes the most contaminants.

Remember that some of the worst contaminants found in water have no flavor, smell or color so even if your drinking water tastes fine without being filtered, that is no guarantee of safety.

The best home water filters come with a warranty on the housing. If you are going to get an under-counter water filtration system, get one with stainless steel housing because it lasts longer and works well under pressure without bursting or leaking.

Cartridge Replacements

Some cheap water filters might require frequent and expensive cartridge replacements, rather like with cheap printers. It is important to find out how much the cartridge replacements cost and how often they need to be changed, in order to find out how much your water filter is going to cost to run. Top of the line water filters for home use might work out to be less expensive in the long run than cheap ones using expensive cartridges. You may want to consider a First Need water filter or a GE whole house filter as they are some of the more reputable brands around and they also offer a wide range of water purification systems.

Best Home Water Filters with High Purification Levels

Water filters using UV light can neutralize living microbes and water-borne pathogens. These systems are inexpensive and the flow rate is reasonable. Water filters using reverse osmosis are good for removing most contaminants and also most salts and minerals. This is a cost effective method, both for the initial cost and the running costs. Distillation is the only way to get a hundred percent purity and these filters do cost more and use more energy.

The best home water filters depend on your individual requirements and the quality of the water coming into your home. If you want to choose the best water filters for home use, compare some different types to work out which is the best for your family.

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