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5 Questions to Answer Before Choosing Water Filter

Thinking about purchasing a water filter? Do you feel that this investment will pay off? You’re right as a water filter is a very useful and often necessary device. However, the multitude of water treatment systems can make your head spin. How to choose well? What should you pay attention to? How not to make a mistake and buy a device tailored to actual needs? To make a sensible decision, you should first determine what you need. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself a few basic questions.

1. How much purified water do you need every day?

Water filter
Water filter

When buying a filter, it’s worth taking into account what our average daily water demand is. If it is low, a jug filter will be sufficient. If it is much higher, you will need much a more sophisticated device. Devices available in the market are characterized by differing efficiency.  This means that their purchasing and operational costs will greatly vary.

2. What is the quality of your water and what treatment do you need?

The selection of appropriate filters depends primarily on the quality of water. For example, you may want to remove mechanical impurities such as sand or silt.  Perhaps you are concerned with organic impurities that cause bad taste and smell of water or chemical impurities. You may be worried about dissolved iron that causes rust stains.  Perhaps you want to remove bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms from the water.  Finally, there is a question of water hardness.  Maybe you need to soften it and thus eliminate calcium, which causes scale buildup in the kettle or iron.

Any impurities in the water affect its taste and smell and, consequently, the taste of our food and drinks. There are filters in the market that deal with one of the above problems and those that can deal with several or all at once such as reverse osmosis systems. Home owners relying on public water can find out what the quality of their water through test results provided by their local water utility.  On the other hand, home owners relying on their own water source such as a private well can make tests at a district sanitary station or at a specialised laboratory.

3. Will the filter be used to treat water from a public water system or a private well?

In the case of filtering water from the public water system, we can choose a less advanced device. If, on the other hand, the filter is used to purify water drawn from our own source, then before selecting the water source, it is best to carry out a detailed physicochemical and biological analysis of the water. In this case, you can go to a district sanitary station or laboratory.  However, the easiest way is to contact a company that deals with the selection of filtering systems. They will examine water in your home and help you choose the right filter.

4. Do you want to filter water for the entire dwelling or just at specific points of intake?

water filter
Water filter and cooler

Another important criterion for choosing the right filter is your place of residence. Some filters are designed for apartments while other are designed for single-family houses. If the water is to be treated at specific points of intake, the situation is different. On the other hand, if we want to purify water in the whole house or apartment, it is necessary to use more sophisticated professional filtration systems. If the water is to be purified only in specific places, e.g. in the kitchen (a separate filter for a dishwasher and a separate filter for drinking water) or in the bathroom (a separate filter for bathing and separate filter for a washing machine) one must look for other solutions.

5. How much do you want to spend on your water filter?

The price of a water filter is  often closely related to its quality.  Consequently, the more expensive the filter, the more precise the filtration, the longer the service life and the less frequent the need to replace expendable elements. As the capabilities of the device increase, so does its price.

If you already know your requirements and are looking for the most effective solution, contact us at onlythewater.com/contact or  info@onlythewater.com. We will advise you in selecting the optimal solution completely free of charge.

Check our comparison of water filtration methods.

Read CDC’s recommendations about water filtering.

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