Water Filtration Basics

Overview of Water Filtration Basics

Are you looking for high-quality water filtration?

Learn about the contaminants in your water and Why and How to remove them.

Don’t be thrown off by the specialized terminology. There are just a few terms to learn and I’ll explain them as we go.

Understanding water filtration is easier than you think. Learn how home water filters remove contaminants, improve taste, and protect your health.

Then, toward the bottom of the page, learn how to set up and maintain the filter systems.

Common Water Contaminants

The main contaminants that are generally accepted as "bad" and need to be filtered out of water are: Fluoride, arsenic, heavy metals, disinfectants added to the water, disinfectant byproducts, industrial wastes, pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, fungus and bacteria.

High concentrations of any of these listed toxins is dangerous and can cause diseases, which is why filtering your water can be a life-saving gift to you and your family. Here's a graphic overview of my STL County water.

Once You Learn Which Filter to Use, How to Find Them

Look for my full water filter selection on my Water Filters Page. The majority of filters work best at a flow-rate of 1.5 - 2 liters/min. This is a quick summary. Look further down for detailed explanations.

• Heavy Metals: Arsenic, lead, copper, cadmium, chromium, mercury and nickel.  Heavy metals are poisons to drink, and so it is best to try to remove all traces, if you can, from your drinking water. Look for these water filters for heavy metals (in order effectiveness, starting with the best): UltraWater, KDF, supercarbon, activated carbon. 
• Disinfectants: Chlorine & Chloramines. Look for these: UltraWater and SuperCarbon.
• Disinfectant Byproducts: In order to treat the water for microbial contaminants, disinfectants are used, i.e., chlorine and chloramine. In small amounts chlorine isn't toxic to the body, but its byproducts are. Look for one of the following filters: UltraWater, KDF, and supercarbon.
• Inorganic and Organic Chemicals: See full list, below. Examples: Industrial wastes, pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals. These are very toxic and associated with many diseases. Active carbon filters are very effective for most organic and inorganic elements, but UltraWater and Supercarbon filters [catalytic carbon] are better.
• Microorganisms: These are usually not a concern, because municipalities kill them with their treatment chemicals. But if you periodically have a boil-water advisory, then see below for the right filtration to handle this issue. Bacteria and protozoa can pose health risks; certain filters can remove these effectively.

"Good" Minerals

There are good minerals in water that the body needs. These are called electrolytes, and you should keep them in your water. So, avoid extreme filters, such as reverse osmosis or water softeners.

Water Quality

Water quality is important. We are happy to help you to discover what you need to know about your own water. You can follow the steps here or just call us and we'll do it for you. 888-692-5525.

Analyzing Your Water

Step 1: Find Out What's in Your Water

All municipal water companies are required to regularly test for the worst contaminants and post their local "Water Quality Report" online. Just search your zip code along with the term "water quality report" to find it. You can do this to find your local water hardness as well. 

We recommend to contact local water quality experts to test your water if you have well-water.

Step 2: Interpreting Your Water Quality Report

Step 3: Getting the Right Filters

Water filters, filter media and filter types are like tools. If you understand these tools, you can have much better control of the quality of your drinking water. 

Note: The number of gallons ratings on filters are just averages, and while they are good for most situations, your water source does affect how long the filters are likely to do you good. So, if you live in an extreme-hard-water area, with lots of contaminants in your water, you may have to change your filters more frequently.

Activated Alumina Filter Media [ALF]

Activated alumina is one of the only ways to remove Arsenic and Fluoride from water. It will trap the following hard-to-remove elements in the filter using a strong chemical bonding process.

Carbon Filter Media

Carbon is a great filter media and will bond with and remove many contaminants. It is an excellent bond-creating element, and is known to be able to bind well with many chemicals. There are a variety of types of carbon filter media [i.e., active carbon, carbon block, super-carbon (catalytic carbon)]. These are each described in its own section, below.

Some carbon filters will only improve taste/odor and remove chlorine, while others will remove heavy metals, asbestos, lead, mercury and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Carbon is a black mineral and is the main mineral in charcoal. It is non-toxic and is often consumed in tablets to ease acid indigestion or help flush a toxic colon, liver or kidneys. Occasionally with a carbon filter you will see black specs of carbon come through the filter when it's new. The reason for this is that carbon is a porous mineral and is not densely held together like most rocks. When you fill a filter with carbon a certain amount of "dust" is created, due to the friction. This carbon dust is heavier than water and so will sink to the bottom of the glass (usually). It is not a health risk and can be either consumed, ignored or you can run water through the filter until it runs clear.

Carbon Block

Carbon block filters are a good idea. They are usually more efficient than loose granular carbon, because with a block it forces the water to seep through the active carbon versus allowing the possibility of water channeling, avoiding the carbon. A solid-block filter is better at removing some things, such as sediment, than a granular filter. It also is better at removal of anything large enough to not fit through the pores of the block.  

Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)

Activated carbon is specially-treated with oxygen to make it even more porous than regular carbon. Granular activated carbon has hundreds of times greater surface area than regular charcoal carbon. With a greater surface area the activated carbon is able to bond with many more contaminants and remove them more reliably. GAC easily removes many contaminants, such as chlorine.  Granular activated carbon will even remove some chloramine if it flows slowly enough. However a better filter for removing compounds, such as chloramine, would be super-carbon [also known as catalytic carbon].  GAC filters are tested and rated for the contaminants they will remove.

Catalytic Carbon [Super-Carbon]

Catalytic carbon is a special proprietary formulation of carbon which will effectively remove everything stated for GAC carbon, above, but will also remove chloramine. Chloramine is a compound of chlorine plus ammonia and is used in many municipalities for disinfection. Because it’s so stable it is very difficult to remove from the water, until Super-carbon, it was only possible to remove chloramine with a slow flow through several activated carbon filters.

Ceramic Filters

Ceramic filters have microscopic pores that won’t allow microorganisms or sediments through. They do not remove chemicals unless they also contain another filter media, such as active carbon, within them.

KDF

KDF is short for Kinetic Degradation Fluxion Media, and is a filter media composed of an alloy of zinc and copper used to effectively remove dozens of chemical, organic and heavy metal contaminants from water.

KDF is used in hospitals, restaurants, municipal water treatment and is found in many filters these days. KDF is scientifically formulated to remove more chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. Not only is KDF effective in removing contaminants, such as chemicals and heavy metals, but it will also kill algae and fungi and will prevent bacterial growth. 

There are two main versions of KDF: KDF 55 and KDF 85. They are similar to each other, but KDF 85 is better. It will remove everything that KDF 55 removes, but also removes Sulphur and iron extremely well. KDF filters are both good for chlorine and chloramine removal [and other man-made compounds, such as found in pharmaceuticals].

KDF works best when it’s used in conjunction with active carbon...or better yet, Supercarbon. You will often see a multi-stage filter which uses KDF 55 or 85 as one of the stages. 

KDF 85 is specially formulated for Sulphur, iron and heavy metal removal. Depending on water flow-rate, KDF 85 will remove up to 99% of lead, iron, Sulphur, mercury, nickel, chromium, and other dissolved metals. If you have any problem whatsoever with taste in your water, I highly suggest getting the KDF 85 filter.

Sediment Filters

Sediment has the ability to fill up and clog or fill more expensive filters prematurely. The easiest thing to filter out of the water, and cheapest, is sediment. If you have a lot of sediment in your water, you would save money by purchasing a cheap sediment filter to place before all other filters. There are whole-house sediment filters as well as point-of-use sediment filters. I would encourage the use of both if your water is coming from a well or for any reason contains a lot of sediment. Sediment filters are often built into multi-layer carbon filters. Carbon block or ceramic filters make good sediment filters as well.

Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a semi-precious gem. It has infrared properties and transforms water into mild alkaline water. Tourmaline also is anti-bacterial and deodorant qualities. Treated water applied to the skin gives an excellent effect of moisturizing and absorption. 

Tourmaline researched reports it to activate animal & plant metabolisms. 

Ultra .01 Micron Filter Fibers

Ultra .01 Micron Filter Fibers are sometimes built into special multi-stage filters [such as some water ionizers have .01 filter options. The fibers are so small that they will not allow any microorganisms through, even viruses! So, in their effectiveness, they are similar to ceramic filters, only better.

UltraWater Filter

I’m including the UltraWater filter in this list, because it is so unique. It is a solid block filter created with a proprietary blend of all of the best filter media and because of its block formation the water is forced through the filter media rather than channeled. The trouble with loose filter media is that the water can and does find ways around the media, and so avoids getting full contaminant removal. The UltraWater filter was designed using NASA’s space technology of blending all of the filter ingredients into a solid block. This technology is proven effective even in the removal of difficult compounds, such as chloramine, and elements, such as Fluoride and Chromium 6. For this reason, the UltraWater filter an effective filter for even removal of pharmaceuticals. It was tested and proven to remove up to 99.999% of pharmaceuticals, fluoride, and many other difficult chemicals.

Other

Healthiest Drinking Water: Tap, Bottled, or Filtered?

Out of all the choices: bottled water, filtered water, ionized water, reverse osmosis, distilled, soda and various tap waters...filtering your own water is the best way to make sure the bad elements are removed and the good ones are kept in. Bottled water is not a good choice because it's over-filtered, oxidized and cannot get away from harmful nanoplastics. There are many issues surrounding bottled water.

Ionizing Your Water

Even better than just filtering your own water is ionizing your water. With a water ionizer you can get the best filtration by selecting a model that uses UltraWater filters, plus the process of ionization helps you get additional health advantages. Over the past 20 years of using alkaline ionized water for myself and family, I have found that it is the healthiest water to drink. The alkalinity helps the body get rid of toxins and hydrogen (antioxidant quality of ionized water) helps to fight free radicals and disease. Several of our water ionizers are capable of using UltraWater filters. You can find them on the UltraWater Filters page.

Shower and Bath Filters

Filtering bath and shower water is a worthy venture. Many contaminants, especially chlorine, can be breathed in or absorbed into the skin while bathing or showering. Chlorine on your skin and hair can cause them to dry out. and it would be great to filter it out. If you have a whole-house KDF filter system that will also do the same thing, but at a much greater cost than the point-of-use shower filter.

Water Ionizers

There are two types of alkalizing/ionizing devices which will make your water pH perfect for drinking:

• Electric Water Ionizers One big advantage of electric water ionizers is that they are continuous-flow filtration devices. In other words they are always ready to give you the same level of ionized water all day long. There is no "wait time". Also, electric water ionizers filter fluoride, because fluoride is acidic and will be removed out of the acidic stream for the most part. This is a great feature in my opinion!
• Filtering/Ionizing/Alkalizing [non-electric] devices, such as the pH Pitcher and the Elita Pure  Non-electric alkaline water ionizers are basically filter-systems which use the principles that were discovered and developed by Dr. Hayashi [of adding magnesium to water in the presence of magnetized ceramics to spontaneously ionize the water.] Non-electric water ionizers are usually cheaper than electric ones. They do have to re-charge themselves between uses, because the time-release magnesium is only available in limited quantities. After filtering a couple of quarts, you would typically need to wait about a half-hour for the outer layer of the magnesium time-release balls to soften up. This is called re-charging.

Both kinds of water ionizers that I sell are also considered filter systems, because they remove contaminants from the water prior to ionizing the water. Non-electric and portable water ionizers are very popular, because they can be taken anywhere and there is little start-up cost involved. Electric water ionizers are my favorite, because they ionize all of the healthy, alkaline minerals in the water (making them more bio-available) and they create an abundance of antioxidants in the water (more than non-electric water ionizers). They can usually be transported, but it's better and easier to just install them by your sink and leave them there.

There are large differences between the various water ionizers, and for the purposes of filtration and getting the best water quality, I suggest you visit my Water Ionizer Comparisons page and look in the chart (column #35 and 36) and on the individual product pages for this information.

Whole House Water Filter Systems

Most people don't need to use a whole home water filtration system, but it is one of your water filtration choices. There are a variety of whole house water filter systems available:

• Best Whole-House Option: UltraHome Whole House Filter Systems With UltraWater Technology
• Whole house fiber sediment filters are only sometimes needed, and are pretty inexpensive. If you live in an older home or neighborhood, or use well-water a whole house sediment filter would be helpful. 
• KDF whole-house filters: KDF filters are the best for removal of iron, copper, Sulphur and heavy-metals. They also remove free chlorine. 
• Whole house water softeners and ion-exchange units: We don't usually recommend these, but some people can't avoid it. If you use a sodium or potassium based water softener you will need to read our page about Sodium Water Softeners.

We recommend that you contact a local filtration company or hardware store to help you with your whole house filtration. They will probably understand the water quality issues for your area better and my experience is that they can also get you cheaper pricing than I can for whole house filters.

Installing & Maintaining Filter Systems

If you want the very best water to drink without too high of a cost, it's very wise to learn some basics about installing and maintaining water filtration systems. 

Drinking water filter systems usually consist of a filter housing (where the filter goes) and it's connected to food-grade hosing which brings the water to a spigot at your sink or water machine on the counter. Water is typically fed to the system from either a diverter at the faucet or a Tee-connector (direct plumbed) to your cold water line under the sink. Here's a handy illustration.

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The following videos demonstrate some of this. 

Filter Maintenance Tips

Regular filter replacement and system cleaning ensure optimal performance and water quality.