REMOVING TAP WATER CONTAMINANTS

REMOVING TAP WATER CONTAMINANTS

It is refreshing to know that there exists remedies to empower the consumer with the ability to get most of these contaminants out of the tap water right in the home. Water contaminants can be removed by means of water filters or purifiers. Let’s consider these two options in terms of what they really are and how they differ.

WATER FILTERS

Water filters are used in the removal of impurities, specifically the molecules and elements that can be harmful to the human body. These include Chlorine, Mercury, Arsenic, and Fluoride among many others. They are different from purifiers in the sense that they cannot be used to remove biological contaminants like bacteria and viruses.

CARBON WATER FILTERS

Carbon water filters utilize the properties of the element carbon to filter impurities from the tap water. In short, carbon has a high surface area and affinity for most of the impurities outlined above so much so that just a single pound of carbon has an approximate surface area of 125 acres. This gives it the rare ability to absorb considerable amounts of water impurities.

Block and Granular activated carbon water filters

There is a host of Carbon filters on the market which can be divided in two main types namely: block carbon and granular activated carbon filters. The difference between the two is that one is charged whereas the other is made in blocks which do not have an overall charge. As the name suggests, activated carbon has a positive charge which enables it to attract corresponding materials. When the two types are compared in terms of absorption capacity, Block carbon seems to be the most effective as it has a higher absorption ratio.