There are different types of water filters including portable water filters, Faucet-Mount filters, refrigerator filters, shower filters, water softeners, whole house water filters, canister filters etc. Portable water filters are mainly used by the military, aid organizations during emergencies, hikers etc. These water purifiers are capable of removing dirt from all sources of waters including ponds, streams, rivers etc. These filters are light weighted, portable and small in size. So it is very easy to carry portable type of filters in the emergency kit. Faucet-Mount water filters reduce the dirt, rust and sediment content in the water. These fitters can be installed in the bathroom and kitchen faucet. The taste and smell of the water is improved a lot after installing these filters.

Shower filters are mainly user to filter the chlorine content in the water. The chlorinated water often makes the skin hard and rough. Also this type of water reduces the smoothness of the hair. Shower filters helps to prevent the skin and hair problems to a great extent by reducing the chlorine content in the water. Water softeners help to remove the harmful minerals in the water. The minerals usually leave residue on everything which in turn leads to the wear and tear of the heating and plumbing appliances. Water softeners help to remove these harmful minerals and thus save the money on cleaning supplies, clothing and energy costs.

Refrigerator filters helps to filter the ice an ice maker. Whole house water system filters the water faucets in the entire home. The contaminants and dirt in the entire water in your house is removed through this system. This system is good for removing materials like sediments and rust. Canister filters is considered as the simplest form of water purifiers. This purifier consists of a pitcher and a lid with filtration system. The water reaches the reserve tank through the filter and so the water received at the reserve tank will be pure.

The main advantage of the water filters is that they reduce the probability of getting infected to various diseases. A huge number of gastrointestinal diseases are caused by consuming impure water. Nowadays most of the water sources are contaminated. So there is great importance for the water filters in the present situation. There are a lot of visible and invisible poisonous particles in the tap water. These harmful particles cause many diseases. Recent studies reveal that some types of cancers are caused by the hazardous particle present in the drinking water. Water purifiers make the water safe to drink by removing the contaminants in it.

Buying the water filters directly from the manufacture will be an excellent idea to purchase it at the best price. Sometimes it’s hard to find the manufactures name. You should remember that the brand name does not really matter. But what matters exactly is the effectiveness of the product. We all have the tendencies to compare the price and go for something that is least priced. To save your money, it’s a better idea to go for the cheapest one and there is nothing wrong in that, but you have to understand the reason for why it is bought.

There are mainly four types of water filters. The type of filters you purchase should fit your needs exactly.

The first type is the one which is equipped with reverse osmosis system. In this, the moving water is allowed to flow through a filter so that the water is filtered out of particles. There are two types of filters used in this water filter, the bigger filter for trapping large particles and the smaller one for trapping fine particles.

Membrane filter is the second type of water filter. In this the water flows down to the filter and is filtered out according tot the pore size of the filter. The materials used for membrane filter are cellulose acetate, polethersulfone, or polytatrafluoroethylene. Chemical absorption filters are used mainly to clear off the particles found in the air. They absorb gases, smells and other particles found in air. This system is widely used in industrial sectors.

Ceramic water filter is used to filter the particles by moving the water through a ceramic filter.  The main drawbacks of the ceramic filter its fragility and less effectiveness. The other types include the ultraviolet water purifiers, gravity filtration options and hand pump water filters. Don’t be worried if you are staying in an apartment. There are water filters that can be temporarily fixed to the tap so that when you move your apartment you can easily unscrew it and can be fixed in your new apartment without any difficulty.

Scientists say that about 60 to 70 percentage of chlorine present in the water contains carcinogens that enter our body when we take shower. So it is better to have a carbon filter in the shower tap and kitchen tap too. The other main thing you need to consider before buying a water filter is how well the equipment does work to serve your purpose.

Unlike the screen or the sieve, a filter is capable of removing particles which is smaller than holes through which water will pass. There are different types of water filters available. Some of the most common ones may include disk filters, rapid sand filters, media filters, slow sand filter bed, cloth filters and screen filters. There are various special types of filters which are designed for home usage. Granular- activated carbon models are used up for metallic alloy filters, carbon filtering, carbon block resin, micro-porous ceramic filters and for the ultrafiltration membranes. However, some of the filters will be making use of more than one method for filtering.

Jug type Water purifiers are most commonly used for collecting drinking water in small quantity. Some of the kettles will be having built-in filters. This is mainly installed so as to remove the limescale buildups. Apart from these models, there are numerous other models which are available in the current market. You can choose from any models based on your desires. Portable model purifies are yet another popular models which is opted by most of the people. On the other hand, these models are often opted by the aid organizations, hikers and also by military people.

The added feature is that, they are very small in size, and is light in weight too. The basic filtering mechanism is carried out by a mechanical hand pump. These filters will help in removing microbial cysts, protozoa and bacteria which causes various diseases. The filters which are there in the portable water purifiers have got fine mesh and this has to be clean up or replaced once in a while. Water polishing can denote any process which aids in removing the unwanted particles which are present in water. The meaning and the process will be varying depending on each settings.

Some of the manufacturers of the aquarium filters are claiming that the use of the filters will help to eliminate microscopic or small unwanted materials or particles from certain portion of the water. This is often carried out by capturing these particles by polyester or nylon pads. Water polishing is similar to that of water filtration. The price range of the filter may vary considerably based on many factors. However, here are several models available on the sites and you can even order it via online. The price may also depend on the model and the features which you are opting.

Who’s got a water purifier? How much did you pay, and where did you buy? What about ongoing costs — I understand you need to buy a new filter for the things every so often. Am I likely to be able to use one without bringing the wrath of the landlord on myself (that is, does the installation cause problems with existing plumbing)?

My first suggestion is to contact your water company and ask if they’d be willing to test your water. It’s usually free or under $10, and it will quite likely tell you if there’s a problem with the water. If it’s a problem with the plumbing (say, contamination from the pipes, or a backflow problem somewhere between your sewer connections and your incoming fresh water lines) you can put pressure on your landlord to repair it (or install a filtration system) and save your own cash. Check city codes as well – most cities have laws about providing safe water to tenants, and this may be a way to put pressure on the landlord as well if there does prove to be a problem.

Since we rent, we “cheated” and got a Brita container-based system because our water, while perfectly safe, is foul-tasting and smells bad. We recently “upgraded” to the square 2.5 gallon model for about $30 from a local hardware store. The filters are about $6 each and last about two months each, although we got a six-pack for Christmas last year. (Whee!) My only complaint about it is that it’s too heavy for my screwy hands to lift when it’s full, so hubby gets the chore of filling it and replacing it in the fridge.

In the past I’ve also had one of those charcoal water filters that fit on the faucet end, but to be honest I hated it. It was a total pain to replace the charcoal insert, since the hard water really gunked up the screw-threads that held it together. I was also constantly whacking it while washing dishes.

I’d steer away from an under-the-sink system that requires installation unless it’s something you can easily haul out and take with you, or your landlord is willing to deduct the cost of the system and installation from your rent (doubtful!). There’s not much point in improving someone else’s property out of your own pocket. If you can do the repair-and-deduct thing, my grandparents have an Ultrapure system that works well (they have a borderline-safe well) but was rather expensive – a few hundred bucks to install and something in the area of $20/mo. upkeep costs (the replacement filters are proprietary and sold only by this particular company). They’re sold by an MLM and they’re not very “movable” as installation means ripping out some pipes under the sink and putting this big metal canister underneath.

Actually, the best is a system that uses ultraviolet light to kill organisms in combination with some type of filtration.  The system I have sends the water thru the UV light thru a Teflon coil (the coil “tumbles” the water to reach all of the bacteria, viruses, etc.), through types of carbon
filters, and then back out thru the Teflon coil and UV light. It doesn’t waste any water at all, and there isn’t a limit to how many gallons it can produce a day.  And it doesn’t cost anywhere near $800!

Water purification is my father-in-law’s business, and his life’s work.  He produces systems that are in use by the National Institutes of Health, the Peace Corps, and various American embassies.  It’s so very important to get as much information as possible before purchasing  water purification system, as there are so many different systems out there, and they’re not all equal.

BTW pure water means many thing to many people.  The most basic definition might be ultra-pure water, UPW (the kind used high pressure boilers).  With UPW there is virtually nothing in the water but good old H2O.  Since there is no ions in UPW to carry electric current it is in fact a very good electric insulator.  Typically raw water is treated by sedimentation, filtration, ioninc exchange (or reverse osmosis), degassing and finally pollishing.  You are unlikely to find a water treatment system this through for home systems.  So even if you purify your water it won’t be ultra-pure.

The next best is a water softener followed by reverse osmosis,RO.  You can get a good quality water softener from Sears.  A good RO unit can cost $800 which will give you about eight gallons per day of drinking water.  The cost usually includes installation of storage tanks and dispensing taps.  Its important to soften the water before it goes through the RO to reduce the loading on RO membranes which need to be replaced periodically (about $140 every five years).  Also, RO isn’t exactly frugal.  For every gallon of water you drink 13 gallons are wasted.

I asked Pur what was going on (by email). Summarised, the answer was as follows: There is nothing the matter with the basic (Hiker) filter, and it has NOT been withdrawn. The carbon post-filter used sometimes with the iodine (Voyager) insert was found to be TOO effective. It took all the iodine out of the water before it had killed the bugs and wogs. OK, this seems a very reasonable explanation. If correct, it would seem that someone in Australia, probably the distributor, has got the wrong message and is taking action by himself. My understanding from Pur is that the basic non-iodised filter is still for sale, and the iodine insert may also be still for sale, but the carbon post-filter has been withdrawn while they sort out the quality control on the carbon material. Frankly, I would never use a carbon post-filter with an iodine insert for this very reason. The iodine needs to act for 5-30 minutes (depending on temperature) to get the required kill efficiency. The amount left in the water is extremely small anyhow. Yes, you can SMELL it, but I defy you to taste it.

I had a Pur Scout, which came highly recommended by the camping shop. By my third day in Africa it melted (and it was sitting in the same bag as my cheap camera, which was fine). It wasn’t unusable but it took three people to hold it together and pump at the same time. Yes, I would say that some kind of water purification equipment is quite esential.  As many other people have said, your estimate of one liter per person per day indicates that you don’t have much experience with backpacking.  If nothing else, buying 4 liters of bottled water per day per person adds up to a lot of money.  It is also a lot of weight to carry.

When I travel in India, I use Polar Pure, a system based on iodine crystals (Kahn-Vischer method) with essentially unlimited capacity.  Problems are that the bottle has to be protected against freezing, and any kind of chemical disinfection works poorly at low temperatures.  Neither is a problem in lowland India, but 18,000 feet is a whole ‘nother question. I recommend asking advice or reading the FAQ in rec.backcountry. Generally, filters avoid problems with iodine flavor, potential toxicity, and temperature, but don’t filter out viruses, your most serious enemies. Also expensive, slow, sometimes heavy, and prone to breakdown.  Iodine kills viruses very well, but is less effective against parasite cysts. Probably a combination of coarse filter and low-concentration iodine is best.

I asked after Pur purifiers in REI (US store) a few months back and they said they had a product recall on the filters (IIRC). Same story re not being allowed to sell them, but if you threatened to take the store to the OFT I am sure you can convince them to tell you how to contact Pur [assuming you bought the purifier there, say]. If you have any original packaging that should their contact details. Failing that, try

You could certainly put urine through your Pur Scout, but what you’d get would not be water–you’d get purified urine. The Scout is intended to remove particulate contaminants and microbes from WATER, not urine. Urine is mostly water–it is other chemical compounds in the water that make it urine. And those chemicals are not filtered out by any purifier. The only way to get water from urine would be via distillation, and that might still be pretty icky.

Purifiers like the Scout are intended for use in rivers and streams for the removal of bacteria, viruses and particles. Not for filtering pee. Purify it how?  Remove the salts in solution or ??  I don’t believe there’s such a beast as a filter that will remove dissolved material, and if there are solids in your urine, you have other medical concerns that need attention.  In the absence of an infection, your urine should be sterile (at least to your own body) and drinkable at a pinch.  You might be better off to pee in your solar still and collect the distilled urine that way.

Water Doctor portable water purification system with a 12 volt self-priming pump plugs into cigarette lighter of car and will pump water from eight feet away.  Filters water eight times before U.V. sterilization that kills any and all viruses, bacteria and microorganisms.  Built in 12 volt to 120 volt D.C. to A.C. power inverter will power cellular phone, radio, computer, or other small appliances.  Comes with 2.2 gallon storage tank but will deliver 30 gallons per day.  Optional accessories include solar panels and storage batteries.  Uses no chemicals in process.