Drinking Water

Options for Improving Your Drinking Water

If you choose to install home water treatment equipment, it’s a better investment in terms of money and peace of mind to select a quality system that solves a wide range of problems. The following is a look at some of the more popular technologies available to improve your drinking water:

Carbon Filters:

Reverse Osmosis Systems:

The Center for Disease Control recommends boiling water and reverse osmosis (RO) systems as the most effective ways of treating residential water. These very popular water treatment systems employ a semi-permeable membrane. Water is forced against the membrane, a portion of it passes through, leaving the impurities behind to be carried away. RO systems are effective in removing dissolved salts, suspended solids, dissolved chemicals and a wide variety of other contaminants. When choosing an RO system, look for units with a high recovery rate to reduce water usage and waste. A rate of 25 percent is generally considered efficient.

Regardless of what type of water system you select, check to see if the system is third party certified before making your final decision. NSF International, an independent testing organization, is internationally recognized for its experience in testing and certifying products to ensure they perform as claimed. The Water Quality Association, the regulatory body of the water quality industry, also validates products.

Just because a manufacturer displays the WQA logo, signifying that the company is a member of the Water Quality Association, doesn’t mean its products are validated. And just because a product is NSF certified for some contaminants doesn’t mean it protects you against all of them. If you are concerned about very specific contaminants, you must check to determine that the system you choose is specifically certified to reduce them.