What one believes about drinking water pollution and considers to be safe drinking water is somewhat relative. My life experience illustrates this. I spent most of the first 14 years of my life growing up in the Congo, the Belgian Congo at that time. In my family, we only drank boiled water that was then filtered in a ceramic filter. Then when we'd come to the United States on leave, we drank tap water. I thought it was incredibly wonderful, to be able to drink water directly from the tap, knowing that it was safe. However, now as an adult and having read more extensively, I know that even our tap water leaves much to be desired! I no longer believe it is safe enough for me to drink long term. What I'm suggesting is that it's important to clarify what level of purity you are comfortable with. That will determine what kind of filter will suite you best. What Are the Different Levels of Drinking Water Pollution and Safety? The spectrum is all the way from disease infected water to totally safe drinking water. Here are three common levels of drinking water safety. "Tap water" represents drinking water that has been treated by your local water supplier with chlorine and filtration. It normally meets the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Those standards are set according to what is feasible to realize rather than by what is ideal. Sometimes they are not met by local suppliers who are required to tell you which pollutants surpass the standard. However, the treatment systems and the water delivery systems are old and outdated and deliver water that is not always safe. "Bottled water" is either water taken from other sources or often tap water that is further treated. It doesn't have the chlorine flavor of tap water so people tend to think it is safer. However, this is not necessarily so. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently completed a four year review of bottled drinking water. They concluded, "There is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle, it is any cleaner or safer than water from a tap." "Filtered water" is as clean and as safe as the filter will make it. There are filters that simply remove bad taste, odors and color and there are filters that removes all pollutants as well as healthy minerals. The value of filters is that you can pick the level of safety you want. Filters take tap water and raise the level of purity to a whole new level. What Is Your Philosophy of Drinking Water Pollution and Safety? Let me suggest three different approaches people take to drinking water pollution and how it would affect the choice of a filter. The first approach says, "Our tap water is basically safe. All I want in a filter is something that will improve the taste or odor or color of my drinking water." If this is your approach, you will likely need a pitcher filter if you have one or two people in the household or a faucet filter for a larger household. Both of these solutions are relatively inexpensive. A second class of people will say, "I want to know specifically what are the contaminants I need to be concerned about or I already know I am concerned about this, this, and this contaminant." If this is your approach to drinking water pollution, you will do research to identify the contaminants which exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) standard or you might run water tests of your own and identify other pollutants of concern. Then you will look for a filter that removes these specific contaminants. A third group of people say, "I want a filter that removes 99.9% of as many contaminants as possible. In this way I know that I am covered for anything that comes down the pipe!" If this is your approach, you are looking for a filter that will filter down to 0.5 microns and is certified to remove the widest range of all contaminants possible. For you, cost is secondary; safety and "peace of mind" are primary. In short, by understanding the different levels of drinking water pollution and in clarifying your personal philosophy of what constitutes safe drinking water, you will be able to better choose the water filter that suites you best. Of course there are other considerations.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
