Which countertop water purification systems are best for home use? That question really boils down to which methods of filtering or purifying water are best.
Also, it has a lot to do with what contaminants you may have in your water.
We're going to take a look at all of this in this article.
First off, let's talk about contaminants.
If your water comes from a well, then you may have living contamination from bacteria, viruses, or microorganisms.
Also, you could have other problems with industrial and/or agricultural run-off.
You could make use of any of the four main types of system, distillers, reverse osmosis systems, ultraviolet light, or carbon/ceramic filtration.
If you're just having a problem with bacteria, then the right countertop water purification systems might include UV.
(UV only kills living contaminants.
It doesn't do anything for non-living contaminants, like lead.
If you live in the city, then you know you have a problem with chlorine! Chlorine is the disinfectant that's put into our water at water treatment facilities.
Unfortunately, we now know that chlorine can also cause a lot of harm.
It combines with organic material to form trihalomethanes, a class of chemicals that's highly volatile and also cancer-causing.
You could also have an issue with lead or asbestos, if the pipes that lead to your house are older.
No matter where you live, you could be drinking pesticides, prescription drugs, or a whole host of other toxic chemicals.
So, for public water, I would not go with ultraviolet, because it can't filter the water.
I wouldn't go with a distiller, either.
Although a lot of people look at distillers as the best countertop water purification systems, they really shouldn't be used on chlorinated water, unless you have a pre-filter that can get rid of the chlorine.
For city water I would probably stick with either a reverse osmosis system, or carbon/ceramic countertop water purification systems.
Reverse osmosis isn't perfect, either.
It's very wasteful.
It takes anywhere from three to ten gallons of water to create one pure gallon.
If you're serious about filtering your water, think what your water bill is going to look like! Also, reverse osmosis tends to take the trace minerals out of the water.
We need those for optimum health.
So, you really want to keep those in.
Carbon/ceramic filters can keep those trace minerals in, while filtering all the bad stuff out of the water.
They come in countertop water purification systems, or under the counter systems.
Carbon/ceramic filters are cost effective, and low maintenance.