The use of a drinking water filter system is surprisingly common in everyday life, from a simple dispenser tap on your fridge to the water cooler you might find in a gym or office. Drinking filtered water is more palatable and generally regarded as a healthier option, but is this really the case? Let’s start by exploring some of the benefits of filtering your drinking water before we learn more about the technologies that make them work.

What Are The Benefits Of Filtering Drinking Water?

Improved Taste And Appearance

Filtered water has an improved taste, odour and appearance when compared to unfiltered water, which makes it more palatable for regular consumption. Filtered water is also regarded as healthier, as certain filtration methods allow you to reduce or totally remove any impurities. Typical filtration processes involve your water being passed through a filter (or series of filters) to remove particulate, chlorine and organic compounds.

Limescale Control

Treating drinking water can also help reduce scale formation which prolongs the life of appliances like coffee machines and kettles, making them easier to clean. The most popular method for controlling limescale in drinking water is treating it with Polyphosphate, often contained within carbon filters designed for drinking water or as its own stage. Polyphosphate is also known to improve the taste of your water.

Contaminant Removal

Aside from improving the taste, odour and appearance of your drinking water, a filtration system allows you to remove unwanted contaminants, minerals and chemicals that occur naturally (or not so naturally) in your water supply. Chemicals like Chlorine and Fluoride may be added by water municipalities to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and to reduce tooth-decay, where-as other elements such as Microplastics, Hormones and Pesticides are by-products of human or manufacturing activity.

What’s Typically Found In Tap Water?

What Are The Different Technologies Available?

With a whole host of technologies available for filtering drinking water, it is important to understand what they are and how they work. This gives you the confidence to specify a system that meets your unique demands.

• Carbon Filters – Carbon filters (also available with Phosphate for scale control) are used to remove the presence of chlorine and other volatile organic compounds as well as reduce pesticides and hormones. The use of a Carbon filter improves the taste, odour and colour of your drinking water.
  
  
• Sediment Filters – Sediment filters are designed to trap particulate, rust, clay and small pieces of organic matter, removing it from your water and helping to improve the appearance of your drinking water.
  
  
• Reverse Osmosis – Reverse osmosis offers complete containment removal, using multiple stages including a carbon filter and reverse osmosis membrane. Giving you all of the benefits listed above in addition to the removal of all dissolved contaminants including fluoride, radium, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, nitrates, phosphorous and more! Reverse osmosis systems give better than bottle quality water, with an ultra pure taste and appearance.
  
  
• Polyphosphate Filters – Polyphosphate filters are used to control limescale in your drinking water, using a smart technology to retain the calcium and magnesium but treating it to prevent it forming a hard limescale. Polyphosphate is commonly used in commercial coffee machines and boiling taps as less hard scale formation means they last longer and are easier to clean.
  
  
• pH Control Filters – pH control filters are used where you have particularly low pH drinking water or after a reverse osmosis system. By dosing your water with controlled amounts of healthy minerals like calcium the pH is increased to a more desirable slightly alkaline level, in turn improving the taste of your water.

How Do You Choose The Right Drinking Water System?

When it comes to choosing a drinking water system, there are a few things you need to think about.

1. Understand What You Want To Achieve – Do you just want to remove particulates and the taste of chlorine or do you want to remove all dissolved contaminants? This will help to point you in the direction of what type of filter system is right for you.
   
   
2. Decide Where You Want The System Installed – Make sure that you have the space under your sink or in the desired location and consider whether you want filtered water from your existing tap or if you want an additional tap to dispense your filtered water. If you want to filter the water feeding your whole house, then you need to look at larger filter systems with a higher flow rate.
   
   
3. Get To Grips With Maintenance And Running Costs – All filtration systems require maintenance of some sort, usually just the replacement of filters which is inexpensive and can be done yourself. You should look at how often it is recommended that the filters are changed and be sure that you are happy with the frequency and that the cost of the replacement filters suits your budget.

What Is The Best Drinking Water Filter System?

If you want to take control of what’s inside your drinking water, then you are right to consider filtering your water. For domestic applications our Drinking Water Filter Systems are a great low-cost option that offer either single-stage carbon filtration or dual-stage sediment and carbon filtration. These systems can be installed underneath a sink, are low maintenance and inexpensive to run (costing considerably less than the cost of a filter jug).

For people who are particularly concerned about the contents of their water and wish to remove all dissolved contaminants, then Reverse Osmosis is the go-to option. Producing contaminant-free, perfectly balanced water for the health-conscious consumer. Reverse osmosis is recommended for customers with a water softener who do not wish to keep a hard water tap for drinking, as it will remove any excess salt from your water that may be added during the softening process.

Now you have a better understanding of what is inside your water and the different options available for treating it, you should be well on your way to specifying a Drinking Water Filter System that meets your requirements. If you already have a drinking water filter system and are looking for replacement filters please get in touch with a member of our team. We can also give advice on how to get more out of your current system, by understanding your needs and offering expert advice on what upgrade options are available.