How to choose a good filter for water purification in the apartment?

Water supply in apartment buildings is organized centrally. It is clear that before this, water undergoes preliminary preparation and purification, which makes it safe for our health. However, water passes through water pipes on the way to our taps. And no one can vouch for their condition and safety. Therefore, no doctor will advise you to drink water directly from the tap. She definitely needs finishing filtration, so that at the exit from household taps the water is really safe both for human health and for all household appliances. So, in each apartment an additional cleaning system is needed. What are the water filters for washing, on the faucet, what are their advantages and disadvantages? How to choose them right?

Determining factors

Different filters purify water from various impurities: chemical elements (chlorine, calcium, metals), bacteria, large particles ... Therefore, the first thing that should become the determining factor when choosing a filter for a particular apartment is determining the composition of the water from this tap. After all, without imagining what needs to be removed, you can choose the wrong model, which will not make the water really safe and useful.

To find out the exact composition, you need to submit water samples from the tap to the sanitary-epidemiological service for analysis. The worse its quality is, the more powerful and expensive the device will have to be purchased.

If it is not possible to perform such a study, conduct an organoleptic analysis at home in order to have at least an approximate idea of ​​the composition of your water. So, the formation of scale in the kettle and white streaks on the dishes after washing indicates a high water hardness: it contains a large amount of salts. A tart metallic taste indicates an excess of iron, putrefactive - the presence of hydrogen sulfide. Clothes turned gray after washing are a sign of a high content of manganese and heavy metals in water.

What else to focus on when choosing?

• The number of residents of the apartment. This factor affects the choice of filter performance. After all, the larger the family, the more water it spends per day, month, year.
• How clean and safe should filtered water be? This is especially important, for example, in families with children, as well as for people with diseases of the kidneys, liver, gall bladder, stomach, intestines.
• How much free space is there under the sink or above it? Modern models of filtering systems can differ both in large dimensions, and, conversely, in compactness.
• How simple is the care system, is it possible to periodically call a specialist to carry out the necessary work, if self-service is not implied?
• What are the allowable material costs for such an acquisition?

Based on these factors, a filter device should be selected.

Prefilters

First of all, it should be understood that the water in the apartment is not only used for drinking or cooking. Washing, washing dishes, floors, hygienic procedures do not require an ideal composition of water - minimal cleaning is enough to extend the life of household appliances and plumbing. It is important that large particles that can cause damage do not get inside the washing machine or gas water heater.

A flow main water filter is suitable here.This is a pre-filter, or pre-filter. It crashes into a water supply line (hot or cold) and makes a “rough” cleaning - from large solid impurities of organic matter, rust - mechanically. That is, it delays them with nets, polymer discs or replaceable cartridges. At the same time, for the hot line, special heat-resistant prefilters are required.

The prefilter also eases the load on the main filters, extending their life. It will be very useful in those houses where water from the main water supply comes with a large amount of solid impurities.

When buying a main filter, you need to know exactly the diameter of the pipes and the temperature of the water that will pass through it. Such a system is durable, does not require frequent replacement. But installing and changing the main filter most often does not do without calling a specialist.

Non-stationary filters

When it comes to drinking water, much higher demands are placed on its quality. Therefore, filters for it should provide deeper cleaning.

The budget option is the filter jug. Compared to other systems, it costs quite a lot; replaceable cartridges for it, too. Using it is very simple. He takes up a little space. True, this device has a very low productivity, which is why it is not suitable for families of 3 or more people. In addition, the quality of cleaning depends on the structure of the cartridge itself. And it may contain a different number of filter layers, performing cleaning from various substances: organic compounds, solid suspensions, heavy metals, bacteria. You can read more about this on the packaging of a particular cartridge. You need to choose those that provide cleaning according to the necessary parameters: universal (based on coal), reducing stiffness (with ion-exchange resins), healing (with fluorine content), cleansing of iron, and disinfectants.

Another drawback of pitchers is the need to frequently change cartridges.

Another type of non-stationary filters is portable. They close tightly and are convenient on a trip, outdoors, in the country.

For large families, dispensers can be used - according to the principle of action, they are identical to jugs, but have a more capacious tank and a separate tap for pouring. Yes, and cartridges for such devices usually have a longer resource.

If the water in your tap is of very poor quality, it is better to purchase more powerful filtering equipment. Of course, it will be more expensive, but it will help to avoid the use of a mass of harmful substances.

Nozzle filters

Such devices relate to flow filters. They are easily attached to the mixer. Such filters purify water from fine particles, rust, chlorine. The cartridge in the filter nozzle must be changed quite often: once every 1-3 months. The main sorbing element in them is activated carbon.

The performance of filter nozzles is higher than that of jugs. They are also inexpensive, installed and removed easily. However, the nozzle must be worn every time to obtain drinking water and removed if water is needed for other purposes, which is not very convenient. In addition, a strong pressure in the tap can reduce the quality of filtration, and a low spout with such a nozzle is extremely inconvenient.

Desktop devices

In fact, this is the same nozzle, only slightly spaced from the mixer. The device must be placed near the sink, which means that for this purpose additional space should be provided, which is not always possible. Such a filter is connected to the mixer through a thin hose and has its own faucet - for supplying purified water.

Installation and operation of desktop filters is simple, performance is even higher than that of nozzles. But cassettes in such devices are also changed often, every 2–4 months, and their price is higher than that of previous models.

Sink filters

These are quite voluminous stationary household filters, most often multistage ones. Today they are considered the most effective, allowing you to soften hard water, clean it of various impurities, and disinfect. But they have one common drawback: a lot of additional space under the sink is required for the installation of the entire treatment structure, as well as the installation of a separate tap for filtered water above the sink.

These devices have many indisputable advantages:

• They guarantee the highest level of filtration, purifying water much better than other types of filtering devices.
• They have the highest performance among all types.
• Equipped with a separate crane. This means that for all domestic, technical needs, purified water will not be used, which allows it to be used very economically.
• No need to carry out any systematic manipulations (remove, screw, fill, transfer).
• Stationary filtering systems are very durable, they will last for many years, provided the cassettes are timely noticed. And this also happens much less frequently: with an interval from six months to several years.

But the obvious disadvantages of these devices also have:

• Fairly high cost - much higher than any other species.
• Installing such a system is a long and complicated process, in most cases requiring the involvement of specialists (and this is also a cost).
• Tanks “eat up” almost the entire space under the sink, which is not always reasonable in small apartments.
• Profitability: about 60–70% of the water leaves during the cleaning process along with impurities in the sewer. Although if there are material opportunities, then, of course, it is better not to save on one's own health.

There are many models of stationary appliances installed under the sink. They differ in methods and degree of cleaning, disinfection, cartridge life, size, price. The main species among them are 2: flow-through and reverse osmosis filters.

Flow filters

Flow filters vary in cleaning method, number of stages and other characteristics.

• Coal. The principle of their work is mechanical adsorption. The main filter material is activated carbon. Such devices are very durable, but if the water in the tap has a lot of impurities, they can not cope with the task. In addition, most of them are very overall.
• Multi-stage. Such a cleaning system consists of several (from 3 to 8) cartridges, each of which contains its own sorbent and is responsible for cleaning certain substances. An example set may look like this: a cartridge for mechanical cleaning, a cartridge with sorbent, a filter for removing harmful salts, a cartridge with a disinfecting filter, a block for reducing stiffness, a cartridge for iron removal, a column with useful minerals, a cartridge with air conditioners. There is a limitation for such filter systems: they are not practical for too hard water. As soon as the resource of the cartridge softening rigidity is exhausted (and this happens rather quickly), the scum in the kettle will return.
• Softeners. These filters are specifically designed to soften hard water. A cartridge with ion exchange resins is provided in their design. They trap ions of salts from the water, which give water rigidity: sulfates, chlorides, calcium salts, magnesium. In the process of a chemical exchange reaction, sodium and hydrogen are given up to water instead.

Do not listen to the stories of a cunning manager in a store that multi-stage filters provide fine or ultra-fine cleaning, because they consist of many filters of different compositions. All of these devices are coarse filters (albeit fairly high quality). Thin, however, implies only a membrane filtration system - reverse osmosis. The smaller the cell membranes, the higher the quality of the filtered water.

Reverse osmosis systems

Their fundamental difference from the previous ones is that they are not flowing. That is, the water passing through the filtration system does not go directly to the tap, as in flow filters, but is collected in a special container. The fact is that the cleaning process in this way is quite slow, so the purified water must be collected in the tank so that it can be used if necessary. The disadvantages of this method include the need to choose a storage tank of a suitable volume so that it accumulates as much water as will be consumed per day.

But it is the reverse osmosis method that allows you to get purified water almost to the ideal. Such cleaning removes all existing harmful impurities: rust, sand, chlorine, salts of heavy metals, sulfur, chlorine, petroleum products, viruses, bacteria.

The principle of operation of such a device is as follows: water is supplied to the filter under high pressure, enters the membrane from a composite material, which passes only water molecules, delaying everything else. Adsorbed substances accumulate and then fall into the drain.

Naturally, with this cleaning, useful mineral salts are also removed. Therefore, mineralizers are built into the reverse osmosis cleaning system - special cartridges filled with backfill from mineral substances. The contents of such a cartridge gradually dissolve, enriching the water with calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron, and other important elements. One cartridge can mineralize up to 4 thousand liters.

Significant disadvantages of such installations:

• high price;
• impressive dimensions;
• high water consumption;
• a lot of supplies.

In addition, all impurities inevitably settle on the surface of the membrane, so it will have to be washed quite often.

However, more advanced reverse osmosis filters with ultrafiltration have recently appeared. Membranes for such filters began to produce hollow fiber ultrafiltration.

Ultrafiltration has a number of undeniable advantages:

• filters are much easier to install and maintain;
• take up less space;
• are much cheaper;
• require less consumables;
• provide ultra-thin water treatment;
• carry out disinfection (almost one hundred percent);
• regulate hardness and acidity.

It is equally important that ultrafiltration allows you to keep unchanged the useful mineral-salt composition. The only significant drawback of such filtration systems is the need to systematically wash or change filter membranes.

Do not give up filters in favor of bottled water. Firstly, it is far from always high-quality and safe. Secondly, the use of filters is most often economically more profitable.

Criterias of choice

So, how to choose the filter for the apartment?

Based on the number of residents and volumes of consumption, the parameters are as follows:

• for 1-2 people it is quite possible to get by with a jug, especially if the water has an insignificant degree of pollution;
• for 3 or more tenants, a desktop system or dispenser is suitable;
• with a large consumption of drinking water or a very low quality in a faucet, it is more expedient to wash the system.

If you are guided by the chemical composition of the impurities, then choose as follows:

• The reverse osmosis filter is an ideal option for cleaning all types of impurities, including increased stiffness, visual turbidity, the smell of gas, oil, phenol, and the taste of salt.
• Prefilter - needed if there are visible insoluble impurities in the water, rust.
• Cartridge with ion exchange resins - if there are impurities of chlorides, sulfates, calcium and magnesium salts.
• Filter with a carbon cartridge - with the smell of raw wood, fish, phenol, chlorine, caustic chemistry.
• Filter with deferrizing cartridge - in the presence of iron aftertaste.

When choosing a filter in the store, you should also pay attention to the integrity of the device and packaging, the strength of all elements, the absence of visible defects and any extraneous odors.

Having acquired a filter system for your apartment, carry out installation work as efficiently and accurately as possible. If you are not confident in your own skills, it is better to invite a professional. Saving on the quality of the cleaning system can result in health problems due to the systematic use of water of inadequate quality. And so that the device meets the safety parameters as long as possible, do not forget to change the necessary components in time or flush the membranes.

The choice of a filter is not easy and sometimes quite expensive. That is why it is worth approaching this issue with all responsibility. Moreover, this choice will directly affect our health. To a greater extent, this applies to people who already have any diseases (especially kidney stones, bile ducts), as well as families with small children.

When choosing a specific filter, you need to be guided, first of all, by its ability to cope with precisely those impurities that are present in the water of a particular water supply. Then the benefits of such costs will be optimal.