Water Purification Devices
Viruses, bacteria, protozoa and other microbial contamination are a serious problem in areas without basic infrastructure. These can also cause diarrheal illnesses that further contaminate water supplies.
Physical filtration involves creating a barrier that traps contaminants. For example, paper or sand filters. Chemical filtration doesn’t use barriers but instead uses a medium to attract or trap contaminants.
1. Inline Filters
Water filters are an inexpensive and easy to use way to ensure that your drinking water is safe and clean. They work by becoming part of the water line, and filtering as it passes through. They can be found in many settings including homes, restaurants and recreational vehicles (RVs).
These filters are primarily carbon-based and work to remove contaminants like chlorine, sediment and dirt from the water before it reaches your tap or appliance. They also often reduce the amount of limescale built up on equipment. Usually, they feature water purification devices push fittings on each end making them easy to connect and disconnect when you need to replace the filter cartridge.
Most of these filters are capable of removing bacteria, protozoa and other dangerous microorganisms from the water. However, they cannot kill viruses. They are too small to be caught by the carbon in a filter, so if you are looking for a device that can inactivate viruses in addition to bacteria and protozoa, consider a physical purifier such as UV light or chemical treatments.
Inline water filters are easy to install under your sink or behind an appliance, and they are one of the cheapest options for home filtration. The most common type of inline filter contains either a carbon block or granular activated carbon, both of which provide a good level of contaminant removal down to 1 micron.
2. Reverse Osmosis
Your local tap water may be award-worthy clean when it leaves the municipal plant but as it travels miles to your home it picks up a variety of contaminants that can affect taste, odor and quality. If your well water contains a high number of total dissolved solids or you live in an area with a naturally high amount of toxins, a reverse osmosis filtration system can help reduce these unwanted impurities to produce great-tasting pure drinking water for your home.
Reverse osmosis works by pushing water pressure across a semi-permeable membrane, which allows only small molecules to pass through while catching larger ones like salt, contaminants, organic materials and other minerals. Originally designed to desalinate seawater, RO is used in commercial and residential applications to reduce high chemical contaminants and heavy metals in water.
Most RO systems use a crossflow design to prevent membrane fouling by flushing the contaminated concentrate away from the system. You may hear a “gurgling” sound when this occurs, which is normal and a sign that the system is working as it should. Most reverse osmosis systems are combined with carbon or sediment pre-filters and can be used as a point of entry for all household water or at the point of use for drinking and cooking only. Kinetico offers a wide range of premium Reverse Osmosis water filtration systems that are third-party certified to reduce more contaminants than other comparable systems.
3. Ultraviolet Light
UV water treatment is a chemical free disinfection system that kills bacteria and viruses in your water. It can be used as a stand alone process or in conjunction with other filtration devices as part of a multi-faceted water treatment solution. UV light sterilizes water by emitting a shortwave ultraviolet (UV) radiation that damages the DNA of harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and parasites. This damage renders them unable to reproduce and causes them to die. UV radiation does not affect the taste, odor or color of water.
UV systems are in-line and point of entry, with capacities from 0.5 gpm to several hundred gpm. To be effective, water must be pretreated for UV disinfection to remove turbidity and organics. This can be done with sediment filtration or activated carbon. It is recommended that a flow meter be installed on the UV system so that the correct amount of water is exposed to the UV light. The flow meter will also provide an audible alert when it is time to clean or replace the UV lamp.
UV systems can be combined with reverse osmosis as part of a multi-stage system. This helps prevent the bacteria and pathogens from returning once they reach your facility after passing through the filtration process. It is especially important to consider a UV system if your municipality has issued a Boil Water Advisory.
4. Carbon Filters
Carbon filters remove organic chemicals, odors and other contaminants from your water by a process called adsorption. This is where the carbon particles (also known as activated charcoal) absorb the contaminates by their polar properties. This happens because the carbon particles have a large surface area that is ideal for trapping gases and other organic compounds that are attracted to it like Velcro.
Activated carbon can be made from any type of carbon-rich plant material such as coal, coconut shells, peat or wood. It is steam treated to open up its pores and increase its surface area, allowing it to more easily bond with unwanted impurities.
The carbon filter is then able to pull the contaminants out water purification devices manufacturer of the water using the strong attractive forces between them. This is the same principle behind ozone, which also uses attractive forces to break down organic compounds in the water. The contaminated water is then filtered and flows into the next stage of filtration.
Activated carbon filters are commonly used in home purification systems as a pre-filtration step prior to reverse osmosis. They can be used to remove a variety of contaminants including chlorine, trihalomethanes, heavy metals, nitrates, hydrogen sulfide and other objectionable odors and tastes from the water. They can be used as the sole filtration method for some applications such as well water, but they can also work in tandem with other types of filtration systems such as green sand or reverse osmosis.
