What is a water filter?

Posted by John Smith on July 21st, 2017

Living in advanced times, most of us are familiar with terms like ‘photo filter,' filter copy, etc. However, how sardonic it might be, seldom do we know about things that benefit us. Such is the sad reality of the modern life.

Water filters, are and should be an essential part of everyone’s lives. In its vaguest and easiest form, a water filter is any set of instruments that purify or filter the water of any impurities.

In the scientific jargon, best filtered water remove impurities by decreasing contamination of water by making use of a partially permeable barrier, a chemical process or a biological process. Water filters clean water for different objectives, such as providing water for agricultural purposes, sanitation, drinking and providing hygienic water for public ponds and swimming pools.

Filters tend to use methods such as sieving, adsorption or ion exchanges to filter the water.

Various types of water filters are commonly used across the globe. Some of them are discussed below.

Point-of-use filters: are primarily used for small scale domestic consumption, and they are considered the best water filter purifiers. They make use of granular-activated carbon filters (GAC), carbon block resin (CBR), microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes. Some of the filters use a multi-barrier system, making use of more than one filtration method.

The most prevalent misconception that the population has is that a water filter can only be attached to a sink, however, in recent times, cooking utensils, such as kettles and jugs come with a purifier water system.

Portable Water Filters: are become increasingly popular among travelers and students. Also, they are often used by hikers, climbers, humanitarian aid organizations and lastly, the military. They are small portable, easy-to-pack bottles that are in fact, a mini filter for water purifier. These bottles purifier water filters clean the water either by a mechanical pump or some make use of the syphon technology. The unhygienic water is injected via a screen-filtered moldable silicon tube through a differentiated filter, ending up in a receptacle. These filters work to cleanse the water of bacteria and other biological or chemical substances that can cause water diseases. The filter may or may not have fine tubes or mashes that need to be replaced after a certain time period-usually six months- to be used for relatively long time duration.

Many people confuse the term water polishing with water filtration. Water polishing refers to any process that removes microscopic particles or dissolved materials from the water, hence, making water filtration a constituent of water polishing.

Many times, as witnessed by history, corporations (small or multinational) fish for innovative ways of accumulating wealth. At times, they play with the lives of millions of innocent people. Therefore people should be careful and investigate before consuming water from water filtration plants.

For this purpose, government agencies have been set-up all across the country, which monitors the best water treatment system. The consumers, before making a water bottle purchase, or before splashing water in the local swimming pool, the public should ensure that the water fulfills the government’s cleanliness and safety criteria.