Water Filters And Water Purifiers - Myths And Truth

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Almost a third of the periodic table can be found in our tap water, and some pollutants cannot be removed even by boiling. Therefore, many have either already purchased or are thinking about filters and water purification systems. Those who are thinking about buying are repelled by common myths, which we will dispel in this material.

Myth 1: Reverse osmosis spoils water
First, let’s figure out what kind of “reverse osmosis” is? In filter systems, you can often find a cartridge with a reverse osmosis membrane. This membrane itself consists of two layers – selective and reinforcing. The first performs direct filtration, and the second sets the strength characteristics.

The mechanism of transfer of water molecules through the membrane is similar to the process of current transfer through a metal conductor. In it, as in the membrane, there are no holes, but due to the difference in concentrations, movement is possible, in the case of a membrane, water molecules.

At the same time, a stream of clean water is formed at the outlet, as well as a concentrate with impurities, which is usually discharged into the sewer. The reverse osmosis cartridge is made in the form of a cylinder to increase the working area of the membrane.

As you can see, reverse osmosis filtration is in no way capable of spoiling water, but, on the contrary, removes just “spoiling” pollutants from it. Concentrate with impurities is removed to the sewer and does not affect the clean water at the outlet.

Flowing drinking filter Geyser Prestige 10 799 *
Myth 2: The filter removes useful substances along with harmful ones.
Before answering this question, it is worth knowing how effective various filtration systems are in principle. Sorption cleaners remove on average from 90 to 99% of various substances, and mineral salts are not even filtered. The latter are just what the body needs in small quantities.

Reverse osmosis systems are much more efficient – they purify water by almost 100%, but even they “pass” up to 1% of mineral salts.

Accordingly, even the most advanced purifier will leave a small amount of useful mineral salts in the water. However, you should not get hung up on this – you get a negligible amount of useful substances from water. For example, 250 ml of citrus fresh contains as many minerals as 100 liters of tap water.

Myth 3: Bottled water is also pure, so don’t waste your money on a filter
Let’s start with the fact that there are no uniform standards for clean water in the world. In Russia, bottled water is produced in accordance with GOST 32220-2013 and SanPiN 2.1.4.1116-2002. However, this is in theory – in practice, the quality of such water may be worse than filtered. The fact is that filters in production must be changed in a timely manner, but some manufacturers “stretch” their service life, which affects the purity of bottled water.

For example, an experiment was conducted at the Chemical Analytical Center of Moscow State University – scientists compared three brands of bottled water, tap water and filtered water. It should be noted that the simplest filter was used – a jug.

Filter jug Aquaphor Provence A5
1050 *
Filter pitcher Barrier “Grand Neo”
1099 *
Filter pitcher Barrier Tokyo Opti-Light
899 *

As you can see, bottled water is far from better than filtered in all aspects – it all depends on the brand of the manufacturer being compared and the efficiency of the filtration system.

Myth 4: Silver VS Water Purifier
On the net, you can often find the statement that silver water purification is the most effective. Silver is indeed used in filters, but only to ensure bacteriostatic – suppression of the reproduction of microorganisms. However, here there are several nuances of application.

Silver plating is actively used in the world, when silver salt concentrate is mixed with activated carbon. The silver is eventually recovered from the salts and deposited in the coal pores. However, metallic silver itself is not very effective, and too much concentration is even dangerous to health.

Silver ion cleaning is much more effective, but it is quite difficult to keep them in the filter, because they tend to “join” someone.

Thus, metallic silver in itself is not active and useless for water purification, and obtaining safe silver ions is a rather complicated process and not so effective within home filters.

Myth 5: only domestic filters can purify Russian water
The quality of water purification with a specific filter does not depend on whether it is a domestic brand or not. Indeed, the water in our tap can be much dirtier when compared to some European countries. However, high-quality filter systems capable of removing most of the contaminants are produced by both Russian and foreign manufacturers.

Flowing drinking filter Aquaphor Crystal A 4 750 *
The myth appeared solely thanks to local marketers who seek to promote their filters on the market instead of foreign ones.

Myth 6: A filtration system will cost more than bottled water.

Flowing drinking filter Geyser Prestige-2 6 850 *
People are usually afraid of starting investments – a system with three degrees of purification will cost 5-7 thousand rubles, and reverse osmosis – up to 15,000 rubles. In addition, you will have to change cartridges every 6-12 months. However, various calculations on the network (for example, here and here ) show that for a family of 2-3 people, even a reverse osmosis system will come out 30-50% cheaper than regular purchases of bottled water. The pitcher filter will save even more, as it has minimal maintenance costs.

Set of cartridges Aquaphor Trio Norma
1 699 *
You can always calculate the costs yourself by estimating the amount of water consumed and multiplying by the purchase price. The cost of the filter comes down to replacing the cartridges.

Buying a water purifier is a profitable investment, and in the realities of our water supply is almost mandatory. For one person, a pitcher filter is quite suitable, and for a large family, it is worth looking at systems with several levels of purification, including reverse osmosis membranes.