The Basics to Drinking Filtered Water
Many companies that produce bottled filtered drinking water claim that their water is a better quality than the average tap water, yet many do not have any research to back up their claims. In fact, the federal government doesn't even regulate the purity of bottled water (as of 2006); it does monitor the quality of public water, but this again falls short of quality due to the small amount of toxins that are removed at the public level. Additionally there is evidence that water may absorb some chemicals from the plastic bottle in which it's stored.
The On the Tap or By the Picture Drinking Water Filters
There are several brands and price ranges for over the tap and by the picture water filters; these devices can improve the quality of the house hold drinking water by filtering it, but, there are better devices available on the market. These types are easy to come by, available at most department stores, and will cut the cost per gallon of drinking filtered water from about $1.00 to $0.25. These on the tap and by the picture type filtration systems are very basic and will generally only remove about 5 different common toxins from the drinking water.
Entire Sink or Entire Shower Drinking Water Filters
Several brands of drinking water filters that will cleanse an entire water source; the differences in systems will vary depending on price, longevity of filters, and toxins they filter out. The price range on these filtration systems vary between about $50 - $450; you may not always get what you pay for how ever as the higher priced models often filter less toxins out of the water than the middle priced brand, which preformed the best. The system that was the most efficient was able to remove at least 98% of at least 11 different toxins. Shower filtration systems do not always perform as well; of the water filtration shower systems tested by one company, only three even preformed as well as they claimed they could. When choosing a filter factors to consider include how much water they clean, how fast they clean it, and how it affects water pressure.
Entire Home Drinking Water Filterers
Filtered drinking water for an entire home seem like the healthiest and economical choice for filtered water for a home, however there are some areas that don't need filtered water, such as a toilet, clothes washer, or many other water loving appliances. The entire home systems often price around $1,000 but sometimes even less, and the filter for the filtered drinking water only needs to be replaced every 6 months.
