The Truth About Water Filters

It's a well known fact that the human body consists mainly of water, just over 70% in fact. But did you know that the tap water you drink contains over two thousand chemicals which can affect your health?

U.S. drinking water contains more than 2,100 toxic chemicals that can cause cancer.  --Ralph Nader Research Institute

Where on earth do all these chemicals come from? Everything from agricultural runoff and industrial discharges to the household cleaning fluids and the pesticides we use in our backyards all end up in the rivers and lakes that supply the water to our homes.

Water is essential to good health. The amount of water we drink affects our energy levels which can fall by as much as 30% if we don't consume sufficient liquids. Some estimates suggest that over 80% of the population suffers energy loss due to minor dehydration.

In recent years people have become more conscious of the quality of the water they drink and this has resulted in the huge increase in the consumption of bottled water. But studies have shown that bottled water often has more impurities than the water that comes out of your faucet.

And the problem does not end there. When you take a shower the chemicals in the water do not just disappear down the drain but are absorbed into your body through your skin and by inhalation.

Luckily there is a simple answer to these problems and that is to fit a water filter in your home which will remove all the harmful chemicals and other impurities.

There are many different water purification systems on the market and some are more efficient than others. And it's not just a question of price - you don't have to pay top dollar to purchase an efficient system.

There are four main types of water filters:

1. Reverse Osmosis. This process was originally developed to produce drinking water from saltwater in the sea. While it does do a good job in removing the contaminants, it also strips out the beneficial minerals such as calcium and magnesium that are essential for our health.

2. Carbon Filters. These are the commonest type of water filter. Specially treated carbon is used to trap the contaminants. Although carbon filters are better than nothing, they are unable to trap the harmful chemicals in the water. Although carbon filters are relatively inexpensive, the actual cost per gallon tends to be high because you have to replace the filter more frequently than with other systems.

3. Ultra Violet Systems. These use ultra violet light to treat the water by destroying the bacteria and viruses that are present. Unfortunately this treatment is not effective against other contaminants such as chlorine, lead and chemicals.

4. Combination Filters. By combining several different filtration techniques combination filters are more efficient than the other types and so are able to remove more of the contaminants while at the same time retaining the beneficial minerals.

So which brands use combination filters? The one that has been voted Best Buy for water filter for each of the last five years by Consumers Digest is Aquasana.

Aquasana's exclusive dual filter system uses a combination of carbon filtration, ion exchange and sub-micron filtration which removes chlorine lead VOCs*, MTBE* and Cysts (chlorine resistant parasites), and leaves in the natural trace minerals.

(*VOCs - Volatile organic chemical (VOC) is the umbrella term for a large number of synthetic chemicals found in drinking water. *MTBE - Methyl-t-butyl ether (MTBE) is a member of a group of chemicals generally called fuel oxygenates.)

Aquasana has a range of water filters to suit your needs and your budget.

The single faucet unit which can be fitted either on the countertop or below.

The shower filtration system which you fit in place of your current shower head.

And for purified water throughout your home there is a whole house water filter.

To find out more about Aquasana water filters click HERE to visit their site and discover the 5 reasons why Aquasana is America's #1 Water Filter. Go there NOW.