Water is the element that makes Earth habitable. It is the driving force behind every living thing on this planet. Everyone knows that water is essential for humans. We cannot imagine our lives without water. It is a well-known fact that humans can go for about 3 to 4 weeks without having food but can last only three to four days without water. Water has always held a lot of importance to human civilization. It is a universal fact that historically, human cultures have thrived only along prominent rivers, for example, civilizations in Egypt thrived along the river Nile, Indus valley civilization, etc.
Since ages, water has played an essential role in our day to day activities. Be it bathing, cattle rearing, washing, drinking, cooking, transport, etc. When we study History, we notice that humans used to be Hunters and gatherers at first. It is only after the discovery of agriculture that they started settling down. The process of agriculture required them to gather seeds and settle near a river so that the soil can be replenished from time to time. The most critical aspect was water, which was regularly provided by the river.
One would imagine that since we have come so far in our ways of development, that we would have been able to reduce our dependence on water. That is not at all true; if anything, our relationship has increased. In earlier ages, people had to travel miles to get water from rivers, nowadays, a ten-second trip to the kitchen gets you as much water as you want.
Visually, we think that the Earth is abundant in water because of the presence of oceans. We fail to realize that only a tiny fraction of the total water on Earth is valuable to humans. The freshwater resources that we have are minimal, and if that was not a problem in itself, a new issue of water pollution has arrived. Huge Industries that run on water are also the reason for all the waste and pollutants discharged into water bodies. Not only aquatic animals and plants, but humans are also suffering because of consuming polluted water.
Several diseases can be caused by drinking contaminated water. Some of them include dysentery, arsenicosis, polio, trachoma, typhoid, schistosomiasis, cholera, diarrhea, malaria, lead poisoning, amoebiasis, cancer, hepatitis, intestinal worms, dracunculiasis, fluorosis, gastroenteritis, neurological problems and a lot of other diseases. Dirty water is especially notorious in terms of skin diseases. This is a widespread problem seen with a lot of people. Generally, this occurs when people shift to a different location, and the water quality in the new site does not suit them.
Rivers and water bodies are naturally magical and have a self-cleansing mechanism. The existence of this cleansing mechanism means that humans could pollute them up until a certain point, and it would not have caused many problems. However, we all know that pollution levels are at an all-time high and that we are polluting the water bodies at a much higher rate than their self-cleansing rate.
At that point, we know the majority of the water we are receiving in our houses is polluted. Installing a water purifier becomes a necessity. Some of the pollutants found in water these days include aluminum, ammonia, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chloramine, chromium, copper, chloride, bacteria, viruses, lead, nitrates, nitrides Mercury, percolate, radium, selenium, silver, uranium, etc.
There are multiple categories of pollutants found in water these days, which cannot be removed by boiling. The analysis that we provide you with is that there are several contaminants found in water that cannot be removed by boiling. These pollutants can cause traumatic diseases along with serious long-term illnesses. Hence it is your responsibility to make sure that the water you are consuming is healthy, and to do that, you need to make sure that you choose a reliable water purifier.
If you are concerned about what features you should look for in a water purifier, you are in the right place. This blog is specifically designed to help you choose the perfect water purifier for yourself. We will be giving you a step-by-step guide that will help you understand the essential features that make a water purifier and the various tricks that branded companies use these days to fool you.
When it comes to buying products in a capitalist society, information is power. Different brands fund multiple marketing layers to ensure that you rely on their brand name and trust them blindly. That is precisely where they are successful in fooling you. The moment you start trusting a brand without really understanding its features is when you are ready to be scammed.
But before buying a water purifier, you need to understand the health benefits of pure water. Drinking pure water regularly hydrates your body from the inside. We all know that we are made up of tiny cells that need water to perform specific biological processes. Cells utilize water to give us energy. Not only will you feel more energetic after drinking healthy water, but it will also boost your immunity. It starts acting as a shield or protection layer for your respiratory system.
It will also help you in regulating body temperature. Kidneys function better and in a much more healthy way when the water you drink is pure. When your cells are adequately hydrated, it also means that your skin will be sufficiently hydrated. No matter how many creams or expensive moisturizers you use for your skin, it will not be the proper amount of hydration if you are not drinking water regularly.
It also brings a glow to your skin. On the other hand, if you regularly drink water, but it is polluted, it will cause a major health disaster. It can bring diseases and immunity problems that you can’t even imagine right now.
Below we describe all the parameters you need to keep in mind to buy a water purifier. But if you need direct suggestions, we have multiple blogs suggesting different kinds of water purifiers for you. Some of them are based on what type of water you consume for, e.g., borewell water, hard water, groundwater, etc. You can check them out in the given link: https://prodhut.in/?s=water+purifier
Water purifier processes
There are several processes and techniques to purify water, and they seem to evolve with time. Some of the most popular water purification processes are RO, UV, and UF. All these processes have their pros and cons, and all of them go through different steps to purify water. Let us first understand the fundamental difference between the famous three terms RO, UV, and UF.
RO stands for reverse osmosis. Under this technique, water goes through a membrane under high pressure. The membrane present has a minimal filter size, allowing only water particles to pass through it. In this process, 90% of mineral particles, heavy metals, arsenic, and bacteria cannot go further. This technique can also change the taste of water and make it sweeter. However, this technology should be used only on water, which is polluted.
If you live in an area where the water is already pretty pure and pollutant-free, then it can be a good source for calcium and magnesium in your body. When such healthy water undergoes RO, it can lose its qualities. Which also means that you are essentially stripping healthy water of its merits. One more thing that people need to keep in mind is that when the water provided by the municipality is already chlorine-treated, then while filtration, it can choke the membrane of RO and cause it to tear up. If you are looking for water purifiers for municipal water, then you can check out our article by clicking on this link: https://prodhut.in/home-appliances/water-purifier/municipal-water
These holes allow any type of contaminant to pass freely and defeat the purpose of purification by RO. Any household RO system wastes about 70% of water. In simpler terms, to retrieve one glass of drinking water, you waste three glasses of regular water. You should not consider buying an RO if the water in your locality is already pure and healthy. On the other hand, the benefits of RO still stand if the water that you receive is heavily polluted. Under the section where we explain TDS to you, we have specified the limit of TDS where you need to apply RO.
Make sure that you check the TDS of your water according to the limit specified in that section and then make a choice. One more reason people prefer to justify using RO is that they save the discarded water for gardening and cleaning purposes. We think it’s disastrous to waste 70% of the water, which gets rejected during the RO filtration.
UV is an old and trusted technique to purify water. UV acts as a disinfectant due to its ability to deactivate bacteria. Bacteria or known to grow exponentially. The process of this technology exposes water to a light that has a UV wavelength. It directly attacks bacterial DNA and deactivates its ability to reproduce exponentially.
Under 25 minutes, the old bacteria die quickly, and since they don’t have any new bacteria produced, the water can be safe to drink. While buying a water purifier that works on UV Technology, you need to make sure that you get certain features along. The UV chamber should be made of steel only. There are a lot of companies that sell UV chambers made of aluminum. Aluminum is specifically harmful because Aluminium oxide generated from the aluminum chamber is very detrimental to the human brain.
The UV chamber inside your purifier should be horizontal and not vertical. Horizontal placement of the UV chamber makes sure that the water flow is in the correct direction and that the water’s surface area experiences maximum UV rays. The Vertical UV chamber obstructs the process and lets a lot of water go unexposed.
Another thing that you must know is that UV chambers should not come in direct contact with water. Quartz jackets are used as a cover to protect the chamber. With time, scaling and dirt collect in the UV chamber, which obstructs the smooth functioning of the chamber by blocking some UV rays. The disadvantage of this process is that with time the efficiency of this process decreases. Also, it is useful in deactivating the majority of bacterias, but not all.
UF or ultrafiltration process passes water through hollow fiber membranes with petite hole size. This process effectively removes any pollutants from the water without chemically harming it. It also doesn’t require any electricity to function. Another advantage is that it has a reasonable price and low maintenance.
When compared with each other, the UF technique emerges victorious among RO UV and UF.
Terms you should know about TDS
Now let us take a look at how TDS works. A TDS meter measures the value of Total Dissolved Solids in water. TDS stands for total dissolved solids. Substances such as calcium, magnesium, chloride, nitrate, sulfur, iron, and other organic or carbon materials make up TDS. It is a feature that helps you measure the number of solids dissolved in the water you are drinking. It is measured as mg of solids suspended in one liter of water (mg/L), which is the same as parts per million or ppm.
EPA secondary drinking water regulations suggest that 500 ppm is the maximum amount of TDS allowed for drinking water. W H O indicates that the TDS of drinking water should be between 150 and 300. TDS of drinking water should neither be too high nor too low. Water with high TDS is known as hypertonic, and water with low TDS is known as hypertonic. Any kind of drinkable water which has TDS less than 100 is known as hypotonic. This kind of water has been heavily stripped of its qualities and Minerals. It is also known as demineralized water and is not fit for human consumption.
This kind of water is especially harmful because it is ready to dissolve any impurities into itself. If you store it in a plastic bottle, it will start dissolving the plastic bottle’s synthetic molecules into itself readily. When we consume this kind of dissolved plastic in the water, it can be a reason for cancer. Water with low TDS also causes heart problems. If you know that the water you are consuming is of low TDS, at least make sure that you do not store it in plastic bottles but instead use some metal container to store the water.
Brands take advantage of this trust to scam you. Water with TDS between 65-75 is tasty and sweet; hence many companies have set the limits of TDS in their purifiers around 65 to 75 to make their water taste better. What you do not realize is that the same water can be hazardous to your health.
Another scam that these companies run these days is to tell you that lower the TDS, healthier the water, which is wrong. According to the Indian standard, the water of TDS of up to 500 ppm is consumable. A general gimmick used these days is that they open a bottle of packaged water and measure its TDS, which is usually a two-digit number lower than 30 ppm.
Then they tell you that the water purifier that they are installing will give you a TDS value of less than 30 ppm. The problem is that they are using packaged water, which is not mineral water; instead, it is highly demineralized water. We suggest that you do not fall for this gimmick.
As promised above, we will now tell you how you can choose which kind of water purifier system you need for your water by checking its TDS. You need to use an RO purifier if the TDS of your water is above 900 ppm. If the water supplied to you has the TDS of below 900 ppm, using an RO water purifier is not the right choice. You should set the output of your TDS at 350 ppm as it is the ideal TDS setting for human consumption.
Another standard recommendation to people with kidney problems is consuming water with TDS less than a hundred. We suggest that you do not blindly take this advice without consulting a doctor as different tips apply to different patients. We at Prodhut would not want to put your health at risk.
One more trick that salespeople use to fool you and sell you their RO purifier is that they use an electrolyzer. It is the rectangular box with four small poles coming out of it, known as electrodes. They put two of these electrodes into your house water and two of them in the demineralized water. After a few minutes, a reaction starts taking place, and the mineral water starts showing a reddish-brown color.
Any person without extensive knowledge on the subject will think that the water was inherently dirty and that they have been consuming the wrong type of water over the years. This propaganda leads to them getting convinced and buying an RO for their family even if they don’t have the required amount of money. Please do not fall for this scam because water that does not contain any minerals cannot undergo electrolysis, and that is why the water that they provide to you seems so clean. The reality is that the reddish-brown production in the mineral water means that there is a right amount of mineral content. That is why electrolysis is taking place correctly.
Storage tank
There are several storage tank options available in the market. The substances used are plastic, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, etc. Storage tanks also would need regular cleaning to remove any additional deposits. The purpose of storage tanks is to store purified water before humans utilize it. Some water purifiers these days boast about the benefits of a stainless steel storage tank.
Stainless steel tanks also mean that you will be paying more for this kind of water purifier. But as mentioned above, this will only be a problem if the water that your purifier is producing has a deficient TDS value. At that point, the water will start dissolving a plastic molecule into itself readily, and it might seem like an excellent option to store it in a stainless steel storage tank. We still recommend that you set the output value of the RO above 100. On the other hand, if the output value already lies in the healthy range, then the storage tank’s material should not matter much.
Storage capacity is another feature that you need to keep in mind. The storage capacity depends on various aspects. The first and foremost aspect is how many people are going to use that water purifier. The second aspect is the availability of electricity and water. If you have a fixed time for electricity and water supply, you should have a bigger capacity water purifier to store your water for later use.
A water purifier with 7 liters of capacity is fit for a family with one to four members. For five to ten members, you need a water purifier with up to 10 liters of capacity. If there are more than eight family members, your water purifier should have a minimum of 12-liter size.
Ceramic Candle
Ceramic candles have been around for ages. You must have seen them in your childhood or maybe in your grandparents’ house. It is an innovative type of water filtration technology. It is a very natural and old process of water filtration using ceramic. These filters or candles have a ceramic exterior used to trap larger molecules of metals or organic matter like sediments, large particulate matter, rust, etc. The process generally copies Earth’s natural filtration process.
Water goes through filtration layers via the ceramic pores that trap any large molecules and let only water and useful particles pass. Nowadays, most of these candles come with the activated carbon core, which helps remove modern pollutants like chlorine, arsenic, toxins, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
Many of these candles are very effective at eliminating bacteria but are less useful in removing certain viruses. You will also need to clean a ceramic candle filter regularly. To do that, remove the outer plastic cover of the ceramic candle. And then roll the ceramic candle around to unscrew and remove it from the top plastic holder.
Place it underwater and start scrubbing with a dishwashing scrub. You will automatically see the candle color changing to white, which means that the cleaning is going well. Some of these filters come with silver infused into the ceramic, which perform specific functions. The silver acts as a bacteriostat, which means that it stops bacteria from replicating or growing further. That is how it kills bacteria.
There are different types of ceramic filters, and we will learn about each one of them. A standard filter used for any Do It Yourself filters or countertop filters is a 4-inch dome filter. As the name suggests, it has a dome shape. These filters filter down to a range of 0.2 to 0.5 microns, which means that they effectively catch even the smallest bacteria.
Some of these dome filters come with silver infusion and activated carbon core, which means that there are going to be three types of filters that the water has to go through—making it further safe to drink.
Next in line are the candle filters. As far as 7-inch candles are concerned, there are two types of candles. The first one is a white ceramic candle with an activated carbon core, and the second one is a carbon black candle. Both of these filters rule 0.2 micron-sized molecules. The carbon black is much better at removing lead, heavy metals, or organic chemicals.
The 10-inch silver ceramic candles are used for a much larger quantity of water. All of these ceramic filters come with a 0.2-micron size, which does not remove viruses as viruses have a micron size of 0.02. What does remove viruses also is known as an ultrafiltration filter. This filter is wrapped with ceramic, which removes 0.2 Micron size molecules, whereas its interior filters 0.1 size microns.
The problem with this filter is that it cannot work under gravity and needs external pressure. If you are looking for specific recommendations for water purifiers, you can check out our impressive list of articles that will recommend the best water purifiers for your water type.
Electric VS Non-electric Purifiers
There are other terms used for water purifiers. Water purifiers you have to put in water manually are known as offline water purifiers. In contrast, water purifiers in which you have to connect the water purifier to a running water tap are known as online water purifiers. Electric water purifiers use processes such as RO and UV. Non-electric water purifiers use procedures such as UF, Sediment filter, or Carbon filter.
Electronic water purifiers are online water purifiers and need a constant regular water supply in a generalized manner. Non-electric water purifiers generally utilize the pressure from gravity to filter water. In contrast, electric purifiers push the water through a pump or a motor into the filter membrane. If you want soft water as a product, an electronic filter would be more suitable as non-electric water purifiers are unable to convert hard water into soft water.
Certain conditions should check out to buy a non-electric water purifier. If you do not have a continuous tap water supply, there is no use to buy an online water purifier. You must also have an assured and regular electricity supply to use an electric water purifier. Non-electric water purifiers are cheaper as compared to electronic water purifiers. If you live in a rented house or there is no drilling policy in your home, then there is no use to buy an electric water purifier because they need to be mounted or installed on the wall.
If even one of these conditions is a problem for you, you must consider your situation before buying an electric water purifier. After all, it is of no use if you cannot utilize it because of less electricity or no water supply. Instead of not having any water to drink, it is always better to analyze your situation and understand if power and water are still available for you as there will be in charge of you getting healthy water.
Certifications
How would you know which certifications on your water purifier are valid and which are not? The only way to avoid getting scammed is to study which certification means what. Some certifications are very hard to acquire and ensure that the product you are getting is of high quality. The first certification that we’re going to talk about is NSF Certification NSF/ANSI 58 is a US-based certification. It is the American standard for point of use RO systems.
It takes into account various aspects of the RO system, such as Mineral and excellent substance retention, TDS reduction performance, the integrity of the structure, pollutant/ contaminant reduction performance, efficiency, recovery rate, and customer service. WQA or Water Quality Association provides certificates also. Their certification is in the form of a seal. They offer titles like a gold seal, CWR, CWS, CST, CCT, etc. ROHS compliant, which also stands for restriction of hazardous substances, also provides certificates that ensure the six harmful Chemicals found in electrical and electronic products.
ROHS also interprets that the product which has this certificate is not hazardous for the environment. CE certification is the most seen and trusted certification. It stands for the French word, Which means European conformity. Any product with the certification lies along with the European standards for health. it indicates compliance with environmental protection and health under the European standards. TUV SUD America Is an established American inspection certificate.
They inspect for quality and safety. FRAC or FICCI Research and Analysis center Look for Research and quality development And look forward to raising health standards. Intertek is another certification That audits, tests, trains, and certifies For safety, Performance, integrity, and sustainability. ISO or international organization for standardization Is a non-governmental and independent International Organisation Which has about a hundred and sixty-one Nations as its members.
They recognize quality management systems and environmental management systems. WDWA or water digest water awards is an organization that appreciates special initiatives taken to protect the environment. WCRC or World Consulting and Research Corporation media initiative recognize brands with potential.
MF filter
MF is a short form of microfilter or microfiltration. These are along the same lines as ultra and nano filters. It works very similar to UF filtration processes. The water goes through a lot of strands of semipermeable membranes of MF. As the contaminated water passes through this, the semipermeable layer catches pollutants and heavy molecules to filter the water.
It can be used before RO processes to reduce the number of contaminants, which may block the RO filter. They generally come with components such as cartridge filter, Pressure Pump, water supply, CIP or Clean in place system, membrane module, holding tanks, etc. These membranes are made of polymers mostly. The main difference between MS and UF is the pore size difference. 0.1 to 10 μm is the range for MF, and 0.1 to 0.01 μm is the range for UF.
Extended Services
Some branded companies offer a few years of free services for their product. These are generally closely related to warranty periods, but it is always good to have extended service guarantees as maintenance problems are bound to happen in any device. This service varies from one year to five year time period. Do talk to other people who have the same brand’s product to make sure that customer service is reliable. You can also look for such information by checking online reviews for various products.
Automatic On/Off
Some devices come with an automatic on and off feature where you don’t have to switch off the device after the storage tank is full. Automated on-off is a good option because you won’t have to worry about switching off your water purifier. This feature will lead to a higher price of the product, but it’s worth it. In case you are running on a low budget, choosing a product with an automatic on-off is not an absolute necessity. You will, however, be concerned every day about shutting it off. The choice is yours
Carbon Filter
Carbon filters are known to effectively remove particles such as volatile organic compounds or VOCs, sediment, sand, dirt, chlorine, rust, taste, and odor irregularities. At the same time, they were known not to handle minerals, salt, bacteria, viruses, and inorganic substances well. Carbon filters come in combination with other filtration processes such as RO, UV, UF, etc.
These filters come generally filled with an activated carbon core. We briefly talked about carbon filters under ceramic candles, but we also need to discuss how activated carbon, along with other filtration processes, makes a good purifier. As water passes by this activated carbon filter, the pollutants get trapped in the activated carbon pores. You will be shocked to know that 5 grams of activated carbon have the same surface area as of a football field.
The necessity of a carbon filter depends on the type of water you recieve. We have prepared a list of articles specially curated to recommend purifiers for different water types. You can check them out at: https://prodhut.in/?s=water+purifier
Digital Indicators
Some fancy water purifiers these days come with the digital user interface. These interfaces help tell you as to when a filter needs cleaning or the quality of water you are getting with water. Some of them would also indicate to you the pH of the water. It is worth noting that whatever liquid you are drinking should be on the alkaline side of the pH scale and not acidic.
Another indicator is the digital purity indicator, which will indicate to you after noting various aspects of how much pure the water is. Digital Warning systems are in place too, which suggest you clean your filter 15 days before the screen is fully clogged. Some of them also automatically shut off and stop working if the filter is not safe to use.
Speed
The speed of filtration is another aspect that you need to check before buying a water purifier. Twenty-eight liters in one hour is an example of a very high speed. You can accordingly compare the rate of whatever water purifier you are trying to purchase.
Mineral cartridge
As we have discussed earlier, some RO purifier systems have a shallow TDS output value, which is harmful for human consumption. To counter this problem, companies have come up with an idea known as mineral cartridges. These mineral cartridges are known to infuse necessary minerals into the water during the water purification process.
They seem to enrich the water with essential minerals like calcium and magnesium. The method of its work is that after the water has gone through RO filtration, it crosses a mineral cartridge. When the water passes through the mineral cartridge, which contains small balls of minerals, it extracts the minerals and dissolves them into itself. Some of these mineral cartridges also come with PH balls, which are known to help restore the water’s alkaline pH.
Parts Construction
When you are looking forward to buying an online/ offline water purifier, make sure that you check out what certification the parts have. You should be looking for food safe and non-toxic engineer grade plastic. The material construction of components is an advanced and essential thing to consider while buying a water purifier. Many people might tend to look over these certifications, but we are here to tell you that it is equally important to look for high-grade material construction.
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