Friday, January 24, 2014

A Guide to Drinking Water Treatment Methods

Have you ever imagined how the water that you drink everyday gets treated and cleaned before it is sent to your faucets? Drinking water treatment methods vary from place to place depending on the type of water, but all modern methods of treating and cleansing water follow a few common basic steps. The water is subjected to various filtration methods followed by chemical-based enhancement. For example, some chemicals are adept at filtering out large particles from the water by binding them to other particles, while other chemicals are capable of efficiently destroying the harmful bacteria that are responsible for some types of drinking water contamination.

Most of the water that is procured from various sources is required to be treated with chlorine before it can be fed into the public water supply system. By the time this water reaches your faucets, it has also been treated with lime, sulfate and aluminum, among other chemical substances. And yes, most of these chemicals do remain in the water that you drink, though in very small quantities.

Now, in the case of bottled water, the drinking water treatment that it needs to undergo is completely different. Not all bottled water comes from the same kind of source. While some companies may purify and bottle natural spring water, some distill and purify municipal tap water and bottle it. This process of distillation mostly ends up removing the essential minerals from the water, which also alters the taste of the water.

The goal of any drinking water treatment method is to ensure that the purified water passes the EPA tests. The EPA guidelines do allow a small amount of contamination to be present in the water, in an amount that isn't large enough to cause noticeable damage to our health. Some municipalities have their own stricter guidelines. A point to note here is, if the water contains toxic substances for which there are no EPA specifications or requirements, most purification companies will not test for or treat the water for such substances.

In addition to all the above mentioned drinking water treatment methods, there is an additional layer of protection from drinking water contamination that can be implemented at home. They are home water filtration systems. Water filters meant to be used at home come in several different types, large and small, for different filtration requirements. Large and advanced filtration systems can be set-up to purify all the water coming in to the house. These filters are essential because they will efficiently remove those contaminants that have been left behind in the water after the preliminary municipal drinking water treatment process.

The modern water filtration systems are very efficient at removing all the harmful chemicals and contaminants from the water while leaving behind all the essential minerals untouched, providing pure, safe and mineral-rich drinking water for you and your family to drink everyday. There are too many types of drinking water contamination to be efficiently treated by the basic municipal drinking water treatment methods. Installing a good quality water filtration system at home will ensure that you provide that crucial, added protection to your beloved family. So, do yourself a big favor and get a good water filtration system today!