The Amazing Benefits of Water Filtration Systems
Drinking-Water filtration systems provide several excellent benefits for your home and your health. Not only do they make your water taste better, but they also help to remove harmful contaminants from the water supply. This can be extremely important, especially if you have children or pets.
Water is undeniably essential to human survival. This is because most of our planet’s surface is water, as is most of the human body.
While this vital hydrating fluid should be clear, refreshing, and healthy, it isn’t always the case. Our drinking water can be contaminated by pollution, pesticides, chemicals, heavy metals, and organic waste. At best, they give our water a mildly unpleasant tang or smell. At worst, they endanger our short- and long-term health.
Thankfully, water filtration and purification systems provide a convenient and cost-effective way to ensure that you have clean, refreshing water at home and on the go. According to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Water Quality Association, 40% of Americans use water filtration in their homes to improve the quality of their drinking water.
What is the purpose of using water filters in the first place? Filtering your water is beneficial for both aesthetic and health reasons. Filtered water contributes to the following essential benefits:
Better Taste
In general, filtered water tastes better than unfiltered water. Water with an unpleasant taste or aftertaste can be caused by chlorine, pesticides, bacteria, and heavy metals.
The water from municipal taps is usually safe to drink. However, just because your water is not harmful to your health does not imply that it is of high quality. Even if your water is safe to drink, it may still contain contaminants that give it an unpleasant taste, odor, or cloudy appearance. A water filtration system removes these contaminants, allowing you to drink clean, delicious water.
Better Smell
Chlorine, pesticides, bacteria, and heavy metals are all factors in foul-smelling water. Have you ever visited an old farmhouse in the country where the water from the faucets smelled like pennies? Metals such as zinc, iron, and copper can leach into groundwater, resulting in rust stains in the bathroom and metallic-smelling water from the faucets. In addition, chlorine and chloramine, both of which are added to most municipally supplied water to prevent microbiological contamination, have strong chemical odors that can make the water unpleasant.
Not all contaminants have a terrible odor. However, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde and ethylene can give your water an unpleasant odor. In addition, VOCs have been linked to a wide range of side effects, including skin irritation, liver and kidney damage, and carcinogenic effects, so if your water smells off, you should invest in water filtration.
Environment Protection
Though some people turn to bottled water to ensure that their drinking water is free of contaminants, purchasing cases of bottled water quickly becomes environmentally costly. Filling our landfills with bottles made of plastic is also harmful to the environment, and many areas lack the resources and infrastructure needed to recycle plastic bottles properly. Because the U.S can no longer ship as much trash abroad, some cities have resorted to dumping or incinerating materials that residents put out to be recycled. Rather than bottled water, water filtration systems help reduce the amount of non-biodegradable plastic bottles that end up in landfills and incinerators.
Defending against contaminants caused by flooding or construction
Flooding and construction can introduce a variety of contaminants into your water supply, especially if you use well water. Flooding in the Midwest recently resulted in a high incidence of well-water contamination, and similar effects are possible regardless of where you live.
Floodwaters can pick up chemicals, waste products, and other harmful contaminants as they sweep across the landscape, eventually depositing them in human water supplies. Wells and reservoirs overtopped by floodwaters are especially vulnerable to water contamination, but floodwaters that simply saturate the surrounding soil can also seep into an older, inadequately sealed well.
High levels of water contaminants can also be caused by construction. Chemicals, plastics, and adhesives from construction materials leach into the soil and, from there, into groundwater, where they can have negative effects on human health if they reach drinking water without being filtered out. Asbestos contamination, in particular, poses a serious risk if the construction project is a renovation of an older building.
Keeping your health safe
Chlorine, lead, pesticides, viruses, and other contaminants can all have serious health consequences if they get into your home’s drinking water. Microbiological pollutants such as bacteria, giardia, and cryptosporidium can also be found in water. A water purifier can help protect you from these harmful microorganisms, preventing you from becoming ill due to ingesting them.
Cooking should not be overlooked. If your water is unsafe to drink, it is also dangerous to cook, brush your teeth, or wash vegetables in. Filtering your water protects your health in these often-overlooked areas. Showering in contaminated water can also deplete your energy levels. If your water contains chlorine, inhaling chlorine while showering can cause respiratory problems.
Hydrating yourself with clean, clear water, on the other hand, leaves you feeling refreshed and energized. The peace of mind that comes from knowing your water has been safely filtered, combined with the crisp, clean taste of filtered water, will frequently encourage you to drink more water and feel healthier. If you have children, keep in mind that their immune systems are still developing. Filtered water is therefore essential for keeping your children healthy and thriving.
There are a variety of water filtration systems available on the market, and each has its benefits and drawbacks. It is essential to do your research before purchasing a water filtration system to find the right one for you. Some filters are designed to remove specific contaminants from your water supply, while others are more general. The size of the unit and the amount of maintenance required are also important factors to consider when purchasing a water filtration system.
If you’ve been thinking about getting a water filtration system for your home, now is the time to do it. The benefits of drinking filtered water are plentiful, and by installing one in your own house today, you can be sure that each member of your family will reap all these benefits. So what have you thought about when considering why to get a new filter? Have any other questions on how they work or what they entail? Let us know! We’re here to help answer any question or query related to our Charlotte Water Filtration services, so call us today!