What is purified water?

There are plenty of options if you want the cleanest drinking water possible. Unless you're an industry expert, it can be hard to choose between so many products such as water purifiers, water filters, reverse osmosis, UV filters, and water sanitisation.

Which is the right system for you? Doing some research is a great place to start, and you should get a pretty good idea of what you want to achieve with your system.

You can also get expert advice from the Water People. We can help you understand all your options for purified water and recommend a system to suit your needs and budget.

What is purified water?

Water purification is the process of removing all kinds of contaminants and pollutants from your drinking water. Water purification includes everything from systems which reduce or remove one specific contaminant to those which can remove all kinds of contaminants.

Water purification is simply a way of removing or reducing anything you do not want in your water, whether it's one contaminant or many.

What pollutants and chemicals are in my water?

Unless you get your water independently tested, it’s almost impossible to know all of the additives, pollutants and chemicals within it. The same applies for water based products which is which some products (eg. water bead polymers) make a big deal about being non-toxic and biodegradable.

You can ask your local water supply company for their general water treatment and maintenance guidelines in your area, this may include water sanitisation, chlorine or chloramine, fluoride, and more. However, there are also other contaminants you may wish to consider for removal, including:

• Sedimentation
• Pesticides
• Detergents
• Litter and rubbish residue
• Dissolved oxygen
• Heavy Metals such as lead, copper and arsenic
• VOCs
• Organic and inorganic contaminants

The benefits of purified water

Many manufacturing, pharmaceutical, chemical or industrial industries require water to be purified to certain requirements in order to achieve the right water composition for their intended use.

When it comes to drinking water, it depends on what you want removed which is when you may consider a water purifier, or water filter solution.

Many people think you have no control of what is in your water, particularly when you are on mains treated water, you get what you are given. Even tank water comes with huge health risks and needs to be treated. Unlike packaged foods with labelled ingredients, water is different and you never really know what you are drinking.

In fact, water contaminants can be different from street to street and suburb to suburb. We often take our water for granted and don't give much thought to what it contains.

Although Australia’s treated drinking water follows strict health guidelines, is treated and regularly monitored to ensure it’s safe for human consumption and public health, people often wish to purify or filter their drinking water further to remove things that are deemed no longer needed at the time use.

What can a water purifier remove?

Many types of water purification or water filter systems can reduce or remove many impurities, such as:

• Dirt, rust, sand, and suspended solids (sediment)
• Chlorine and chloramines
• Heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, thallium, lead, and copper)
• Aluminium
• Nitrate
• PCB’s (Polychlorinated biphenyl)
• Fluoride
• Manganese, nitrate, potassium, radium, solenium, and sodium
• Bacteria, E. coli, and viruses
• Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and cysts
• Bad Taste, colours, and odours

How can I achieve purified water?

There are many ways to achieve purified water, the most popular being through specialised water filters or reverse osmosis. Regardless of the method used to get purified water, it is critical to purchase your water purifier or water filter through a reputable water filtration expert like The Water People.

Talking to a water filtration expert will ensure you get the right product for your needs. Many off-the-shelf water filtration products claim to purity water, but they may only remove one or just a few contaminants.

It is very important you are purchasing a product that is certified and trusted, from a retailer who offers ongoing filter replacement, maintenance programs, and product and service guarantees. Your water purification or water filter system should last you at least 10 years if you maintain the filter changes as recommended.

Conclusion

If you are after the cleanest and most purified water filter system, then don't look past the Reverse Osmosis system.

If you’re on a bit more of a budget, on mains water supply and still demand a high-quality water filtration system which significantly reduces or removes most of the common water contaminant concerns, consider the Triple Fluoride Filter System.

Tank and fresh water have different needs since chlorine and fluoride are not present in untreated water. However, bacteria, viruses and other fresh waterborne contaminants are your main concern, so it’s worth looking at the Bacteria Twin Filter System.

So whatever you decide, make sure you do your research and know what you’re buying because you should get more than 10 years out of your new water purification or water filtration system and it’s just not worth getting it wrong.