Comparing Water Treatment Systems

Before investing in a drinking water system for your household, it’s work looking into what types of systems exist. Water treatment varies in how it works and what contaminants it’s best suited to treat. If you know what’s in your water that you want removed, as well as where in your household you want the system installed, you can use these guidelines to find a match.

Ion exchange is the process of drawing ions out of water into a material, often a resin, that acts as a sink for the dissolved ions. This includes several dissolved metals and minerals, such as the calcium and magnesium found in hard water. This can also clear out bad odors, tastes, or colors that arise from dissolved minerals.

Distillation involves evaporating water, then condensing the steam into a separate, clean container, leaving behind heavier compounds, both organic and inorganic. This can be energy intensive for residential drinking water systems, but solar distillers are an option, making use of sunlight to heat the water.

Filtration can be facilitated in two main ways. A carbon filter adsorbs gases and organic compounds, collecting them on its surface. The increased porosity needed to allow more surface area makes this a poor option to filter other compounds, but reverse osmosis can complement it; this entails forcing water through a membrane that lets water molecules pass but catches salts and minerals.

Not all contaminants are simple chemicals; bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms can cause serious harm in your drinking water. Disinfection systems can kill these bugs and make water safe to drink; these include chlorination, ozonation, and UV radiation. The former two can also treat other organic compounds, as well as bad odors or tastes.

Each water treatment is designed with particular contaminants in mind, and most drinking water systems will have multiple stages featuring more than one treatment technology. Consult your local water treatment contractor to see which of these its services use and which your household needs.