What is a good drinking water filter system?

Any local water filtration dealer will always try to sell you on the most expensive and largest marked up priced drinking water filter; but you don’t have to break the piggy bank to have safe great tasting drinking water. The problem with buying water purification systems is that you need to find out what is in the water in order to make the right purchase that suits you and your needs.  Every water sources contains different contaminants – even your neighbor’s water may show different results than your own. The best solution is to do at least a basic water test for Iron, Nitrogen, Hardness, Copper, Nitrates, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Bacteria. These kinds of kits can be purchased for about $25-30 are very accurate and just as good as sending your water to labs which can cost $150 or more.  Test kits like these are very easy to find online and could save you time and money. If you have any contaminants that are showing up positive and above the water quality recommended levels then it’s best to consider home reverse osmosis water systems; otherwise a good carbon filter can do wonders. People who live in the city usually have very well regulated water so the harmful contaminants are at a level lower than the federal/state water quality requirements.  In cases like this where harmful contaminants are better than the water quality requirements, a good carbon filter will be not only be cost effective but usually more than enough to give you great tasting water. Carbon filtration is capable of removing many different types of contaminants. The most common contaminant removed by carbon block filters is Chlorine, bad taste and bad odors.  For more intense removal of contaminants or bottled quality water, you may want to consider a reverse osmosis system.Reverse osmosis water treatment systems are capable of removing up to 99.9% of contaminants; although certain contaminants like high iron or hardness may require some special pre-treatment. Reverse osmosis systems have been used for decades and is a technology that was developed by the navy to filter sea water into high quality drinking water.  A very good majority of bottled water companies like Nestle, Kirkland, Dasani and Aquafina use reverse osmosis as one of their stages of filtration. Home reverse osmosis water systems are now much more affordable and can easily fit under most kitchen sinks to readily give you great tasting drinking water straight from your tap.  The actual cost of reverse osmosis systems could range anywhere from $159-$400 depending on the accessories added and any certifications but entry level systems are actually extremely well priced for the quality of water produced. In the long run, any kind of drinking water filter system that you choose will save you hundreds a year just from buying bottled water.  So do yourself a favor, join the hundreds of thousands and get a drinking water filter to save yourself some money.