Is tap water safe?
Yes, generally domestic drinking water is safe for humans and animals to drink. Although, there are incidents such as this recently in Cambridge, where water from the tap was not safe to drink, particularly dangerous for the young and the elderly.
Taste is also affected by the addition of chemicals, such as Chlorine and Flouride and other chemicals and metals can be found in most tap water.
What methods to choose to purify water?
There are several ways to purify your tap water at home, we will concentrate on the two most popular, mains connected under counter and counter tap such as the gravity system.
Mains connected (under counter)
As the name suggest, under counter hidden systems offer a discrete water filter system with a quality tap supplied to add to your kitchen sink so you have constant access to flowing purified water,these systems are economical, more suited to families where a greater supply will be used during the day and can be fitted with 6 month or even 2 year life filters.
Filter choice
Standard reduction/removal filters are a general purpose filter which use Granular Activated Carbon media. They are effective at reducing chemicals (including herbicides and pesticides) and chlorine to improve water taste and odour. Activated carbon filters remove/reduce many volatile organic chemicals (VOC), as well as benzene, trihalomethane (THM) compounds, radon, solvents and hundreds of other man-made chemicals found in tap water. They are not designed for and not generally effective at removing heavy metals or sediment.
Heavy Metal Reduction/Removal filters are designed to reduce a wide range of contaminants from drinking water, in particular a vast range of heavy metals as well as chemicals and chlorine to improve taste and odour, also effective against fluoride and nitrates too. The filters use a combination of medias to provide a superior quality of drinking water without stripping the much needed minerals (e.g calcium) from the water. The activated carbon element of the filters removes/reduces many volatile organic chemicals (VOC), as well as benzene, trihalomethane (THM) compounds, radon, solvents and hundreds of other man-made chemicals found in tap water.
Counter top gravity system
These as the name suggests sit on the worktop such as the Berkey, they can be useful as they dont need to be connected to the mains and so are more portable.
They offer different types of filtering similiar to the standard carbon filters used in under the counter systems, reducing chemicals (including herbicides and pesticides) and chlorine to improve water taste and odour, reducing volatile organic chemicals (VOC), as well as benzene, trihalomethane (THM) compounds, radon, solvents and hundreds of other man-made chemicals found in tap water. They are not designed for and not generally as effective at removing heavy metals.
The main disadvantage for home use is having to fill and wait for purified water if your a family sized group, and of course taking up valuable space in small kitchens.
Which filter do i need?
Taste, Chemicals, Odour > Standard Filter
Metals, Taste, Chemicals, Odour & More > Heavy Metal Filter