subject: A Cost Effective Alternative: Countertop Reverse Osmosis Water Filter [print this page] Countertop reverse osmosis water filters are a cost effective option for purifying water. These systems run anywhere from fifty to three hundred dollars. When compared to the price of buying a pack of bottled water every week or more often, which ends up costing at a minimum twenty five dollars per month, a fifty dollar system pays for itself within, at most, a two month's time period. In addition, there is the convenience of having purified water right at the faucet, rather than having to go to the store in order to be sure of the water being used.
Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration
Countertop reverse osmosis water filters use a membrane that has microscopic holes in it. These holes only allow water molecules to pass through to the other side, thus allowing purified water. Chemicals, metals and minerals get caught in the membrane, so the pollutants are weeded out.
The nice feature with countertop reverse osmosis water filters is that they can be hooked up by an individual without the help of a plumber. These systems hook up to the faucet rather than having to be hooked to the water pipe under the sink, so an individual with common household tools can easily hook up the system and get started.
In addition, the tank for the countertop reverse osmosis water filter hold much more water than the pitcher or other portable reverse osmosis water filters, so it maintains a consistent supply of pure water for an entire household to use.
Other Types of Filtration
There are two types of water filtration systems that have been on the market the longest and are most common. One of these is the absorption water filtration system in which carbon or charcoal is used to absorb contaminates from the water.
This system is great for removing things like chlorine that make the water taste bad, and is sometimes used in conjunction with reverse osmosis water filtration systems to remove the chlorine from the water before it enters a unit such as a countertop reverse osmosis water filter. The membranes in reverse osmosis filters are sensitive to chlorine and can be damaged by it, decreasing their life.
The other type of filtration that is common is a microfiltration unit that filters out sand, bacteria and other particulate matter from the water, including Giardia. These units used to be very popular as camping filters, sometimes paired with absorption systems to remove as many contaminates as possible from the water on a campsite.
