Even though municipal water plants have been designed and built to remove the harmful contaminants from drinking water in the United States, there are still areas where either municipal treatment isn't available or the filtering methods being used aren't adequate.
In cases like these, even Americans find themselves looking for ways to filter the water coming into their homes in order to ensure that it is safe for use by their family members.
If this is something that has been troubling you, and you don't feel that the water in your home is as clean as you'd like it to be, you can follow these steps in order to give it additional filtering on your own: 1.
To start with, you'll want to add a sediment filtering system.
This type of device will filter out sand, rust, and other larger particles from the water before it is run through a carbon filtration system.
Since the carbon filter is much more expensive than a sediment filter, and these larger contaminants can clog the carbon filter, it is much more cost effective to run the water through the sediment filter first.
The most common sediment filters for household use are either the 10" big blue system or the 20" big blue water system.
The 20" filter is much larger and will last longer and filter more water more quickly than the smaller system will.
2.
A carbon filter is important for removing bad tastes and smells from the water.
It is necessary to have one of the housings discussed in #1 above in order to install a carbon filter.
Once again, if you purchase a 20" housing and filter, you will be providing a greater capability of cleaning water to your home.
These first two steps are necessary for cleaning all of the water that comes into your home.
As you well know, not all the water will be used for drinking.
You will use most of it for sanitation reasons, such as baths, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, and other household tasks.
After the water has been run through both sediment and carbon filters, it will have been cleaned well enough for these purposes.
Drinking water, however, requires further filtration.
3.
Adding either a reverse osmosis or under-sink filtration system will remove the majority of harmful contaminants from your water.
There are numerous types of these systems available depending on the amount you wish to pay.
Reverse osmosis systems will do the best job of cleaning your water, but they will also be the most expensive to install.