Types of filters for water purification

The use of household filters for water purification is a necessity due to the quality of water supplied to apartments through central water supply systems. Private housing constructions, where autonomous water intake and supply systems are equipped, are also increasingly using devices for additional purification.

Filters for water

Various types of filters are used to filter and remove impurities and soluble compounds that not only distort the taste of water, but also negatively affect health. All offered models can be divided into storage and flow-through.

Important. The choice of a specific model should be made on the basis of a water analysis.

Mechanical filters

Mechanical filters belong to the category of pre-filters. Serve to remove insoluble impurities (sand, rust fragments). According to their design, they can have mesh or disk filter elements. Models are available without flushing, with manual flushing and automatic. In the first case, to wash the filter element, it is necessary to disassemble the structure to remove the element.

Manual and automatic backwashing requires the presence of additional technological holes for connection to the water supply and sewerage system. When manually washing, the water supply tap opens to the bottom of the device, which washes out the impurities that have settled on the filter elements.During automatic flushing, the tap is opened after the critical pressure in the device has been exceeded, which indicates clogging. The on and off mode is provided by mechanical or electronic control devices.

Mechanical flow-type filters are usually installed directly into the water supply system. Storage structures are designed for installation at the outlet (taps, mixers).

Stationary

Stationary (main) filters include almost any type of water purification device that is installed in the water supply system. Most often, this equipment is intended for preliminary (coarse) and medium-degree filtration of soluble compounds (metal compounds, chlorine). Meshes or replaceable cartridges (polypropylene fiber) are mainly used as filter elements, depending on the design. Can be installed on cold and hot water pipes. Depending on the model, there can be one-, two- and three-stage. They differ in the type of connection: flanged - for water pipelines with high pressure and coupling.

Jugs

This design can most likely be classified as an autonomous filter system. It is a container into which water is poured, which passes through the filter component (cartridge) and is collected in a separate tank. The amount of purified water is equal to half the useful volume of the filter jug ​​specified by the manufacturer.

Cartridge

Almost all modern models, with the exception of coarse filters (mechanical), can be classified as cartridge filters. Most often, such structures are installed at the exit and mounted under sinks and sinks.Like main lines, they can have several successive filtration stages. The use of different materials that make up the filter element allows you to vary the degree of cleaning.

To remove the smallest particles of mechanical impurities, cardboard, lavsan, and nylon are used. To remove chlorine compounds, activated carbon, shungite or specially developed sorbents (“pinkferox”, “superferox”) are most often used. All modern filters come with replaceable cartridges. This allows you to avoid installing additional piping for flushing and avoid additional expenses for purchasing a new water purification device. Cartridge designs provide an average degree of cleaning. Models are available with devices that signal the need to replace the cartridge.

On tap

Faucet attachments are the simplest and most affordable design of all existing flow-type cleaning systems. Available in two versions. Removable, designed for installation on a tap to obtain purified water and removal if there is no need for thorough filtration (process water). Constant, the design of which provides a mode for switching the flow of water through the filter element and directly. The main advantage is compactness. Disadvantages: low throughput and rather low degree of filtration.

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis technology is the optimal purification system in all respects. This technology allows not only to completely filter the incoming volume of water from dissolved impurities, but also to get rid of various types of heavy metal compounds and bacteria.It is a multi-stage system, including preliminary, three-stage filtration, a membrane cleaning system, a storage tank and an additional outlet filter.

It belongs to the autonomous type of equipment, since the selection is carried out through a separate tap or mixer. They are characterized by high throughput (120-300 liters per day) and a high degree of purification (filtration of compounds up to 0.0001 microns in size). The main disadvantage is the relatively high cost.

What contaminants do filters help remove?

The characteristics of filtration degrees and productivity declared by manufacturers are one of the main indicators of this type of equipment. Mechanical cleaning allows you to filter out large insoluble impurities (sand, organic impurities, iron compounds). The average degree of purification (main, cartridge filters) ensures the retention of certain types of soluble compounds (iron salts, chlorine). High (fine) purification not only provides filtration of chemical compounds (petroleum products, pesticides, heavy metal salts) that can harm health, but also provides additional protection against bacteria present in the water entering the body.