Water Filtration and Purification: Know the Difference

Every homeowner would like to be 100% sure that he drinks healthful and clean water. But the bad news is that every single day researchers provide reports regarding the polluted our water is and how dangerous it is to our health. To make sure that the quality of water you drink is at the highest level possible, consider purchasing a home purification or filtration system.

On your way to healthier and cleaner water, start with deciding between the two systems mentioned above and make sure you know the difference between the two. One may find it not easy to tell the exact difference between water purification and water filtration. Different firms produce items that are used to do mainly the same thing, but the labels they provide their products with are different. While one calls this item a modern filtration system, the other is absolutely sure he uses a purifier. In order to understand what the products are designed to do, ensure to get aware of how the industry itself distinguishes the terms.

Water Purification

Of the terms of water filtration and purification, the latter is the one that the users have more questions about. The majority of individuals are more than sure that in case water is “pure,” there are no other elements mixed in with it. But let us take a look at the very root of the term “purification”. The root turns to be “purify.” By the definition, the term “purify” is not related to the process of removing all extraneous matter. Instead, it indicates the process of removing what is unwanted. In other words, the device that claims to purify water is not necessarily distilling it. The product simply removes all unwanted unhealthy particles from the water.  

Water Filtration

The term “filtration” is more familiar for a homeowner. The base of the term is “filter” and exactly that is what the process of filtration is all about. Water filtration serves as some kind of sieve required to eliminate unwanted particles. The most popular and widely used systems of water filtration are activated carbon filters and sediment filters. More often than not, they’re combined. In general, sediment filters remove contaminants in accordance with the size. These filters remove tons of microscopic pollutants; however, some of the contaminants, like unwanted minerals, viruses and dissolved pharmaceuticals are too small to get trapped.

In order to filter out pollutants, most of the filtration system devices use activated carbon. These filters are effective enough to trap the majority carbon-based elements that pass through.  

So, What Is the Difference?

When the question is about the difference between filtration and purification, it’s necessary to mention that the latter removes all unwanted particles from the water. As for the filtration process, it simply prevents what is unwanted from getting into the water system. If the difference between the two processes seems somewhat blurred…it is. When various chemicals that are added to the water system cause pollutants to coagulate and then sink, it’s recommended to consider water filtration
since this process doesn’t let the unwanted pass through. Besides, when the filter pores are of the finest quality (meaning all viruses are absolutely restrained), the process is called “purification” for the reason that almost 100% of impurities are successfully removed (even though the procedure is done though the filtration).

Since both procedures – the filtration and the purification – overlap, and because the “purification” term tends to confuse a lot of homeowners, some of the industry companies make sure to not include the term in the labeling. That’s one of the main reasons why so many water quality systems have filtration labeling.  

How Pure Water Should Be?

Before you buy a system, make certain to test the water supply in order to find out what kind of contaminants are present in there. In case the results of the test reveal a particular area of concern, purchase the water system that will provide you with an opportunity to handle the problem. But in case the quality of water in your house is pretty decent, there’s no need to choose the system with whistlers and bells. Removing all impurities is not only unwise, but also impractical. Are you surprised? Well, that is really so. Water that is absolutely free from any sort of impurities is devoid of all normal minerals that are present in the majority of water supplies. The very moment crystal clean water enters the human’s body, it draws the whole range of beneficial nutrients out of the body cells to create equilibrium. This in turn can lead to pretty hazardous consequences since calcium and a lot of the other nutrients would get pulled from the bones.

To eliminate all hazardous pollutants, some of the water purification systems provide this type of pure drinking water. This system requires the user to provide the so-called add-on system that will take all minerals back to the water.