Why Water Treatment is Important

During cooking, preparing baby food, or brushing teeth, tap water is used multiple times a day in everyday life. Clean tap water thus plays a significant role in health. The use of contaminated drinking water introduces pollutants into the body.

Why Water Treatment is Important

In older water pipes, heavy metals can partially separate. These accumulate in high doses in the body, cannot be processed anymore, and cause discomfort. For example, zinc can cause metabolic difficulties and copper can lead to liver damage. This is particularly problematic in the preparation of baby food. Other substances like arsenic or mercury are toxic even in minimal amounts. Legionella bacteria can form in warm water, causing respiratory illnesses.

Water Treatment through Softening System

An ion exchanger is recommended for water descaling. In this treatment process, water passes through a sodium-ion resin. As it passes through, calcium ions bind to the resin, while sodium ions are released into the water. The resin needs to be refreshed with regenerating salt about once a week. The calcium ions contained in the resin are thus exchanged for fresh sodium ions.

There are other methods for water treatment as well, such as adding chemicals to tap water to bind calcium. Lemon juice and vinegar are known for this purpose. While the calcium remains in the water, it is only in combination with the chemical agent. Additionally, physical systems can be used for softening. Here, calcium crystals are prevented from depositing in pipes by an electromagnetic field.

Membrane and Reverse Osmosis Processes

In reverse osmosis, tap water is passed through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure. Normally, the pressure from the tap is sufficient for this process. Larger molecules like bacteria, hormones, heavy metals, phosphates, and nitrates remain on the backside of the membrane.

The name of this water treatment process comes from the chemical process of osmosis. Particles move through a membrane from one solution to another. Equilibrium is established between particle concentrations on both sides. Thus, during osmosis, clean water moves through a membrane into the contaminated solution. Pressure reverses the process on the contaminated solution side. Water molecules move in the opposite direction.

Clean water is pushed back through the membrane for cleaning from the front side. This process produces a large amount of wastewater, up to 10 liters per liter. Therefore, this method is unsuitable for households.

Water Treatment through Filtration System

The filtration system is recommended if additional pollutants besides calcium need to be filtered from drinking water. The filter is installed directly into the water pipe and captures pollutants directly from the water. However, the filter needs to be regularly cleaned and replaced.

Activated Carbon Filter

An activated carbon filter is not purely physical but chemically and physically active. Thus, similar to an ion exchange filter, both particle size and chemical composition play a role. The activated carbon filter consists of several layers of very fine charcoal granules. Due to their small size, these pieces create a very large surface area. During water passage, pollutants like most heavy metals, microorganisms, bacteria, pesticides, medication residues, asbestos, and chlorine bind to the activated charcoal. However, minerals can still pass through the filter. The activated carbon filter cannot be cleaned but needs to be replaced every three to six months. Additionally, it cannot filter out calcium or nitrates from the water. However, this type of water treatment is still very effective and cost-efficient.

Water Filter

Depending on the pore size of water filters, differentiation is made between micro-, ultra-, and nanofiltration. Microfiltration can remove turbidity, algae, and bacteria from drinking water. Ultrafiltration also removes heavy metals, viruses, and amoebas. Nanofiltration eliminates calcium, dyes, and pesticides.

In reverse osmosis, the membranes have even smaller pores. The smaller the pores, the higher the required pressure to filter the water. However, very fine filters clog very quickly depending on water consistency, increasing the risk of contamination.

Conclusion

There are various methods for home water treatment. Depending on the pollutants detected in drinking water, appropriate measures need to be taken. This improves the quality of tap water in the long term. The most practical and efficient measures depend on various factors.

In general, all filter and water treatment systems require regular cleaning. Depending on the chosen filter type, this can entail significant maintenance effort. Furthermore, it should be considered that some filter systems influence the taste of water.