If you had a microscope and a spectroscope in your home, you could identify most of the microbes and chemicals that remained in your drinking water. This is after it had been filtered through your municipal water filtration system. If you had the ability to see what was in the water that runs out of your faucets, you might wonder how to purify tap water.

The simplest way to kill bacteria and germs is to raise the temperature of the water to a temperature high enough to kill them. This is the process that distiller filtration systems use. This works great on living organisms but does little to eliminate the chemicals that remain.

And, there are chemicals in everyone's drinking water. When water enters the water supply system, it goes through several steps in order to make it safe to drink. If surface water is the source of water, it is usually first treated with a chemical that makes the large particles of dirt, rocks, leaves, some chemicals and other debris clump together. This makes the debris sink and the water rise to the surface. After the water is separated from the debris it is usually treated with a disinfectant like chlorine. Chlorine and other disinfectants kill many germs but it doesn't deactivate or remove other chemicals from the water.

I bet you are thinking, "what other chemicals". Isn't drinking water tested before it enters my home to be sure that it is safe? Why do I need to know how to purify water if the water company does it? Well, it is true that the water that you drink is tested for chemicals. But, the catch here is that the EPA allows a certain level of chemicals to remain in the water; it considers this level safe. However, some scientists argue that no level is safe, especially if the chemicals combine. So you really should want to know how to purify tap water.

When considering how to purify tap water that is contaminated with unwanted chemicals, you may discover that there are two types of home filtration systems that are quite good at removing chemicals from your drinking water. The first is the reverse osmosis system and the second is the carbon-block ion exchange water filtration system.

The reverse osmosis water filtration system works by forcing the water through a fine fibered filter then forcing the water back through it. This process is effective at removing chemicals from water most of the time but it has one drawback. Along with the unwanted chemicals, the reverse osmosis system also removes some important minerals from the water. These minerals are needed by the body in order for it to maintain its immune system.

The other type of system, the carbon block-ion exchange system does not have the same drawback. It works by having the water run through a thick carbon block and then the ion exchange makes the chemicals that remain in the water inert. However, it allows the minerals to remain in the water.

No one likes to think that the water they are drinking may be contaminated with bacteria, or chemicals but unless you have access to expensive scientific equipment or have your water analyzed by a lab there is no way to be certain that the water you are drinking is really safe. But, you don't need expensive or lab analysis to protect your family from these dangers, all you need is a home water filtration system.

Rich Eng serves as the leader of a high growth healthcare services business for a Fortune 500 company. A 20 year industry veteran and "holistic health and fitness" coach, he constantly researches better ways to improve one's mind, body and spirit.



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