What Is the Purpose of a Water Filter?

Water is known as a universal solvent because it can absorb almost anything it touches. Walter filters are designed to purify water by removing contaminants.

Types

Water filters come in three main types: physical, chemical or ultraviolet. Physical filters use a barrier to filter out particles, chemical filters use elements like zinc or copper and ultraviolet filters use ultraviolet light to kill germs in the water.

Effects

Water filters can filter out a variety of contaminants including bacteria, chlorine, fertilizers and heavy metals.

Costs

Using a water filter in your home can save significant money over buying bottled water. According to Culligan, bottled water can costs as much as gasoline.

Size

The strength of the water filter is determined by the size of the particle that it is able to filter in microns. A micron is 1 one-millionth of a meter.

Fun Fact

The first recorded attempts to filter water come from Sanskrit documents dated to 2000 B.C. that recommended boiling water then filtering it with charcoal.

References

• Culligan Water Filters
• Micron Size
• History of Water Filters

Resources

• Take a Closer Look at Water Contaminants