If you found that there are contaminants in your water and that a professional water filter system will get rid of them, use this guide to help you select the right water filter system for your home.  Household water filters generally fall into one of two categories: point-of-entry units (whole house water filters), which treat water before it gets distributed throughout the whole house; and point-of-use units, which include countertop filters (e.g. filter pitchers), faucet filters, and under sink units. Some filters use more than one kind of filtration technology.

When choosing a filter, make sure it is certified as meeting NSF/ANSI standards 42 and 53. NSF-certified filters have been independently tested to show that they can reduce levels of certain pollutants. Those that meet standard 53 are geared toward treating water for health, not just for aesthetic qualities.

Consult the list below to determine which type of filtering system will remove the contaminants in your water:

Activated Carbon Solid Block Filter

• Reduces bad tastes and odors, including chlorine. An activated carbon filter meeting both NSF Standards 42 and 53 will filter out most pollutants of concern, including heavy metals such as lead and mercury; chlorine  disinfection byproducts; parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium; pesticides; and volatile organic chemicals such as methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE), dichlorobenzene and trichloroethylene (TCE). But be advised, there are many inorganic contaminants, for example perchlorate, a rocket fuel ingredient, which a simple countertop or under sink water filter will not be able to remove. In which case Reverse Osmosis may be the solution.  Used in countertop water filters, faucet filters and under-the-sink water filter units.

• How it works: Positively charged and highly adsorbent carbon in the filter attracts and traps impurities.

• Reduces: Most contaminants, including certain parasites such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia; heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead and mercury; and other inorganic pollutants, including arsenic, barium, nitrate/nitrite, perchlorate and selenium.  Used in under-the-sink units; often in combination with a carbon filter and a UV disinfection unit.

• How it works: A semi-permeable membrane separates impurities from water, unfortunately it also removes beneficial minerals from the water and some users think the water tastes a little flat. Many bottled waters are made using the RO process and most add some minerals back into the water for added taste. This filtration method may waste a substantial amount of water during the treatment process.

Ultraviolet Disinfection

• Reduces: Bacteria and parasites; class A systems protect against harmful bacteria and viruses, including Cryptosporidium and Giardia, while class B systems are designed to make non-disease-causing bacteria inactive.

• Used in: Under-the-sink units, most often in combination with a carbon filter, reverse osmosis and a sediment filter.

• How it works: Ultraviolet light kills bacteria and other microorganisms.

No filter will give you good performance over the long term unless it receives regular maintenance. As contaminants build up, a filter can not only become less effective, but may actually make your water worse, by starting to release harmful bacteria or chemicals back into your filtered water. To keep your filter working properly, follow the manufacturer's maintenance directions. Most water filters only require a periodic water filter cartridge change. We offer annual replacement auto-ship programs for most of our water filter products. Before buying any water treatment system, compare not only filter prices, but also operating and maintenance costs for the different units.

Incredibly, if a mere ten percent of North America's bottled water intake were reduced by switching to home-filtered water in reusable containers, we could eliminate:

• 133,000 trucks driving an average of 500 miles--saving nearly 12 million gallons of diesel fuel
• Over 100 million pounds of greenhouse gasses--equal to taking 1,100 cars off the road annually
• 213 million pounds of PET--equal to 1.5 million barrels of crude oil or improving the PET recycling rate by 10%
• That's why we include a Stainless Steel Water Bottle FREE with each water filter purchase