Water Filters

A water filter is a device that is designed to remove impurities from water by means of a very fine screen/filter and chemical process. Filters are used to purify and clean drinking water, aquariums, and swimming pools of impurities that can cause illness.

Water filters are used to soften water and remove harsh and toxic chemicals like chlorine. Some contaminants found in unfiltered drinking water is harmful to your health, and increase the risk of some types of cancer. The most usual problems with unfiltered water, though, is a really nasty taste or smell.

Recreational hikers also use water filters, as well as humanitarian aid organizations during emergencies cause by natural or man-made disasters, and they are used by soldiers out in combat zones where fresh clean water may be in short supply. These kinds of water filters are small, portable, and light to carry. These types of water filters function by working a hand pump, but there are some that use a siphon drip system to force water through a filter. Very dirty water is pumped through a screen-filtered flexible silicon tube through a specialized water filter and into a water bottle or other container. These types of filters are designed to remove bacteria, and other harmful things that can cause disease.

The development of water filters is tied to the fact that humanity has continued to pollute every clean water source they’ve come in contact with. As humanity and their mechanized industry has grown over the years, the water sources have become more contaminated, and the need for water filters have emerged over the years in response to the growing realization that the need for pure, clean water to drink is an absolute necessity.

Water has affected the development of humanity and their civilization since the beginning. Because water is so absolutely vital to every living thing on this planet, all animal and plant life are dependent upon water for their very survival.

Throughout the centuries, as technology developed, humanity has continued to pollute the water sources of this planet without regard to the future. Future conflicts will almost certainly be over water. As one man stated very recently in regard to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the world, "Many of the wars of the 20th century were about oil, but the wars of the next century will be about water". He may be right.

In today’s modern times, the concerns over water quality are still a major issue. Over the last several years, scientists have continued to find increasing amounts of contaminants in fresh water sources. Thus, the development of water filtration systems has become a necessity.

Water filters should not be confused with devices or tablets that are water purifiers. Water purifiers are designed to comply with higher EPA standards, and they also remove viruses, such as hepatitis A, rotavirus, and many others.

In a domestic, or national emergency, where water supply needs will go beyond those of stored and bottled water, a water purifier, and not just a water filter, will be needed to survive. The design and mechanics of water filters is based on sieving, adsorption, ion exchanges and a multitude of other processes. A water filter can remove particles much smaller than the holes through which the water passes…unlike a sieve or a screen which can only remove bigger particles such as grass, rocks, dirt, etc.