We are all clear that tap water is not the highest quality, although it is drinkable. There are many people who do not like to drink this water precisely for this reason, because it is consumable, but nothing comparable to what we can buy bottled. Well, all this would change if we used a tap filter. Let’s learn more about this system.
These types of faucet filters are completely unknown to many people, with filtration pitchers being the closest thing they have seen.
Well, we can say that we are dealing with similar systems, the only thing that one is put in situ in the tap itself and the other is by filling a jar.
Being a system that is not very widespread and that not many people know about, it becomes unknown, both in its operation, its advantages and what we must take into account if we finally decide to install one at home.
To try to solve these and other doubts, we are going to get into the matter and talk about everything you want to know about faucet filters.
Index of contents:
How do they work?
We must be clear about these faucet filters, that they do not purify the waterThey just filter it. This is a very common error, something to emphasize from the beginning. Water filters should not be confused with reverse osmosis systems, which are the ones that are really capable of extracting pure water.
The operating system of these filters is carried out by means of a cartridge in which there are more components helping to filter contaminants from the water.
Although there may be differences, filtering is typically done with the following components and layers:
- Sediment filtering: first the water passes through a mesh designed to stop particles such as dirt, debris or sand, among others.
- Activated carbon: then passes to a block of activated carbon to ensure that the contaminants remain between the cracks, a process called adsorption. There are certain filters that add silver or some chemical to kill bacteria.
- Chemical Filtering: the next step is to prevent certain chemicals such as heavy metals, magnesium, lead, mercury or calcium from passing into the water.
It may happen that the same filter in one house is faster and in another it is less. That has an easy explanation. The more they have to filter the slower the flow of water at the faucet.
For this reason, the same filter can behave differently in different houses. We want to make it clear that if a filter is slower in one place compared to another, it is not due to lack of efficiency, but because it has more work to do.
Advantages of water filters
We have multiple advantages for putting a filter on our kitchen faucet, where it makes the most sense, although they are perfect for everyone in the home.
The advantages are clear:
- best taste: when we put a filter, the taste of the water improves considerably, especially if we are unlucky enough to notice a liquid that is not too pure.
- Saving: to mitigate this strange taste, you surely bought quite a few bottles of water every week, something that you can now save on
- Comfort: this filtering system directly on the faucet is much more comfortable than others, such as the filtering pitcher.
- easy installation: Although you may be afraid of the installation, anyone can do it, it is simple and will only take 5 minutes maximum, once you have seen the instructions.
- Goodbye smells, flavors and chlorine: obviously the main advantage is to say goodbye to all the impurities, but also to the odors that we have all experienced at some point in a tap.
- No waste of water: despite passing through all parts of a filter, none of the water is wasted.
What should we pay attention to?
Let’s see what anyone should pay attention to, to get it right and put the filter that best suits them at home.
There are certain characteristics to look for and thus have a good criterion to buy the right one for us. These are:
- Sink: we must make sure that the filter enters the sink, that is, since most of them pour the water from the side, we should calculate the space in case our sink is too small.
- Facility: the vast majority of filters are easily installed, although there may be some that do not meet this standard, so we must pay attention to it. As a general rule, it will suffice to screw it to the tap.
- cartridge life: this is something important, since it will depend on it whether the filter is more or less affordable. That is, if we buy one in which the filter is changed many times, in the long run it can be more expensive than another that lasts longer. We must be clear that everything influences, if our water comes with many particles, the filters will last less.
- Filter replacement: filter change should be easy to do. It shouldn’t be complicated at all. As in the vast majority of filters.
- sensors: in some cases we have sensors at our disposal to tell us that it is time to change the cartridge. This is definitely a great help.
- with twist: just as there are filters that do not move, there are those capable of moving up to 360 degrees to, for example, wash dishes as comfortably as possible.
- Design: this is a subjective part, that is, if we like the design more or less to place on the kitchen faucet.
Some examples
At this point, since we already know what faucet filters are, how they work and what we should know to buy the best one for us, only we can give you some examples to compare and see if any of them is the favorite for you.
All of them are sold on Amazon and if you have a Prime account, shipping costs will be free:
You already have all the necessary information to buy the faucet filter that you want among all those on the market.
You just need to acquire it and tell us on our social networks the reasons that have led you to choose this model.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism