How to choose a water purification cartridge? Types, principle of operation, prices

Without water, a person can live no more than five days. Therefore, it is probably worth noting how much this is a necessary resource. But the state of a person depends on the quality and purity of this source of health and strength. Many faced with the fact that the tap water smells like bleach or has some color. Therefore, the question of additional filtering occurs in every family. But what kind of filter and cartridges to give preference, should be considered in detail.

Kinds

There are three main types of devices.

1. The filter-pitcher. It is made of high-quality plastic and consists of two parts. Actually, the pitcher itself, and a removable cartridge for water purification. What is good about this device? The fact that it does not require a fixed installation. Therefore, it is not only suitable for an apartment, but also for a summer residence, an office. The minus of such a device is a minimum resource of only 750 liters.
2. Filter nozzle on the tap. Such a device requires installation on a crane using special attachments. Suitable for areas with a good head of water. Depending on the manufacturer and on what type of cartridge is used for water purification, the resource can be up to 1000 liters.
3. Filter with placement under the sink. This type of device requires a fixed installation. Also, the liquid must be supplied under good pressure. What good is this view? First of all, you can choose any degree of purification. The resource of such devices is up to 15 000 liters.

The most important part of any filter is the cartridge for water purification. It depends on it and the quality of the received fluid, and the life of the device.

For ease of maintenance, the cartridges for the water treatment system are removable. Execution and filler determine the resource, the degree of purification and on what type of contamination should be used.

Cartridges for mechanical treatment of water

This is a polypropylene element. Used as a pre-cleaning before other filters. Copes with large particles of dirt. It can be sand, silt, rust and others. Unfortunately, I tend to accumulate all the garbage on myself. Therefore, clean, change should be at least once a year or as the pollution.

Adsorption (coal) devices

Such a filtration option will be produced by activated carbon. A natural filter helps to improve water quality. The minus of this device - with prolonged use and untimely replacement - can serve as a source of reverse contamination of the liquid. It struggles with organic compounds, destruction of chlorine and ozone, sorption of gases.

There is another kind of this species - pressed coal. With it, more thorough cleaning is achieved. The throughput is reduced, smaller dispersions are delayed.

Ion exchange

The filler is an ionic resin that reacts with magnesium and calcium ions and replaces them with a safe one. Taste and water hardness change . What are notable for such replaceable filter cartridges? Many of them can be easily regenerated at home, saving on buying a new one. The only negative - ionized fluid should not be used by hypertensive people, people with kidney and heart diseases.

Such cleaning is suitable for softening water. The principle of operation was described earlier. This filter is installed after preliminary cleaning.

Membrane

By name it is clear that the way to clean the mechanical plan. For this, a screen with small cells is used. The value of the cells directly depends on the size of the water molecules. Considering that the contamination is larger, it remains on the membrane, and the purified water easily passes through the cartridge for further use.

It struggles with organic, colloidal, bacterial impurities, as well as with metal impurities. Installed after mechanical cleaning of the liquid.

Osmotic

Due to its partition, this water purification cartridge can only pass water and gas molecules. All other impurities remain in the filter. Due to this, the quality of drinking from such a system is much higher than all of the above. The downside of such systems is the poor performance. For a complex treatment of a large number of contaminants, including metals, microorganisms, pesticides, viruses, a reverse osmosis membrane is installed. But previously such water must undergo mechanical purification and dechlorination.

It should be noted that in the filters with the installation under the sink can be used combinations of several types of cartridges that will maximally clean the liquid from a large number of contaminants.

Key points when choosing

It should be remembered that there is no universal cartridge for all types of pollution.

The service life is limited. He has his own for each individual variant. The efficiency of cleaning and the operating time depend on the input water quality. And you can not determine to the exact day the end of the filter life.

To understand for yourself, what kind of cleaning is required for water, it is necessary to answer a number of questions:

• Possibility of use for water supply. Is the head of water sufficient?
• What resource is required? It is determined based on the consumption and throughput of the filter.
• The cost of a liter of purified water. As mentioned earlier, the initial cost of the filter can be high, but the service life is many times greater than the counterparts. Therefore, the cost is calculated from the price per liter.
• Type of pollution. As a rule, each district has its own characteristic. Sometimes this can be determined visually or with the help of a sense of touch. But you can conduct a laboratory study.

In order to determine the choice, it is worthwhile to consider replacement cartridges for the filter from the main manufacturers on the market.

Comparison of domestic manufacturers

And now the last stage before the final choice. On what to stop? After reviewing the reviews, it seems that "every sandpiper praises his swamp." But the swamp water and would not want to get.

• Cartridges for water treatment "Barrier". The assortment of this brand is quite large. Can cover any demand. Product quality is not bad, otherwise 40% of Russians would not choose this brand for themselves. When choosing the type of cartridge, you should read and compare with other manufacturers. In order not to repel consumers from buying, in a set of fixed systems this manufacturer adds an ionizer. Also, according to the rating, this brand took a good place on the filters-nozzles and stationary installations for washing.

• The replaceable filter "Aquaphor" for jugs, according to consumers, has not badly proved itself. That is, again, a long-known truth is confirmed that all products from one manufacturer can not be ideal. Therefore, we should compare on-site technical characteristics of the cartridges. For a jug, for example, it is better to take a removable filter "Aquaphor". Reviews say that he is more reliable.
• Cartridges "Geyser" are presented in several rulers. This is both a premium class and budget options. This manufacturer has been on the market for a long time, and the product range includes elements of all types of cleaning. According to reviews, the system of stationary use is interesting. The cleaning effect is maximal. The liquid is of excellent quality. Therefore, Geyser cartridges are one of the most popular for this system. This brand is within the first three of all types of devices for water filtration. The only exception is the nozzle on the crane.

Once again, you can summarize that when choosing a filter and cartridge, you should carefully compare the characteristics of products from different manufacturers, and not rely on reviews. Why so? Because only a few of the consumers buy and reinstall the system for various cartridges. And, installing the device from one manufacturer, it can not compare with other analogs, because they did not use it.

Prices for cartridges

Depending on the manufacturer, as well as the type of device, the cost can vary considerably (from 500 to 3000 rubles). Therefore, when buying cartridges for water purification, prices are counted for a purified liter. To do this, the cost of the filter device is divided into its resource.

So it turns out the correct calculation. With such calculations, the most economical option, no matter how strange this may be, are stationary installations.

If we consider pricing within three brands - Barrier, Aquafor, Geyser, then the price may fluctuate in different positions. That is, some types of cartridge will be cheaper than those of other manufacturers, others are more expensive. There is no such thing as the most expensive or cheapest manufacturer. On average, they are all in the same market segment, both in quality and price, depending on the type of device.

The degree of protection of the health of family members depends on the choice of cartridge. Therefore, for a proper acquisition, you first need to know what to protect from. And only in the second - to rely on the popularity of brands. Under such conditions, it is possible to select a filter type and cartridges for it in a qualitative and proper way. This in the future will save finance for the refitting of the system.