When are water filters useful? Why do I need a water filter? Which is the best, and are water filters even useful? In this blog post, we'll give you an insight into the world of water filters and show you when you should use one.
Are water filters useful?
When are water filters useful? Which is the best, and are water filters even useful? In this blog post, we'll give you an insight into the world of water filters and show you when you should use a water filter.
Why do I need a water filter?
You take the quality of your drinking water into your own hands: In Germany, tap water is controlled using limits designed to protect against acute pathogens and excessive levels of known harmful substances. Once the water reaches our house, the homeowner and ultimately the user themselves are responsible for their water quality. Water filters for tap water are a popular and useful tool for removing as many pollutants as possible that are still present within permissible limits or that have entered the water through the house's plumbing (e.g., old pipes).
Filtered water tastes better: Hard water (water with a high lime content) isn't necessarily a health hazard, but it's primarily noticeable through its taste. However, everyone perceives the taste of this hardness differently. However, if you want to remove limescale deposits and truly enjoy the natural flavor of tea or coffee, reverse osmosis systems are a good option for you. There are many good reasons: Read more reasons why you should filter your tap water on our website.
What does my house connection have to do with water quality?
The Drinking Water Ordinance is a compromise between technical feasibility, economic efficiency, and health recommendations. Our drinking water in Germany is controlled according to this ordinance. However, only random checks are carried out at the end points (house connections) of water treatment. This means that tap water only contains pollutants that are below certain limits until it reaches our house connection.
From the point of connection to the house, the owner is responsible for ensuring high-quality, clean tap water. Outdated water pipes in the house can cause water quality problems.
Harmful substances such as lead can dissolve in old lead pipes and mix with tap water. Depending on the type of pipe material used, residues of copper, for example, can be found in the water in brand new pipes, especially within the first five years. Plastics are also increasingly being used as pipe material, but there are still no comprehensive studies on the impact these materials have on our drinking water quality.
If you're unsure about your pipes, it's best to ask your landlord or property owner. You can also have your water tested for lead to be on the safe side. A test at the municipal waterworks costs between €20 and €50. If the pipes are very old, a water filter can generally be a good idea, as it can remove various residues from the drinking water.
Are there pollutants in our tap water?
Even if our tap water generally doesn't exceed the 60 limits controlled by the Drinking Water Ordinance, that doesn't mean it's free of contaminants. Thus, we consume all substances every day that don't exceed their respective limits. Water laboratories are aware of many thousands of different substances. The number of different active ingredients in medications alone is well over 3,000. Many detectable components are not specifically covered by the regulations, i.e., by fixed limits. Furthermore, most organic compounds are limited by collective parameters, not individually. Furthermore, very little is known about the interaction of various low-dose active ingredients on the human organism – let alone their long-term effects!
The bottom line is always: the fewer pollutants, the better! Legally mandated limits to protect our health are undoubtedly a great achievement—but many people still don't want to rely on them 100%.
There are contaminants, such as certain drug residues or novel chemicals, for which there is no specific limit value. These substances can be harmful to infants or people with weak immune systems if they are found in large quantities.
A water filter could be useful for you if you want to filter out pollutants – even those below the limit values – from your tap water.
What are medications doing in drinking water?
In short: Nothing! Many Germans consume numerous medications every year that are difficult to break down in the environment. These residues enter our tap water via the sewage system. Researchers cannot yet accurately predict the long-term effects of medications in water, but the fact is: painkillers, X-ray contrast agents, anti-rheumatic drugs, and hormone-like substances have increased in recent years and have no place in our drinking water.
How to protect yourself against drug residues in drinking water:
A water filter proves to be very useful here, as an activated carbon block filter or a reverse osmosis filter, for example, reliably filters drug residues from tap water.
Is limescale really that bad?
The water that flows through your home's pipes into your shower or sink is often hard water. This means it contains many dissolved minerals (calcium and magnesium ions). Hard water (water with a high lime content)
Impairs the flavor of tea and coffee and prevents the water from developing its full potential. Valuable phenols in good teas can be destroyed by hard water. Due to the high proportion of dissolved impurities in hard water, the water is less able to extract aromas from the flavorings. The taste of hard water itself is also noticeably different from that of soft water.
For us humans, drinking hard water isn't dangerous; rather, hard water is uncomfortable and, over time, tiring – because limescale precipitates when the water is heated or evaporated, forming deposits (for example, in coffee machines or kettles). Dishwashers and washing machines require more salt or detergent, and therefore more energy.
If you decide to use a filter to remove limescale from your water, we offer reverse osmosis filter systems. Activated carbon block filters do not remove limescale! Find the perfect filter in our reverse osmosis range.
Which water is right for me?
For everyone, the water that tastes best is the best. Every water, with different ingredients, tastes different. The temperature and structure of the water also contribute significantly to the taste experience. In any case, water should be free of contaminants.
Opt for low-pollutant drinking water that's inexpensive and easy to obtain. Bottled mineral water may seem like a good solution at first. However, bottled drinking water can also contain undesirable substances! For example, some mineral or table waters contain significantly more sodium than regular tap water, which people with high blood pressure should avoid. And from a hygiene perspective, it's less safe than tap water because mineral water is controlled according to a completely different regulation.
Mineral water is also many times more expensive than tap water and usually has to travel a long way to reach your door. This creates an unnecessarily large environmental footprint for little added value. Especially since we often only use bottled water for drinking and not for cooking – this effort would be too expensive and too inconvenient. For us, it's a "lazy compromise" to cook organic vegetables in unfiltered tap water that we don't want to drink. The trend of buying bottled drinking water hasn't been around for very long. Such a product was completely unknown before World War II. Nevertheless, this method of obtaining drinking water is becoming increasingly popular – although there are many reasons against it. So why not make your own healthy drinking water? It is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to consume purified drinking water from the tap than bottled water from the supermarket.
What water filters are there and how do they work?
Water filters can generally be divided into canister or granular filters, activated carbon block filters, reverse osmosis filters, steam distillers, ion exchangers, ceramic silver filters, and membrane microfilters. Detailed information on the different filter processes can be found on our website.
What exactly do water filters do?
We all strive for good, healthy water for our households. You can either buy it or treat it yourself. By buying water from a supermarket, you're supporting large corporations like Danone, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and others, who use enormous amounts of energy to produce your mineral or table water, instead of simply taking good water from the tap and optimizing it for your own needs.
Large corporations transport drinking water thousands of kilometers before it reaches your home. Filtering water from your tap is therefore much more environmentally friendly. You can also enjoy your water free of any pharmaceutical residues or other traces of harmful substances, and if desired, even limescale-free.
If you decide to purchase a water filter, consider the quality of your drinking water and what you intend to use it for. On our website, you can compare various filtration processes, from activated carbon to reverse osmosis. High-quality activated carbon block filters for virtually contaminant-free water are available starting at €139 and will allow you to enjoy and benefit from them for years to come. Reverse osmosis systems also remove over 95% of hardness and other minerals from the water.
Which water filter is right for me?
The choice of filter depends on which substances you want to filter from your tap water. Take a look at our overview (large image above).
Activated carbon filters are currently the most popular on the market because they are very easy to install and – if they contain sintered block filters – reliably filter most pollutants such as heavy metals or drug residues from tap water, without affecting the water hardness.
Reverse osmosis filters also remove undissolved substances such as calcium and magnesium ions, which also contribute to water hardness. In this process, tap water pressure forces the water through a semipermeable membrane. The result is very pure, soft, low-mineralization drinking water.
What filters does H2O The Water Shop offer?
Finally, we would like to introduce you to our best-selling water filters:
The cost-effective entry-level filter: the Carbonit SANUNO table water filter can be used in the kitchen and bathroom to produce low-pollutant tap water. It is suitable for all drinking water and for preparing food and beverages such as tea or coffee. The SANUNO is also available as a value set with an additional filter cartridge. Installation is quick and easy: Simply screw the special diverter valve onto your kitchen faucet. That's it.
The convenient under-sink version with its own tap: the Carbonit VARIO-HP Classic connects to the cold water supply under your sink. An additional tap allows convenient use without any additional handling – anytime. A wide range of taps and combination faucets (so-called 3-way taps) are available.
At the heart of most Carbonit water filters is the NFP Premium activated carbon block filter cartridge, which delivers a water flow rate of approximately 2 liters per minute. The NFP Premium is the standard cartridge in most Carbonit drinking water filters and has comprehensive certifications for hygienic safety (bacteria-proof, thus eliminating the need for silver) and exceptional performance against contaminants such as lead and copper.
The Carbonit block filter is scientifically recognized and has received multiple awards. It combines the adsorptive power of activated carbon for binding pesticides and virtually all other organic compounds with mechanical filtration for removing bacteria or asbestos fibers, for example.
Thanks to its special, extremely large internal surface, this sintered (baked) filter type reliably removes even dissolved pollutants such as copper and lead from the water.
ROWA reverse osmosis filter systems
The H2O Economy3+ reverse osmosis system with its own storage tank is a high-quality, fully automatic filter system with 3-stage filtration, developed in Germany. It's perfect for use in the home to provide sufficient pure drinking water. The filtered water is ideal for cooking, tea, coffee makers, or simply for pure enjoyment! The patented permeate pump in the Economy filter system ensures a consistent yield with an excellent retention rate. This continuously and quickly supplies the storage tank with pure water, using relatively little rinse water – ensuring you always have plenty of pure water available.
Take a look at our extensive range of water filters and benefit from our years of experience. We'd be happy to advise you in detail over the phone or in person, including a water tasting.
Your H2O Water Shop, Germany's first specialist shop for healthy water – good water for 28 years, that's for sure.
