How to Find Your Perfect Water Filter

More than 50 million people in the United States drink polluted water. In fact, US drinking water has been found to contain more than 300 contaminants and more than half of them are not subject to safety guidelines. Forty-nine chemicals that are regulated have been found to exceed safety limits.

For these reasons and more, I always recommend that my patients filter their water. There are lots of water filters to choose from and most fall into one of two categories: activated carbon filters and reverse-osmosis filters.

Activated carbon filters remove chlorine, lead, mercury, copper, pesticides, solvents, radon, parasites, some volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and bad tastes and odors from tap water.

In addition to the above list, reverse-osmosis filters remove, fluoride, cadmium, asbestos, bacteria, arsenic, barium, nitrates, nitrites, and perchlorate.  They use thin membranes and claim to filter out 99.97 percent of contaminants 0.3 microns or larger. Ultra-HEPA filters reportedly filter out 99.99 percent.

Reverse-osmosis filter systems use more water than charcoal filters and are more expensive up front, but they are less expensive in the long run.

Follow these 3 steps to find the filter that fits you best.

#1  Learn what's in your water so you know what needs to be filtered out. (Learn more about water quality reports here.)

#2  Find a filter that meets your needs.

#3  Make sure it's certified by NSF.