Water purification systems have become indispensable in today’s homes, ensuring clean, safe, and healthy drinking water for your family. Water has been the most affected because of the growing population and development in industries. Thus, water purifiers help reduce the risks of consuming polluted water by removing impurities and eliminating biological contaminants. The best water purifier can help you destroy disease-causing germs and microorganisms, remove heavy metal deposits, and enhance the taste of your drinking water.
Although water purifiers may have many excellent health benefits, they need to be replaced periodically to ensure the continued dispensing of clean drinking water. Replacing the water filters also creates a lot of junk destined to be in the trash bins. Hence, you may wonder if it is possible to recycle water purifiers.
Well, yes, you can! Recycling certain water filters is more accessible than others. However, before you purchase your water purifier, ask the manufacturer about the recycling provisions and procedures.
Before we jump into recycling, let’s understand the different technologies used in water purification.
Technologies used to purify water
In India, you have a considerable risk of contracting waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, or cholera due to consuming unclean and contaminated water. Therefore, water purifiers with the latest technology are essential to combat such illnesses.
The following is a list of some of the technologies behind water purifiers:
1. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
The technology used in RO passes the water through a semipermeable membrane to filter out harmful substances from it.
The water is pumped under high pressure through the membrane, allowing just the clean water to be extracted at the end of the process. It leaves behind most salts, disease-causing microbes, and heavy metals.
RO water purifiers can remove 90% of TDS (total dissolved solids) from the water. The 0.00001 micron of the RO filter membrane also filters out pesticides and insecticides from your drinking water.
The RO purifier can use pre-filtration or post-filtration methods to extend the life of its membrane. At the same time, it will increase the efficiency of the system.
2. Ultraviolet Rays
UV purifier systems have a small mercury lamp installed, which radiates the UV rays. E-boiling, or UV technology,, removes harmful microorganisms from your drinking water by exposing it to UV rays.
Ultraviolet rays help disintegrate the microbes’ genetic matter, or DNA, thus killing them. It is one of the best technologies used in water purification as it effectively kills 99.9% of harmful bacteria and viruses that can cause numerous diseases.
You can rest assured of the taste of the water. As UV water purifiers do not use chemicals to treat your drinking water, its taste remains unchanged. However, UV filters are ineffective in removing heavy metals such as calcium and magnesium from the water.
The following are the benefits of using a UV water purification system:
- UV Rays destroys 99.9% of disease-causing microorganisms, including pathogens, bacteria, and viruses.
- It does not use chemicals like chlorine to disinfect water, thus leaving no harmful footprint on the environment.
- It has an adjustable UV intensity to treat higher quantities of water.
- UV rays does not take up much space and can be fixed to the pre-existing system.
- No use of chemicals also means that there will be no change in either the taste or odour of your drinking water.
- UV rays can also be used to de-chlorinate and de-ozonate your water.
However, UV water filters are energy efficient and easy to maintain.
4. Ultra-Filtration
Similar to RO purifiers, UF technology in water purifiers passes water through a membrane. However, the pores are larger than those in RO filters measuring 0.01 microns.
The UF technology in water purifier forces the water to move against the membrane using hydrostatic pressure. Such pressure only causes clean water to pass through the partially permeable membrane, leaving behind harmful bacteria, other organic material, and particles bigger than the pores.
As UF purifiers do not subject water to any chemicals, they do not change the taste or odour of your drinking water. At the same time, it does not cause any water wastage.
However, UF water purifiers cannot separate heavy metals from water and are not as effective in areas with higher TDS levels.
Is there just one best technology in Water Purifiers?
It is tough to point out any one technology used in water purifiers to crown it as the best. The simple rationale behind this is that different households have different filtration needs.
Your purification needs may vary according to various factors, depending on where you live and the hardness, salinity, and TDS content in your water supply.
In this case, multi-step water purification systems are more efficient in removing contaminants from your drinking water. Some multi-stage purifiers can add minerals or enhance the taste of your water with a mineralization function.
With the technologies behind water purifiers developing faster and better, you can always enhance the quality of the water you consume. Some new technologies combine two or more water filtration techniques, like:
- RO + UF
- RO + UV
- UV + UF
Such filtration techniques can also come w
ith taste enhancers to eliminate the funky water taste or copper cartilages that can prevent inflammation. The UV+UF water purifier filters the water and adds to the quality of your drinking water.
Livpure water purifiers in India use the latest technologies to bring you the cleanest drinking water. With the advanced technology used in Livpure water filters and the super deals and offers they provide, you can take your pick of water purifiers.
Final Wrap Up
With manufacturers and consumers becoming increasingly more environmentally conscious and aware, considerable efforts have been made to recycle water filters.
Some manufacturers allow you to drop off the old filters with them so that they can take care of the rest of the recycling process. When investing in a new water purifier, you also work towards environmental preservation.
Along with knowing about the technologies imbibed in your water filter, ask your manufacturer about their recycling process.