Water filter buying guide-How to choose a water filter?

Installing a water filtration system is a great way to ensure the quality and get rid of the odor of your drinking water. But when it comes to choosing one... Should I get a water pitcher or an undersink filter system? Do I need a whole house filtration system? How do you know what contaminants are been filtered out and what are not? Don't worry! Here are some simple steps that can help you to choose just the right water filter for you.
1. Know what is in your water
Before you start to choose a filtration system, you need to know what is in your water that should be removed. You can either test your water yourself or get a copy of your area's annual water quality report from your water utility. If you want to test your water by yourself, you can easily find a test kit in home improvement store. If you want to have more precise data you can send your water to a local lab to know what's in your water. 

2. Find out what type of water filter do you need
After knowing the contaminants in your water, you can choose a water filtration system based on that. Some of the most common filtration system include activated carbon, reverse osmosis(RO system), distillation and ultraviolet.
 
3.Choose a filtration system that is NSF certified
Why choose a filter with NSF certified? NSF certified water purifiers must not only meet the requirement of removal of contaminants but also these five regulations. First, certification of contaminant removal must be performed by NSF in its own laboratory. Second, the water purifier must not release any harmful substances in the water, and the raw materials in contact with the water must pass strict safety tests. Next, the water purifier must be constructed to meet the pipeline safety requirements for pressure changes. Also, advertising, manuals and labels must not contain any false or misleading claims. Lastly, raw materials and manufacturing processes must remain unchanged and certification must be recertified every 5 years

4. Put on-going cost into consideration
Once you have installed a water filtration system, you need to change the filters cartridge regularly. Some water filter are easy to change filter, but some will need a mechanic to change it for you. Normally, a water filter cartridge need to be change every 3-6 months. So remember to put that maintenance fee into consideration.

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