It is not a joke that the water you are placing in your body will either be making stronger and healthier or sapping your strength and making you sick. While the pure clean elixir that comes from your taps may seem perfect for the health, there is a lot we don’t know about the municipal water supplies and the constituents therein.

Those who are looking to improve the quality of their water have had great success with using a bespoke activated carbon and sediment filter system. In the following article you will find all you need to know about these water purification systems.

Activated Carbon Filters

Activated carbon filters are filled with a carbon usually made from coconut or wood materials, but coconut activated charcoal is the most effective filtration system. The “activated” term means that the carbon has received a positive charge that makes it especially attractive to negatively charged impurities. Various manufacturers will work with special blends of carbons that improve their functionality. Colder water is also more suitable for carbon filtration that hot water.

Activated Carbon (AC) can:

1) Remove organic matter that can make water taste and smell funny

2) Reduce the levels of pesticides, solvents, radon gases, trihalomethanes (THM), chlorine, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other impurities.

It is important to note that even though activated carbon is especially good at removing some impurities and contaminants from your water supply, it is not effective at removing them all. Sediment and other particulate matter for example can only be removed with the right sediment filter. For this reason it is important to place the sediment filtration system before the AC filter. Sediment entering the AC filter will clog it reducing surface area and reducing functionality as well. Placing the sediment filter first will greatly extend the life of your AC filtration and improve its functionality as well.

Sediment Filters

Sediment filters should be placed before the AC filter as they are designed to remove the sediment or larger particulate matter from the water supply. The most common sediments found in municipal water include dirt’s, soils, minerals and rust. This should be placed right at the supply line where city water enters the home from the water meter or right after the pressure tank on homes with private water supplies.

Sediment filters are typically made of what appears to be woven fabrics and arranged in wound, spiral or pleated arrangement within the filter. The right sediment filter for you will be chosen for the size of particulate matter they remove –– measured in microns. The smallest particle sizes are between 2 and 5 microns and these filters require considerable pressure to push water through.

For your average home using city water, a micron rating of 15 is usually fine. This will remove most of the dirt and rust deposits in the water supply. Private water supplies can take their filtration a notch higher with a micron rating of 10 to 15. But, those who are getting their water from a well or natural water supply should consider their health and use the smallest micron ratings they can, 2 to 5 microns is recommended.