Water Purification - Why Safe Drinking Water is a Necessity?
The need for water filtration has never been greater because of the significant risk that comes with using impure water. In addition, as we struggle with pollution, climate change, and a fast-expanding population, our natural resources are under stress. Unfortunately, even though tap water is supposed to be safe to drink, pollutants can actually make it rather dangerous. Water from different sources is also tainted by physical, chemical, and microbial pollutants, making it extremely riskier to drink.
According to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Chief General of WHO, "Safe water, sterilization and cleanliness at home ought not to be an honour of just the people who are rich or live in metropolitan places. These are probably the most essential necessities for human wellbeing, and all nations have an obligation to guarantee that everybody can get to them."
Here are some reasons why drinking clean water is important:
- Health: Drinking germ-free water results in better performance of the body's organs, such as the heart, because blood flows correctly to the organs, tissues, etc. It also lessens the likelihood of headaches and fatigue and helps the digestive system properly carry out the task of absorbing nutrients from food, prevents constipation, and aids in the removal of fat from the body.
- Savings: One significant benefit of water purification is that it equates to financial savings by, among other things, decreasing the demand for other products that contain unhealthy flavourings and sweeteners and medical expenses associated with visits for illnesses brought on by drinking contaminated water.
- Environment: Water filtration also contributes to environmental protection by reducing pet consumption and atmospheric CO2 emissions.
What is water purification?
Water purification is the essential process of eliminating impurities, contaminants, and undesirable substances from water. Its objective is to render water safe, clean, and suitable for consumption or specific applications. This comprehensive procedure employs a combination of physical, chemical, and biological methods to eradicate or diminish harmful substances, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, sediment, chemicals, heavy metals, and dissolved solids, present in water.
The overarching aim of water purification is to enhance the quality, taste, odor, and clarity of water, thereby making it suitable for drinking, cooking, bathing, irrigation, industrial processes, and other purposes. The purification process is tailored to the quality of the source water and the specific contaminants present.
Water purification and its most common methods:
Filtration: This process involves the passage of water through physical barriers like activated carbon filters, sand, gravel, or membranes, which effectively eliminate suspended particles and larger impurities.
Disinfection: Chemical disinfectants such as chlorine, ozone, or ultraviolet (UV) light are utilized to eradicate or inactivate harmful microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
Reverse Osmosis (RO): RO is a membrane-based filtration process that utilizes pressure to compel water through a semipermeable membrane, successfully removing dissolved solids, minerals, and a wide range of contaminants.
Distillation: This method involves the boiling of water and collection of the condensed vapor, leaving behind impurities and contaminants. Distillation effectively eliminates minerals, heavy metals, and certain organic compounds.
Ion Exchange: This method facilitates the exchange of ions in water with ions of similar charge on a resin bed. It proves effective in eliminating dissolved salts, hardness-causing minerals, and heavy metals.
Water purification plays a vital role in safeguarding public health, preventing waterborne diseases, and meeting the escalating demand for clean water. It is implemented on various scales, ranging from household water filters to large-scale municipal water treatment plants, to provide safe and dependable drinking water to communities worldwide.
How Has RO Purifier Replaced the Age-Old Natural Filtration Techniques?
To get rid of the bacteria in the water back then, people would boil tap water or water drawn from tubewells. The sedimentation process, in which water was kept in a storage area and the particles (sand particles) submerged in it were allowed to settle down, was another approach that gained popularity as a filtration technique. Finally, the impure particles were extracted, and the clean water was separated from them.
Due to the abundance of bacteria near water bodies today, many waterborne diseases have been on the rise. By using natural filtration methods, it is impossible to get rid of bacteria, viruses or many other microscopic organisms.
The membrane-based filtration method employed by RO water filters was developed to prevent certain waterborne infections. After being successful in its first effort, this type of water purifier gained popularity as a solution for treating municipal corporation-supplied untreated water and reducing tds in water.
How RO water purifiers can provide purified water?
Systems for reverse osmosis water filtration function by using pressure to drive water through a membrane that removes impurities. Reverse osmosis, which is used to filter drinking water, takes electricity while conventional osmosis happens naturally without it. Water molecules are permitted to flow through the semi-permeable barrier as the bulk of dissolved salts, organics, bacteria, and viruses are inhibited. After the reverse osmosis filtering procedure, the drinking water is desalinated, demineralized, and deionized.
Activated charcoal filters or sediment filters are frequently used in addition to RO water purification filters to further enhance water quality.
RO water purification filters deliver high-quality water that is free of undesirable tastes and odours and wholly safe to drink when used in conjunction with other drinking water treatment techniques.
What are the merits of RO drinking water purification?
The effectiveness of reverse osmosis as a water purification method has been established on a global scale. RO water purification is the most efficient method of removing heavy metals and compounds including iron, lead, mercury, arsenic, and fluoride in addition to filtering out diseases transmitted through water. You receive a soft, sweet sort of drinking water that is absolutely safe to drink thanks to its great filtration capability. Under the kitchen sink, at the kitchen faucet, or even as a point-of-entry system that filters all the water entering your home, a RO filtering system can be installed.
Here are four good reasons to get an RO drinking water purification system for home use:
Removes disease-causing contaminants: Groundwater or municipal water sources frequently contain viruses, bacteria, fungus, and parasites, making them a common source of disease-causing microbiological contaminants. Due to these contaminants, the water is dangerous to drink and may spread illnesses like cholera, diarrhoea, and typhoid. In order to protect you and your family from water-borne illnesses by eliminating all pollutants, experts advise using a RO water purifier.
Sweetens the taste of water: The taste of the water, as well as the taste of the food we prepare in it, is influenced by contaminants. A RO water purifier is strongly advised when the flavour of the water is salty or when the amount of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the water is excessive, including sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other minerals. When the TDS level rises above 200 ppm, RO filtering removes any excess TDS, softens and enhances the taste of the water, and only leaves tasty and healthy drinking water in its place.
Removes Heavy Metals: According to reports from CNBC, tests carried out in several towns to evaluate the water quality of ground water reveal that the water is unsafe to drink since it includes greater levels of contaminants than allowed, including nitrates, heavy metals, pesticides, and other poisons. These heavy metals have the potential to result in chronic illnesses like lead poisoning as well as major health issues with the kidney, liver, and nervous systems.
The most effective technique to remove heavy metals and pollutants, including iron, lead, mercury, arsenic, chlorine, and fluoride is through RO water purification. A RO purifier filters out all physical impurities and microorganisms, ensuring that the water is completely safe to drink.
Effective Water Purification: When compared to only using Ro or UV filtration technology, RO water purifiers add an extra layer of protection because they can remove even the tiniest chemical impurities that would otherwise bypass the other filtration technologies.The most pure drinking water, free of any impurities, is produced when RO water purification and UV filtering are coupled. Pureit offers a variety of RO+UV water purifiers that are guaranteed to provide you with 100 percent pure water. Here you may learn more about the collection.
Offers Health Benefits: Drinking RO-treated water improves our overall health and well-being. Among other things, it improves digestive health, maintains renal function, hydrates and energizes your body, and improves the condition of our skin and hair.
There is no doubt that RO purifiers provide the greatest and most reliable water filtration available today.
Is it, however, only useful for purifying water? Apart from filtering water, new RO water purifiers have several advantages. It ensures that you get the minerals you need while keeping hazardous heavy metals and other contaminants at bay.
Some of the most recently released RO water purifiers include advanced technologies to keep the water's PH level at an optimal level.
RO purifiers, which were long considered a luxury, are now quite accessible. More and more companies are releasing new RO purifiers at never-before-seen costs. In recent years, their popularity has grown dramatically because of their low pricing and high level of filtration reliability.
Top 10 Methods for water purification that you must know
In a country where water-borne diseases is one of the main reasons for human deaths, we do not need to emphasize why a water purifier is of a very high and urgent need in every household.
So it's our responsibility to ensure that our homes and workplaces are equipped with the best water purifier for having better access to safe and clean water. Most people trust RO Water Filter or RO UV Water Purifier for their drinking water needs, but there are other alternative methods that you can try.
Below we have listed some of the most effective water purification methods that you need to know before investing in a water purifier:
1. Boiling the water
The easiest method of filtering water is to boil it at a high temperature for a good amount of time. High temperatures cause bacteria and viruses to disperse and remove all impurities from the water. In doing so, chemical additives cease to exist in the water. However, dead microorganisms and impurities settle to the bottom of the water and boiling will not help to remove all the impurities. You must strain the water through a microporous strainer to completely remove impurities., which can be time-consuming and may not result in optimum purification. Still, warming water for 10 minutes and drinking it is beneficial for you.
2. Water purifier
An electric water purifier is the most trusted form of water purification found in most homes today. The water purifier uses a multi-stage process including UV and UF filtration, carbon block and advanced water filtration technology that eliminates most chemicals and impurities, making it the purest drinking water.
3. Reverse Osmosis
RO water Purifier commonly proves to be one of the best methods of water purification. Reverse Osmosis forces water through a semipermeable membrane and removes impurities. TDS Controller and Mineraliser technology, like that found in the Pureit RO UV Water Purifier, helps to preserve essential nutrients while removing harmful impurities.
4. Distillation
Distillation is a water purification process involving the collection of condensed water after evaporation, ensuring that the water is free of contaminants. However, this is not as effective as an RO filter as it is time-consuming and removes minerals.
5. Chlorination of water
This is an older technique usually used in an emergency where mild bleach with about 5% chlorine is added to the water. This mixture acts as an oxidizer and quickly kills microorganisms, making the water safe for consumption.
6. Filtration from a clay pot
Long before people had access to an RO or UV purifier, they used clay pots to purify cloudy water by blocking the mud and allowing clean drinking water to pass through. Some rural communities still employ this method.
7. Solar based Cleaning
An alternative to UV filtration is solar purification, which involves treating water with ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The process involves filling a plastic bottle with water, shaking it to activate the oxygen, and leaving it horizontally in sunlight. This effectively kills the bacteria and viruses present in the water, making it safe for consumption.
8. Addition of Iodine
Iodine is a red chemical that is readily available as a tablet or liquid. It is extremely powerful because it kills bacteria and viruses. However, it adds an unpleasant taste and can be fatal in high doses. Therefore, it should only be used if you do not have access to a better cleaning method such as an electric water purifier.
9. UV Radiation
The water is exposed to UV radiation, which kills microorganisms, thereby preventing their further reproduction. But unless coupled with an RO filter, UV alone cannot remove impurities and heavy metals.
10. Using the method of Desalination
When water needs to be filtered and has a specific salinity, this technique is utilised. This method is helpful.
Conclusion
Reverse osmosis (RO) water purifiers are possibly an all-arounder that can effectively remove suspended particles and bacteria from water while also improving the taste. Installing a RO purifier will enable you to obtain better-tasting drinking water in such circumstances.
