Water filters for a cottage: an overview, tips for choosing

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Water filters for a cottage: an overview, tips for choosing
Water filters for a cottage: an overview, tips for choosing

Video: Water filters for a cottage: an overview, tips for choosing

Video: Water filters for a cottage: an overview, tips for choosing
Video: How to Choose a Water Filter | Ask This Old House 2024, March
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When building a cottage or a summer house, any zealous owner should first of all think about the proper water supply of the site. Poor quality water is a source of the spread of various diseases for humans, as well as a threat to the reliable operation of many household appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, faucets). Unfortunately, in many cases it is not possible to connect to the central water supply. We have to draw water from individual wells or wells.

Therefore, the issue of providing quality water for a full and he althy life sometimes comes out on top. Modern manufacturers offer a large number of different purification systems and water filters for the cottage. The main task of the owners of suburban areas is a careful review of the products offered and the installation of special equipment. Here are some tips for choosing the right cleaning system.

Types of domestic water pollution

The complexity of connecting to the central water supply leads to the application of a number of measuresand filters for water purification in the cottage. But the use of equipment must correspond to the properties of water in a suburban area. Knowing the types of water pollution helps to properly use special treatment systems.

The main types of pollutants that significantly affect water quality are:

  1. Sand, clay or sludge, they make the water cloudy. The presence of substances that do not dissolve in water make it unfit for human consumption.
  2. The presence of various bacteria and microorganisms in the composition of water is difficult to determine by appearance. Contaminated water seems clean, but is a dangerous source of various intestinal infections. Identification of this kind of infection is carried out by conducting special chemical analyzes.
  3. The risk of various ailments is very high when using water saturated with magnesium and calcium s alts.
  4. Water, which has a high content of iron and manganese, is especially harmful to the human cardiovascular system.
  5. It is also dangerous to drink water that smells of hydrogen sulfide.

Drinking water requirements

The sanitary and epidemiological surveillance authorities establish such a term as the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances to determine the quality of water. This indicator indicates the amount of pollution dose that can penetrate into the human body without consequences during the day, during the entire life.

In accordance with these standards, the following requirements are imposed on water quality:

  • she shouldbe odorless, transparent and palatable;
  • water hardness should not exceed 7 mmol/l, and the pH should be in the range of 7-7.5;
  • the amount of minerals should not exceed 1 g/l;
  • harmful impurities of a chemical nature in ideal water should be absent or be in tenths or hundredths of the maximum permissible concentration;
  • presence of various pathogenic viruses and bacteria in water is strictly prohibited.

Water treatment methods

On the market of household appliances and materials, there are a large number of various multi-stage systems that provide high-quality cleaning of any liquid, as well as individual water filters for the cottage. Of course, there is no universal system for reliable and high-quality training. The selection and use of a special filter for water purification in a cottage is based on the properties of the liquid in a particular area and the need to use water. So, for the operation of a washing machine, it is enough to purify water for domestic use, but for drinking and cooking, it is necessary to carry out a more complete removal of harmful substances.

Installing a water filter for a cottage
Installing a water filter for a cottage

Modern manufacturers offer the following types of water filters for a cottage according to the cleaning method:

  • mechanical;
  • reverse osmosis;
  • ion-exchange;
  • biological;
  • electric;
  • physical and chemical.

Mechanical filters

Mechanical water purification is carried out inseveral stages. At the first stage, substances are removed that do not dissolve in water, but are in the form of a suspension. Such harmful substances include sand, pipe rust, clay. Mechanical water filters for the cottage significantly reduce the turbidity and color of the liquid.

Next, coarse impurities are removed. For these purposes, multi-stage devices use special filter cartridges made of polymer foam or polypropylene.

Mechanical action filters are used as a pre-cleaning system for water pipes. The effective functioning of mechanical devices implies the regular replacement of bulk filters for purifying the water of cottages. For reliable protection of household units and plumbing devices, the use of mechanical filters is sometimes enough.

Reverse osmosis

The most environmentally sound and justified is water purification by reverse osmosis. The filter with such a system has a semi-permeable membrane through which the treated water seeps. After passing, it loses its concentration, while many dissolved impurities settle on the filter plates. As a result of this interaction, various contaminants and s alts are completely removed from the liquid.

Reverse osmosis is effectively used to desalinate sea water. Plain water leaving the filter needs mineralization to improve its properties.

Water filtration using a reverse osmosis system
Water filtration using a reverse osmosis system

At home reverse osmosis filterinstalled under the sink in the kitchen. Maintenance of the system consists in regular replacement of cartridges as they become dirty.

Ion exchange treatment systems

The ion exchange method has been widely used in the past using natural ion exchangers, mainly as a water softener filter for a cottage. In modern conditions, the availability of synthetic ion-exchange resins has greatly improved the water treatment of private areas.

The fact that active cation exchangers remove not only magnesium and calcium ions, but also divalent metals from the liquid, determine the use of ion exchange systems as a filter for cottage water from iron.

Ion exchange water filter
Ion exchange water filter

The main advantage of such a system is its ability to easily move away from the already familiar methods of oxidation, which can bring rust into the water. That is why purified water by ion exchange does not require flushing the water supply system.

Biological filtration

The use of biological water purification can effectively remove organic matter from its composition. Purification is carried out with the help of microorganisms that are actively involved in metabolic reactions, while organic-type substances decompose into nitrates.

Most often, biological water treatment is used in aquarium filters or wastewater disinfection.

Electric water treatment method

Electric cleaning technology is based on the use of a special strong oxidizing agent - ozone gas. Special ozonator,part of the electric filter, from the oxygen contained in the air, produces ozone. This gas actively reacts with microorganisms and chemicals and oxidizes them. These oxidation products then precipitate or form a gaseous form.

Ozone water purification system for a cottage
Ozone water purification system for a cottage

The advantages of the ozonation method include its high speed of purification, as well as a wide range of microorganisms, bacteria and viruses from which it is necessary to neutralize water. It has been proven that no microbes are currently resistant to ozone.

The main disadvantage of the method is the high consumption of electrical energy required to generate gas.

Physico-chemical cleaning methods

The 2 main methods that are used in most cottage water filters are adsorption and absorption. The adsorption process takes place on the surface of the liquid and is a very effective method of cleaning with a small concentration of harmful substances. In the role of special adsorbents, materials with a finely dispersed structure are used:

  • sawdust;
  • ash;
  • clay;
  • peat;
  • various slags.

Activated carbon is considered the most effective sorbent.

Charcoal filter and UV cleaning system
Charcoal filter and UV cleaning system

Also, a fairly common method of physical and chemical treatment is liquid aeration. Non-pressure aeration is carried out by spraying liquid through specialnozzles in the form of a mixture of water and air. At the same time, in a large tank, oxidizable harmful impurities settle to the bottom of the tank in the form of a precipitate.

The pressurized aeration system has a more complex cleaning design that uses pumps to pressurize the mixture.

Water softener

Poor quality or contaminated water should not be used for domestic needs or cooking. For hard water for a cottage, a liquid softener filter must be used. In a residential area, it is recommended to use even two filters that will soften water for connecting household appliances (washing machine or dishwasher, electric kettle, etc.), as well as for drinking and cooking. The former will protect equipment from damage, while the latter will keep people he althy.

The cause of the problems is the presence of calcium and magnesium s alts in the water, which form a layer of scale on household appliances, which significantly reduces their efficiency. On the human body, such water causes itching and dryness of the skin after taking water procedures.

The most effective way is to use a water softener filter for a cottage filled with ion-exchange resin. The resin is saturated with sodium ions, which bind magnesium and calcium ions, thus significantly reducing water hardness.

Water softener
Water softener

The peculiarity of using such a resin is the possibility of its recovery. For these purposes, a concentrated solution of sodium chloride is used. Regeneration occurs when the system is switched from operating mode torecovery. During this action, the resin, saturated with ions of harmful substances, is released from them and saturated with sodium ions. The remains of magnesium and calcium s alts are drained into the drainage system.

There are other ways to soften water, but they have their drawbacks. So, special dispensers of chemical reagents are compact in size, but they are able to add unnecessary chemicals to the composition of the liquid.

Water iron removal

Water is purified from high iron content in the same way as liquid softening, only in this case iron molecules are removed. Strict requirements are imposed on the content of iron in the composition of water, since the ferruginous liquid has a yellowish-brown hue and an unpleasant smell of metal.

Before choosing a water iron removal filter for a cottage, it is necessary to analyze the water to determine the composition of harmful impurities.

There are several types of iron in water:

  1. Divalent iron, which is present in water in dissolved form. Water containing such a substance has a transparent appearance until the impurity comes into contact with oxygen.
  2. After saturation with oxygen, iron becomes trivalent. In this case, such a liquid will have a red tint.
  3. A liquid containing glandular bacteria, which is significantly different from the previous species. The deposits from such water are slippery and soft.

Ion-exchange or reverse osmosis filters are used to eliminate ferrous iron.

Purification of the trivalentiron is produced only after the liquid has been filtered.

Cottage filter tips

Before deciding which water filter is best for your home, you need to do a complete water analysis. It will not be possible to carry out this procedure on your own, so you need to contact the laboratory specialists who will analyze the water and advise the purification system in accordance with the results of the analysis.

It is also necessary to take into account the purpose of water use when choosing a filter. So, for the operation of household mechanisms, it is enough to install a mechanical filter and an iron remover. But for cooking, you also need to add a carbon filter or install a reverse osmosis system.

Drinking water filters
Drinking water filters

An important factor in economic terms will be the calculation of the amount of water after treatment needed for consumption by family members.

Remember that the issue of water purification for the cottage must be taken seriously. The correct operation of household appliances and, most importantly, the he alth of all family members can completely depend on this.

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