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Fresh water is vital to human life. A healthy person can drink about three gallons of water every day. The daily recommended intake of water is eight cups per day. The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water daily. The largest use of water in the home occurs in the bathroom, which includes the toilet, bath and shower. Out of all the water on earth, we can only use about three tenths of one percent of this water. Our usable water is stored in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.

Almost all drinking water contains small amounts of some contaminants. As long as the amounts remain below certain levels, they pose no health risk to healthy people. But people with weakened immune systems may be at risk even if their drinking water is deemed to be safe. Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars on home water treatment. Almost half of Americans use a home water filter. Home water filter types range from simple, inexpensive pitchers to sophisticated reverse osmosis systems.

Different types of home water filters remove different contaminants from your drinking water. More sophisticated home water filters may use a combination of filtration methods. Home water filters can be free-standing, attached to a water tap, permanently installed in the faucet’s plumbing, connected to a refrigerator or ice maker, or centrally attached in a way that filters the entire home’s water supply.

Home water filters that only treat the water you consume are usually called point-of-use filters. The most common point-of-use home water filter is the water filtration pitcher, like the well-known Brita pitcher. Most water filtration pitchers use activated carbon filters to remove contaminants. Pitcher type home water filters are effective at improving taste and odor, and may also reduce lead and other contaminants. They do not, however, remove disease-causing organisms.

The activated carbon filters used by filtration pitchers require regular replacement after a specified amount of water has been filtered. Check the directions that came with the filtration pitcher for more information.

Another common example of home water filter types are filters that attach to your faucet. Alternatively, these are sometimes installed under your sink and deliver filtered water through a separate sink-top faucet. Faucet-attached or undercounter home water filters usually are based on the same filtration technology as water pitchers. A block of activated carbon or similar material physically filters out contaminants. These point-of-use filters also improve water taste and odor, while also filtering contaminants like lead. Filters have a limited life and must be replaced regularly.

Distillers are home water filters that heat water to the boiling point, the collect the condensing water vapor. Distillation kills disease-causing organisms and removes most chemical contaminants, but may leave behind other impurities like radon. Many people complain that the taste of distilled water is “flat.” This is because the distillation process removes dissolved oxygen and natural minerals.

Reverse-osmosis home water filters work by using pressure to force water through a semi-permeable membrane. Reverse-osmosis home water filters use about three times as much water as they treat, but are the most effective of all home water filter types. They effectively eliminate all disease-causing microbes and remove most chemicals.

Devices that filter the water for your whole house are usually called point-of-entry filters. Point-of-entry filters can reduce the dangers from water-borne chemicals that turn into gases inside your home. Point-of-entry home water filters also reduce problems related to water quality like scaling, staining, and odor.

High quality Aquasana filters are some of the best water filtration devices available.  Manufactured in Texas, these USA made filters are some of the most effective and efficient filters available to consumers. Their different models include the AQ-4000 counter top filter, the AQ-4500 under the sink filter, the AQ-4501 deluxe under counter filter, the AQ-4100 shower filter and the EQ-300 whole house filter.

Both the AQ-4000 (the basis of the AQ-4500 filter) and the EQ-300 have received Underwriter Laboratories UL certification. This is a very expensive process to go through and takes an average of three years to go through the complete process. The AQ-4000 is the filter system for both the counter top and the under the sink version. Consumers Magazine “Best Buy” has rated this filter five years in a row. This is a “twin-cartridge” system. The cost per gallon is less than 10 cents per gallon. The savings over both delivered bottled water and plastic disposable water is significant. Plus, considering the enormous landfill issue with plastic bottles buying these make a lot of sense. We got ours through Better Water Store. Shipping was free and we got a great price!

This is just one of the questions that comes up quite often when talking about water filters. There are many others as well that people ask simply because they don’t know about the topic. Is it really better for you? Is my tap water really dangerous? Is it ok to drink when I’m pregnant? Well luckily I’m here to give you some answers. Not all the technical stuff. Just the facts.

Filter water is much safer than tap water. Tap water contains thousands of pesticides, hundreds of chemical compounds, and hundreds of organic chemicals as well. If I gave you a glass of water and told you that I had put car battery acid in it would you drink it? Think about that the next time you get a glass of tap water. Some of those chemicals are know to cause birth defects. If you wouldn’t drink alcohol when your pregnant then you definitely shouldn’t drink tap water. Many of the chemicals are also traced back to types of cancer and nerve damage.

So after hearing all of that what do you think about it? Is tap water dangerous? Those are facts. Not opinions or guesses. Those are plain truth. So please, go out and buy a water filter. It can save lives and for the price I think it is well worth it.

Using a shower filter can help you reduce your allergies. The shower is the “perfect” place to make chlorine gas and water that has been treated with chlorine when heated turn into chlorine gas which people who are sensitive to chemicals can have an reaction. When we shower our pores open up and allows easy absorption into our bodies. Have you ever been in a shower with a lot of chlorine in the water and start coughing?  Not good! Plus the effect it has on your skin an  harm isn’t too good either.  We got  a system that attached to the shower head that was connected in just a few minutes with a pair of pliers.

All we had to do was to unscrew the old one and put some of that thin teflon tape around the threads and fit the new one. Simple.  We are very happy we got ours, not only can we breath in the shower our skin and hair feels so much better now! The filter needs changing once every six months and is easy and inexpensive to do.  Ours came with a massager that feels great.  Hot shower without chlorine works for us.

When my husband first suggested getting a countertop water filter, I was afraid it’d be too difficult to use. My elderly mother often visits and is notoriously afraid of new technology.  My concern was that it would be too difficult for her to use.  However, I was shocked to learn just how easy using a countertop water filter is.

Once it was installed, we didn’t have to do anything different than we normally would when we used our faucet.  Simply turn the faucet on, and clean, fresh water comes out.  My husband does the maintenance, which is simple and infrequent.  Mainly he just changes the filter when appropriate and makes sure that all of the working parts are clean and in working order. We’ve noticed such a difference since using our Aquasana AQ-4000 countertop water filter, I sometimes wonder how we got along with it for so long. Anyone contemplating the investment should really go forward with it, we’ve saved so much money not having to buy plastic water bottles anymore. Not to mention the environmental impact of not wasting those bottles anymore.

There are several brands available at your local market for meat-less hot dogs.

A couple of brands to consider that are available in most supermarkets:

Yves Veggie Cuisine seems to be pretty popular. They are a Canadian company.

Smart Dogs Jumbo

Boca Meatless Bratwurst

This should get you started!