Are household filters able to purify tap water from viruses and bacteria?

To protect themselves, more and more people are installing household filters. They purify water from contaminants, but in addition to them, the liquid can also contain bacteria and viruses, the entry of which into the body is extremely undesirable. But are household filters able to retain them and make water completely harmless, informs Ukr.Media.

Types of water filters

There are now a large number of household filters, which are divided into six main types:

Mechanical. Purifies water from limescale and large particles larger than 5 micrometers. Most often used to protect household appliances.

Ion exchange. Makes water softer. The principle of operation of the filters is based on ion exchange, which removes iron and manganese from the liquid, which prevents oxidation.

They work on the principle of reverse osmosis. They provide the highest quality filtration. During the purification process, contaminants, bacteria and viruses are removed.

Biological. Microorganisms are involved in water purification. Their advantage is that they purify the liquid not only from insoluble elements, but also from organics.

Physico-chemical. Contain adsorbents in their structure that purify water from soluble elements.

Electric. Purifies water with ozone from chlorine, iron, manganese, hydrogen sulfide and other dissolved contaminants through oxidation.

Each type of filter is used in certain situations depending on where it will be installed.

Do household filters purify water from viruses and bacteria?

Unfortunately, only some types of filters are able to cope with this task. Those that belong to the sorption type use coal powder to purify the liquid. There are bacteria and viruses that are able to penetrate through it. Moreover, even if they remained on the sorbent and could not seep through, there is no guarantee that in the future the water jet will not push them into the filtered water.

Interesting fact: in ancient times, people filtered water. To do this, they dug a hole near a reservoir and filled it with liquid that had been purified by passing through the earth.

Filters that use silver compounds purify water from microbes. The latter enter an unfavorable environment and are gradually destroyed. However, viruses still pass through these filters. Reverse osmosis filters have the strongest protection. They pass water through special membranes containing nanopores.

Джерело: Source

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