Different Types of Water Filtration Technologies

Different Types of Water Filtration Technologies

"Water, water everywhere, but not a single drop to drink." 

A more apt statement for these times might be, "Water, water everywhere, but is it safe to drink?" And if it's not, what is a reliable water filtration process?

In a country as large and vibrant as India, development workers operate in knowledge-rich environments where continuous experimentation and implementation of innovative ideas go on. While some of the knowledge is shared, much of the larger pool knowledge gained through these experiences remains in danger of being forgotten.

So here we are, discussing most commonly used water filtration technologies, namely Boiling, UV filtration, RO and Mineral RO.

Boiling. The simplest method to purify water is probably Boiling. In this we need to bring the water to a full boil for at least five minutes to be safe, with some experts recommending an even longer time. The positive of this method is that it kills the bacteria and viruses present in water. However, the down side is that it does not eliminate dissolved impurities and chemical  pollutants and particles such as sand and insects continue to remain in boiled water! Boiling also requires lots of fuel and cooking equipment and removes the oxygen, so the water ends up tasting khaara.

Image Credit: Google Images 

Ultraviolet (UV) purification. Another popular method to treat water is Ultraviolet (UV) purification, which uses a UV light source of higher intensity than sunlight to remove suspended impurities such as mud and sand. In the UV purifier, a germicidal lamp source enclosed in a special glass is used to generate a short wave of UV light. This is able to penetrate the cells of micro-organisms and subsequently disrupts in such a way that it prevents them from replicating and eliminates most of them. However, UV purified water cannot be stored for long as the deactivated bacteria and viruses might get reactivated after prolonged storage. UV also does not remove dissolved impurities and other chemicals and requires high maintenance expense & energy costs due to use of multiple lamps.

Image Credit: Google Image

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a new technology being used for the past few years to purify drinking water. In this method cellophane-like membranes separate purified water from contaminated water by applying pressure on the concentrated side of the membrane. The purified water is forced into the diluted side and the rejected impurities from the concentrated side are washed away in reject water.  This is an effective way to remove all kinds of impurities. However, in this process, essential minerals necessary for our body also get washed away and our body is devoid of its benefitsL

Image Credit: Google Images

 Kent's patented Mineral RO technology. The ground-breaking Kent's patented Mineral RO technology combines the best of all technologies, while eliminating the limitations of a standalone technology. It removes dissolved impurities, chemicals and totally kills bacteria and viruses present in the water, while maintaining essential natutral minerals through its TDS controller. Kent is the first and only company in India whose water purifiers are NSF certified. NSF, USA is one of the most recognized certifications in the drinking water treatment industry and provides assurance that the products have been rigorously tested and comply with all the requirements.

Image Credit: www.kent.co.in

So next time when you drink water, first check whether it is purified and if it is, the method used to purify it!