Water Filters

Okay so now you know what is in your water, and maybe you even looked into getting a water filter. But yes, there is more than one kind. Which one do you get? I've compiled a list of different water filters and what they filter out with some help from my environmental medicine professor: 

Carbon Filter

• Removes radon, organic chemicals, chlorine, some pesticides, lead, and trihalomethanes

• Fails at removing other heavy metals

• Likely need to be changed every 2-3 months

Ion Exchange Filter

• Removes heavy metals and hard minerals

• Leaves sodium in the water

• Brita filters use a combination of carbon and ion exchange filters

Distillation

• Removes aresenic, some pesticides and heavy metals

• Fails at removing volatile organic comounds (VOC's), trihalomethanes, and other pesticides

Reverse Osmosis

• Removes everything

• The down side to this is that it also takes out minerals that are needed for better absorption. This is the type of water filter we use at school, and I just bought some trace mineral drops for $10 on amazon to add back into the water. I bought them a year ago and am not even half way through the bottle, so they last awhile. 

I hope this helped shed some light on the different types of water filters available!

Disclaimer: I am not a physician or a health care practitioner. This site is not meant to provide medical or health advice of any kind. Do not misconstrue any information that you read here as medical recommendation, diagnosis or treatment. The information provided here on this site is intended to serve as a communication of my experiences and to share articles and public material pertaining to health that I come across. It should in no way be interpreted as medical advice of any kind.