Everyone should take care of the quality of tap water, including the owners of a centralized water supply system. But this is especially important for owners of country houses and cottages. In the first case, specialized organizations control the liquid from the tap. The owner of the house is responsible for his own well. Natural water can have sand and silt inclusions, contain pathogenic microorganisms and toxic compounds. In order to maintain health and protect household appliances from liming, it is necessary to select a water purification system depending on its composition and connect suitable equipment.
Safety and Water Quality Requirements
In the Russian Federation, the quality standards for drinking water are regulated by SanPiN 2.1.4.1074-01 and GOST R 51232 - 98. According to these documents, drinking water should be:
- safe in epidemiological and radiation terms;
- harmless in composition;
- favorable in organoleptic properties.
Epidemiological safety is determined by compliance with microbiological and parasitological criteria. If the liquid does not reach the required quality, it must be cleaned. To choose the right household equipment for water treatment, it is necessary to conduct a laboratory analysis and identify the main problems.
Basic drinking water treatment methods
There are many ways to purify harmful substances from drinking water. The main methods include:
- mechanical, including sedimentation;
- physical - disinfection with ultraviolet, boiling, distillation, reverse osmosis, microwave technique;
- chemical using chlorine, fluorine, ozone, complexones - organic substances that contribute to the removal of mineral pollutants;
- physical and chemical - silver ionization, electrolysis;
- biological using bacteria-purifiers.
An interesting technique is hydrodynamic cavitation, based on the appearance in the water stream of voids filled with a gaseous component. With a vortex effect or the influence of ultrasound generated by a special apparatus - a cavitator, the liquid not only cleans, but changes its physicochemical properties, becomes “soft” and “therapeutic”.
All methods of water treatment affect various types of pollution, so their use is due to the composition of the liquid in each case.
When taking water from surface sources, special filtering stations are used to provide cities and towns. First, the liquid is purified in several stages - coagulation, floaculation and sediment extraction. Thanks to special tools in the first two stages, unsafe compounds turn into flakes that are easy to remove.
Varieties of systems
For complex processing, devices with a multi-stage water treatment scheme are used. They necessarily include mechanical coarse filters to remove sludge, sand, sludge and other solid particles and are used for primary clarification of the liquid. Secondary purification can be done using filter elements:
- De-ironing stations. Most reagent type filter media for deferrization use the potential of a powerful oxidizing agent - manganese oxide.
- Air aeration. A non-reagent purification method based on oxygen enrichment. It leads to the fact that there is an oxidation of iron and manganese and their precipitation.This type of purification can be carried out both on pressure and on a non-pressure basis.
- Electrochemical aeration. A modern method based on the reactions of substances using electrical pulses. Thanks to this aeration method, it is possible to efficiently purify a liquid with a high content of ferrous compounds and ammonium. Technological differences from the standard aeration process - in reduced noise, compact size, efficiency in terms of energy consumption, ease of operation even in winter.
- Adsorption. Sorption cartridges are filled with: activated carbon, silicate gel, aluminosilicate, zeolites. Highly porous substances trap and hold harmful organic inclusions in microscopic pores. Water clarifies, acquires a pleasant smell and taste. But sorption cartridges are quickly clogged, they need to be changed often.
- Membrane cleaning, including reverse osmosis. Harmful impurities are retained due to special membranes, and only water molecules pass through micropores. Nanotechnology is used to create membrane barriers.
- Decontamination devices. With their help, pathogenic microorganisms are removed. Most of them work on the basis of ultraviolet radiation processing.
- Softening ion-exchange filtration - cationic or anionic. In the process of ion exchange, the liquid is purified from hardness salts, ammonia compounds. The device consists of one flask or several containers that are filled with ion-exchange resins. The substance includes weakly bound sodium ions. When a water stream flows through the resin layer, calcium and magnesium ions are trapped in it. Instead, neutral sodium ions are released into the water.
Gradually, the sodium portion of the filler is depleted, and the resin needs to be regenerated. This is done using edible salt dissolved in water. For reducing solutions, a special tableted salt is taken. A quality product is required: the tablets should not crumble and crumble, but dissolve uniformly in water without stirring. On the walls of the tank, where the dissolution is carried out, no plaque should appear, and at the bottom - sediment.
Ion exchange plants can soften and purify even poor quality water. Their disadvantage is the need to purchase salt or new cartridges.
Modern water treatment systems certainly include aeration or ion-exchange filtration.
There are also large modular and container water treatment plants, both stationary and mobile. They are rarely used in everyday life, more often for industrial purposes.
Rating of the best filters
Water filtration is carried out in various ways, many brands are suitable for different cases. The most popular are:
- Aquaphor. This brand produces both portable filter jugs and entire complexes with complete cleaning and aeration deferrization, which cost about 130,000 rubles.
- "Aquadin." It offers compact ion-exchange filters for softening and deferrizing water, removing manganese at a price of 81,000 rubles.
- “Aquacenter” and “Nortex”. They produce multi-stage systems, the connection of which goes directly to the outlet of the water tap in the kitchen.
- "Astra Ferrum." It produces integrated autonomous water treatment plants with nanofiltration effect.
- "Atoll". It offers various options for filtration equipment - from replaceable cartridges to large devices. The cost is affordable, the cleaning system can be purchased for 14,000 rubles.
- "Barrier". The brand represents BWT AQUADIAL water purification systems that are easy to connect and use with aeration and ion-exchange resin filtering devices. Their price is from 140,000 rubles.
- "Geyser". Produces various water purifiers.Mobile water treatment station in the form of a mobile ion-exchange column is in special demand. It makes it possible to purify water from surface sources or artesian wells.
- "Deferum". It produces multi-stage plants for domestic and industrial needs. The price tag starts at $ 2,990.
- "The Distillery." It sells water treatment systems for cottages, country houses and cottages, the design of which depends on the indicators of the aquatic environment. Cost - from 21,000 rubles.
- "Christmas tree." Column and cabinet type equipment with this name are offered by the Russian company Centrgazservice. An integrated water treatment system will cost about 170,000 rubles. But there are budget options.
- "Katun." The home wastewater treatment plant is manufactured in Altai, at the Rotor plant. It does not take up much space in the room, it is inexpensive - only 1230 rubles.
- Zepter. It produces filtration units that can be placed under the sink and on the countertop. They work on a five-stage system, including reverse osmosis technology.
Under the brands "Baikal" and "Ermak" they produce automatic stations of modular-block type - a good option for industrial purposes.
Criterias of choice
To find the right equipment for the water supply system, the following criteria must be taken into account:
- Qualitative indicators of the aquatic environment. Laboratory analysis required. If there is an abundance of coarse impurities, a strainer with large mesh of 400 microns will be required. The initial use of thin filtering devices is unreasonable: they will quickly fail.
- The amount of fluid consumed. One family member needs at least two and a half liters of water per day.
- Dimensions of the device. Most often, productive and powerful filters have impressive dimensions. This point must be taken into account already at the stage of creating a house project in order to find a place for the unit.
- Degree of automation. Devices can work in standard mode and in conditions of restoration of filtration load. Periodically switching the installation is required. It is performed manually or in automatic mode.
- Costs for the device itself, its connection and consumables.
It is generally accepted that after the passage of the water flow through the filtering equipment, the liquid loses not only harmful, but also useful qualities. To return, devices have been developed that saturate liquids with necessary substances. Check if they are included.
It is also necessary to take into account the type of sewage system, since all impurities will sooner or later end up in it.
When using chemical reagents, it is impossible to direct wastewater to water circulating closed sewage facilities and those that work due to beneficial microorganisms, for example, in the Topas septic tank. Biobacteria simply die.
Brand or high value does not always speak of perfect quality. To buy a really suitable device, you need to take into account individual water indicators, as well as reviews on the World Wide Web and the recommendations of specialists. Only then can we make a balanced and informed decision about installing a water treatment system.
