With the rise in water pollution and new age contaminants entering our water supply, the need for purified and safe drinking water cannot be overemphasized.
Chemical contaminants like lead, arsenic, pesticides and organic impurities easily find their way into the drinking water and can wreak havoc with our health.
Conventional purification techniques are not enough to sufficiently purify water anymore. Hence, water purifiers are an essential appliance in our kitchens, today.
As the years have gone by, living conditions have also changed. Residences may not have running water supply or electricity supply may not be constant. Basis these circumstances, various water purifiers are available in the market to meet consumer needs.
The water conditions in our country vary from location to location, and so consumers need different purification technology based on their water supply.
There’s a variety of water purifiers and technology available in the market today –
Electric and Non-Electric Water Purifiers
Electric Water purifiers offer consumers the benefit of purification technologies, such as UV Technology, RO Technology and UF Technology. Such purifiers can be wall mounted in your kitchen, installed under the sink, inside a cabinet or be placed on a table top.
Non- Electric purifiers are typically gravity based and make use of Positive Charge, Resin or Chemical based technology to purify the water.
Storage and Non-Storage Water Purifiers
Availability of running water is an important prerequisite when choosing a water purifier for one’s home. In the absence of a constant water supply, storage water purifiers come into play.
The advantage that storage water purifiers have is that they eliminate the chore of filling the bottles, jugs or other containers with drinking water. Since the storage of purified water is internal, the fear of recontamination of water is removed.
While storage water purifiers do have an imminent advantage for consumers, an important factor to take into account, when considering the purchase of a storage water purifier is the material the storage tank is made of. Typically, the storage water purifiers available in the market in India today, are made of plastic and stainless steel (metal)
Kitchen tools, appliances and containers are made of two types of plastic – food grade plastic and non-food grade plastic.
Non-food grade plastic is a complete no-no, due to the potential carcinogenic threats it poses to human health among other negative health impacts.
Food grade plastic is made of ABS or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, which is highly durable, corrosion proof, and does not leach into food or water that comes into contact with it. Food grade plastic is a higher quality of plastic that has increased strength, rigidity, temperature and chemical resistance.
Food grade plastic may cost a little more than the regular plastic, but the benefits of food-grade plastic far outnumber the price difference between the two materials.
There are some manufacturers who make storage tanks out of stainless steel, as well. When choosing a tank made of stainless steel, you need to ensure that there are no joints or welds in the tank.
Not only are stainless steel tanks expensive, but they are also prone to pitting, over a period of time. What’s more, it is very difficult to ascertain when the process of pitting has begun.
Taking this information into consideration, Food grade plastic appears to be the most feasible option when it comes to storage tanks in water purifiers. The Aquaguard & Dr. Aquaguard range of water purifiers feature storage tanks made of food grade plastic.
