Filtration of water for the home: dispelling myths. Ways to purify drinking water at home The easiest ways to purify water

The choice of cleaning method depends on the composition of the water itself and the available possibilities.

Tap water supplied to apartments differs in a different proportion of harmful components.

That's why there is a need to choose the optimal method of post-treatment, with which you can effectively reduce the amount of harmful substances.

In some cases, a person has to use water from natural sources. In this case, the problem of disinfection comes to the fore.


In order to objectively make a choice in favor of one or another cleaning method, it is necessary to have an idea of ​​its advantages, disadvantages and the algorithm of application.

The main methods home water purification without filter are:

  • Defending;
  • Boiling;
  • Freezing;
  • Distillation method;
  • Carbon adsorption;
  • Silver cleansing;
  • Iodization;
  • Shunging;
  • Silicon treatment;
  • Tourmaline application;
  • Cleansing with herbs.

Upholding

it the most easily accessible and cost-effective way additional treatment.

The result of this process is the volatilization of gaseous chlorine and the precipitation of heavy metal salts.

Defending is considered a simple but ineffective technique.... Only the upper third of the water volume is freed from chlorine. The lower layers contain an increased amount of pollutants.

According to the rules, water must be in an open container for at least 24 hours. After that, it is carefully drained in less than half the volume.

The settled water, without any further processing, can be used for watering plants or filling an aquarium.

Boiling

Simple, convenient, cheap and relatively effective way. The main purpose of boiling is to destroy pathogenic microorganisms., chlorine and low-temperature gases (radon, ammonia).

At the same time, the method has its drawbacks:


To neutralize the negative consequences, it is recommended to use already settled liquid for boiling and limit the boiling time to 15 minutes. In this case, the container with water must be open.

Attention! Not all microorganisms are killed by short-term heating to 100 degrees!

Most pathogenic bacteria (staphylococcus, typhoid bacillus, shigella, Koch's bacillus and others) die when boiled in a few seconds... However, there are also more resistant microorganisms.

An example would be the hepatitis A virus, which dies in boiling water only after 5 minutes. Even greater endurance is shown by anthrax spores, which can withstand boiling.

Freezing

The method is based on a physicochemical phenomenon, according to which, first of all, crystal clear water turns into ice.

Substance with impurities freezes last. The instructions for using freezing are simple.

Water is poured into an open container and placed in a freezer. When half of the liquid is frozen, the ice is taken out, and the rest is drained. Thawed ice is ready to eat without any additional processing.

Distillation method

Obtaining pure, salt-free water is based on distillation. The technological process in everyday life requires special equipment - a distiller. It is a system of a container in which water is heated, a tube through which steam moves and a container in which the purified liquid is collected.

The method has two indisputable advantages:

  1. Almost complete release from salts occurs.
  2. When heated, microorganisms die.

However, there are also disadvantages:

  1. Light organochlorine is carried along with the steam.
  2. Water loses biologically essential trace elements.

Important! Long-term use of distilled water leads to the leaching of potassium, iron, manganese and other physiologically important elements from the body.

Carbon adsorption

Due to its porous structure the substance actively absorbs mineral and organic impurities.

The cleaning option is simple and convenient, but it also has disadvantages. The sorption capacity of coal is limited.

Home instructions for use are simple. Several tablets are placed in a gauze bag and placed in a vessel with water.

The dosage of the sorbent is 1 tablet per 1 liter of liquid. Functional analogues of coal are crushed coconut shells or grated seeds of fruit trees.

Silver

Silver is a metal with pronounced bactericidal properties. This is the basis for its application in the biological purification of liquids.

In terms of the level of action, silver is equated to bleach. This metal is even used in swimming pools for disinfection. It is known that the water supplied to the international space stations is preserved with silver.

For home bio-purification, it is enough to put a silver object in a container with water.

But with this method, the proportion of metal passing into water will be low.

To get a more pronounced effect, it is necessary to use a solution where silver is in ionic form.

Carefully! It has been scientifically proven that in high concentrations, silver has a negative effect on a living cell. Therefore, it is undesirable to abuse this method.

Iodization

Iodine is widely used in medicine as a disinfectant. This property is also used for domestic purposes. The advantage of iodine is its high bactericidal ability.


However, along with this plus, the method has significant drawbacks.
  1. Firstly, only biological treatment takes place.
  2. Secondly, the water acquires a characteristic iodine odor.

This greatly limits the use of iodization. An analogue of this method can be bromination. But the use of bromine is expensive, so it is not widely used at home.

Shunging

Shungite - fossil mineral with unique physical and chemical properties.

It is an excellent sorbent that absorbs:

  • chlorine,
  • nitrates,
  • heavy metals,
  • organics.

Shungite has bactericidal properties. The mineral contains a large number of trace elements, due to this, the water is mineralized when infused.

Important to remember that the mineral has a limited sorption capacity. Microbes, accumulating inside the stone, are able to live there. Therefore, the shungite filter should be periodically replaced with a new one.

Silicon treatment

To find a suitable method for purifying water, you need to know which pollutants are present in the greatest amount.

Before embarking on household post-treatment of tap or natural water, it is worth collecting information on its composition.

The ideal option is laboratory analysis or household tests. Such data will help to navigate in the choice of the desired method of water purification.

Important! If the same container is used for cleaning and disinfection, it must be washed periodically. In the light, the water "blooms", that is, green algae appear in it, which remain on the walls of the vessel and worsen the quality of each subsequent portion of water.

Conclusion

The quality of water supplied to apartments and houses is regulated by sanitary and hygienic standards. Despite state control, the water supplied to the consumer does not always comply with the standards. Household post-treatment methods help to cope with the emerging problem.

The presented review makes it possible to objectively evaluate the entire range of methods and choose the most suitable one in specific conditions. Cleaning at home saves on expensive modern ones.

With proper execution and combination of methods, the output can be water with good organoleptic and chemical characteristics.

The importance of clean drinking water for the human body has been proven for a long time, since then a variety of filtration systems have become more and more in demand. In addition, many people are interested in how to purify water with improvised means. This is especially true in case of insurance, if, for some reason, special devices do not inspire confidence or have become unusable. And also such methods allow you to significantly save money spent on all kinds of installations and cartridges.

All that needs to be done is to choose a suitable liquid treatment option, or even several, and debug its system of work in order to cover the needs of the whole family.

Advantages and disadvantages of boiling, settling and freezing

First of all, it is necessary to evaluate the simplest and most affordable ways by which tap water is purified. These are physical options for exposure without the use of any filter, which have both obvious advantages and serious disadvantages:

  • Boiling. In the process of exposure to high temperature tap water, the liquid is sterilized. The main advantage of the approach is the fact that the death of pathogenic microorganisms occurs. True, for the cleansing to really take place, the product must be boiled for at least 15 minutes with the lid open. Only then will the harmful components evaporate. It is worth considering that the water becomes "dead", ie. useless for the body, and nothing can be done about it. In addition, chlorine does not disappear anywhere, but only changes, turning into an even more dangerous compound for humans.

  • Defending. Another simple approach, the use of which is convenient only if there is no time limit. You need to pour the liquid into a bowl and leave for at least 8 hours. Such water purification at home allows you to get rid of chlorine and a number of other volatile chemical compounds. True, heavy metals remain in the liquid, although they settle to the bottom. To get rid of them, the water cannot be chatted and stirred, and after insisting it must be carefully poured into another dish, leaving at least a quarter of the product at the bottom.

  • Freezing. Today, water purification by freezing is considered one of the most effective among the primitive physical methods. You need to do the following: pour water into a saucepan or plastic dish and put it in the freezer. Next, the most difficult thing begins - we make sure that only half of the liquid freezes. Then we drain the liquid part (all salts and harmful components remain in it), and melt the frozen one, and it becomes drinkable. It is recommended to drink such a product immediately, because it is considered to be healing. Therefore, you need to set a schedule for when it is best to freeze water.

Tip: Today, highly chlorinated water flows from the tap, which is considered safe for humans and supposedly can be used in everyday life. In fact, if you use it in its "pure" form, you can face digestive disorders, allergic reactions, penetration of worms into the body and, paradoxically, dehydration.

Choosing between boiling, settling and freezing, you need to take into account that you can control the quality of the product only in the latter case, because water rich in mineral salts freezes very slowly. Therefore, the use of this approach in the absence of a high-quality filter is considered by experts to be the most logical solution.

Rules for the use of cleaning components

A number of chemical compounds can be used as a cleaning filter. Most often, at home, water is purified with silicon, table salt, shungite, activated carbon and silver. The methods for preparing drinking liquid in these cases are as follows:

  • The use of table salt. For 2 liters of tap water, take a tablespoon of salt with a slide and dissolve. We insist the product for 20 minutes, after which it can be consumed. With the help of such a kind of filter, the liquid can be made free of heavy metal salts and pathogenic microorganisms. Unfortunately, this kind of purification of tap water cannot be used too often.

  • Cleansing with pharmacy silicon. It is best to purchase the product at the pharmacy, so as not to face additional problems later. First, the ingredient must be thoroughly rinsed under lukewarm running water. Then we put it in a container with water at the rate of 3 g of stone per 1 liter of liquid. The container with silicon should be covered with gauze and removed to a bright place, but away from direct sunlight. This filter will purify the water in about 2-3 days. To get the maximum benefit from the product, it must be drained into a new container, leaving at least 3 cm of sediment in the old one.

  • Shungite. Another stone with which people are increasingly purifying water. To make tap water drinkable, you need to place a stone weighing 100 g in a liter of water and stand it for three days, then drain, leaving a little product at the bottom. From time to time, such a natural filter needs to be cleaned with a hard sponge or changed.

  • Activated carbon. The natural product not only purifies water, but also eliminates unpleasant odors, absorbs harmful substances that have entered the liquid from the surface of the pipes. You just need to wrap several tablets of the drug in gauze (1 piece per liter of liquid) and place them in water for 8 hours.

  • Silver. Its properties are still used, because the component acts much more efficiently than carbolic acid and bleach. In order to start water purification, you need to place a silver coin or spoon in a container with tap liquid and leave for at least 10 hours.

At home, if you wish, you can make a real filter, but in terms of the quality of work, it still cannot surpass the described methods or industrial products.

Simple and safe folk remedies

Before you purify water at home using one of the folk remedies, you need to take into account that their effectiveness will directly depend on the quality and environmental friendliness of the components used.

  • Rowan. We just put a bunch of berries in a container of water and wait a couple of hours. Such a natural filter purifies water no worse than activated carbon and silver.
  • Wine, vinegar. People knew how to purify water with wine thousands of years ago. You just need to take 300 ml of white wine (dry, young) per liter of water, mix and insist for at least 4 hours. In the absence of this ingredient, it is allowed to use vinegar. Only you need to take it no more than a teaspoon for the same volume.

Experts warn against trying to quench your thirst with distilled water. Although this product does not contain harmful components, there is no benefit from it either. But the regular use of such a liquid accelerates the process of removing vitamins and minerals from tissues, which is dangerous for the body. Well, the easiest way is to buy at least a simple jug with a filter that will not take up much space, will not cause trouble, and at the same time will provide the family with clean drinking water.


Tap water contains a variety of harmful chemical compounds and elements. Drinking such water impairs the taste of drinks and dishes, can worsen well-being and health, and also lead to all sorts of diseases.

To disinfect tap water, it is chlorinated, which kills viruses and bacteria, but as a side effect of its use, the protein structures of the body are destroyed, the condition of the mucous membranes worsens and the intestinal microbiota suffers.

Often, chlorine contributes to the development of allergies. To eliminate the above problems, water must be eliminated from chlorine and other substances dissolved in it, for which there are a number of ways. And, of course, all problems with drinking water are solved by water delivery.

Water purification filters

The most common way to purify tap water is to purchase and use household filters. These can be stationary filters built into plumbing fixtures or filter jugs.


Water is poured into the filter jug, after settling in it, it can be drunk or used to purchase food. The filter should be changed at least once a month.

But there are also cheaper and easier cleaning methods.

Boiling and settling

To clean, boil water in a saucepan with the lid removed for 15 minutes. Boiling removes all harmful elements except bleach. But the bleach will evaporate if the water is allowed to stand for 8 hours. In a container with settled water, heavy metal compounds accumulate in the lower third of the vessel; to obtain clean water, carefully drain from above 2/3 of the contents for further use.

Freezing water

Melted water contains significantly less harmful impurities than tap water. You should not freeze water in glass containers or plastic bottles, containers made of safe food grade plastic are most suitable.

Wait for the water exposed to frost or in the freezer to freeze halfway, and drain the unfrozen part. Melt the ice and use it as drinking water.

Activated carbon water purification

Wrap the activated charcoal tablets purchased at the pharmacy in gauze and place in a vessel with tap water at the rate of 1 charcoal tablet per 1 liter of water. It takes 8 hours to completely clean the water.

Water purification with silicon and silver

Buy silicon in the form of pebbles from the pharmacy, rinse them with warm water, place in a glass jar at the rate of 3 g of silicon per 1 liter of water. The jar should be placed in a shaded place, and after 3 days, drink carefully the water drained from above, the lower layers of water should not be consumed.

Metallic silver disinfects water well, for which a silver coin or spoon should be placed in a vessel with water for 10-12 hours.

Other methods of water purification

Other methods of water purification are also known, but they are ineffective or not suitable for everyone. The effectiveness of water purification with magnets has not been proven, and the effect of magnets of different designs differs tenfold, and water purified by shungite is contraindicated for people with a number of diseases, acute and chronic.

We did not even mention the purification of water with table salt, since when drinking this water, the recommended daily intake of table salt is exceeded, and white dry wine (although this method was widely used in antiquity and the Middle Ages).

In field conditions, you can purify the water by adding 1-2 teaspoons of 6% table vinegar or apple cider vinegar per liter of water, or 3 drops of a pharmacy 5% alcohol tincture of iodine, complete cleaning by these methods requires 6 hours of time.

Rowan clears the water even faster - put a bunch of rowan in a container for 3 hours. If mountain ash does not grow nearby, you can use bird cherry leaves, willow bark, juniper branches or onion husks. Such cleaning takes 12 hours.

Every person needs water for life, we drink it, with the help of water we prepare food for ourselves, my body with it. We are accustomed to, as a matter of course, that by opening the tap, we get water from the mains. But this water is far from ideal quality, so it requires additional purification. But how to do it at home without expensive industrial multi-level filters?

What's wrong with tap water?

Water - this is a source of not only liquid, but also mineral salts for the body, a person cannot do without water, it must constantly be in our homes. But tap water is intended for domestic needs - washing dishes, bathing and doing laundry. It is better not to use it for drinking, there are too many chloride compounds in it. They are added to water to disinfect it from viruses and microbes that can be dangerous to human health.

However, chlorine itself is unsafe: it negatively affects body proteins, irritates the mucous membranes of the digestive system, disrupts the intestinal microflora and causes general allergization of the body. In addition, chlorine in water also forms by-products that are potentially hazardous to the body and require preliminary removal from it.

In addition, the quality of tap water also depends on its hardness - the amount of calcium and magnesium salts, as well as impurities of iron and other minerals. If there are a lot of salts, this can negatively affect the kidneys, if there are few minerals, the body will suffer from a lack of them, the skeleton will become more fragile, weakness will appear, hair loss and dry skin.

The taste of food cooked with tap water differs greatly from that of food cooked with purified water. Fragments of rust, dirt, scale and other impurities can get into the soup or the second from tap water. A coffee or tea in general will be frankly spoiled, despite the most expensive varieties of the raw materials themselves.

By the way, it has been proven that even strong chlorination does not kill lamblia cysts, and you can easily catch them when drinking raw water. Therefore, do not neglect at least the simplest methods of water purification, then your health will be significantly supported.

Water purification methods

We present to your attention the simplest ways to purify water.

Boiling water

This method, of course, will remove germs and viruses from it, but not chlorine compounds. When the temperature rises, chlorine reacts with salt impurities in water and converts them into chlorine compounds, which are unsafe for health. In addition, boiling precipitates some of the salts on the walls of the dishes, look into your kettle and see how many there are.

Water sedimentation

It is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to remove chlorine from water. Chlorine is a volatile compound; when the water stands for 6-8 hours, all chlorine dissolved in it will evaporate. Stir the water several times to help separate the chlorine.

The disadvantage of this method is that heavy metal salts are not removed during settling.

Freezing water

One of the most effective ways to purify water at home without the use of special devices is to freeze it.

How to Purify Tap Water?

Water is a special compound, a solution of ions, it contains an admixture of the so-called "heavy" deuterium water. These are special heavy hydrogen ions from water, which negatively affect the health of the elderly and children. Such water freezes before the total mass, remove the needle net of deuterium water, and freeze the rest in an open plastic container (it is better not to freeze glass containers: water, freezing, expands, and the glass may burst).

After freezing, the ice will have a layered appearance - there will be turbid ice with impurities and harmful compounds at the edges, and pure water in the center. This cloudy ice thaws faster, it is drained, and the core is used for drinking and cooking. The only drawback of melt water is that there are few useful salts in it, for drinking it is better to add 100 g of mineral water to a liter of such water.

Water treatment methods (continued)

Charcoal cleaning

This method of water purification is known to avid travelers and the military. Cleaning a glass of water requires 1 tablet of regular pharmacy coal - it is pounded, wrapped in cheesecloth and poured with water, after 15 minutes, filter the water through a fine sieve. This water tastes good and is odorless. However, coal does not save you from viruses and microbes - in the wild, such water still needs to be boiled additionally.

Silver cleaning

It is believed that silver neutralizes microbes and some metal salts, although the power of silver in cleaning is greatly exaggerated. It is recommended to leave a silver piece - a spoon or a special pendant - in a container with water overnight. Water settling and disinfection works at the same time.

Water purification with magnets

Another of the popular methods, which has dubious effectiveness. It is recommended to gird the container with water with magnets and leave the water for several hours. Option: wrap magnets around the pipe that supplies water to the tap. This method does not protect against chlorine and microbes, but theoretically it can purify water from iron and its salts by magnetizing it.

Every year the ecological situation in the settlements is deteriorating significantly. Therefore, taking care of your health comes to one of the main places. You can take vitamins and go to the fitness club. But if at the same time you drink dirty water, then all efforts are useless. There are several ways to improve your quality of life and help your body recover. To do this, you need to know how to purify water at home.

Most of the methods have been in use for several millennia. Throughout the history of the development of society, people have been busy providing their homes with clean drinking water. Let's take a look at a few of the methods available that can be used wherever you like.

Purifying water at home using the old method

For several millennia, the special disinfecting properties of copper have been known. Passing water through such a water supply system, the inhabitants of ancient Egypt and Rome had a clean drink, in which there were no pathogenic bacteria. But this substance also has negative qualities. Its compounds are highly toxic. Therefore, storing water in a copper vessel is life-threatening. It takes only four hours to disinfect it. After this time, clean water must be poured into another container.

In Russia and India, water purification at home was carried out with the help of silver plates or dishes. This method is still used by the Russian Orthodox Church to prepare holy water. A silver object placed in a vessel will cleanse the liquid much faster and better than chlorine gas, carbolic acid, and bleach. But the main plus is that the disinfecting effect of this liquid lasts for several months.

The method of disinfection used by herbalists and ancient healers aroused great interest of scientists. Water purification was carried out using willow bark, bird cherry leaves, juniper and mountain ash branches. In this way, it is possible to purify even swamp water, relieving it of unpleasant taste and smell. To do this, you need to collect it in any container and hold the rowan branches in the vessel for about 2-3 hours.

But the oldest method, which has been known since biblical times, involves the use of young dry white wine. Added to water in proportions of 1/3, the drink cleans it no worse than a silver plate.

Purification of water at home using modern methods

One of the easiest ways to disinfect is to boil the liquid. But even such an easy procedure must be carried out correctly. It will take 5 to 10 minutes to kill 50% of the bacteria. If the process is performed within 30 minutes, then 99% of pathogenic microorganisms will be destroyed. And only the anthrax virus will die after one hour of continuous boiling. Although this method is considered the most common, it also has a major drawback. This liquid contains the maximum concentration of heavy metals, salts and nitrates.

At home, evaporation is widely known and is a method of obtaining distilled liquid. Although it has no bacteria at all, consuming it for a long time can have negative consequences. has the ability to flush useful trace elements and salts from the human body.

Freezing can be considered one of the simplest and most effective ways of water purification. This procedure is easy to carry out at home. And with a separate freezer, you can provide your family with clean water every day. It is enough to fill the jar with liquid. Then install it in the freezer. In the process of freezing, water molecules, turning into a crystal, displace all impurities.

It is necessary to wait until 2/3 of the total volume of the liquid turns into ice. We take out the jar and pour out the water, and transfer the piece of ice to another container and defrost it. In this way, we get pure water without impurities.