Tap Water Purification Using Pitcher Filters

Abstract

Due to the high risk of exposure to various contaminants in drinking water, pitcher filtration is rapidly growing in popularity worldwide as a cheap and easy method to remove pollutants from drinking water. On the other hand, an evaluation of the real-time performance of pitchers is not possible for usual consumers. This study presents the performance of pitcher filtration in the removal of copper, chlorine, and chloroform from tap drinking water. Pitchers were packed with Aquaphor cartridges JS500, A5, and B25. Experiments were performed with model solutions, which were prepared from hard drinking water (7.5 mval/L, pH=7) spiked with copper, hypochlorite sodium, and chloroform. It was found that pitcher filtration is a very effective method for the removal of pollutants such as heavy metals, chlorine, and disinfectants byproducts. The concentration of copper, chlorine, and chloroform in filtrates did not exceed the maximum admissible values. Cartridges JS500, A5, and B25 reduced chlorine at a comparable level – almost 100%. During the whole experimental period, removal of chloroform was slightly better for JS500 (100%) and A5 (100%) cartridges than for B25 (91.4–97.7%).

Effectiveness of point-of-use (POU) filter system for removal of contaminants from water

“…According to the authors, the different changes in pH values are due to the different filtering media. Krolag et al [17] also report a decrease in the pH of filtrates from pitcher filters designed to decrease water hardness. Apart from the difference in pH values, they also observed a stronger decrease in conductivity (35%) from groundwater and well samples compared to our results.…”

“…Contrary to our results Al-Haddad et al [21] observed a reduction in the concentrations of major cations and anions, including NO3, only in the case of reverse osmosis, but not in the case of pitcher filters. Krolag et al [17] report more than 80% reduction in the amount of nitrates in the treated waters after filtration with pitcher filters. Their results are close to the value we obtained after two consecutive filtrations of the model water.…”