HOW TO CHOOSE BEST WATER FILTER?
UNDERSTANDING FOR CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR & TYPES OF WATER FILTER IN MALAYSIA
Consumer Thinking and Buying Behaviour
As consumer being, they will choose for pricing and convenient at first. They will not check for details in how the water filter works and how many contaminants the filter can remove. They will ask for the pricing first to see whether they can afford to buy. Second thinking will be filter maintainence fee. They will check how long they can use and if can use longer or no need to change filter is good. After pricing, they will check whether the water filter have hot and cold device. They want to find hot and cold water dispenser for convenient purpose. They do not need to boil the water or even cold water. If you really investigate all the water filter in Malaysia and you will found out most of the brand are selling similar function and 3 main consumer focus as written above (Water filter pricing, maintenance fee and hot/cold dispenser)
Types of Water Filter in Malaysia
There are 7 types of water filter in Malaysia:
1) Reverse Osmosis - It filters through a membrane which removes all the contaminants including beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium which our body needs all this minerals. There is a lot of research written about health risks from drinking RO water. In addition, RO water filter do not have function to kill bacteria and viruses. WHO research written RO water may increased risk of sudden death and water with low mineral may associated with higher risk of pregnancy problem, sudden death of infants and some types of cancer. Besides, it also may have bone fracture problem for children and elderly.
Health risk from drinking Reverse Osmosis Water
2) Alkaline water - They claim that alkaline water is good for health. Before adding any additional beneficial element into water, effective filtration process should come first. There is lack of proven scientific research that alkaline water is good for health. It may have negative side effects such as lowering down our natural stomach acidity that helps in killing bacteria and prevent undesirable pathogens from entering our bloodstream. Besides, it will cause digestion problem when our natural stomach aciditiy drop. Too much alkalinity will cause metabolic alkalosis which may have the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, hand tremors, muscle twitching, skin irritation and confusion.
Health risk from Alkaline Water
3) Activated Carbon Filtration - Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a bed
of activated carbon to remove contaminants and
impurities. Activated carbon works via a process called adsorption,
whereby pollutant molecules in the fluid to be treated are
trapped inside the pore structure of the carbon substrate.
Carbon filtering is commonly used for water purification. It is an effective way to filter off all the contaminants depending on filter range. The smaller the filter pore and the pricing will be different. The filter pore micron size is range around 0.2 - 50 micron.
Activated Carbon Filter
4) Ceramic Filtration - Effectiveness depends on quality of the ceramic filter and it have ability to remove larger size protozoa and bacteria but it do not have ability to remove viruses. It do not have chlorine residual protection and can lead to recontamination. The filter must always clean regularly.
Ceramic filtration
5) UV Light Technology - UV light has been used for decades as natural disinfectant. It can be used to clean drinking water like hospital, medical facilities and food industry. It can effectively kill off harmful bacteria and viruses.
UV light Technology
6) Combination Activated carbon filter and UV light technoloy - The best combination of water filtration that can remove contaminants and kill off bacteria and viruses. UV light technology have been successfully used in pharmaceutical and food industries to destroy free chlorine and chloramines present in water included bacteria, viruses, yeasts and moulds (and their spores). It also suitable for normal healthy person and dialysis patient.
Household Water Purification
7) Others - Ozone water, oxygen water, hydrogen water and others are all about marketing strategy name. Malaysia people still trust on something great name and title than doing research about how the water filtration works. This is why Malaysia have a lot of special name of water filtration.
UNDERSTAND OUR SOURCE OF CONTAMINANTS IN MALAYSIA
Our ordinary tap water contains good minerals (calcium, magnesium, floride and etc) and our body needs it for health. The water will be treated with chlorine treatment by municipalities before reaching our home. From municipal source to our home may have contaminated through water pipe and etc. Our main sources of water contamination are from industrial discharge from chemical industries, sewage from surrounding area, pesticides from farming area, detergents and fertiliser, storage leakage, soil contamination, petroleum product and etc. Water pollution may caused by daily waste thrown by us that will lead to waterborne disease. Therefore, we need to choose reliable water filter to remove all the contaminants.
Recently diesel oil based found in our water supply. Besides, the water will become yellowish or rusty water whenever have water disruption problem.
HOW TO CHOOSE BEST WATER FILTER?
1) Product Performance
Filtration performance should be as priority and main reason we buy water filter. What if the water filter do not state the water filter performance but they are just mention how cheap is the pricing, maintenance fee and they have hot/cold dispenser that is convenience to consumer? Do not get blinded by their marketing strategy. We should look at their water filter performance as priority and how they filter off. In addition, by reading the information in brochure or information by retailers is not sufficient. Ask for more proven that can remove contaminants and how they kill off the bacteria/viruses.
2) Certification and recognition
Certification of product actually is reliable than artists or any social influencers that promoting the product. Frankly speaking, most of the artist get paid for advertisement purpose and they are not real water specialist. Unless they are using it and they share about the testimonials of using this brand.
Search for NSF International - To check whether have certification in water filter just like professional association such as lawyer or engineer - http://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/
3) Study the product features and benefits
Every water filter have their own benefits and functions but some of the advertisement are over claimed and do not have any scientific evidence. Please be cautious about the claim and search for the answer.
What is your budget?
What is your objective to buy water treatment system?
What is product performance?
Can they kill bacteria and viruses?
Are the replacement part affordable?
Are the replacement part easily to get?
How long they will continue to have the servicing?
Other Sources:
1) Dechlorination Activated Carbon and uv light technology
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19909414
2) Alkaline Water do not health beneficial for human
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313681.php
3) What does Alkaline Water does to our body?
https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/what-alkaline-water-does-to-your-body/
4) Demineralization of drinking water
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223198/
5) Finding water filter can be complicated?
http://www.nsf.org/newsroom/why-is-finding-a-water-filter-so-complicated-weve-got-the-answers
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