{"id":1199,"date":"2023-04-03T20:22:38","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T02:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/?p=1199"},"modified":"2023-04-03T20:36:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T02:36:48","slug":"emergency-water-filters-and-what-they-actually-remove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/emergency-water-filters-and-what-they-actually-remove\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Water Filters and What They Actually Remove"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Having an emergency water filtration system is becoming more and more important these days. Many people choose to use them for just everyday use in order to help make sure that their drinking water is clean and free from most contaminants. But what contaminants are filtration systems removing, and which system is the most effective?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency water filters filter out many different contaminants in order to make water safe to drink and use. These contaminants include many different bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, and microplastics. Filters also should remove most of the foul taste and smell from water.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, those are a few of the many contaminants that filtration systems are having to filter out in order to make your water safer to drink, cook with, and use for hygiene purposes, but now which filtration system is best? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now let’s talk about the most popular filtration systems, what they filter out, and their pros and cons in order to help you figure out which system you should get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Few Of The Common Filters and What They Filter Out or Reduce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Photo
Left to Right. Big Berkey, Lifestraw Personal, Purewell Gravity Filter, Lifestraw Gravity Filter, Alexapure Gravity Filter, Sawyer 1-Gallon, Sawyer Personal Filter, and Brita Water Filter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Contaminants<\/th>Berkey w\/ Black Filter<\/th>Berkey w\/ Sterasyl Ceramic Filter<\/th>Berkey w\/ Black Filter & PF-2 Flouride<\/th>Alexapure Gravity Filter<\/th>Purewell Gravity Filter<\/th>Sawyer Gravity System<\/th>Lifestraw<\/th>Reverse Osmosis<\/th>Brita Elite Filter<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Pathogenic Bacteria<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Trihalomethanes<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/tr>
Inorganic Materials<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/tr>
Heavy Metals<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/tr>
Pharmaceutical Drug Contaminants<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/tr>
Petroleum Products<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Pesticides <\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/tr>
Volatile Organic Compounds<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
PFAS<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Microplastics<\/td>P<\/td>P<\/td>P<\/td>P<\/td>P<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Foul Taste & Odors<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Table: Common water filters and what contaminants they remove or at least reduce.<\/strong> Information comes from manufacturers’ websites and user guides. On items where the manufacturer’s testing doesn’t specify, but where it’s likely that the filter is effective I have placed a “P” for Probably.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Berkey with Black Filters <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first filter is the Berkey with Black Filters<\/a>, which is one of the smaller filters (though you can get larger sizes) it is a very high-quality filtration system that can filter over a gallon of water each hour, far over the FEMA<\/a>-recommended amount. This means that water won’t have to be a worry in an emergency situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What They Filter Out<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of how expensive this filter is, you’d hope that it would filter out most things, and fortunately, this is true. This filter is able to filter out nearly all bacteria, trihalomethanes, inorganic materials, heavy metals, pharmaceutical drug contaminants, VOCs, petroleum products, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, Berkey is currently in a bit of hot water because they’re accused of not actually filtering out everything they say they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n