Water filters: overview and situation in Europe

The tap water is tested for around 40-50 substances in accordance with the Drinking Water Ordinance. These include bacteria, nitrate and heavy metals. As long as the values are within the limit values, it is released as drinking water. If limit values are exceeded, boil orders and water alarms are prescribed. Unfortunately, this happens quite often in Europe, as almost daily press reports show, which we also link here.

There are also many substances in the water that do not need to be tested at all. Many pesticides that get into the groundwater and thus into the water cycle via fertilization from agriculture are not recorded. Drugs that we take but do not metabolize completely, or that are disposed of in the toilet, end up in the water as drug residues. Many of these cannot be filtered out by sewage works and can be detected in drinking water. Chemicals such as PFAS and hormone-like residues are another major problem.

If sewage works cannot remove the substances, individual solutions are required at home. Simple filter jugs do not solve the problem either, the impurities are too fine. A technology comes into question. The reverse osmosis. This is a natural process and it works like a very, very fine-pored sieve through which just the small water molecules fit, but everything else gets stuck and is also flushed out of the filter. New water does not always have to run through the waste of the previous one.

Reverse osmosis is thorough, but unfortunately it has a downside. It is relatively expensive compared to simple water filters if high-quality materials are used. Not at all compared to drinking bottled water over the years. Because it pays for itself very quickly and provides the purest drinking water for decades. It doesn’t matter which environmental pollution scandals are about to be uncovered.

Incidentally, reverse osmosis was developed for space travel so that astronauts in the space station can use their water again and again. Just like us here on earth, by the way. Water is not newly formed and the water we drink has been drunk and used several times over the course of time. It’s nice when it really gets clean again.

We offer reverse osmosis water filters that are made in Germany. The price range extends from a mobile entry-level model, which can be connected directly to the tap outlet at home, in the holiday home and also on the go, to stationary devices that are connected under the sink in the kitchen and supply clean drinking water via a separate drinking water tap. The water purity is almost the same for the models. Differences lie in the amount of water per minute and in electronic control. Replacement filters must be changed once a year. The membranes themselves do not need to be replaced regularly, they are designed for many years of use.

The devices are mounted on the cold water connection under the sink. The connection is quick and if you move, your water filter – no matter which one – simply moves with you. Dismantle and reconnect in the new apartment, done.

Reverse osmosis is not suitable for hot water. We offer shower filters separately. And if you specifically want to remove bacteria or limescale, we have flow filters that remove exactly these substances. These are also significantly cheaper.

Take a look around our website and if you have any questions, please give us a call, we will be happy to advise you.