How to Choose the Best Water Filter for Your Needs

Leonardo da Vinci once said that “Water is the driving force of nature”. It should also be the driving force in your kitchen. Without clean water, everything from ice, to pasta sauce can have its taste negatively altered. Properly filtered water isn’t just essential in maintaining proper taste, it’s also crucial for the efficiency and safety of your appliances.

The average commercial kitchen has six water filters that need to be replaced twice a year. Since water filters catch hazardous minerals, dirt, and other filth, replacing them can improve the overall health of your kitchen and keep your equipment functioning at top efficiency. Machines of all kinds can develop mineral buildup, and even with filters, this can break down the equipment and make it difficult to operate.  Knowing which type of water filter to install in each appliance can sound daunting, but we’ve outlined the four common water filters below to make your decision as easy as possible.

Carbon Filter Systems:

Carbon filters are one of the oldest methods of water filtration and come highly recommended by the EPA. Carbon filters are most effective at removing sediment and chlorine to improve the taste and odor of water without compromising its mineral density. In addition, they are the only kind of filter recommended by the EPA to remove familiar poisons and herbicides. This filter is a popular choice if your business resides in a location with clean water and you’re simply looking to remove organic chemicals and odors from your water.

Reverse Osmosis Systems:

Reverse osmosis systems take unfiltered water and guide it through a semi-permeable membrane that works as an extremely fine filter. These filters often catch contaminants that carbon filters might miss, such as heavy metals, industrial chemicals, sulfates, chlorides, and fluorides. Though it’s able to filter a higher quantity of contaminants, these filters result in more water waste than others. For every one gallon of filtered water retrieved, you may have lost up to nine gallons of water during the filtration process. Reverse osmosis systems are a great choice if you live somewhere that doesn’t have drought water regulations as they use quite a bit of water.

Ultra Violet Light Systems:

Rather than passing water through a filter, UV light filters use ultra violet lamps to disrupt the DNA of micro-organisms within. These filters help to remove contaminants that can cause diseases such as Salmonella. E. Coli, flu, dysentery, and more. However, unlike reverse osmosis and carbon systems, these filters don’t remove chemicals or heavy metals. UV light purification is often used in commercial ice machines since ice can sit for long periods of time and develop the exact contaminants that UV light filters remove. It’s important to note, that these filters can be used in combination with carbon filter or reverse osmosis systems for optimal filtration.

Sediment Filter Systems:

Sediment filters remove solid matter that can be found in water such as sand, small pieces of organic matter, or rust flakes. This is accomplished by using beds of natural material such as garnet or anthracite to filter out unwanted particles like dust and iron. While sediment filters can help reduce the buildup of matter in your equipment, they may not filter water as effectively as the other filtration methods above. Sediment filters don’t remove any chemicals or heavy metals from water and are therefore typically used in only residential locations such as apartment complexes or single-family homes.

Choosing a water filter can seem trivial, but we hope our breakdown has helped guide your way. We understand that while running a commercial kitchen, you have hundreds of daily tasks to complete and delegate. Luckily for you, CPS is here to make your life a little easier. Call CPS at (800) 837-8327 and we’ll not only remind you when it’s time to replace your water filters, but also set you up with an automatic replacement delivery plan at an affordable price. With our promise to beat any price, same-day shipping, and leading brands like Everpure and Cuno, you can count on CPS to keep your water suitable for your kitchen and your customers.