I have a Uni friend who works as an engineer for the Water Corporation and of course his job is treatment of water which is then channeled to our house for our everyday use (drinking, cooking, washing, bathing etc.). I have not seen him for many years and the first time I saw him and told him what I do workwise, he gave me a “look” of disgust. Not a very nice gesture but he went on saying, “you water filters guys are making us look bad. We work very hard to ensure good quality water goes to every household and you water filter people just go around telling everyone that our tap water is crap”.

Well at that point I’m just dealing with the industrial side of things so I don’t go around telling people that their “tap water is crap” but after venturing into the commercial and residential market space, I can see why my friend is upset.

The water quality that was treated by governments is highly regulated and complied to international standards (e.g., WHO: Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality) or standards specific to each country (e.g., NHMCR: Australian Drinking Water Guidelines). Through years of experience and research, the water treatment plants have strict operating procedures and methods to remove contaminants which are harmful for our consumption or use. At the same time chemicals like chlorine, chlorine dioxide, monochloramine and ozone are added to during the water treatment process to help to control micro-organisms, bacteria and viruses in our water. Permanent chlorination process started in 1905 in England due to a serious typhoid fever epidemic caused by the failure of slow sand filter which contaminated the water.

Finally other chemicals like coagulant and flocculants, pH adjusters like sodium hydroxide and fluoridation process ensues at acceptable quantities. All these have their specific functions during the water treatment process.

I must say that the water treatment bodies of each country are doing what is best to ensure safe water is coming out of their respective treatment plants for the consumption of the general public.

So, if the water authority is doing such a great job why does one need water filters?

CASE 1:I was up preparing breakfast around 6am one morning and when I turned on the kitchen tap, brownish/yellowish water flowed out. I was quick to grab my phone and took a video. Incidentally, I’ve also had a water filter so the video also shows the water after channeling through the water filter. Just to prove (i) the “brown/yellow” water is not due to lighting and (ii) water filter actually works. This phenomenon lasted for about 30 minutes then the water is back to normal.

CASE 2: We called the Water Corporation regarding a strange taste in our water. It tasted bitterish (unfortunately I cannot visually record taste). Water Corporation sent a technician to check our pipework and the soil around our house. He later reported that the surrounding and pipes seemed OK. He took a sample of our water and later called back to say tests results seemed alright. Well, I guess it’s alright cause this phenomenon again lasted only a couple of hours so by the time the technician got to my house, all the “bad” water has flowed through.

CASE 3: Our industrial customer producing canned coffee. One fine day while filling their brew tank with water, they find that the water is yellowish in color. He sent me photos. Later he called the council and found out that there are some road works that causes damage to the water pipe causing soil and mud to leached through.

These are a few of many cases that accidents and failure may occur in the delivery of water to our premise. Water coming out of the treatment plant is perfectly fine but that water needs to travel far through network of pipes to deliver to each home and premise.

Case 3 is a clear indication of how road-works accident has affected water quality due to the puncturing of water delivery pipe. Something that is out of the control of the water authority. This may also be the situation for Case 1 though I did not bother at that time to call up anyone to investigate. Case 2 is a classic example of what can be wrong. Notice what the technician did. He dug up some ground covering the water delivery pipe and scour the surroundings. So, the first point of any failure to water quality is actually is the area closest to you. For Case 3 it is road-works near the premise of the coffee brew house.

OBJECTIVES

REASON / OBJECTIVE 1: Having a water filter within our own home and premise is a protection. Think of it as buying an insurance in the event of accidental failure. Should there be a leach through the water delivery pipes, there is where the problem starts. Some of these pipes are old and some are due to construction accidents. Sometimes its during the upgrading and replacement of water pipes that the leach through occurs. For a short period of time during these replacement and repair works “dirty” water will flow through your taps and usually takes a while after the completion of the works that “clean” water will re-appear.

So, the main reason for having a water filter is for our own safety & health. Apart from the accidents which was explained earlier, having our own water filter also helps to address the chemicals which were added during the treatment process like chlorination, coagulation, flocculation, fluorination and so on. Though added at small and “safe” quantities, it does no harm to remove as much chemicals as possible before consumption. These chemicals in our water may also cause skin irritation for someone who has sensitive skin. And chlorine will also cause dry skin and hair despite the fact that it is also unpleasant to drink.

Water is a natural remedy and cure for a lot of health problems. We always heed the doctor’s advice of drinking more water whenever you are feeling under the weather. I recently had my COVID vaccination and 1st thing the nurse said after the jab…. drink lots of water. So, it pays to have clean, safe water…a small investment for our health.

(ATTENTION! For areas which uses bore water, river water, dam water and water other than that treated by relevant government municipals, kindly seek professional advice on your water quality in putting in the correct water treatment system to generate water safe for consumption)

REASON / OBJECTIVE 2: COMFORT & LIFESTYLE. The second reason for having a water filter is for our comfort. Enhancing the taste of water coming straight off the tap, having crisp, fresh smelling laundry, refreshed feeling after showering, moist skin and hair, stain-free cleaning of bathroom and car are some of the reasons to look into investing in a water filtration system. We are often so busy; we never really realize how much water was used in our everyday life. So don’t take for granted the quality of water that we are using.

REASON / OBJECTIVE 3: MONEY & COST. The third reason is to do with money. Protecting and prolonging the life of appliances such as washing machine, coffee maker, kettle, dishwasher, commercial oven & cooker, steam washer, taps, faucets, shower heads and so on. Some commercial kitchen appliances are expensive to own. Spare parts are expensive and sometimes hard to get.

Water can be damaging to most appliances though it’s required for cleaning, heating and cooking. The first thing that comes to mind associated with the damaging effect of water is rust or corrosion. This is usually overcome by using coatings, or materials less susceptible to rust such as plastics, aluminum or stainless steel. However, except for plastics, any metallic material is still susceptible to rust.

The next thing will be the fouling or scaling effect. Sometimes called limescale, this is caused by the presence of dissolved particles of calcium and magnesium in water. This is referred to as hardness in water. When the water evaporates, calcium carbonate deposits are generated and slowly build up on metallic surfaces forming limescales. The magnesium ions on the other hand will decompose into insoluble molecules and in the presence of fatty acids in soap form that soap scum on the surfaces in your bathroom or kitchen, inside pipes, and appliances. We have a client whose commercial washer’s heater element cost him $10,000.00 to replace and he needs to replace it once every year due to limescale formation. We planted a water softener and he has not replaced the heater for the past 2 years running.

Commercial kitchen, canteen, pantries, cafés & hotels are concern about delivering quality drinking & potable water for their guests. At the same time, they need quality water to make some finish products.

For example, for a café serving espresso and gourmet coffee & tea will require pristine quality water to match with the superior quality of coffee beans and tea leaves which will be made into the finish product. Imaging going to a café which serves your tea with a strong smell of chlorine!

A hotel will want fresh water for their guests for both drinking or bathing/washing purposes. One would not appreciate dirty or hard water flowing out of the bathroom taps.

Finally, one will not patronize a restaurant which food has a foul odor not normal of the usual smell of a certain dish.

STEPS IN FILTER

A. FIRST & FOREMOST – KEEP IT SIMPLE (The KISS Principle)
- Don’t over complicate things
- Remember by trying too hard or doing too much, you may be creating other problems with your water

B. DEFINE THE OBJECTIVE OF HAVING A WATER FILTER

C. DEFINE WHAT CONTAMINANTS YOU ARE CONCERN MOST ABOUT
Refer Contaminant Chart. Note: Kindly contact us if your contaminant of concern cannot be found on our Contaminant Chart.

D. DEFINE THE TARGETED AREA FOR THE WATER FILTER (Refer Selection Matrix)

E. CLICK ON THE AREA YOU ARE TARGETING

F. MAKE YOUR FILTER SELECTION

G. READ THROUGH THE DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS & FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE “REVIEW” TAB

H. MAKE YOUR CHOICE

SELECTION MATRIX

1. We categorize our products into sections or areas of a premise which one would like to treat the water. For commercial users, go straight to the “COMMERCIAL” OR “LARGE COMMERCIAL” categories. However, there may be some cross usage of residential products for Commercial use also. Please feel free to contact us if you fail to find what you are looking for.

2. Similarly for Residential users, we categorized our products into areas of a house or unit. Though we have pre-selected products there are still a whole lot of products to choose from so we further summarized them in the Selection Matrix below for your ease of selection.