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How Many Microns Should Your Water Filter Be? Explained!

Published by: Paulo Baker

How Many Microns Should Your Water Filter Be

When you are searching for a good water filter for your house, you must have certainly come across the term ‘micron rating’. It is important you fully understand this term if you wish to get only clean and healthy drinking water.

One major problem that the majority of people face while buying their water filters is “How many microns should your water filter be?”. In this article, we are going to address the same question. 

Micron and Micron Filter

A micron water filter works to discard any kind of contaminants from your water including even the tiniest of particles.

The size of the pores in the water filter cartridge is calculated in microns. A micron refers to one-millionth of one meter or in simpler words, it is 1 micrometer. 

The lesser the micron level of your water filter, the smaller the elements it will be able to remove.

For instance, a 1-micron water filter will discard components down to the size of 1 micron. Any other tinier component will simply pass from the water filter’s pores. 

How Many Microns Should your Water Filter be?

Many people are troubled by this question and that makes sense as it is an important consideration while buying a water filter for your home.

Firstly, it is important to mention that the micron rating may vary for everyone based on a few factors. 

  • Firstly, the area and the available water supply have a great role to play in determining the appropriate micron rating for your water filter. Remember that every water supply (well and city both) inside a given region may also vary to a great extent. 
  • Secondly, it is important to understand your requirements. You must be aware of what is present in your water and what you wish to filter out. Parasitic cysts are one of the most common elements found in the majority of the water supplies in different areas. It is important to note that they may have extremely hazardous effects on the human body. 

Although many cities make sure to conduct water treatment before supplying the water, these cysts along with many other bacteria may still enter the water supply in the city. Therefore, it becomes a good idea to invest in a micron water filter with a rating of 1 or less micron. It must also be checked and verified for effective cyst removal. 

  • It is worth mentioning that most bacteria generally range anywhere from 0.4 to 2 microns in size. In this case, a one-micron water filter will be more or less useless for removing bacteria with a size of less than 1 micron as it will simply pass through it. Hence, if you wish to get rid of the tiniest of particles, you must get a micron water filter with a rating of less than one micron if you wish to get fine water filtration. 
  • It is important to note that for the majority of the applications, water filters with a one-micron level are sufficient. If we talk about an estimate, it is found that this micron rating can discard 99.9% of the bacteria that is present in the water. 

Moreover, in case the water supply in your city already passes through treatment plants, most of the bacteria will already be removed even before passing through the water filter. The water filter then will work to remove lead and some other heavy metals that are most likely present in the water. 

  • In simpler terms, the lesser the size of the micron, the better it is for filtering your water. However, that comes with certain downsides. Flow capacity and flow rate may come down to a great extent due to smaller pores. To fix that, you will either need to switch to a greater micron level or get a bigger pump. This will help to make sure that there is lesser or no loss in the flow rate. 
  • Moreover, see whether you need a nominal or an absolute micron water filter. 
  • Lastly, you need to know that water filters keep getting dirty since everything that it removes out of your water, will remain inside the water filter itself. Therefore, if you have a smaller size of micron, you will need to change the filter more often based on the condition of the water that is passing through your water filter. 

Conclusion 

We hope that now you have a better idea of what micron rating is the best for your water filter. Understanding micron ratings is no rocket science. Rather, it just requires a few considerations that you will need to keep in mind to drink only pure and healthy water! 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

How does pressure drop influence a micron filter?

Pressure drop has a great role to play for micron water filters in determining the time to replace the water filter. Pressure drop, in simple words, is the difference between incoming and outgoing pressure. The pressure drop will rise when your water filter will get accumulated with waste. It is worth mentioning that a rise is a good sign that your water filter is now filled up to its maximum limit.

Why may it be a good idea to choose a higher micron rating?

A higher micron rating or a larger pore size of your water filter will imply that your water filter has lesser chances of getting blocked. Therefore, you will be required to replace the water filter less often in that case. If you are someone who does not require excessively fine filtration of the water contaminants, then you may choose a higher micron rating as larger pores will be less likely to get blocked and will require less maintenance.

Why Does the Micron Size Matter?

Micron size is not just a number but more or less a way for you to check the effectiveness of your water filter about purity. The lesser the micron size, the greater the number of pollutants it is removing out of your water to deliver you only clean and healthy water.

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Article by:

Paulo Baker

Paulo is a senior writer at Dash Appliances, where he research, writes, and reviews home and commercial water filters. Paulo is covering home-related things like water filters, vacuum cleaners, and more since 2019. When he's not researching and testing, he's traveling and playing golf.

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