Whenever water enters your house through a filter, you should ensure that it will be dust-free and health beneficial when reaching your glasses. A dependable whole home water filter system can assuredly dispel your worries about invisible chemicals, germs, or other pollutants entering your body via your drinking or inhaling from your showers.
However, it would be best if you verified that the micron size of your whole home water filtration system is suitable to guarantee that even the tiniest particles are filtered out. Since understanding that can be difficult, here is the article on “How Many Microns Should Your Water Filter Be?“ for you. Let’s get started with the basic information.
What Is A Micron Filters?
Dirt, trash, and even tiny particles are removed from water via micron filtration. Micron is a measurement of the filter cartridge’s pore size. The finer the particle is eliminated, the lower the micron rating. The dimension of the particle that you have to filter out of your water determines which size of micron filter you require.
For instance, a 5-micron filter can eliminate particles as tiny as 5 microns, everything smaller goes through the filter. The most popular form of microfilter is a sediment filter, which works similarly to screen windows in that they let air in for a while, keeping pests out, but the debris prevented is super tiny.
How Many Microns Should Your Water Filter Be?
To find the best micron filter for you, it is vital to examine your location and water source. In London, for instance, dirt is extremely tiny. Thus, a 1-micron or finer filter can be required to catch all of the microscopic particles. Bear in mind that each pump or city water supply system in a particular area is different.
It would help if you also thought about what you are attempting to get out of the water. Cysts are microscopic germs that may make you very sick and are present in several water sources.
Although most city water filtering systems ensure that the water is devoid of cysts, other microorganisms can nevertheless enter the public water supply. Point-of-use micron filters, generally 1 micron or smaller, reviewed and proven for cyst elimination is an excellent option.
Parasitic Cysts Can Cause Disease In Human
What Is A Micron Rating?
Overall Description
To comprehend a micron-scale, we must first grasp the concept of a micron. A micron is a unit of measurement equal to one-millionth of a meter. That is a teeny-tiny unit of measurement!
A micron is approximately the dimension of a single grain of ground flour, whereas red blood cells are around 6-7 microns in diameter.
Everything smaller than 40 microns is undetectable to the naked eye and requires the use of a microscope to observe.
Micron-scale refers to the dimensions of the pores on the filter and thus the size of debris that gets stuck on the filter when the water runs through it.
Micron Rating Scale
For instance, a 5-micron filter allows bigger particles to go through the pores while the same particles can not penetrate through one micron-rated filter. Here are the most common micron sizes for filters: 100, 50, 30, 10, 5, 3, 1.5, 1 and 0.5, 0.2 .
The Meaning of Micron Ratings
Here we are with the most popular micron filters using the micron scale. We will discover them one by one, starting from the smaller to the greater one.
0.2 Micron Water Filter
Designed to eliminate impurities with a diameter of 0.2 microns or greater, this micron rating filter delivers a superior filtration quality commonly utilized in fountains and combination settings. A 0.2-micron filter can:
- Clean the water to remove dirt and particulates.
- Chlorine and other compounds should be reduced.
- Eliminate giardia cryptosporidium parasite
- Cut back on the amount of lead and toxic metals in your home.
0.5 Micron Water Filter
0.5 Micron Rating Filters indicate that we are going incredibly tiny now; this size may block pollutants as small as 0.5 microns, like bacteria.
However, this filter faces a blocking problem since larger particles can not go through the pores, racking up on the surface of the filter.
1 Micron Water Filter
1-micron filters and smaller filters can help reduce bacteria and cysts because the holes are tiny enough to prevent other 1-micron particles from passing through the filter.
A 1-micron filter will get rid of particles that are invisible to the human eye. Still, it will have a much lower chance of removing heavy metals and lead, as well as parasites like Giardia and cryptosporidium.
5 Micron Water Filter
Filters with a micron rating of 5 eliminate a lot of material from liquids. Although filters with lower micron scales, those with micron ranks under 5 are sensitive to clogging and debris accumulation.
The quicker the filter loads up, the lower the micron level. When there are numerous particles, dust, and debris to deal with, it would be best to use more than one filter to avoid blockage.
Many businesses, notably the food and beverage industry, benefit from a 5-micron grade. A filter with a 5-micron pore’s size will sift out visible particles while letting all other tinier particles enter through into your water.
10 Micron Water Filter
This filtering level is somewhat less than the 5-micron filtering value. Filters having a pore size of 10 microns can filter out certain invisible particles from water, but not germs or viruses.
Germs and Viruses Can Not Be Blocked By 10-Micron Filter. image via Pixabay
Yet, due to their capacity to filter considerably, a 10-micron filter is still a relatively tiny size that may assist various sectors, including oil or chemical plants. Filters with a micron rating of 10 clogs up rapidly, much like those with lower micron values.
25 Micron Water Filter
Everything greater than a white blood cell can not enter the water using this micron grade. Because of its capacity to filter tiny particles without blocking, 25 -micron filters are present in chemical processing and other sectors. When we combine this filter with other filters, they become much more effective.
50 Micron Water Filter
A filter with 50-micron pores is a great compromise between lower micron levels and the bigger ones. Filters having a 50-micron pore size only screen out particles visible to the naked eyes. Nonetheless, this rating can filter particles as small as human hair and bigger.
The major advantage of this micron size is that it purifies a lot of liquid while avoiding the clog problems that lower particles cause. This grade is useful in a variety of sectors because of its flexibility.
Why Does My Water Filter Need a Micron Rating?
Micron-rating scales used in water filters refer to the size of contaminants that can not enter the water. The choice of micron filter depends on the size of the pollutant; for instance, suppose we wish to take out asbestos, we will require a filter that can remove pollutants from 0.8 microns to about 8 microns, which is also the dimension of asbestos.
A micron rating filter is comparable to mesh doors seen in hot regions to enable air to flow through while keeping moths, insects, and other undesirable things out. The idea is just the same, except instead of meshes, microscopic holes enable fluid to move in while blocking small pollutants out.
Because most bacteria and parasites are equal or larger than 1 micron in size while they lie dormant, a water filter with 1-micron pores or below will completely restrain them from going through.
How To Choose The Right Micron Rating?
So, choosing an appropriate micron-rating filter is important to ensure the highest water quality. Here are some factors to take into account when choosing a micron grade for your filtration system.
Know What To Eliminate From Water
The very first step in deciding the size of a filter’s pores should be to determine what would be in your water. It’s vital to remember how necessary it is to eliminate all pollutants; consider whether a minimal micron-rating filter would suffice or whether a big-pore filter is necessary.
Knowing What You Want To Eliminate From Water Is Important. Image via Pixabay
Smaller Does Not Always Mean Better
More pollutants will be eliminated if the micron rating is lower. Flow rate reduction, however, is a concern. A filter with a larger micron grade or a bigger pump is necessary to ensure minimal to no flow restriction.
Filters Get Dirty Quickly
Anything filtered out of the water remains in the filter. You probably have to replace the filter more frequently than usual if the filter’s pore size is small. On the other hand, bigger micron filters experience less blockage due to debris, dirt, and things like that.
The Final Verdict
We are all entitled to enjoy the highest water quality. So, understanding the micron scale is important to decide on finding out “how many microns should your water filter be”.
Hopefully, you have taken away some essential information on micron filters and can apply what you have learned to solve problems with your water.