information and products to
save, filter and celebrate water
Kitchen Water Filters
It's Time To Stop Drinking Chlorine & Fluoride
and who knows what else
Drink Pure Healthy Clean Water
This page provides in-depth information about water filters
and many of the issues we face in our water supplies.
Many of your questions will be answered on this page.
Please cruise around this, the main site, using links and the buttons above - to learn more about additional issues
like chlorine or chloramine, fluoride, drugs, etc.
Friendsofwater.com is family-owned and completely independent. We consider and select water products to sell that do a great job, fulfill the claims made about them, are a good value, and are well-backed. There are many choices for water filters available, and we could set ourselves up to resell many water filter lines. We prefer to only handle those we believe to be the best.
Click here or below to go straight to water filters in the store
or you can click the photos above to go to specific kitchen filters in the store.
friendsofwater.com can be reached at:
support@friendsofwater.com
Some Reasons You Need a Water Filter
There are more and more widely-distributed news stories pointing out the large number of new contaminants in our drinking water, including chemicals and hormones. While no water filter company can say for certain that ALL of these contaminants will be COMPLETELY removed, because they haven't all been tested, we do say with considerable confidence and justification that the line of kitchen filters we sell will remove most of them. The top quality and large quantity of filter materials in our filters means more contact time between the water and the filter material - and that is how filtration happens. This includes granulated coconut carbon that removes organic materials including hormones and other organically-based contaminants. The kdf is very effective at removing metallic- and chemical-based contaminants. The combination of the two is particularly effective; they use different methods for removal of contaminants.
In many of our filters, the FOAM ADVANTAGE is used. This means more filtration in a smaller area - leaving more space for more of the other filter materials in the canister or tank. Overall, the result is a higher level of filtration - for a longer time.
If you tracked the news on water as we do, you too would see the endless stream (yeah, we meant that pun) of stories of municipal water being contaminated in one way or another all over the country. These incidents include arsenic, heavy metals like lead and chemical contamination - including many chemicals and organics that are not tracked or treated by anyone before the water reaches you. Of course when emergencies are recognized, the authorities let people know as soon as they can, and work to filter the water as quickly as they can. But how much bad water did people drink before they learned that the water from their taps wasn't safe?
Perhaps more importantly, the 'normal' water from your tap is not as healthy for you and your family as it should be to use in your drinks and food. And you probably don't know just how good or bad it is. We'll just mention a couple of issues here. Chlorine (called free chlorine) is a poison designed to kill living organisms. Yes, it kills some nasty stuff that you might otherwise ingest. Disinfecting water is a good idea. Does that mean you need to drink the poison? Filter it out of water before you drink it!
Click here to visit our page on the risks of chlorine.
Additionally, chlorine reacts with natural organic matter in water and produces what are called disinfection byproducts. Some of those, known as trihalomethanes, are understood to be carcinogenic.
Because of the carcinogenic threat, some communities have replaced the use of free chlorine with with monochloramine. While it isn't quite as effective as chlorine at disinfecting, it also doesn't result in the creation of trihalomenthanes. Unfortunately, it has now been realized that monochloromine causes an increase in lead in the water. That's not good to drink either - remember lead poisoning? You really should clean your drinking water of these dangerous cleaners!
Chloramines are made when ammonia is added to water to make the chlorine last longer. There are some people whose skin and stomachs rebel immediately on exposure to chloramines. Kdf comes in one form that is particularly effective at removing chloramine. Filters with that kdf variant - with the amount of filter material in these filters - will remove an estimated 95% of chloramines when used as part of our filter combination. We have a 3-canister kitchen filter designed to do all that our other 2-canister filters do, plus remove most of the chloramines, for those who need it.
Click here for some story telling on the importance of filtered water
Click to go to water filters in the store
"We Mostly Drink Bottled Water"
Well please stop! (Unless you are using the filtering water bottles we sell.) We have created an entirely new set of major problems with all of this bottled water. We'll list some of them:
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Many think that bottled water is healthier. There is no basis for this belief.
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A great deal of bottled water is contaminated. It does not have to be filtered when bottled. Much of it is filtered only superficially to improve the taste and smell.
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The plastic itself can contaminate the water. The 'soft' plastic used to bottle water can release chemicals into the water.
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1.5 million barrels of crude oil are used annually to produce the plastic used to bottle water
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Bottled water is hauled long distances for distribution, burning massive quantities of fuel
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One study put the cost of bottled water at 7.5 times that of tap water
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Mountainous rubbish heaps have been created from the throw-away bottles
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Massive water bottling is a form of defacto privatization
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Water shortages near water bottling plants have been reported all over, including Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Florida and Texas.
By Getting a Good Water Filter You Can
Know you are drinking pure healthy clean water
Stop drinking poisons (and other unknowns)
Have better-tasting and healthier coffee, tea and food
Reduce the burning of oil for making plastic
Reduce gasoline usage in trucking bottled water around
Stop contributing to other people's water shortages
Stop contributing to waste material in dumps
Reduce the need for recycling, which also has an energy cost
Save money - a lot of it - if you're buying bottled water
Save water resources by sending clean water into the environment
Important point: With 'classic' filtration - in which water runs over and through the filter materials - the amount of filtration is determined by the amount of contact time between the water and the right filter materials.
More filtering media with more surface area results means more filtration.
Our kitchen and whole house filters use as much filter material as possible. The Foam Advantage increases effectiveness further.
Click to go to water filters in the store
What About the Other Types of Water Filters?
Sorting through all the information on water filtering and water filters can be baffling. We have some background in understanding water filters, but it took us quite a while to determine which are the best now. We have an online store. We can sell whatever type of water filters we want. There are many reasons we are convinced that the filters we are offering are indeed the best. To summarize - the canister, kitchen, bath, garden and whole house water filters we sell do a great job at water filtration. They require virtually no maintenance, filter replacements last a long time (and continue to do the filtering you need that entire time), and the water filters are very reasonably priced.
Let's look at the major categories of water filters. Reverse osmosis water filters result in good tasting very clean water. Unfortunately the process also strips out nutritional minerals, which naturally should be in the water we drink. Also, reverse osmosis filters separate good water, leaving the stuff you don't want in the water which is discarded. That can account for 3 to 5 gallons wasted for every filtered gallon! We're trying to avoid waste and save our water resource. We understand that reverse osmosis water filters also must periodically sanitized with chlorine bleach! This is an unsustainable solution. They also operate very slowly, requiring storage of water, from which you draw.
More on Reverse Osmosis
Distillation, like reverse osmosis, is a process that also results in very clean and good tasting water. Distillation is not a good solution for personal use, however. It strips out what you do want in your drinking water - it is considered dead water. You use energy to boil water creating steam, which you then condense to get your drinking water. This water is very pure, and would be good for making computer chips. It is not best for the human body however, including that you made acidic water, which is bad for the health. You also are using energy to consistently distill water - then you need to store it. Just doesn't make sense to us when you can get a filter that water flows right through, taking out what you don't want and leaving in what you do.
Acidic body pH reduces the ability to absorb nutrients, decreases energy production, and interferes with cells' ability to repair and detoxify themselves.
Carbon block water filters work well to remove organic volatile contaminants from cold water. Granulated carbon filters (when not combined with kdf) have as the biggest single problem that they aren't changed often enough and bacteria can breed in them. By itself, block carbon is usually used because the density makes it harder for bacteria to colonize. They still can - it just takes longer. So carbon works for organic compounds, but you need to change filters frequently. Granular carbon works even better than block carbon because there is so much more surface area to filter the water. When carbon follows kdf, the formation of regular channels and pockets where bacteria can breed are eliminated. And kdf is bacteriastatic, so bacteria cannot breed in the filter or in the water.
There was a very interesting thing we noticed in our research. Some companies provides charts showing how their water filters or method of purification compare with their competition. (This seems to have decreased a lot since we first wrote it years ago.) None of them include a look at these kdf FOAM ADVANTAGE water filters. We believe that the answer is that these work better than others and are a better value. There is also some self-serving presentation in some of these comparison charts in that there are things not shared. Things like: after how many gallons does the effectiveness deteriorate and by how much? And at what speed did the water flow through your filters to achieve the level of purifying you cite? Water filter tests can be indicative (we have one at filter tests.) But one could test a new filter, have it show very well - but be used up in three months. More important is the right filter method and material - and the quality and quantity of filter media. You also want well-made filter canisters or tanks and cartridges.
Click to go to kitchen water filters in the store
We believe that these are the best value available for water filters. They actually do what is needed and are affordable. You can find less expensive filters with the same filter media - but the reason they are cheaper is that the quality and quantity of filter media is less. They won't filter as well nor last as long. Having a filter that doesn't do the job can be worse than not having one at all.
How the KDF FOAM ADVANTAGE Kitchen Filters Work
KDF filter media is the most efficient, longest-lasting and lowest maintenance water filter media available. And kdf filter media extends the value and life of carbon. In the kitchen canister filters we sell, kdf is combined with granulated coconut carbon.
KDF water filter material is made of a combination of copper and zinc. This introduces many positive effects - and no negative ones. One great thing is that water can't form regular channels through the carbon. This means that the carbon maintains its filtering ability. Kdf is also bacteriostatic - an inhospital environment for bacteria preventing bacterial growth. Kdf water filters render bacteria harmless - the water filter 'disables' bacteria.
- The EPA has designated kdf as a pesticidal device
- Kdf contains copper, which is a bacteriocide
- Kdf is certified by NSF standard 61 for drinking water. It contains no chemical additives, and is recyclable
- Kdf is rated as a bacteriostatic, meaning bacteria cannot breed in the filter or the water.
- Kdf as is used in our standard kitchen canister filters, is certified to ANSI/NSF Standard 42 for drinking water.
- Kdf effectively works against (among other things): bacteria, many parasites, algae, fungus, mold, iron and other heavy metals, and hard scale
- In tests, kdf in sufficient quantity, consistently removes 99% of free chlorine. In our filters, more than is required is used - and combined with carbon, which also filters chlorine.
Carbon removes chlorine from your water by absorbing it. In our kdf filters, the kdf removes the chlorine by chemically eliminating it. That means that the carbon doesn't have to do all the work it otherwise would - and stays more 'fresh'. These things add up to your filter media staying effective much longer.
Additionally, water is tumbled all through these filters so it enters the carbon filter media in endless ways - eliminating that problem-causing channeling. So these water filters can use granular carbon, which delivers a greater water filter media-to-water ratio and therefore better water filtering. Carbon is known for removing organic contaminants, including ecoli and hormones. We use the highest grade, prewashed and dusted granulated coconut shell carbon, which is sustainable.
Our kdf water filter media removes chlorine and heavy metals before the water gets to the carbon. It is one of the best media for removing arsenic. (If you have a particular problem with arsenic, you want an ARSENIC PLUS water filter.) Without the kdf filter before the carbon, these contaminants use up the carbon, which is what happens with many water filters. In combination with kdf, carbon can focus on volatile organic compounds, which it's great at removing.
The copper-zinc kdf filter media is a natural solution that solves the common problems of the alternatives and brings several additional positive results. Their use as a filter before carbon means that the life of the carbon is extended tremendously. The copper-zinc has no pores that can plug up, is not soft like carbon, has no membranes that need replacing, and remains bacteriostatic.
Our filters use a pound of top-quality prewashed and dusted coconut carbon, enough kdf material to operate in balance with the carbon and eliminate everything needed - and last a year in normal circumstances. The fluoride filters have 1 1/2 pounds of activated alumina. We don't believe any other line uses as much filter material. That's why they work better and last longer.
Click to go to a representative list of what is filtered What is Filtered?
Your drinking water tastes good and natural. More importantly, it is good and natural. Taste tells you some things about the quality of your water, but not everything.
As contaminants pass through, a reaction takes place causing zinc hydroxides and copper hydroxides to form in miniscule amounts. These healthy trace elements carry into the water and provide hostile conditions for algae, fungus and bacteria. These trace amounts are defined as food supplements and nutrients by the FDA. In the tiny amounts in your drinking water they form a small percentage of the minimum daily requirement. While this is not all the zinc you should have in a day, it at least contributes to the lessening the zinc deficiency, which is one of the most common mineral deficiencies among Americans.
The copper-zinc kdf water filter media is very effective at removing heavy metals, taking out 90 to 98% including iron, lead, arsenic and cadmium. The zinc makes sure that only a trace amount of copper stays in the water. The copper makes sure only a trace amount of zinc stays in the water.
Friendsofwater.com has these water filters in both undercounter and countertop versions.
What About Fluoride?
We Have Fluoride Water Filters!
The American Dental Association, in November 2006, announced that the ingestion of fluoride is too dangerous for babies. They have notified their members of this, but we are not aware of their making any effort to notify the public. You can read more about that and other risks of drinking fluoride, including that it is carcinogenic, at our page fluoride dangers.
for a guest article on our site, click on fluoride toxicity.
Fluoride is harder to filter out than most contaminants. In water it becomes part of a metallic compound, and it takes the attraction of a metallic substance to remove it. Every metal has a charge, either positive or negative, and each can be either strong or weak. The right combination happens with activated alumina, which is in one of the canisters of the double-canister water filter. Through an electrochemical reaction, 85% to 96% is normally removed (rated at 2400 ppm). The removal rate starts at about 96% (typically) and will drop over time. Fluoride kitchen cartridges should be changed every six months.
Activated alumina is a resin made of aluminum oxide, the same chemical substance as sapphire and rubies, but without the impurities that give the gems their color. It has a very high surface-area-to-weight ratio. It has a lot of tunnel-like pores that run all through it. This means that there is a lot of surface area against which the water interacts, thereby eliminating fluoride. The alumina is NOT processed aluminum. One of the ingredients added to make the aluminum we know is dangerous if ingested if fluoride!
One customer and his wife were previously bedridden from over-fluoridation. It took a lot of work for him to figure out the cause because everyone in the medical industry he saw denied the possibility of it being fluoride. Once he cut their fluoride intake dramatically, thier health greatly improved. This fellow spent the $385 needed to get a good fluoride tester. He reported 0 fluoride coming out of our FLUORIDE PLUS filter when it was new, and again when he tested it after 6 months of use. Another customer did the same, and reported 0 fluoride when new, and 0 fluoride after 7 months.
The water moves through the fluoride filter first, then through the kdf and carbon filters, so that they can additionally remove any small amounts of fluoride if any made it that far, as well as assure that if there were any leaching of that first filter media (which is not aluminum and is not dangerous), that is also removed.
You can remove fluoride with the undercounter double-canister water filters found in our store. The undercounter is UC-2K-F. There are also two version for the countertop - white, hard, food-grade plastic called the CT-2K-F and a chrome-covered version, the CT-2K-F. In all of these, one canister contains the standard (KR-101N) filter cartridge - with both kdf copper-zinc and carbon water filters - that do everything described above. The filter material in the first canister removes fluoride. The water runs through the fluoride filter then through the copper-zinc (kdf) and the carbon. The two-canister undercounter water filter system comes with its own faucet that goes through the extra opening in your sink.
Our kitchen fluoride filters have 1 1/2 pounds of activated alumina. This is more than any other kitchen filters we know of. Because filtration happens by contact time between water and filter media, it is the quantity and the quality of filter media that determines how effective your water filter is, and how long it will last before needing a replacement filter. There is a full pound of high-grade granulated carbon in the second canister, in addition to kdf, with very high filtration value. If you see claims of longer-lasting fluoride filters for less money - ask how much filter material is included. If there is less material, there will be less filtration.
For more information on our water filters that remove fluoride: fluoride filters information.
Click to go to fluoride filters in the store.
New Type of Filtration in a Water Pitcher, Water Bottle & Straw
Update October 2009: In July we found and started selling water filter products based on a new type of filtration. These include a water filter pitcher, filtering water bottles, filtering straws, and a filtering pump. These filters use a breakthrough in water filtration technology, a new type of filtration based on treated powdered carbon. Based on extensive testing, they have shown to provide the best filtration is a small filter that we've ever heard of. While they don't remove as much fluoride as our countertop and undercounter filters do, and they aren't manufactured to the same best quality level, they are the only products we've found that remove most contaminants to a very high degree - and remove some 75% of fluoride.
These products can be a great supplement to a kitchen FLUORIDE PLUS filter, so that you have good filtration at your office, when you travel, for bathroom drinking water, for backpacking and camping, and just when you are out of the house.
For more information please visit this page on the main site: Water Filter Pitchers
or the store at: Travel Water Filters
WELL WATER
We also have water filters available to remove nitrates, and configurations to remove arsenic which can be used if your water comes from a well. You can find them listed in our online store. They use the same double canisters as the fluoride water filters, but are designed to remove nitrates or arsenic instead. For well water, you should get your water tested first. Based on that information, we'll let you know if our filters are right for you, and if so, what configuration you need. See more info below. (more info lower on this page)
Independent water filter test results
What About Well Water Filters?
We Have Water Filters that Remove Nitrates, Iron & Arsenic
For well water filters, you may want a two-canister kitchen water filter, with our standard kdf and granulated coconut carbon in one canister, and a nitrate-removing water filter in the other. The kdf does a great job removing heavy metals including iron - often found in well water - and is bacteriastatic, preventing growth of bacteria. The quality granulated carbon then further filters the water by further removing bacteria and organic compounds. The carbon also removes pesticides and herbicides. Nitrates are filtered out by the nitrate water filter in the first canister. Both canisters also have sediment filters.
The risk of nitrites is reported to be from ingestion, so removing it from your drinking and cooking water is what is important.
Nitrates get in the water from agricultural runoff, so it is usually people in rural areas that these filters are right for.
The nitrate 2-canister water filters come in the same configurations - an undercounter unit, a white countertop unit and a chrome countertop unit. The 2 canister undercounter water filter comes with a 'third faucet', with both of the countertop units you can either get a spout right off them, or divert the water back to your kitchen faucet.
The ARSENIC PLUS filters remove excessive arsenic in addition to other contaminants.
We have 3-canister configurations as well, so you can combine the types of filtration you need.
For more information on well water risks and water filters, click on well water.
To see well water filters in the store, click on water filters.
We also can fashion a whole house water filtration system for you, with a whole house system plus an extra filter at your kitchen sink for extra-pure drinking water. Be sure to tell us if your system is for filtering well water. We can put a copper-zinc ratio that is superior for removing iron and hydrogen sulfide, or otherwise configure the right filter for you.
To see our Whole House Solutions, click on whole house filters to see how we do it.
