Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems are rated to remove almost 100% of solid impurities and over 95% (average) of dissolved impurities, including bacteria and viruses, in the water supply.
Under boil water advisory/order conditions, drinking water produced by RO filter systems is still quite safe to drink by ordinary non-immuno-compromised persons. However, as science can never give 100% assurances, immuno-compromised persons, seniors and young children should have their drinking water BOILED, even when it is produced by RO filter systems.
Other types of non-RO and non-distillation filter systems are not boil-water advisory compliant. However, if the filter system is rated at 1.0 micron or lower AND is equipped with a UV sterilizer, then the filter system will be boil-water advisory compliant.
All water filter systems, if equipped with Ultra-violet (UV) sterilizers, will achieve a bacteria/virus kill rate of 99.99% or higher, and the water produced can be safely consumed even by immuno-compromised persons without boiling.
Water distillers can destroy practically all bacteria and viruses. Water produced by water distillers is always safe to drink.
All other types of water filtration systems are usually unable to produce water that is safe to drink in "Boil Water Advisory/Order" situations. Generally speaking, the lower the micron rating, the better the water filter. However, boil water advisories are often caused by turbid (high sediment) conditions which will clog up low-micron filter cartridges very quickly. In such situations, we advise that to avoid quick clog-ups (hence expensive replacement cost) of low-micron filters (if they are not high-capacity, pleated cartridges), they should be "protected" by a 0.35 micron high-capacity pre-filter (or other similarly-rated high-capacity filters) which will lengthen their life by about ten times or more. For these high-capacity pre-filter cartridges, a single-stage undersink housing is required.
Water bottles are also creating an exponential environmental disaster. Only a small fraction of billions of non-biodegradable plastic bottles worldwide are recycled. Most end up in landfills. Read these very informative articles by CorpWatch and the Earth Policy Institute.
Conclusion:
Help protect the environment by avoiding the use of plastic water bottles, and to avoid scrambling for bottled water supplies in a boil water advisory situation, install a reverse osmosis (RO) filter system (no electricity required to operate) with or without a UV sterilizer, and/or obtain a water distiller for emergency use (requires electricity to operate). You will be glad you did the next time a boil water advisory situation hits.
Click here for Simple Methods to Avoid Scrambling for Bottled Water in boil water advisory situations.
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