Recently WebMD published an interview with Dr. Ken Spaeth, who is the chief of occupational and environmental medicine at Northwell Health in Great Neck, New York. In the interview, Spaeth shared his thoughts on when, why and how to use water filters.
Here are excerpts from that interview highlighting some of Spaeth’s key points:
On when to use a water filter…
“If there is a concern, belief or evidence that there are contaminants of any kind in the water that could pose a health risk, having a filtration system capable of removing those contaminants is clearly a preventive measure one could take.”
On the effectiveness of water filters…
“There are literally thousands of chemicals and hundreds if not thousands of bacteria, parasites and viruses and heavy metals. So the extent they are effective depends on the individual filtration system.”
On addressing problems with drinking water…
“What is in the water or might be in the water that is raising the concern? The easiest way and probably the most effective is to track down a copy of a recent quality report from the local water authorities. Look at it and see if there are contaminants that exceed the EPA standard. Based on the answer, one can think about ways to address those issues.”
On choosing a water filter…
“Which filter system you use depends on a lot of factors [in addition to which contaminants you are trying to filter]. How extensive do you need—a faucet, multiple faucets, showers, sinks?”
“And what’s the budget? The less expensive are the pitcher filtration. But not all are capable of filtering out a lot of different kinds of contaminants.”
“Look for third party certification from what is being claimed by the manufacturer or retailer.”
