How to Remove Microplastics and Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water?
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When I speak to people about clean water, water filtration and the different kinds of water whether it be alkaline, distilled, oxygenated, hydrogen infused water, or mineralized water one of the topics that always comes up is the long-term effects of microplastics and pharmaceuticals in our drinking water on our bodies and overall health.
How do Microplastics Get in Our Drinking Water?
Microplastics end up in drinking water primarily due to the widespread use and disposal of plastic products. They are hard to remove from drinking water because microplastic particles are smaller than a micron in size. To give you an idea a human hair is about 83 microns wide.
Large plastic items, like bottles, bags, and packaging materials, often end up in the environment due to improper disposal. Over time, these items break down into smaller pieces, eventually becoming microplastics. Some microplastics are generated through industrial processes and can enter water sources through runoff or waste discharge. When clothes made from synthetic fibers (e.g. polyester or nylon) are washed, they can shed microfibers. These tiny plastic fibers can pass through wastewater treatment plants and enter rivers, lakes, and even the ocean. As a vehicle’s tires wear down from driving tiny plastic particles are released into the environment. These particles can be transported by wind or rainwater into sewage systems and bodies of water. Microplastics can also be present in some agricultural products, such as sludge and compost, which are used as fertilizers, and rainwater can wash these particles into nearby water sources. Microplastics can also be transported through the atmosphere and then deposited into water bodies through rain or snow.
Once microplastics enter water sources, they can be challenging to remove due to their small size and widespread distribution. They can end up in drinking water sources, including both surface water — rivers and lakes — and groundwater, and traditional water treatment processes and systems might not always be effective in removing microplastics from water.
Here is an article below from PBS.org on January 8, 2024 where scientists found about a quarter million invisible microplastic particles in a liter of bottled water — “The average liter of bottled water has nearly a quarter million invisible pieces of ever so tiny nanoplastics, detected and categorized for the first time by a microscope using dual lasers. These nanoplastics can be internalized into cells, and we know that nanoplastics carry all kinds of chemical additives that could cause cell stress, DNA damage and change metabolism or cell function. What's disturbing, said University of Toronto evolutionary biologist Zoie Diana, is that small particles can appear in different organs and may cross membranes that they aren't meant to cross, such as the blood-brain barrier."
One recommendation is to limit drinking bottled water because the reverse osmosis (RO) water in these bottles is in direct contact with plastic bottle which also releases additional microplastics into the water. By avoiding bottled water and drinking from a glass bottle you can proactively limit the amount of microplastics getting into your body.
How do Pharmaceuticals Get in Our Drinking Water?
Pharmaceuticals end up in drinking water primarily due to the widespread use and disposal of medications.
After people take medications, their bodies metabolize only a portion of these drugs. The unmetabolized or partially metabolized drugs are excreted and end up in wastewater. Medications flushed down the toilet or sink end up in wastewater. Expired medications thrown in the trash will end up in a landfill and can leach into groundwater. Pharmaceuticals used in veterinary medicine — antibiotics and hormones for livestock — can enter waterways through runoff from farms and ranches, and in areas where homes use septic systems, medications disposed of in household waste can leach into the soil and eventually into groundwater.
This issue with improper disposal of medications is that most city water treatment plants are not designed to fully remove pharmaceutical compounds. They are effective in treating a lot of organic waste and contaminants, but many pharmaceutical substances can persist through the treatment process due to their complex chemical structures.
So, is there really a cause for concern? Pharmaceuticals in drinking water are typically at very low concentrations. However, there is growing concern about the potential long-term health effects of these drug trace amounts because pharmaceuticals are designed to interact with the body at low doses.
One recommendation is to limit drinking bottled water and produce your own filtered water at home using a water filter which is National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certified for removal of pharmaceuticals in drinking water.
What Water Filters Remove Microplastics and Pharmaceuticals?
I have spent a lot of time researching different water filters and systems that are NSF certified for contaminant removal. When you read about a water filter’s NSF certifications one would typically assume that the filter removes all contaminants covered by the certification. It was not until I met a person named Laura on Instagram who was a Multipure distributor. I told her I had all this figured out, and she helped to educate me on the differences between NSF certifications between different water filter suppliers. She mentioned the difference between these water filter companies is that they claim they have an NSF certification, but their certification does not cover all contaminants covered by the certification. She said the difference with Multipure was that their NSF certification covers every contaminant covered by the certification.
Laura even challenged me to go find another water filter that was NSF certified that had the same of contaminant remove as Multipure water filters. I spent two weeks researching different filters and looking up the companies using the search for NSF Certified drinking water treatment units and water filters on the NSF website. Unfortunately, I could not find a single water filter company or their products which had an NSF certification that removed every contaminant listed in the certification. This was the point when I knew Multipure was special and unlike anything else on the market when it came to water filtration. They even have certifications that cover microplastics and pharmaceutical removal.
Multipure recognized the limitations of Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) and developed a signature solid carbon block filter by building upon the advantages of GAC to make it far more powerful and effective. By combining the right mixture of activated carbon and other filter materials, then pressing them into a densely-compacted block, Multipure created a filter that allowed water to pass through but forced the water to stay in contact with enough filter surface area to vastly improve the filtration performance. Multipure also has over five decades of carbon block development that have made their water filters the best on the market.
For over fifty years Multipure has been working to improve drinking water quality:
When arsenic-V became an issue in drinking water, Multipure create products designed to deal with arsenic-V.
When prescription and over-the-counter drugs became a concern in drinking water, Multipure made sure that their drinking water filters treated them in drinking water.
When bacteria and viruses became a concern in your water, Multipure developed a filter to treat bacteria, viruses, and parasites in drinking water – without power requirements, and without adding additional chemicals into the water.
With the “forever chemicals” – PFOA and PFOS – currently in your water, Multipure made sure they had drinking water filters to protect drinking water from those chemicals.
Multipure water filters are covered by the following NSF certifications:
NSF/ANSI 42 Standard refers to filters that are certified to reduce aesthetic impurities such as chlorine and taste/odor/appearance (e.g. chlorine, chloramine, particulate matter, etc). These can be point-of-use (under the sink, water pitcher, etc.) or point-of-entry (whole house) treatment systems.
NSF/ANSI 53 Standard refers to filters are certified to reduce a contaminant with a health effect when ingested (e.g. asbestos, lead, arsenic, PFOAs, microcystin, etc). Health effects are set in this standard as regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Health Canada. Both standards 42 and 53 cover adsorption/filtration which is a process that occurs when liquid, gas or dissolved/suspended matter adheres to the surface of, or in the pores of, an adsorbent media. Carbon filters are an example of this type of product.
NSF/ANSI 401 Standard refers to filters that are certified for emerging contaminants removal and include both point-of-use and point-of-entry systems that have been verified to reduce one or more of 15 emerging contaminants from drinking water (e.g. prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, microplastics, DEET, etc). These emerging contaminants can be pharmaceuticals or chemicals not yet regulated by the EPA or Health Canada whose long-term health effects are not yet fully determined.
NSF Protocol P231 refers to filters that are certified for the purification of microbiological contaminants (e.g. bacteria, viruses, live cysts, etc). These filters are certified for health and sanitation based on the recommendations of the EPA’s Task Force Report, Guide Standard and Protocol for Testing Microbiological Water Purifiers (1987) (Annex B).
What is the Multipure Aquaperform Drinking Water System?
The world-class Multipure Aquaperform Drinking Water System uses a compact, powerful, and efficient filter that can treat a broad range of harmful contaminants, not just ones that affect the taste and smell of the water like other typical household filters. Multipure filters are much more powerful than filtered water pitchers, provide much cleaner water than bottled water (which in many cases is simply tap water), and work in real-time at the filtered waterspout right on the stainless-steel housing.
The Aquaperform can filter contaminants that can affect the taste, the odor, and the healthfulness of your drinking water, and the additional Arsenic V filtration puts it above and beyond the competition, protecting your home and your family’s drinking water. The Aquaperform’s performance is third-party, independently tested and certified by National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International for the treatment of contaminants of Aesthetic Concern (Std. 42) such as chlorine, chloramine, and particulates; contaminants of Health Concern (Std. 53) such as lead, disinfection byproducts, PFOA/PFOS (aka, “forever chemicals”), and Arsenic V; and emerging compounds and incidental contaminants (Std. 401) such as artificial hormones, pest repellants, and heart medications.
Accessories Options with the Multipure Aquaperform Drinking Water System:
The Base Aquaperform System can be used in-line with other existing hardware (e.g., existing faucet, ice maker, etc.), but includes no additional plumbing hardware. It can utilize compatible below-sink and countertop parts and accessories. See images in product listing.
The Single Hose Diverter Installation Kit includes a single-hose diverter kit and an acrylic base that allows the system to sit on top of the counter next to the sink. The system connects to the sink faucet with the single-hose diverter valve, outputting filtered water from a faucet attached to the top of the stainless steel system housing. Filtered or unfiltered water can be selected by a push-button on the diverter valve. This option is best for those who want to use the Aquaperform for making clean drinking water directly from the top of the Aquaperform without additional under the sink plumbing. See images in product listing.
The John Guest Adapter Kit allows you to easily connect the output water line of the Aquaperform to the input water line for another system like an alkaline water ionizer. This works best with a countertop installation. Both the Aquaperform and alkaline water ionzier would be on the counter next to each other.
Benefits of the Multipure Aquaperform Drinking Water System
The Aquaperform uses Multipure's specially enhanced carbon block filter to reduce levels of deadly Arsenic V, a toxic chemical that can naturally contaminate groundwater and pose serious health risks.
No one likes to taste chlorine in their water, just like no one likes the taste of pool water. If you're tired of tasting chlorine and other contaminants in your drinking water, you'll love the improved taste of Aquaperform filtered water. Remember, it’s not just great for drinking water, but also gives you better-tasting coffee, tea, juice mixes, or anything else that can benefit from filtered water.
Food cooked with contaminated water may be unsafe to eat. Cooking with Aquaperform-filtered water means cleaner, safer water for pasta, soup, sauces, or other foods.
Our beloved family pets deserve cleaner, healthier water. Fill your pets’ water dishes with filtered water from Multipure's Aquaperform.
Don’t overpay for clean drinking water, and don’t contribute to plastic bottle waste. An Aquaperform is better for your budget and better for the environment.
We want you to feel as confident in your countertop or under counter water filter system as we are. The Aquaperform is backed by our unparalleled customer satisfaction guarantee and warranty.
Features of the Multipure Aquaperform Drinking Water System
The majority of water filters are only to filter contaminants down to 1 micron. The Aquaperform is able to filter contaminants down to 0.5 microns, and this guarantees greater than 99.9% contaminant removal (see filtration performance data at bottom).
The Aquaperform has a one gallon per minute flow rate for produced clean filtered water. The stainless-steel vessel is built in such a way to ensure the tap water flows in at a rate where the tap water has enough contact time with the filter media to perform sub-micron filtration contaminant removal.
System does NOT remove the original minerals in your tap water or reduce the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of your tap water so you can consume all those healthy minerals in your water to keep your body strong.
Multipure Aquaperform filter is rated for 600 gallons of filtered water but has been tested up to 1200 gallons without loss of filtration integrity and performance, and replacement filters are under $200.
You can install the Aquaperform below your sink for under counter water filtration or attach it to your sink faucet as a countertop water filter, giving you enjoy cleaner, healthier, better-tasting water on demand.
Stainless steel filter housing and interior stainless steel pressure vessel both come with a lifetime warranty.
If you are not completely satisfied with your Multipure Aquaperform Drinking Water System, Multipure will refund 100% of the purchase price less shipping up to 90 days from the date of purchase.
Conclusion
Proper water filtration is crucial for people because it ensures access to clean and safe drinking water, which is essential for good health. By removing contaminants like microplastics, pharmaceuticals, arsenic and harmful bacteria the quality of your drinking water rises substantially promoting more water consumption and better hydration.
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