Summary
A water filter removes impurities by lowering contamination of water using a fine physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to different extents, for purposes such as: providing agricultural irrigation, accessible drinking water, public and private aquariums, and the safe use of ponds and swimming pools. Filtration Filters use sieving, adsorption, ion exchanges, biofilms and other processes to remove unwanted substances from water. Unlike a sieve or screen, a filter can potentially remove particles much smaller than the holes through which its water passes, such as nitrates or germs like Cryptosporidium. Among the methods of filtration, notable examples are sedimentation, used to separate hard and suspended solids from water and activated charcoal treatment, where the boiled water is poured through a piece of cloth to trap undesired residuals. Additionally, the use of machinery to work on desalinization and purification of water through the transposal of it into multiple-filtration water tanks. This technique is aimed at the filtration of water on bigger scales, such as serving entire cities. These three methods are particularly relevant, as they trace back to centuries and are the base for many of the modern methods of filtration utilized today. Water purification Types of water filters include media filters, screen filters, disk filters, slow sand filter beds, rapid sand filters, cloth filters, and biological filters such as algae scrubbers. Point of use water filter Point-of-use filters for home use include granular-activated carbon filters used for carbon filtering, depth filter, metallic alloy filters, microporous ceramic filters, carbon block resin, microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes. Some filters use more than one filtration method. An example of this is a multi-barrier system. Jug filters can be used for small quantities of drinking water. Some kettles have built-in filters, primarily to reduce limescale build-up.
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related publications (2)

Nature-inspired Circular-economy Recycling (NaCRe) for Proteins

Simone Giaveri

Since a few decades our planet has been loaded with billion tons of synthetic polymer-based materials, commonly named plastics. The large scale of plastic production, associated with its limited recyc
EPFL2021

Surface modification of PES virus filtration membrane

Claire Roulin

Virus filtration by size exclusion is a robust means of eliminating viruses in blood or pharma products. Porous polymer membranes with a narrow size distribution are used to allow passage of the prote
2010
Related concepts (21)
Water chlorination
Water chlorination is the process of adding chlorine or chlorine compounds such as sodium hypochlorite to water. This method is used to kill bacteria, viruses and other microbes in water. In particular, chlorination is used to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. In a paper published in 1894, it was formally proposed to add chlorine to water to render it "germ-free". Two other authorities endorsed this proposal and published it in many other papers in 1895.
Water filter
A water filter removes impurities by lowering contamination of water using a fine physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to different extents, for purposes such as: providing agricultural irrigation, accessible drinking water, public and private aquariums, and the safe use of ponds and swimming pools. Filtration Filters use sieving, adsorption, ion exchanges, biofilms and other processes to remove unwanted substances from water.
Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distributions. RO can remove dissolved or suspended chemical species as well as biological substances (principally bacteria), and is used in industrial processes and the production of potable water. RO retains the solute on the pressurized side of the membrane and the purified solvent passes to the other side.
Show more
Related courses (4)
ENV-304: Treatment and valorization of water and waste
Les systèmes eaux et déchets en Suisse: du traitement end-of-pipe à la fermeture des cycles. Principes de l'adduction, de l'évacuation et du traitement des eaux. Bases du dimensionnement des ouvrages,
ENV-405: Water and wastewater treatment
This course on water and wastewater treatment shows how to implement and design different methods and techniques to eliminate organic matter, nitrogen and phosporous from wastewater, and how to apply
CH-334: Opération unitaire et technologie des procédés
L'étudiant sera capable de :
  • Définir et décrire les principales OpUnit.
  • Elaborer l'analyse critique d'une OpUnit, optimiser son fonctionnement selon les contraintes.
  • Emettre des recommandations
Show more
Related lectures (48)
Water Filtration: Lotus-Inspired Technology
Introduces a lotus-inspired technology for filtering oil from water.
Heat Treatments: Pyrolysis and Gasification
Explores heat treatments like pyrolysis and gasification for waste management, discussing incineration phases, residue production, and global alternative technologies.
Designing Molecular Sponges for Environmental Applications
Explores the design of molecular-based sponges for environmental purification and resource extraction, aiming to make processes more sustainable and circular.
Show more