Avesa Water Sediment Filter reduces particles such as dirt and sand (turbidity) from the feed water. Filtration Stage One By using the sediment filter you are protecting the more expensive carbon filters. Change it often. Depending upon the quality of your water supply, this filter will need to be changed every 2 to 6 months. We recommend a 3-month change cycle under normal conditions, if there is no other filter on the house water. Otherwise, replace every six months for a typical family with daily usage. This is a simple acrylic yarn filter, affordable, but important. Effective water purifying quantity: 3,300 liters. Japan and South Korea have been way ahead of USA manufacturers when it comes to water treatment equipment. Typical households in these Asian countries filter their tap water and also their shower water. They have high water standards and Avesa Water Filters comply with their Board of Health Agency standards. Their standards meet or exceed NSF and North American criteria. Removal of Pharmaceuticals The Avesa Water System is as good as an activated carbon filter system can get. However, from a scientific standpoint we can not certify that all pharmaceuticals are removed. Pharmaceuticals are found in parts per billion concentration, and are outside the scope of a typical lab test. The two carbon filters, especially the carbon block filter, do tackle a wide variety of contaminants, especially when coupled with the bio-porous ceramic material. We know that the advanced carbon block design works on pesticides, etc. and the ceramic filter is a form of nano-filtration. We can therefore safely deduce that some of the pharmaceuticals are indeed filtered. Trace Levels of Five Different Pharmaceuticals are Reduced Hormones/Steroids including prednisone, prednisolone, progesterone and cortisol. Antidepressants including fluoxetine, prescribed to treat a variety of conditions, including depression and other mental/mood disorders. Painkillers including ibuprofen and naproxen. Antibiotics including ciprofloxacin, used to prevent certain infections caused by bacteria, as well as sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, which are used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections including pneumonia, and urinary tract and intestinal infections. Anti-anxiety medication including meprobamate, a treatment used to relieve nervousness or tension that exceeds stress of everyday life. Despite their unique pharmacological properties, pharmaceuticals respond to treatment no differently from other organic chemicals, with removal rates depending on their physicochemical properties and the treatment technology being used. Conventional water treatment processes, such as chlorination, can remove approximately 50% of these compounds, whereas more advanced treatment processes, such as ozonation, advanced oxidation, activated carbon, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, can achieve higher removal rates; reverse osmosis, for example, can remove more than 99% of large pharmaceutical molecules. Avesa Water Sediment Replacement Filter Details Avesa Water Filter Quality Your Avesa Wellness Water System comes with five filters, four of which require periodic replacement to keep the water flowing at its crystalline best. The Crystal-Boost Technology filter does not require changing. Note that there are two different qualities of carbon filters, including antibacterial silver. ORG values are listed. This chart below does not show the sediment filter. Originally it was not going to be included, but the extra filtration was needed due to the poor quality of municipal water providers. So this is actually a five filter system. Reference Material Published Elsewhere The largest single section in the of the "EPA Regulated Water Contaminants" published in Water Technology magazine, is the section on Organics (including VOCs, or "Volatile Organics"). In this category the EPA lists 32 very nasty chemical contaminants - many with familiar names like benzene, 1,1 dichlorethylene, carbon tetrachloride, dioxin, styrene, toluene, chloroform, and vinyl chloride. To give an idea of the extensiveness of this list, a single one of the 32 items is "Total Trihalomethanes", a category made up of still uncounted chemicals, assumed to number in the thousands, that are formed when water containing organic matter (i. e., virtually all water) is treated with chlorine. The maximum allowable level for trihalomethanes, which are suspected cancer causers and are present in virtually all chlorinated tap water, is only 1/10 of one part per million. For the Organics category, the primary treatment in all cases and the only recommended treatment in most cases, is activated carbon. The EPA's Pesticides category lists 14 familiar poisons such as Aldicarb, Chlordane, Heptachlor, and Lindane. In all 14 cases, activated carbon is the only recommended treatment. Of the 12 Herbicides listed (2,4-D, Atrazine, etc.), activated carbon is the only treatment recommended. For Organics, Pesticides, and Herbicides, the standard treatment, and in most cases the only treatment recommended, is activated carbon. Instructions Recommended Changing Schedule (based on family usage): Sediment Filter:every 3 months, if no other household filter, otherwise every 6 months. Pre-Carbon Filter: every 6 months. Post-Carbon Filter: every 6 months. Alkalizing Ceramic Filter:every year. Suitable for both the above counter and under counter models. Note: A single person or couple will have longer filter life due to less overall water usage. Scientific Reference Water Research AbstractsEPA’s contaminants of concernDrinking Water Contaminants
