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Water filtration is the process of separating impurities from water. We are able to make this process work using water filters. Filtration can be done using physical barriers, different chemical processes, or biological processes. Filters are used to purify drinking water, swimming pools, and irrigation.

There are many different types of common filters. There are media filters, which use sand to filter water as it moves from below the rock and sand to the surface. Screen filters, which utilize a screen that separate fine particles out of the water for irrigation among other things. Disk filters are the main water filters for irrigation. It is much like the screen filter, but instead of a screen it uses small disks stacked on top of each other in order to separate the impurities.

Slow sand filters are used to treat raw water found on the surface of the earth. They are usually between one and two meters deep. This system uses a layer of earth called the Schmutzdecke layer which contains bacteria and fungi. This layer purifies the water leaving exceptionally clean water at the top.

Rapid gravity filters, or rapid sand filters are used in municipal water treatment facilities. Particles in the water are removed by coarse sands that are trapped in flocks by salts made up of iron or aluminum. The simplest filter that is still being used today is definitely the cloth filter. It is used by placing a folded cloth in a container that is dipped into the unfiltered water. The container is then raised from the water and the cloth lifted from the container. The filtered water will move through the cloth and into the container. This form of filtration is not very safe or effective, so be cautious when this process is in use.

There are more complex forms of filtration that do not require physical screens in order to allow the filtration to take place. Ultra violet rays can be used as a form of filtration that is very effective. Exposing water to ultra violet rays can remove any viruses and bacteria that might have resided in the water. This process is usually used in raw water applications but has an increasing use in drinking water. Construction of a drinking water disinfection facility using these rays has already been approved in New York. The facility will be capable of producing two billion gallons of clean water daily.

Reverse osmosis is a filtration process that uses applied pressure to force a solution through a membrane that traps the solute and allows the solvent, in this case water, to pass move through to the other side. Most of the separation occurs in the outer layer in the polymer matrix. This filtration process requires a great amount of pressure to be forced on one side of the membrane. The membrane is known as semi permeable, which means is only allows the passage of the solute and not the solvent.

Catalytic converters are devices using filtration for the benefit of the environment instead of strictly humans. The converter is put on automobiles in order to reduce toxic emissions into the environment that are made by the vehicle.

Water filtration is among the most beneficial ideas man has ever conjured. Early in human existence water filters were used to allow man to live in some of the most difficult of environments. It can only continue to prove its usefulness as we further discover all of its capabilities.