UF (Ultra-Filtration) Water Purifier – Pros and Cons

Last Updated on 13 February, 2024 by Sourav Roy

Water pollution in a particular place can occur due to two distinctive reasons – harmful or toxic elements and microorganisms. Between these two, the aspect of microbes or water-borne pathogen-caused contamination is more prevalent, especially in Asian countries.

According to a recent report of UNICEF, around 4,000 children lose their lives daily just because of drinking water filled with microbes. The report has also revealed that, annually, the death toll reaches around a number of two million.

UF (Ultra-Filtration) Water Purifier – Pros and Cons

 

So, how can we put an end to this situation and lower the mortality rate? Well, the answer to this question is pretty simple – by using a UF water purifier. Yes, that’s right. Most experts consider this type of purifier to be the best option for eliminating viruses and bacteria from your drinking water. Moreover, they are also pretty efficient in removing a few metalloid-based water contaminants as well.

However, there’s a hitch. When discussing dissolving toxic elements, such as salts, they are not as efficient as the RO water purifiers. Nonetheless, in other cases, especially for eradicating the unhealthy microbes, the UF purifiers definitely do a decent job.

Recommended Reading: 9 Best Water Purifiers In India 2024

 

How Does a UF Water Purifier Work?

How Does a UF Water Purifier Work

As we have already known about the basics of a UF water purifier, now, we will go a little bit deeper into the rabbit hole. In this section, we will be learning about the working methodologies of the purifiers. So, let’s get started with it.

The UF-based products feature a semi-permeable membrane, which helps in separating the pollutants from the water-based molecules. During the purification procedure, the purifier employs hydrostatic force, which pressurizes the water in the membrane’s wall.

Hence, all the microscopic components and organisms get trapped in it. This, in turn, helps you to drink uncontaminated water. Due to the same reason, these products can also keep the turbidity of the liquid intact.

Furthermore, as these do not use any chemicals during the whole procedure, it also does not change the water’s odour and taste. Lastly, the UF purifiers are the most energy-efficient of all, as they do not require an electric connection to do their job.

However, the pores of a UF purifier’s membrane are bigger than those of a RO water purifier. Thus, as mentioned before, it can’t remove the salt molecules or other similar metalloid molecules in any way.

Recommended Reading: RO (Reverse Osmosis) Water Purifiers – Pros and Cons

 

How Many Filters Does a UF Purification Filter Use?

A UF water purifier usually comes with two different purification filters: an activated carbon filter and a sediment filter. Here are a few things that you do need to know about them.

1. Sediment Filters

Sediment Filters

Situated right above the carbon filters, the sediment filtering section usually helps the purifier get rid of the visible dust particles and other larger components from water. However, as the pores of this filter are somewhat huge, it cannot certainly sort out the microscopic molecules in any way. Hence, the UF purifiers feature carbon filters to take care of this issue.

2. Activated Carbon Filter

Activated Carbon Filter

The activated carbon filter generally stays above the lower compartment of a UF product. For making this section, the manufacturers tend to use woods, coal particles, and coconut shells. After that, they add some positive-charged ions in it. That, in turn, enables the filter to absorb chlorine-based contaminants and VOCs from your drinking water. Moreover, it can eliminate the obnoxious odour and taste from the liquid as well.

Recommended Reading: UV (Ultra-Violet) Water Purifiers – Pros and Cons

 

Advantages of UF Water Purifier

Advantages of UF Water Purifier

Around 0.8% of people in the world, these days, are using the UF water purifiers for their cause. So, do you want to purchase one for yourself and save the health of your family members as well? Then, let’s check out its benefits first and evaluate if they will actually be right for you or not.

So, the significant benefits of a UF water purifier are –

1. It is Cost-Efficient

Yes, you have seen it indeed, right! The UF technology-based products are incredibly cost-efficient. Do you want to know why? Well, for starters, they usually are a lot inexpensive than both the RO as well as the UV purifiers.

The main reason behind it is that these specific types of purifiers generally use some fundamental techniques to eliminate the impurities from your drinking water. They do not come with any advanced or modish features, such as pH correction or alarms or revitalizers, etc. So, all-in-all, if you are doing an evaluation between RO vs UV vs UF water purifier, then opting for a UF product would be better.

Moreover, they also use only two filters for doing their job, which, in turn, decreases their cost even more. Now, secondly, as stated previously, a UF water purifier does not require electricity or power for completing its purifying method.

It merely uses gravity and natural water pressure to trap the contaminants in the filter’s outer surface. Thus, with them, you would also not have to worry about power cuts or outages at all. They can help you to purify your drinking water anytime, anywhere.

 

2. Purifies Muddy Water

Purifies Muddy Water

Cleaning out and purifying muddy water or liquid is a pretty tough job indeed. For example, like salt, mud is one of those things that can get entirely blended with water. That, in turn, makes it very difficult for the UV purifiers to filter them out.

However, the same does not happen in the case of UF products. The primary filter, also known as a sediment strainer, generally helps in separating the larger molecules from the liquid. Nonetheless, it does not change the colour or purge the fluid properly from the mud.

So, in this aspect, the carbon filter comes to the rescue. The pores of this section are tiny. Therefore, it can easily trap all the microscopic molecules, viruses, bacteria, cysts, and other microbes.

However, if the water’s TDS level is too high, then a UF water purifier will not be of much help for you. In that case, you would have to opt for Reverse Osmosis technology-based products.

 

3. High-end Portability

As the UF purifiers do not feature that many components, they do not weight much as well. Therefore, you can easily pick them up from one portion of your house and keep it somewhere else. If your purifier is a little smaller in size, you might also be able to carry it in a huge bag.

 

4. Eradicates the Germ Cysts

Most water purifiers usually utilize the coveted chlorine system to eliminate the eggs of the germs from the liquid. Nevertheless, as the cysts generally feature a hard-to-break shell as its shield, it becomes almost impossible for the chemicals to penetrate them.

Thus, even if they do kill the bacteria and viruses, they cannot remove the eggs from the water in any way. Therefore, the water, which they filtered out after putting in so much effort and consuming a lot of power, still stays contaminated.

So, what can you do to get rid of the eggs from your drinking water? Yes, that’s right. You can always employ a UF purifier to get some help with it. By providing a high amount of water pressure on the germs, these specific products can kill the pathogens and abolish their eggs.

Therefore, after the product has completed purifying your water, you can simply take out the filers and wash them to do away with the harmful cysts.

 

5. Top-Notch Efficiency

Regarding overall efficiency, the UF purifiers are better than their UV siblings by quite a mile as well. To begin with, the UV models usually feature a bulb, which helps them to kill bacteria and viruses almost instantly.

However, gradually, the lights of the bulbs will get dimmer and become less efficient. You will not get any warning notification for that. Thus, you will always have to keep a keen eye on it to know about the traces of this issue.

Also, once the light gets completely useless, you will have to buy a new one and replace it manually. So, in a way, the maintenance fee of this product can be pretty high and compelling.

However, all these things do not happen in the case of a UF water purifier. They usually use the same old, same old gravity factor to purify your water. So, you do not have to spend your money on purchasing any of the parts of it.

Moreover, they also do not require that much maintenance at all due to their sturdy external surface. Additionally, if you take proper care of your purifier, it will last for more than ten years.

Lastly, the UF models can also clean out the germs from the water more thoroughly than boiled water. In the case of the latter, the dead body of the pathogens and microbes still remain in the liquid. But, the UF technology-based purifier can filter them out quickly and provide you with clean water.

Nonetheless, you should undoubtedly clear out the filter of your model regularly. Otherwise, it might get stuck and stop filtering the liquids suitably.

 

6. No Need to Worry about Failure

With a UF water purifier, you will also not have to worry about failures as well. As it does not run on electricity, it won’t malfunction in any way. Moreover, the membranes of the UF purifiers are also pretty sturdy and unbreakable.

Therefore, if you clean them regularly, they will be able to serve you for a prolonged period. The worst thing that can happen with the product is the reduction or blockage of water flow. But, you can easily manage it by employing the previously-mentioned method.

 

7. No Installation Required

UF Water Purifier Installing

The other types of water purifiers, such as RO or UV, generally come with a plethora of features. Some of them are quite useful, while others are not beneficial at all. However, the availability of these components makes the whole installation procedure more complicated.

However, unlike them, the UF purifiers do not come with that many extra components. They consist of a few basic features, which proficiently help it to purify your regular drinking water. So, with them, you would not have to go through the trouble of calling an electrician for installation.

You can simply get your model out of the package and start using it right away. There are a low number of buttons available in these types of products. So, even if you do not have much knowledge about these products, you can still employ it without any issue.

 

8. Does Not Waste Water

Research on the availability of drinking water has recently revealed that only 1% of pure water is currently available worldwide. Conversely, the rest is either ocean-based or saline – both of which are undrinkable. So, during this dire time, making wastage of water is not a good idea.

However, the issue is that almost every water purifier wastes at least a little portion of water while purifying it. However, among them, the UF products are known to be most proficient in this case. As it can automatically separate the water molecules from dust and dirt, it does not need to throw out even a little bit of liquid during the process.

 

Disadvantages of UF Water Purifier

If you look at it from a general viewpoint, the UF water purifiers do not seem to have any negative issues. Due to this reason, many people consider it to be one of the best water purifier types of all.

However, there is one problem that most experts tend to associate with the UF products – the inability to filter out dissolved salt and heavy metals. So, you will have to use the RO purifiers to get rid of the toxic metalloids, such as cadmium, arsenic, leads, etc.

 

Conclusion

Unlike a few others, the UF purifiers generally employ a necessary purification technology for purging water from all the contaminants. However, it is still highly efficient and does its job entirely in almost every circumstance. So, if the TDS level of water in your area is somewhat low, then using a UF model can be an excellent idea for you.

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