PureEffect Ultra-UC Water Filter Review
December 10, 2012, by Debra Lynn Dadd
As a consumer advocate and author of seven books on safe, toxic-free products, I’ve been researching, using, and writing about water filters since 1982. I’ve looked at a lot of different filters during that period of time and understand how to evaluate water filters for effectiveness.
I installed the Ultra-UC Water Filter/Revitalizer made by PureEffect Advanced Filtration in December 2012. It caught my attention because it removes a wide variety of pollutants (some of which are not removed by most filters) at an affordable price.
I Love This Water Filter So Much I Drilled a Hole in My Granite Countertop
I have to admit that when I first heard about this water filter I was skeptical. What if I didn’t life it? I didn’t want to drill a hole in my granite countertop and then have a hole left if I wanted to take it out. So I installed it in my garage near the laundry sink. But it turned out that I love the water so much, and it feels so good in my body that I went ahead and drilled the hole in my granite countertop so I could have this water easily “on tap” any time I want it.
But you don’t need to drill a hole in your countertop (unless you want to). You can get this very same filter performance in a countertop unit and a whole house filter. So choose the one that works best for you.
Why I Needed a Point-of-Use Filter for Drinking Water Even Though I Have a Whole House Filter
Even though I have a whole house filter, I decided to install this point-of-use filter as well. I wanted to get my water as clean as possible. I was surprised by the noticeable difference in taste of the water after installing the Ultra-UC Water Filter/Revitalizer–fresher and cleaner.
The difference between a whole house filter and a point-of-use filter in terms of water quality is that the whole house filter is installed at the point-of-entry of the water to the house and a point-of-use filter is installed at the point of use, such as a kitchen sink or showerhead. When you filter your water at the point where it enters the house, it can pick up contaminants as it runs through the water pipes in your home. A point-of-use filter is installed right before the water comes out of the faucet, so there is no opportunity to pick up pollutants from water pipes.
I chose the undercounter model because I have limited space on my
countertop I actually installed it in the garage on the wall over the laundry sink and put my drinking water in glass bottles). But these same filter capabilities are available in countertop and whole house units as well.
Water Pollutants Removed
To the best of my knowledge the Ultra-UC Water Filter/Revitalizer is the only All-In-One system of it’s kind that removes:
1. Radioisotopes that get into our water from Leaking Nuclear Plants, Fukushima Fallout, and Uranium/Plutonium Mining (this is the only filter I’ve ever seen that removes radioactive particles)
2. Drug Residues that are not required by law to be removed at water treatment plants (again, this is the only filter I’ve seen to remove drug residues).
3. Fluoride using an all-natural alumina-free activated carbon bonded with calcium, shown to be 20% more effective at removing fluoride than the commonly used activated alumina.
4. Disinfection Chemical Additives including both Chloramines and Chlorine.
5. Disinfection Chemical By-Products such as Trihalomethanes (one of which is Chloroform).
6. Heavy Metals including Lead, Aluminum, Mercury, Barium, Iron & Other Positively Charged metal ions.
7. VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) such as benzene, xylene and other solvents that are byproducts of the petroleum industry.
8. Agricultural Contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides and insecticides
9. Microbial Cysts including Giardia & Cryptosporidum, which survive disinfection.
10. Sediment down to ultra-fine size of 0.5 Micron (approximately 50x smaller than a grain of beach sand)
The Best Carbon Cartridge I Know Of
The PureEffect DualCarb-Superblock 0.5 Micron Catalytic Activated Carbon cartridge comes standard with every unit.
Here’s why this may be the most advanced carbon filter yet.
Up-to 15X More Chemical Decomposition Power: Unlike most carbon blocks on the market which use only one type of regular activated carbon, PureEffect’s DualCarb-Superblock features two types of Premium Grade Catalytic Activated Carbon, compression molded into one block. This results in about 15 time more chemical decomposition power than regular activated carbons. The term “Catalytic” means that the surface of the carbon has been specially modified to react with hard to remove chemicals like chloramine, hydrogen sulfide and others to speed up their molecular decomposition on contact. Regular activated carbon cannot do this, and is not adequate to remove the complex and persistent contaminants we face today.
Super Wide Range of Chemical Absorption: By combining two different types of catalytic carbons they achieved an unparalleled diversity of pore sizes, which now includes micro, macro and meso pore sizes within the carbon block structure. The various pore sizes capture a much wider range of chemical molecules than ever before. It also absorbed at least 50% more chloramine than their previous cartridge.
Built-in Natural Bacterial Protection: Most carbon blocks on the market do not offer anything to discourage bacterial overgrowth inside the carbon structure, or the ones that do use silver, which we think isn’t the best option, since silver must be listed as a pesticide with the EPA. Instead, they have impregnated the carbon with the proven, safe, natural, NSF Certified and Patented KDF55 media. This safely discourages bacterial growth throughout the cartridge, maintaining superior performance and preventing fouling issues that commonly occurs with low-end carbon blocks.
Superior 0.5 micron Micro-Sediment & Microbial Cyst Removal: Because we compressed this block into a very fine 0.5 micron density, it can capture microbial cysts that survive disinfection, e.g. Giardia & Cryptosporidium and extremely fine sediment, many times smaller than beach sand. Further, such a compression allows for more thorough overall filtration, since the water has to make it’s way through a much denser material than say a 5 micron carbon block.
High-Quality, yet Reasonably Priced: PureEffect doesn’t compromise on quality, and only sources their carbon from the best suppliers, never from China or other questionable sources. All the cartridges are freshly manufactured in the USA, are BPA and Phthalate-Free
Filter Cartridges & Independent Water Test
The Ultra-UC Water Filter/Revitalizer is made up of three filter cartridges (click on the links to see what they contain and what they remove)
ANTIRAD–Plus Anti-Radiation cartridge
SUPERBLOCK 0.5 Micron Carbon Block cartridge
Comprehensive Water Test Showing the Output Water Quality of the System
Other Benefits
* Raises Alkaline pH naturally. In nature, water is naturally balanced between 6.5- 9.0 pH (pH stands for the Power of Hydrogen, which is a measure of how acidic or alkaline something is). Using nature as their guide, the manufacturer saw that rain water makes it’s way down to the ground, then is filtered through the earth and over riverbeds, where it picks up it’s mineral/electrolyte ions and becomes naturally balanced. Taking this process into consideration, they developed their filter systems to pattern this effect naturally.
* Improves water’s antioxidant potential by approximately 25%. This water has the potential to “give” electrons (subatomic negative charges) to protons (subatomic positive charges) it comes in contact with. When these electrons bond to the protons–also known as free-radicals or oxidants–these oxidants can then be reduced and neutralized.
* Quality Components made to last. I was very impressed with the high quality of materials, even the little lever on the auxilary faucet moves with exceptional smoothness when I move it to retrieve the water. No part of this filter is made in China. All filtration cartridges are Made in USA. Comes with a 2-Year Hassle-Free Warranty and personalized customer care and service.
* Requires no electricity (works only on water pressure).
* Uses advanced Flow Regulation Technology. This ensures water does not pass through the system too quickly, and has sufficient contact time with filtration media, allowing optimal contaminant filtration.
* Uses high-quality nontoxic materials. BPA-Free and Phthalate-Free plastic, lead-free metal components and highest grade filtration media.
Better Than Bottled Water
Having my own filter in my home gives me the cleanest water possible
on-demand, and saves a significant amount of time, effort and money by
eliminating the need for purchasing and carrying bottled water from
the store. After a few months of bottled water savings, the unit pays
for itself.
In addition, water bottles have been known to leach BPA, phthalates
and other petroleum-based chemicals that are known
to have harmful health effects.
The Manufacturer
This filter is made by a small family-owned water filteration business based in the USA, focused on designing, testing and innovating reasonably priced, yet high-quality drinking water filtration/revitalization systems, both point-of-use and whole-house.
“We create filtration systems that are simple, elegant, and extremely effective at reducing the widest possible range of common contaminants. Our PureEffect Water Filter Systems protect your drinking water and help restore it back to it’s ‘naturally pure’ state, and by that we do not mean laboratory sterilized H2O stripped of everything but the water molecules, instead, our filters can make the water that enters your body ‘whole’ and ‘nutritious’ again.”
Their filters are specifically designed to remove toxic substances while leaving essential alkalinizing minerals, electrolytes and negative electrochemical “charges” that neutralize positively-charged free radicals found in toxic tap water.
“We truly love what we do, and build water filter systems which you and your loved ones can enjoy for many years to come.”
Your Body Needs Clean Water
Water is essential to life. Our bodies cannot live more than three to five days without a replenishment of water because water is constantly evaporating from our bodies. Our bodies are 50 to 70 perent water, depending on age. So we need a steady supply of clean and balanced water available.
Tap water is full of contaminants. All tap water contains at the very least disinfectants that kill micro-organisms both in the water and in your body. Tap water wipes out virtually all the beneficial bacteria that aid in digestion, for example.
In order to function, every organ and cell in our bodies need water.
I drink three to four quarts of pure water every day to keep my body hydrated. I keep a water bottle on my desk at all times and sip from it as I work. It’s just a basic of building good health.
In the past, water filters that remove pollutants as well as the Ultra-UC Water Filter/Revitalizer have been very expensive.
This is the first filter I’ve seen that removes such a broad spectrum of pollutants, restores water’s natural pH, isn’t made in China, and is affordable for most households. And if you move, you can bring it with you.
Clean drinking water for everyone.whole house filterwhole house filterwhole house filter
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