Humans need water to survive, and that is a simple fact. It is therefore very important that the water people consume be safe to drink and free of harmful chemicals and bacteria. It can get expensive buying bottled water all the time and the waste produced is bad for the environment. In-house filters are a better solution when the water supply comes from a well or when town and city water has quality and purity issues. Such filters can be small enough to fit on one faucet or large enough to purify the entire water supply of the house. The biggest limiting factors are the quantity of water that comes in and the expense a household owner can afford.

Filtering household drinking water can be done in several different ways and within everyone's range of budget. The filters that attach to single faucets are some of the most convenient tools to purify drinking water. These filters have advanced so quickly over the past few years that they now install without any use of tools and usually just snap right on over existing spigots. They can be flipped on and off depending on if the water is going to be used for washing dishes or drinking and this ensures that the filters last longer and do not need to be replaced as often.

Another option for filtering water in smaller quantities is a pitcher that has a top with a built in filter. These pitchers are filled from the top and the water goes down through the filter which then purifies it and makes it safe to drink. The water container can then be kept in the fridge to provide cold water whenever desired. The disadvantage to the pitcher though is that sometimes people will forget to refill it and then there will not be cold water for the next person who wants it.

For filtering an entire household's water supply, there are large filtration systems that usually involve a system of cleansing and back washing. When installed and maintained properly these systems can work well for years but they are usually quite costly. For someone on public water, having a good flow of water for these systems is not an issue but for someone on a well, the quantity of water required for filtering and back wash might run the well dry. A homeowner needs to know exactly how much water is required for such a large system before having it installed.

With purified filtered water it is easy to make healthy drinks from the varieties of flavor packets sold in stores. Flavored household water can be healthier than soda if the sugar and calorie content is low enough. Simple cold bottles of water are healthy drinks all on their own and when reusable bottles are used, the environment benefits. Filtering and purifying household drinkable water does not need to be complicated or expensive to work. Clean cold water is not only refreshing it is required for a health life.