Bathing, cooking, cleaning and even gardening involve the use of water. Bathing is pleasurable and if you have the right shower you can adjust for a pulsating massage or for soft spray, you would want to spend more than a few minutes in the bathroom. Water that flows through the mains is supposed to be pure and hygienic. The reality is that it is full of organic particles, organisms, inorganic chemicals and salts and the worst, chlorine dissolved in the water. Chlorine kills germs and purifies water but at the same time, is highly corrosive. If you spend more time in the shower the dissolved chlorine is absorbed by your skin, hair, and eyes, and even inhaled by you, posing a health threat. You can boil water to let chlorine outgas but this is not a practical solution. The best way to remove chlorine and other particulate matter is to use shower filters.  If you are using a plain shower head without a shower filter cartridge, it is time to change. Adults are at risk and if you have children, their sensitive systems are at even more risk due to dissolved impurities and chlorine in the water. Shower filters get rid of this and make a vital difference to your family’s health.  One of the prime considerations when you think of adding shower filters or buying a shower head with integral shower filter cartridge is about how easy it is to replace the cartridge, how long it will last and how much it will cost.   You may be using a fixed shower head or a hand held one. You may be able to retrofit shower filter cartridge to these. Alternatively, you may want to go in for integrated shower filters with replaceable cartridges, a much better option for a neat and tidy look besides assured functionality. In such shower filters you simply unscrew the cartridge portion, remove the existing used up cartridge and insert a new one in place and your shower filter is ready to go, good as new. Some people have a tendency to take the rated life of a cartridge literally. However, the rated life or capacity is nominal, related to a number of factors. These are hardness of the water, amount of dissolved impurities and the percentage of chlorine in water. If you live in an area with high total dissolved solids (TDS) or high chlorine, the cartridge needs replacement sooner to keep your shower filter effective and ensure that you are not exposed to these risks.   Typically, a standard shower filter has a cartridge made up of copper, zinc and activated carbon that removes chlorines, chloramines, volatile organic compounds, TDS and heavy metals. Shower filters with such cartridges may last for about 6 to 9 months after which you must replace the cartridge. Then you have options of choosing higher capacity cartridges with the same functionalities. The difference is the cartridge is larger and has more of the filter media giving a replacement time of about a year between cartridge changes. In addition, shower filters with these cartridges also balance pH of the water.   Choose one or the other but make sure you are never without the protection of such safe, acclaimed shower filters when you take a shower.   http://www.showerfilterstore.com/