Pure Magic Water Purifiers

We started our Melbourne based business in 1989 and have extensive knowledge and experience in design, manufacture, sales and maintenance of water filtration and air purification systems.

Water Filtration Systems

Pure Magic supply undersink, countertop, reverse osmosis and whole-house water filter systems to your needs, Australian standards and conditions.

Replacement Filter Cartridges

Pure Magic supplies replacement water filter cartridges including sediment, granular activated carbon, carbon block, Filmtec membrane and specialty types.

Accessories and Spare Parts

Pure Magic carries a range of water filter spare parts and accessories including, taps, o-rings, tubing, brackets, pressure limiting valves and water testing kits.

Other Water & Air Purification Products

Pure Magic for air purifiers, water alkalizer, ultra violet sterilizer, distiller, gravity filters, water coolers/ boiling systems, shower & fridge filters.

So many water filter systems, so little time! Is making the correct water filter choice confusing you? Read the guidelines below or call us on 1300 001 123.

There are so many different types of water purifiers available on the market that choosing the right one for you can be often intimidating and confusing. Ask yourself the questions below to determine which suits you the most.

If you have any further questions, you can send your queries via the form provided on our Contact Details page or simply ring us.

Is the supplier a well established business?

Unfortunately, there are many businesses in this industry who take no responsibility, have limited knowledge, know-how or commitment. All they want is to make quick money and disappear. Beware of companies with no shop front, short history and tendency to 'push' sales over providing good advice on your needs. Your expensive investment can become worthless, with no service, replacement cartridges or spare parts available.

A business with at least 10 years of history and a proper shop or showroom can be regarded as serious; customer-oriented, committed, experienced, responsible and interested in long-term relationship with customers and ongoing service.

What is my major concern about the drinking water?

If you are concerned with just the bad taste or smell, choose a system with a carbon filter. It will remove the taste and smell and you can enjoy delicious water. If you want to remove fluoride or heavy metals such as copper, lead, aluminium, cadmium, mercury, etc., choose a resin filter, a distiller or a Reverse Osmosis System. If you are concerned about bacteria or viruses, install an ultraviolet sterilizer in combination of a filter system. If you worry about Cysts like Cryptosporidium or Giardia, you need 1 micron or finer filter.

What type of water source do I have?

If you live in the city, your treated water is generally safe from pathogens, harmful bacteria and viruses. You have a wide range of choices, depending on the water quality you expect. If you use tank, rain, bore or stream water, you may need protection from Giardia, Cryptosporidium, blue-green algae, harmful bacteria and other micro-organisms.

Depending on the situation, you may also need extra protection from certain heavy metals and/or chemicals and you may need to soften your water as well. If you are on low water mains pressure below 60 psi, Reverse Osmosis may not function properly without a booster pump.

How much water do I need, and how quickly do I need it?

If you have a large family with children, running a busy life, you may need real time filtration or an automatic type reverse osmosis system rather than a slow, small-capacity gravity or jug type filter. If you are a couple or a small family and have a plenty of time of your own, a manual wall mount type Reverse Osmosis or a distiller might be a good choice. If you are single, a counter top or jug type filter may be enough.

How much and what part of my water should be filtered?

If the filtered water is just for drinking and cooking, point-of-use systems installed under the sink are most economical. If you want clean water for your shower, you can use a shower filter. If you want all the water in your household filtered, a whole house system (point-of-entry) is available.

How much do I want to spend?

If you want to spend less then $100, a simple tap-attaching filter, or a jug type filter is available. If your budget is between $100 - $200, you can buy a single counter top or a gravity- feed terracotta/ceramic. If your budget is between $200 - $600, a 2-stage/3-stage under-sink system and a manual/potable reverse osmosis are within your budget. If you can spend $600 - $1500, a deluxe, under-sink, automatic reverse osmosis system or a distiller can be yours.

Find out about Micro-organisms, Toxic Minerals, Metals, Inorganic and Organic Chemicals, Chlorine, Fluoride, Flocculants Additives and water filtering.

Micro-organisms

Bacteria When certain bacteria appear in places where they do not normally reside, they can cause illness. If these bacteria are ingested, as in drinking water, they may cause illness, usually diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Most common water-borne bacterial diseases are cholera, typhoid, bacterial dysentery, tularaemia, brucellosis, shigellosis, infectious hepatitis, Weil's disease and anthrax. These diseases are transmitted by consuming water that has been infected with fecal material, and can occur as the result of faulty equipment, lack of maintenance, improperly trained operators or unusual water conditions, for instance, when heavy rains cause surface runoff to contaminate drinking water supplies.

Viruses are the smallest of all pathogenic agents, some being as small as a single molecule. In general, they are both more dangerous and more resistant to disinfection than bacteria. Those that occur in polluted water include the adenoviruses, Coxsakie and ECHO viruses reo viruses, polioviruses, and those that cause infectious hepatitis. Viruses are also harder to treat once an infection occurs, because they are not affected by common antibiotics. With viruses, prevention is truly the best medicine.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan which continues to show up in an increasing number of water supplies across the country. This chlorine-resistant pest can overwhelm the body's immune system. AIDS and cancer patients, the elderly, infants, and people who are ill or have compromised immune systems are most at risk. For them, drinking contaminated water can result in death.

Giardia is another cyst-forming protozoan responsible for the disease known as giardiasis, the number-one waterborne disease in the United States and many other countries. Giardiasis produces acute diarrhea, sometimes lasting for months, causing so much distress to the system that children, elderly people in weakened conditions can die. Like Cryptosporidium, Giardia has the ability to create a hard, protective coating known as an oocyst. These cysts have the ability to protect the organism against normal chlorination procedures. Giardia therefore shows up periodically in municipal water supplies around the country.

A water filter system with 0.5 micron (or finer) filtration can remove 99.99% of the above cysts, such as the Pure Magic Double Undersink Premium, Double Undersink Ultimate, Triple Undersink, Single Countertop Premium, Double Countertop Ultimate, Doulton Ceramic Countertop or higher systems such as Reverse Osmosis.

Toxic Minerals, Metals and Inorganic Chemicals

Copper may exist in natural waters but the blue water from the tap indicates the presence of high level of copper from corrosion of pipe, which has serious health implications. Dr Fergus Kerr, a clinical toxicologist at Melbourne's Austen Hospital, says side-effects of drinking copper above the guidelines would initially start with diarrhoeic illness, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal cramping. Where there has been long-term exposure, side effects could include cirrhosis of the liver and renal failure and, if left untreated, death has been reported.

Lead is one of the most dangerous pollutants found in drinking water. Lead is responsible for kidney, brain and central nervous system disorders. In adults, it can cause miscarriages, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, impotency, numerous nervous system disorders and even death. For infants, consuming even very small amounts of lead can lead to irreversible brain damage, intellectual, emotional, and developmental problems, numerous nervous system impairments, and stunted growth. High levels of lead have been found in children suffering from lethargy, personal aberrations, and mental retardation. Since lead accumulates in the human body, particular care must be taken to ensure that lead does not enter your drinking water supply.

Arsenic is a well-known poison that occurs naturally in many rocks, minerals and soils. Several industrial processes require its use, but most man-made pollution comes from the application of arsenic-containing pesticides. Like lead, even very small amounts build up in the body over time, causing a condition known as chronic arsenosis. It may take many years for the poisoning to become apparent. Chronic poisoning is usually first noticeable as weakness, tiredness, dry scaly skin, keratosis(changes in skin pigmentation), ganglion cysts, and swelling of the lining of the mouth. Degeneration of the nerves then follows, which produces tingling, then numbing in the hands and feet. Arsenic is also known to cause cancer, and affects the liver and the heart. Chronic arsenosis, in its most extreme form, causes death.

Asbestos is a silica mineral, is a known lung carcinogen. Stomach cancers were also common among those exposed to asbestos, possibly due to the swallowing of lung mucus that contained asbestos that then came in contact with the stomach lining. Asbestos is widely distributed through the environment and can reach drinking water sources through weathering of local geological sites, through pollution of water sources from mining and refining of iron, or through erosion of asbestos-based water pipes and conduits. In studies from San Francisco, associations between asbestos in water with stomach, esophagus, and lung cancer were found.

Water filter systems with heavy metal removal include ion exchange filters such as the Pure Magic Double Undersink Ultimate and the Ion Exchange Countertop, Distillers, and Reverse Osmosis.

Organic Chemicals

This category includes several large classes of carbon-containing chemicals. Among them are synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, disinfectants, paints, fuels, plastics, dyes, floorings, pharmaceuticals and preservatives, to name a few. When synthetic chemicals are found in a water supply, the actual polluting source may be a leaking gasoline tank or factory discharge many miles away, it may be agricultural runoff, herbicide spraying of highways or any of hundreds of legal or illegal sources. One type of organic chemical is particularly dangerous. VOCs(volatile organic chemicals), are absorbed through your skin when you come into contact with water, as in a shower or bath. Further, hot water allows these chemicals to evaporate rapidly, and they are harmful if inhaled. VOCs can be in any tap water, regardless of where you live or what your source of water is. In addition to the organic chemicals that have gotten into water supplies, new and dangerous ones are created in the water itself. Chlorine, which is in essentially all Australian tap water, combines with organic chemicals to form a category of toxic pollutants called THMs(trihalomethanes). These substances have been associated with impaired fertility and cancer.

Most types of carbon filters will remove organic chemicals.

Water Additives

Chlorine is a highly effective and inexpensive disinfecting agent used extensively in Australia and many other countries to treat municipal and individual water supplies. But while chlorination has helped to eradicate water-borne diseases, a growing body of evidence indicates that the practice maybe very hazardous to human health, especially when high levels of free residual chlorine leave the water treatment facility and arrive at your tap. Joseph M. Price, M.D., makes it clear that the presence of free chlorine in water creates heart disease. Chlorine causes fats to form the cholesterol deposits known as plaque. It is this plaque that clogs arteries, resulting in heart attacks and strokes. Disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed when chlorine is used to disinfect water. One class of these chemical compounds is called trihalomethanes (THMs), which are formed when chlorine reacts with organic matter in water. A recent study by doctors from Harvard found that DBPs may be responsible for rectal and bladder cancers. Another massive study of pregnant women and their babies found that certain birth defects are significantly associated with DBPs. THMs, one class of DBPs, are known to damage the kidney, liver and nervous system, and to cause birth defects. Many THMs are proven to be potent carcinogens.

Fluoride is added in our drinking water to improve children's dental health. While studies from proponents of fluoridation show dramatic reductions of tooth decay in children who drink fluoridated water, opponents of fluoridation cite equally valid studies that show no difference in the dental health of children in fluoridated and no fluoridated areas. Regardless of this dispute, there are some important facts to remember about water fluoridation. First, fluoride is a highly toxic chemical, rated as more toxic than lead in chemistry indexes, whose level of ingestion must be carefully regulated. The difficulty is that no one knows for sure how much fluoride the average child is receiving. This is because, in addition to water fluoridation, children can ingest fluoride through toothpaste and through the fluoridated water that may be used in canned foods and beverages. Secondly, in addition to hardening children's teeth, there are many side effects like tooth mottling, and increased risks of bone diseases and cancer.

Flocculants: In addition to chlorine, and sometimes fluoride, water treatment plants often add several other substances to water to improve the efficiency of treatment. Flocculants are substances that are added to the water to make the particles in it clump together for more efficient sedimentation. Some of the most commonly used flocculants are called polyelectrolytes. These types have been banned for use by several countries because some of their constituents are known to be mutagenic (causing genetic mutations) and carcinogenic.

Does boiling water make it safe? Is filtered water less nutritious? Isn't our Melbourne water the best in the world? Is bottled spring water always pure?

Myth: Boiling tap water makes it safe to drink

Truth: Boiling tap water makes no discernable difference in the quality of your tap water. In fact, you are likely to be worse off than before.

In days long gone by, the only threat drinking water posed was the presence of micro-organisms. In those times, it would indeed have been appropriate to boil water, and this would certainly have destroyed these dangerous germs, making the water much safer to drink.

Today however, the situation is completely different. Our water is constantly treated with chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride. The end result of this process is that the vast majority of all micro-organisms have already perished. Our problem, therefore, are the added potentially carcinogenic chemicals, as well as heavy metals picked up from corroding pipes. Boiling tap water further exacerbates the situation, as it causes pure water to be evaporated, while leaving behind dissolved solids such as heavy metals. As pure water has been lost, the heavy metals are now even more concentrated than before.

Myth: By drinking pure water, you miss out on important minerals. What's more, pure water washes out the nutrients in your body, resulting in mineral deficiency.

Truth: Daily consumption of reasonable amounts of pure water helps to keep your body healthy; it most certainly does not cause mineral deficiencies.

First of all, the mineral content of tap water is trivial to the point where there is almost no nutrition value at all. Nothing of benefit to your health is lost in the filtration process. At any rate, drinking water is not even the source of your nutrition: 99.9% of essential minerals are obtained from your food.

Pure water cannot simply flush out the nutrients already in use by your body systems. Our kidney and liver are the vital organs which selectively decide what our body needs, as well as what it does not. You can be assured that essential nutrients will continue to be utilized by our body, and will not be removed by pure water. Our body's metabolism is highly sophisticated and complex; it should not be underestimated!

Myth: There is no need to filter Melbourne's tap water; it is the best in the world

Truth: Although the quality of tap water varies greatly between countries and even cities, tap water is always tap water; they all contain similar, potentially dangerous contaminants, albeit in varying degrees.

It is true that Melbourne's water catchment areas are actually quite pristine by world standards. We also have soft water here. However, it becomes exposed to the unfortunates of our natural environment: various animals and their dead bodies and droppings, insects, toxic blue-green algae, bacteria, viruses and so on.

Consequently, chemicals such as chlorine are necessarily added to sanitize our water. Our catchment water journeys through hundreds of kilometres of aged aqueducts, tunnels and pipes constructed from various materials such as concrete, iron, steel, copper and galvanized, picking them up on the way.

Thus, water quality steadily deteriorates in transit to your tap; what you drink from your tap is not the same clear water that resides in our catchments. Instead, parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium; chemicals like chlorine, THM's and fluoride; metals like copper and lead (picked up from corroding pipes and plumbing) - all posing considerable health threats - may very well be present in your drinking water. However, an appropriate filter system can effectively remove all these contaminants, protecting your wellbeing.

Myth: Spring water equals good drinking water

Truth: Drinking untested spring water can pose a risk to your health, as its safety has not been verified. Some people give their undying trust to all varieties of spring water, not knowing that there is no representative spring water, and that they are all very different. Depending on its geological status and environment from which it was obtained, spring water may contain higher levels of micro-organisms, nitrates, numerous pollutants of human, animal, environmental and industrial origin, metals, radioactive material and so on. Drinking untested, unidentified spring water is like driving with your eyes closed. You have only one body, one life, and it is just not worth the risk when a solution is at hand.

Reverse Osmosis is an advanced filtration technique used to purify water in a wide range of industries as well as for home use. First demonstrated in the late 1950's, reverse osmosis technology has progressed considerably, resulting in the high-performance purification systems available today.

At the core of every reverse osmosis system is a semi-permeable membrane: a thin polymer barrier lined with pores of extremely small size - while a typical filter cartridge may be rated at 0.5 to 5 microns, the pores of a reverse osmosis membrane are on the order of 0.0005 microns. This allows the semi-permeable membrane to operate on the molecular level - while a water molecule is small enough to pass through the pores, larger molecules cannot.

A household reverse osmosis system does not use electricity. It is powered only by mains water pressure which forces water through the membrane, producing clean, pure water on one side of the membrane, while larger contaminants remain on the other side. A minimum mains pressure of 40 psi is typically necessary for normal operation.

This exceptional purifying ability allows a reverse osmosis system to remove a huge range of contaminants and impurities in your tap water. This includes sediments, colloids, bacteria, cysts, viruses, dissolved ions, heavy metals, fluoride, chlorine, herbicides, and pesticides.

To ensure that the contaminants in the water do not build up on the membrane and block water flow, the membrane is continuously flushed with water during operation, and the water carrying the flushed contaminants is then discharged. For every litre of pure water produced, 2 to 3 litres is flushed out, which can either be drained, or collected and used for other purposes such as watering the garden. This self-cleaning ability gives the membrane cartridge an extensive service life, several times that of a normal filter cartridge.

The smaller, ultra-fine pores of a semi-permeable membrane results in a flow rate of between 3 and 10 litres per hour. While this may appear to be low, most reverse osmosis systems come with a pressurised storage tank, which provides on-demand access to plenty of water, even for a whole family.

Aside from the reverse osmosis stage, a complete system also features two or more additional stages. A sediment filter is placed before the membrane, reducing the load on it by removing larger particulates. A carbon filter is also placed after the membrane, as it can chemically bind to and trap smaller, volatile molecules such as chlorine compounds which the membrane may have missed.

As a conclusion, Reverse Osmosis is considered to be by far the best filtration method in terms of purity, running cost, efficiency, practicality, and convenience, compared to other filtration methods, such as activated carbon, ion exchange, KDF, and distillation