As the world becomes busier, more fast-paced, and more globally interconnected, we find ourselves facing new problems and challenges alongside the new possibilities opened by technological advancements. One of the areas most negatively affected by the rapid development of new technologies over the past century has been the natural world. More than ever before, our air, soil, and water are facing threats from human activity, including the rise of never-before-seen contaminants, such as microplastics and PFAS.
Water is dangerous enough in its naturally-occurring state, serving as an ideal habitat for a variety of forms of microbial life, as well as a repository of minerals, dissolved organics, and a wide variety of chemical pollutants, all of which end up in water due to water’s status as a powerful solvent. Add in the growing number of synthetic resins, plastics, and other new compounds that are being developed on a near-daily basis, and we have a very worrisome situation, in which our water, air, and soil may contain any number of potentially health-hazardous substances, many of which have little to no oversight or control.
In a world full of pollutants and contaminants that are not fully understood, let alone fully monitored or regulated, it is unsurprising that many individuals and industries would want to step up their efforts to filter clean, potable water, whether for personal and family use, or for use in drinks and cooking at a coffee shop or restaurant. Today we will consider some of the most prevalent forms of water filtration at use in restaurants in the United States, and how water filtration systems can also benefit the home cook, right in their own kitchen.
Why Water Quality Matters in Restaurants
Water quality matters everywhere, and it is especially important anytime water is going to be consumed, or used in food that is to be consumed. Water makes up the majority of our bodies, and we require a steady supply of clean water every day in order for our bodies to continue to function healthily and regularly. And, while tap water in the United States is generally fairly clean, many restaurants–including some of the nation’s largest chains–opt to take some additional precautions and install filtration systems in all of their locations. Higher-end local restaurants, bars, and coffee shops will often do this as well, though many smaller, single-location restaurants may simply use the municipal tap water they receive from the city. It is not always necessary to filter municipal water in the US, as it is often perfectly fine for home and public consumption.
However, even when tap water is quite good, that doesn’t mean it is perfect, and to get an ideal cup of coffee, or the best baked goods, a coffee shop owner or baker may decide to spend the extra money for the best water they can manufacture on site, to ensure end results a cut above the reset. Coffee, tea, meals, baked goods, and whatever else water is used in will take on–to some extent–the flavor profiles of the water in question. If your water is high in chlorine, chloramines, fluoride, or any other contaminant, whether it is there purposefully or accidentally, then you may see a big improvement in your product after switching to a source of adequately filtered water.
Common Sources of Water Contamination in Restaurants
Most restaurants will be on city or municipal water, and thus will suffer from all of the normal effects of a given region’s water conditions, the good and the bad. The nature and extent of water contaminants that you can expect to find in any given water source or region can differ dramatically, even from a very close by region, or within the same area over time. Common contaminants that pose a problem for city water systems include sediment (undissolved particulate matter in water), chlorine and chloramines (disinfectants used to kill microorganisms in water), fluoride (often put in by cities for the dental benefits), VOCs (volatile organic compounds), heavy metals and mineral content (from dangerous things like lead and chromium to more innocuous things like calcium and magnesium), as well as trace amounts of various chemicals from pesticides, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals.
Types of Water Filters Used in Restaurants
Just as restaurants may be afflicted with any of the normal contaminants we would expect to potentially see in a home water test, so too, restaurant water can be treated along the same lines as those used in a residence, albeit on perhaps a larger scale, or with some specific modifications. Some technologies, such as water softeners, make a lot more sense in a private residence than they would in a commercial kitchen, but others like sediment, carbon, and RO, can be found in both locations.
Sediment Filters
Almost always the first stop in any multi-stage water filtration system, sediment filters trap physical particulates in water, removing them from the flow. Sediment filters are very simple in construction, usually amounting to little more than an extruded cylinder of spun polypropylene plastic. For all that simplicity, however, they are highly effective, and forms a first line of defense for the downstream filter components in more complex systems.
Carbon Filters
The next stage in multi-stage filtration setups is almost always activated carbon. Created by super-heating charcoal formed from burning wood, bamboo, bituminous coal, coconut husks, or any other “carbonaceous” material, activated carbon filters differ significantly from sediment filters and RO membranes in that unlike those two types of filter, a carbon filter operates on chemical rather than merely mechanical principles. The carbon is chemically “active,” and it pulls dissolved chemical contaminants out of their dissolved state, adhering the offending particles to the carbon matrix, thus effectively removing it from your water. Carbon tends to work best in conjunction with mechanical filters such as sediment and reverse osmosis.
Reverse Osmosis Systems
The most aggressive form of mechanical filtration available today, today’s commercial reverse osmosis membranes were initially developed in the 1960s as a method for desalinating seawater. They have many use cases aside from that, however, and they offer some of the most advanced filtration available on the market. With pore sizes as small a 0.0001 micron (by comparison, the average human hair is around 70 microns in width) RO membranes filter out contaminants at the molecular level, straining out offending materials and only letting relatively pure water through.
UV Filters
A unique type of filter that utilizes ultraviolet light to kill microorganisms, UV filters may be used in some restaurants looking for the highest water quality standards. However, it is unlikely to be as regular a feature in restaurants on city water, as municipally-treated water will almost always have undergone chlorination, chloramination, ozonation, or some other form of antimicrobial disinfection.
Specialized Filters
So far, we have considered some of the biggest “usual suspects” in home and/or commercial water filtration systems. However, there are a wide variety of speciality filters, such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration, that may be used in various restaurants or food-packaging industries, depending on the specific contaminant range and profile they are targeting. In general, restaurants will try to focus on the problematic elements known to occur in the local water, just as you would try to isolate the known contaminants in your home, and address those with a specialized filtration system.
How Water Filters Benefit Restaurants
Whether you are cooking at home, or eating out, better water in the cooking process means better end results. Especially when dealing with something almost entirely water-based, such as coffee, tea, soda, or boba drinks, water quality can (and often will) make a very noticeable difference in the taste, smell, and quality of the final product.
Improved Taste and Quality of Food and Beverages
There is little purpose in spending top dollar for speciality roasted coffee beans, only to ruin them by using water that is high in chlorine or fluoride content. Water is one of the main ingredients in all cooking, and improving the water supply is one of the swiftest and most comprehensive ways to protect flavor and taste.
Extended Lifespan of Kitchen Equipment
Bad water can take a toll on more than just our physical bodies–it can also be very deleterious to pipes, water fixtures, and delicate kitchen appliances. One thing that is particularly tough on pipes and water-dispensing gadgets is hard water. The dissolved calcium and magnesium content in hard water will leave limescale on surfaces it comes into regular contact with, which are unsightly at best, and a danger to the proper flow and operation of pipes, fixtures, and appliances at worst. A water softener by itself may not be an ideal solution for a restaurant, however as softeners add excess salt into the water as they treat the ion exchange resin, which can change the taste of food and drinks. Coupling a softener with a reverse osmosis system would be a good solution.
Health and Safety Compliance
Some restaurants may need to demonstrate compliance with some sort of adopted regulation or standard. Usually this will not be any state or federal requirement, as municipally treated water is already legally covered. However, for coffee shops or speciality restaurants looking to distinguish themselves from their competitors, additional safety requirements or voluntarily-adopted standards may be met and advertised.
The Bottom Line
Better quality water means better quality foods, speciality beverages, or whatever else you make from said water. As one of the most potent solvents on the planet, water is exceptionally good at picking up trace amounts of anything and everything. Whether at home, or on the go, we can all benefit from water filtration, which is why it is becoming an increasingly common staple of chain restaurants, as well as higher-end individual dining spots.