I am a passionate traveler, and from the time I was a child, travel formed me as much as my formal education. – David Rockefeller

While I've written several blogs on items that are useful for travelers, I've decided to return to this subject by discussing six essential items for international travel that may save you money and/or the headaches of wanting to 'kick yourself' for not taking the time to do your proper research, whether for short-term trips or long-term international travel, whether for business or leisure trips, these suggestions may be things that you haven't considered. Finally, as I continue to emphasize greatly, DO YOUR RESEARCH OR HOMEWORK, if you have time, because again this can save you both time and money.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PURIFICATION AND FILTRATION:
The difference between the two is that a purification process removes that which is unwanted from the water, while a filtration process prevents what is unwanted from entering a water system. If the difference still seems a bit murky, it is. When chemicals added to water cause contaminants to coagulate and sink, it is considered filtration because it keeps the unwanted particles from passing through. Also, when the pores of a filter are so fine that even viruses are restrained, this is referred to as purification because most impurities are removed, even though it is through a process of filtration.
Because both processes overlap, and because the term "purification" seems a bit confusing, some companies avoid using the term in labeling. This is one reason why many water quality systems are labeled filtration, rather than purification systems.
FILTRATION:
The word filtration is easier to understand. The base word is filter, and that is what filtration does. Water filtration acts like a sieve to remove unwanted particles from the water. The two most common water filtration systems are sediment filters and activated carbon filters. The two are often combined. Sediment filters generally remove contaminants according to size. They remove many microscopic contaminants, but some, such as viruses, dissolved pharmaceuticals, and some unwanted minerals are too small to be trapped, and these pass through instead.
Most filtration systems use activated carbon to filter out contaminants, which is very effective. Carbon filters trap any carbon-based particles that pass through them. Carbon-based particles account for the majority of the harmful contaminants that are present in most water.
PURIFICATION:
Of the two terms, purification seems to be the one that is most misunderstood. Most people believe that if water is "pure," it means that there is nothing else mixed in with it. However, the root of the word "purification," is "purify." Purify, by definition, does not refer to removing all extraneous matter. Rather, it means to remove what is unwanted. So, a product that claims to purify water does not claim to distill it (i.e. make the water pure). It simply means that it removes what is not wanted, what is unhealthy, from the water.
AND that Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand.