Once your water leaves your municipal water treatment plant it can pick up contaminants along the way. These contaminants can make your water hard, smell bad or taste off.
Stage 1 uses resin beads with a negative charge to attract the positively charged minerals like calcium and magnesium in your water. These are then removed from your water leaving it soft.
Benefits
In addition to keeping you and your family healthy, a home water purifier can also help reduce your plumbing repair bills. Untreated water can damage pipes, leaving behind rust and mineral deposits. Filtered water is better for your appliances, too, including the refrigerator ice maker and dishwasher. You’ll also save money by not having to purchase bottled water.
Some contaminants are not detectable by the senses, such as arsenic in drinking water. The odorless and tasteless contaminant can cause disease over time. A home water filtration system removes arsenic, as well as other harmful contaminants like bacteria and toxins.
Water filtration systems can include filters with multiple layers that separate impurities. For example, reverse osmosis uses a semi-permeable membrane that allows clean water to pass through while large contaminant particles get trapped. Other processes like UV treatment and distillation can also purge water. Many filtering systems use a combination of these methods to ensure the safest and most effective results.
You can find water filtration units that are designed to fit into your faucets, or you can buy jug and kettle filters to keep in your fridge or cupboards. You can also get a whole house system that filters water at the point of entry into your home. This system will filter your water for all uses in the house, from drinking to cooking and showering.
Cost
Having access to clean drinking water is crucial for the health of you and your family. It can also help you save money by reducing your dependence on bottled water. Buying bottles of water can cost up to $700 per year, but a home filtration system can save you that much or more.
There are many different types of home water filtration systems, so it is important to find the one that suits your needs and budget. If you want a simple solution, a faucet mount filter is an excellent choice. These filters use a combination of carbon and ion exchange to reduce contaminants. They also remove chlorine and other chemicals that give water a bad taste. They are inexpensive and easy to use, but they cannot remove as many contaminants as a reverse osmosis system can.
Another option is a whole house filtration system. These systems are usually more expensive than POU systems, but they can provide a lot of benefits for the homeowner. They can reduce the amount of water that you need to purchase from the store, and they can extend the lifespan of household appliances.
A water filtration system is an excellent investment for any homeowner. It can significantly improve the quality of your water and protect your health. It can also be a great way to cut back on the number of plastic bottles you buy, which are harmful for the environment.
Installation
The type of water filter you need depends on the contaminants you’re trying to treat. If you’re looking to reduce heavy metals, you’ll need a carbon filter. If you’re treating hardness minerals, you’ll want a whole house water softener or a reverse osmosis under-sink system. If you’re dealing with dissolved solids, you can opt for an ion exchange resin filter or a water distiller.
Installing a home water purifier is a relatively easy job that shouldn’t take more than an afternoon for a handy homeowner to do. To get started, shut off the main water supply and drain all existing water. Next, you’ll need to cut a hole in the sink that will house the filter, and it’s best to use a titanium graduated step drill bit for a stainless steel sink.
After that, it’s a matter of running the water through the filter. Most whole house filters are made of granular activated carbon and can remove chlorine, chloramines, and VOCs from drinking water. They’re also capable of reducing certain contaminants, such as arsenic and lead, which are commonly found in well water. If you want to be extra sure that your water is clean, you can invest in a water testing kit and send it away to a lab for analysis. A home water test can help you determine the types of contaminants in your water and make informed decisions about what kind of filtration system you need.
Maintenance
Home water purifiers are an essential tool in ensuring that you and your family have access to safe and clean drinking water. But merely having one doesn’t mean that you can ignore the maintenance requirements, as these appliances need regular cleaning and filter replacements to continue providing the benefits they are known for.
Different types of filters and purification systems have different maintenance needs, but all need preventative care to function properly. A professional technician can identify potential problems and repair them before they cause serious damage to the equipment, saving you money.
Generally, the first step in maintaining your home water filter is changing the filter. This is usually done on a set schedule. For example, you can use daylight savings time as a reminder to change the filter every spring and fall. Most cartridge filters last three to six months, but you should replace them sooner if they begin to get clogged with sediment.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) filters need to be replaced on a regular basis, usually every two or three years. Water is pushed through the thin RO membrane at a pressure of 35 pounds per square inch, which weeds out minerals and microorganisms from the water. The rejected water is piped down the drain.
An RO system can also include a carbon filter that helps “polish off” the water, removing any remaining taste or odors for great-tasting drinking water. You should replace the carbon filter every one to three years.