Before reaching your faucet, water goes through an extensive journey. Along the way, it can pick up harmful contaminants from naturally occurring and man-made sources.
Whole house water filters remove these contaminants and improve the overall quality of your home’s water. They help reduce clogged drains and extend the life of appliances.
1. Removes Chlorine
Chlorine is one of the most common contaminants that can enter our water supply. Even at levels deemed safe, chlorine in the water is unhealthy for us and can cause a host of problems, including stinging eyes, dry skin, and asthma. Chlorine in the water is also a significant source of TTHMs (trihalomethanes), which are carcinogens. A Whole-house water purifier eliminates this problem by removing chlorine from your water.
A good whole-house filter should have a multistage filtration system that is capable of removing many other kinds of troublesome contaminants from your home’s water supply. Stage 1 of the system should be a sediment filter that reduces the presence of sand, clay, and silt. This can prolong the life of the other filtration stages by keeping them from having to deal with this kind of material.
Stage 2 of the filter uses high-purity copper-zinc granules to remove PFAS, PFOS, chlorine, iron, hydrogen sulfide, and other chemicals from your drinking water. This is accomplished through a process called redox, in which the granules exchange electrons with the chemical contaminants to render them harmless.
The final filtration stage uses a water softener that can remove the minerals that cause hard water. This can prolong the life of your pipes and extend the lifespan of your appliances, such as your hot water heater. Most filters use a salt-based water softener, but there are also salt-free alternatives available for those who prefer to avoid the health risks of adding sodium to their home’s plumbing.
2. Removes Iron
The water flowing through your pipes can carry a host of contaminants – minerals that form hard water deposits, bacteria, sulfur and more. A whole-house water filtration system ensures these harmful impurities don’t reach your kitchen and bathroom faucets.
When iron is present in your well water, it can cause rusty or red iron staining in showers, toilets, sinks and cooking equipment. It can also leave behind a metallic taste in drinking water and stains on clothes, laundry and dishes. It can even damage your pipes over time, resulting in clogged drains and burst pipes.
Many well water filtration systems can remove dissolved iron, but only through a process called ion exchange. This swaps out the calcium and magnesium ions in your water with sodium ions from the brine tank. It’s effective at removing soluble iron, but doesn’t eliminate ferric iron (the gelatinous, insoluble form that causes rust and red iron staining).
To address soluble iron and reduce the possibility of red iron stains in your home, you need a system that uses oxidation followed by filtering. A chemical-free, air injection oxidizer such as the Springwell WS is one of the best options for reducing low to moderate levels of iron in your well water. It’s a high-performance, low-maintenance system that’s also effective against hydrogen sulfide and manganese.
3. Removes Fluoride
Whole house fluoride water filters have the ability to remove a wide range of contaminants from your household tap water including heavy metals like lead and arsenic as well as chlorine, VOCs, and fluoride. They are usually equipped with a three-stage filter system that begins with a sediment filtration cartridge to catch sand, rust and silt before entering the main body of the filtration system. Stage two is a high-grade activated alumina cartridge that effectively adsorbs toxic fluoride and other common contaminants. These include PFAS, PFOS, iron, hydrogen chloride, and chlorine byproducts such as trihalomethanes that can be associated with bladder cancer and rectal cancer.
This stage also features a carbon block that further removes dangerous fluoride byproducts as well as chlorine and VOCs. It is the most effective option for removing fluoride from your home’s water supply as well as other commonly found contaminants such as toxins, pesticides and herbicides.
While a wide range of contaminants can be removed from water through these types of whole-house systems, many consumers are looking for the best solution to reduce fluoride in their homes. These systems are often built to also include a reverse-osmosis system that takes highly concentrated water (like contaminated with fluoride and chlorine) and pushes it through a semi-permeable membrane so that the dangerous compounds stay on one side and clean, pure water is on the other side.
4. Removes Lead
If you live in an older home with lead pipes and fixtures, a whole house water filter can help. It is a more expensive option than a water pitcher or under-sink filter, but it will ensure that every outlet in your house will have clean and safe drinking water.
One of the most common ways to expose yourself to lead is by ingesting it from your household tap water. This is especially dangerous for children because their bodies are more susceptible to absorbing it. Water containing lead can also cause other health issues at lower levels of exposure.
Fortunately, there are many different methods that can be used to remove lead from the water. Most of these methods involve using some type of filtration media that adsorbs the lead. These filters include activated carbon (which can be in granular or block form), KDF, and cation exchange resin. Reverse osmosis is another method that can be used to get rid of lead from your water.
A whole-house water filter that uses a combination of these filtration methods will likely be able to eliminate any level of lead in your home’s drinking water. These systems are great for anyone who is concerned about the safety of their family’s water, especially pregnant women and families with young children. A good whole-house water filtration system will be backed by a six-month money back guarantee, so you can try it out and see if it is the best solution for your family.