Household Water Filtration

Household water filtration includes water filters that clean the water that comes into your entire house, meaning you will not only have a cleaner drinking supply but showers and baths will also use filtered water. There are a lot of water filter brands and types. We will talk about some of them here. Some of the most popular brands and the ones we will be discussing are made by Crystal Quest, Watts, and Aquasana. There are others such as PUR, Culligan and Brita but we will not get into those today.

There are a lot of variations in household water filtration systems. Some like the whole house water filter can be used to filter the water that comes from your water main. All your faucets and showers will received filtered water. These water systems can be pricey but adjustable too depending on the impurities you want removed.

The most intense house water filter system is reverse osmosis. In RO all the contaminants and minerals are eliminated from the water. It is almost like distilled water when the reverse osmosis process is done. This type of water filtration is used on one faucet and for drinking water exclusively except in rare occasions where a whole house system might be set up. This is not a common thing to do though at all.

A very common household water filter are the ones you see mounted under the sink. These canister water filters will normally be hooked up to the cold water line. They are mostly used for drinking water filtering but some are on all the time. The common replacement time for these filters is about 6 months. They also have different ratings as far as how many gallons they can successfully service before needing replacement.

There are also counter top and faucet water filters. These are set near the sink with a line running to the spout. You generally push the switch and you get filtered water. The faucet water filter is actually attached to the spout and sits on top of it or to the side. Again you flick the switch to get filtered water.

Refrigerator pitcher water filters are the cheapest and most common home water purification systems you will find. This is simply a container with a small two-stage filter set in it. It uses gravity and the unfiltered water flows slowly through the activated carbon and in most cases KDF filter media. They actually work pretty well but the filters need to be replaced frequently.

The shower filter is a filter designated to the showerhead. They are super easy to put on. You just take the old head off and screw the new cartridge on. Of course, if you had a whole house water filter you would not need one of these. But for apartment living or renting, they are perfect.

The whole house filter uses a four-stage system. The first section of these filters uses a filter that removes items in the water up to 5 microns. It is like a pre-filter. As with most types of filters this first stage is set up to remove the larger sediment particles. Stage two is made from copper and zinc where the granules are fused by water atomization. This process separates the atoms so they are easier to remove the impurities. Plus it renders the chlorine harmless by changing its structure. Stage three of this household water filter is filled with activated carbon. This is a larger grain in size and helps remove pesticides, chlorine and improve taste. It is commonly considered one of the most helpful media available for water filtering. The final section has an even higher grade of carbon called coconut shell carbon. This stuff really absorbs proficiently. Because there are so many holes in carbon, it is excellent at filtering out impurities. Carbon removes chlorine great but it does not do as well with some chemicals.

It is common practice for water filter companies to offer different levels of water filter replacement cartridges. So you can customize your system if you use one of these types of filters. Crystal Quest has a core product that is a five-stage process.

The dual stage filtering system that Aquasana uses helps to eliminate contaminants with sub-micron filtration, ion exchange and carbon. It will remove chlorine, synthetic chemicals, VOC's or volatile organic chemicals, lead, THMs or Trichlorethanes, solvents, herbicides, pesticides, cysts or chlorine resistant parasites and turbidity.

Home water filters overall do a great job of removing contamination. Except to replace water filter cartridges every 6 months or 500 gallons on most filters like the Aquasana AQ-4000. That if the norm. While Aquasana's whole house filter can handle 300,000 gallons of water before a filter change is needed, most filters like their shower filters will need replacing after 6 months to remain effective. (Update: There are exceptions to this 6 month rule. Whole house water filters that are custom designed like little company Pure Elements designs can last up to around 10 years without any maintenance. That is the closest to having a maintenance free system we have heard of.)

The Crystal Quest disposable sealed unit will require that the entire unit be replaced. These units are of the under the sink variety. You know you need to change the filter when the water flow stops or slows down significantly. Usually that happens in about 1 to 3 years. Crystal Quest shower filters have a replaceable cartridge that will last about a year.

The Watts Premier UF 3 stage filtration system is inexpensive. The filter utilizes carbon and sediment to achieve quality filtering. This little system takes out a lot of the grit and sediment found in some homes. Plus it removes the lead, chlorine and bad tastes. But the biggest selling point to this filter is the ease of cartridge replacement. It is simply done by pushing a button that releases the filter. Nothing to screw apart while under the sink in tight quarters. Just push the button, release the old filter and snap in a new one.

The more filter replacements you need to do will affect the overall cost of keeping the household water filtration running correctly. Therefore, some inexpensive filters may cost more over time because of all the replacement filters needed to keep them running optimally. Just something to think about.