We cannot stress enough how important it is to have your water at home filtered. The choice to filter water should be an easy one considering its health and economic benefits. The only consideration you have to make when making a decision should be which water filter is the best for your home. Your options range from the simplest water filtration pitchers to whole-house systems. Before you get one, it is important that you know what you’re getting for the money you’re paying, right?
Here are some important points that can help you decide which water filter best meets your needs:
CONTAMINANTS
When you do your research on the variety of filtration products that are available to you, you’d see that different ones filter out different kinds of contaminants, too. For this reason, it is important that as a homeowner, you identify the contaminants present in your water.
You can find out which contaminants are in your water by getting a water quality report from your provider. There are also at-home tests that you can purchase from home improvement stores. Another option is to have a private test done by an independent company.
MODERN WATER FILTRATION TECHNOLOGIES
As we have mentioned, not all water filtration technologies are created equal. In fact, most of them are created for specific contaminants. For instance, a water softener makes use of ion exchange that minimizes calcium and magnesium but doesn’t do much about other contaminants. Carbon filters remove chlorine, lead, asbestos, and mercury, among others. Mechanical filters work on sediments and cysts but do nothing about chemical contaminants.
COMMON HOUSEHOLD FILTERS
Pitchers are the most basic type of water filtration which uses gravity to move your water through a filter. As you can imagine, this is very easy to use as it requires no setup whatsoever. You do have to refill your pitcher whenever you use water, though.
Under sink units filter water in a smaller faucet that is within the kitchen sink instead of the main faucet. Similar to the pitcher, this type of filter treats water at the point of consumption.
Whole-house systems are the most advanced options you have and they treat all of the water entering your home right at the point of entry. That means that once the water enters your property line, it is already filtered. So you got treated water all throughout your entire home instead of just from a single faucet.
Remember that the first step in determining the water filter that is perfect for your home is analyzing the contaminants. Know which contaminants you’d want to remove and choose a water filtration system that is effective for those. If you need more information about water filtration systems and the best options for you, contact Hayes Plumbing. We’d be happy to help you achieve clean and uncontaminated water right in your home!
