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What Is A Whole House Water Filter?

Your home’s main water line is the perfect place to install a point-of-entry tap, sometimes known as a whole house water filter, since the water enters from there. It can assist in removing impurities from your water, including chlorine, iron, sulfur, and more.

Cleaner water is available at every faucet in your home thanks to whole-house water filters. It means that you have access to filtered water everywhere in your home, including for making coffee, washing dishes, taking showers, doing laundry, and brushing your teeth.

What’s in your water will determine which whole-house water filter is ideal. DROP provides a variety of whole-house water filter systems with various filter kinds. Some help to combat the unpleasant chlorine taste, while others aim to lessen the sediment, iron, sulfur, and arsenic levels in your water.

What is a Whole House Water Filter?

A whole house water filter is a filtration system that cleanses water where the main water line enters your home, ensuring clean and filtered water runs from every faucet, shower head, and washing machine. Whole-house water filters, also known as point of entry (POE) filters, serve as tap water gateways and only permit clean, filtered water to reach your taps and appliances.

A more complex whole-house water filter system might be necessary if you utilize well water. The whole-house water filter for treating well water may include a mechanical sediment filter, additional contaminate filters, and potentially a UV system. However, your water filter will likely only need to eliminate chlorine and sediment if you consume water from a city water source.

How do I Know If I Need a Whole-House Water Filter?

DROP Filters

Some contaminants aren’t as discreet about their existence in your water, while other contaminants are unnoticeable. Hard water may leave stains, smell terrible, or even taste awful. The following are noticeable indications that you could require a whole-house water filter system:

  • A rotten-egg smell coming from your drinking water;
  • Deposits on plumbing fixtures;
  • Dry hair or skin after bathing;
  • Bad tastes in your drinking water;
  • Rust stains on your appliances;
  • Corroded pipes.

It’s not always simple to determine the contents of your water simply by looking at it. Contaminants that can sneak up on you without being noticeable, are:

  • Arsenic: Long-term exposure to this pollutant, which has no taste or odor, can be toxic. Furthermore, long-term arsenic exposure can be the cause of skin and health problems.
  • Nitrates: This contaminant is colorless, flavorless, and odorless. It can cause other bacteria in the water to flourish and boost the production of carcinogens in human bodies.
  • Lead is a pollutant that is difficult to detect because it is tasteless, odorless, and invisible. Long-term exposure can result in harmful health issues.
  • PFOS: PFOA and PFOS are members of a chemical group called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These artificial chemicals, which are hard to break down in the environment and the human body, may have spilled into water systems. Studies have demonstrated that they can build in your body over time and adversely affect your health.

Benefits Of Whole Home Filtration

Even if your water is free of impurities, mineral deposits can harm your plumbing and appliances and result in dry, itchy skin. To guarantee that your home has pure water for all your requirements, installing a whole-house water filtration system offers a secure, easy, and cost-effective alternative. Below, we’ve outlined the four main advantages of installing a whole water filtration system.

Improved Water Quality

Even if you treat your water, it may include toxins such as lead and chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride. In actuality, pollution slightly affects most of the United States’ well water and tap water.

Testing your water is the only way to find out for sure what’s in it. By setting up a water filtration system, you will know that the water you use and drink is pure, which is better for you and tastes better.

Better Showers and Baths

woman turing on bath tub

Bathing and showering in contaminated water can harm your health as our skin allows dangerous toxins to enter the body. Even at acceptable concentrations, chemicals like chlorine can dry up and irritate the skin. A whole house filtration system filters the water from where water enters your home. You will use clean, pure water, whether drinking from the kitchen sink, taking a shower, or bathing in the bathtub.

Longer-lasting Fixtures and Equipment

Even naturally occurring minerals in your water can accumulate over time and cause damage to your plumbing system. This is in addition to any potentially toxic compounds that may be present. Hard or dirty water can also affect your plumbing system’s appliances, like your garbage disposal, dishwasher, and faucets. By extending the lifespan of your plumbing system and lowering the costs associated with plumbing and appliance repairs, filtered water can improve your plumbing system.

Greater Environmental Benefit

Think again if you’ve developed the habit of purchasing bottled water, believing it will be good for your health. You’re only putting more potential chemicals into your body because many plastic water bottles have chemicals that can leak into the water inside. In addition, most plastic water bottles wind up in landfills, which can take hundreds of years to decompose. It poses a severe hazard to the ecosystem.

The cost of regularly purchasing bottled water is much more than installing a water filtering system in your house. If you primarily drink bottled water, seriously consider a whole home filtration system. Your water will taste better and be more clean.

What Do Whole House Filtration Systems Remove From Water?

Whole-house filtration systems remove a wide range of contaminants from water and address a variety of water quality issues. The type of filter most suitable for your home will depend on the impurities you wish to remove from the water in your residence.

  • Sediment filters remove dirt, clay, and sand. Moreover, it removes rust flecks from aging pipes.
  • Carbon filters remove chlorine, chloramines, pesticides, herbicides, bad tastes and odors, and trihalomethanes.
  • Water softeners remove calcium and magnesium, two dissolved minerals that contribute to hard water. Moreover, it removes some dissolved iron and manganese.
  • Ultraviolet purification disinfects bacteria, viruses, parasites, algae, and fungi.
  • Acid neutralizers reduce acidity imbalance (low pH) and acidic corrosion.

Whole House Filters Vs. Under Sink And Countertop Filters

Residential water filtration systems are well renowned for being simple to operate and effective at changing the chemistry of your water supply in a transparent and quantifiable way. The similarities between the various kinds of water filters stop here.

A point-of-entry filter, often known as a whole-house water filter, is put where water enters your home. This eliminates impurities like sediment, consequently prolongs the life of your plumbing and water-based equipment, and safeguards your family from diseases spread through contaminated water.

An under-sink water filter, or kitchen sink filter, purifies water right where it is needed. These systems are much smaller, yet their capabilities will not go unnoticed. The best-quality under-sink filters help to make your water better by eliminating a lot of dangerous impurities. As a result, these small devices guarantee access to filtered water for drinking and cooking.

One potential downside is for a whole-house system is that it can decrease water pressure over time if you allow sediment to build up. The countertop purification will be better here if you have a small system that processes a small amount of water at once.

The two options can work together though. Let’s say your water is contaminated with a lot of sediment, chemicals, heavy metals, and dissolved organic compounds. In this case, you can install a sediment whole-house water filter to safeguard your plumbing system and an under-sink water filter to remove 99.9% of toxins from your drinking water.

What to Look For in a Whole-House Water Filter?

Water filters are available in various designs and capacities to meet your needs. However, you should follow a few easy steps, from examining your water source, purpose, pricing, filter quality, and other features to learn what best meets your needs.

Review Your Supply

water pouring into cup

Discovering the number and types of impurities in your water source should be your first step. Numerous affordable water testing tools can achieve reliable results if you get your water from a well, a private supplier, or a river. You can hire a water specialist to handle the task for you, or find a test kit and do it yourself.

You can also get the water quality index (WQI) report from your local area supply office if your water source is a public supply system run by the government. Using the information, you can determine what kind of filtration is necessary for your needs.

Flow Speed

Gallon/minute is the unit of measurement for flow rate. Dishwashers, water heaters, showers, and toilets can all require a certain amount of water at a given time, which is measured by the flow rate. Be sure to understand the demand specifications offered by the manufacturer of your home’s appliances and water dispensers before deciding to purchase filters.

A specialist can assist you in determining the correct flow rate for your filter based on the size of your family, the number of water dispensers, and the flow rate of each dispenser. Low water pressure and intermittent water flow, especially during peak usage, would result from a whole-house well water filter system with a flow rate less than the required rate.

Purpose of Filtration

Water filters for the entire house are vital tools. They are available in various sizes and flow rates to offer users the ideal solution, from modest private homes to huge commercial sectors.

Installing a water filter helps remove suspended particles, sulfur to mitigate rotten egg smell, sediments, and iron to avoid iron stains. With the help of a water filter, you can improve drinking water’s quality, taste, and odor.

The Credibility of the Manufacturer and Seller

Ensure you purchase a high-quality whole-house water filter by checking your manufacturer or seller’s credibility. Determine whether your filter is certified by National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) to verify it matches industry standards.

In addition, check whether the manufacturer sells FDA-approved cartridges and offers a warranty. We recommend reading customers’ reviews to better understand the product’s quality and lifespan.

FAQs:

What Will A Whole House Water Filter Do?

A whole-house water filtration system can eliminate any impurities you don’t want in your home’s water supply, which is what you need it to do. You may wish to lessen water hardness, remove sediment, or eliminate the chlorine odor depending on the water source for your property.

The complexity of whole-home water filters varies, but there are options that can offer a solution for any issues you have with the quality of your water.

Are Whole House Water Filters A Good Idea?

It’s a great idea to install whole-water filters. It can help remove rust stains from dishwashers, toilets, sinks, bathtubs, and other surfaces. It also makes clothing softer, brighter, and more durable. Chlorine, chloramines, and bad smells can all successfully eliminated by a carbon filter. The result is water free of contaminates for the entire household.

Where Should A Whole House Water Filter Be Installed?

The optimal location for a whole-house water filter is typically adjacent to the main water shut-off valve, which is usually found in a basement or, if you don’t have a basement, on the outside of your home in a utility closet or other similar area. As all the water enters your home here, this is the ideal location to install the filter.

After the main water shut-off valve, a horizontal run will link the water filtration system to the current plumbing line. It is crucial to attach it before the plumbing line splits off to connect to other house areas.

Can You Drink Water From A Whole House Water Filter?

The only system that can completely supply safe drinking water is the reverse osmosis (RO) water system. However, whole-house water filters can make your water much safer to drink. Compared to untreated tap water, your whole-house filter will still offer you a better level of protection.

Sources:

  • https://www.peninsulawater.com/how-does-a-whole-house-water-filter-work/
  • https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/what-is-a-whole-house-water-filter-and-how-does-it-work
  • https://www.consumerreports.org/water-filters/whole-house-water-filter-vs-undersink-water-filter-a8037894665/
  • https://www.eenews.net/articles/pfas-pollute-83-of-u-s-waterways/
  • https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/PFOA_FactSheet.html
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