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Book NowWhen you get home thirsty after a long day, your home’s tap water is the last thing you want to drink. Pour some tap water into a clear glass, and you’ll see how it can look cloudy. A water filter can improve your home’s water quality, but which are the best filters for Los Angeles homes?
From under-the-sink to whole-house filtration systems, we’ve installed hundreds of water filtration systems across Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. We work closely with the top water filtration brands to provide specialized training to our technicians so that they’re best suited to service all kinds of water filters available.
The top 5 water filters for Los Angeles homes are,
- UV water filters
- Sediment water filters
- Water softeners
- Carbon filters
- Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems
We’ll look at how each type of water filter can impact your home’s water quality. By learning about each kind of water filter, you can gain valuable insight into which one is best for you and your family.
Let’s dive in!
What Are the Best Water Filters for Los Angeles?
Los Angeles water quality is tested yearly and is deemed safe to drink, but there are still plenty of reasons why homes need water filtration.
We reviewed each water filter based on the contaminants it can remove and how it improves water quality. We kick off the list with UV water filters.
5. Ultra Violet (UV) Water Filters
Pros:
- UV light is germicidal.
- UV light filters do not use chemicals.
- UV light filtration requires little maintenance.
Cons:
- Limited water filtration
- Affected by water turbidity
UV water filtration uses a bulb that emits ultraviolet (UV-C) radiation to kill germs, bacteria, and other waterborne microbes lurking in water. Thanks to their radiation, UV water filters are 99.99% effective at eliminating any microorganisms.
This special water filtration technology can completely remove the pathogens responsible for causing the following adverse health risks.
- Food poisoning
- Intestinal infections
- Diarrhea
- Strep throat
- E. Coli
- Salmonella
The radiation kills these microorganisms by targeting their DNA structure. The bulb emitting the radiation is covered in a protective case to keep your exposure to UV radiation at a minimum.
UV water filters are available as whole-house systems, but they’re more commonly seen as point-of-use filters usually installed under a kitchen sink. The entire system is powered by electricity, and one of its advantages is its low maintenance. The UV light bulb needs to be replaced once a year to maintain efficiency.
Despite being a germ-killer, UV light water filters are incapable of removing other contaminants common in Los Angeles, such as physical particles and chlorine. Even with a UV filter, your water may appear cloudy unless you have a sediment filter.
4. Sediment Water Filter
Pros:
- Removes sediment
- Protects plumbing and appliances
- Compliments other water filtration systems
- Cost-effective
Cons:
- Limited to sediment filtration only
- Routine filter replacement is required
A sediment filter can remove traces of silt, clay, sand, soil, dirt, and other physical contaminants flowing through your home’s water. Municipal water plants treat water before it enters your home, yet particles smaller than a strand of hair can still flow through. All sediment filters have micron ratings to show their effectiveness at catching small contaminants.
For example, a typical sediment filter for kitchen sinks has a rating of 5 microns, which means anything larger than 5 micrometers will not pass through the filter. This type of filtration is suited for coastal areas like Long Beach and Santa Monica because one of its benefits is protecting plumbing and appliances from accumulating silt and sand.
You can depend on sediment filters to clean your home’s tap water, but they can’t improve the taste as well as other filters on this list (carbon filters) and cannot stop the effects of hard water. Luckily, a water softener can treat hard water and provide soft water.
3. Water Softener
Pros:
- Produces soft water
- Prevents limescale buildup
- Protects plumbing and appliances from scale buildup
- It can produce softer skin and hair
- Improves washer quality for clothes
Cons:
- Produces brine discharge
- Banned in Santa Clarita Valley cities
- Requires monthly salt refills
Water softeners are the only water filtration system on this list that can create soft water, which has plenty of benefits. Whole-house water softeners are commonly installed in areas with hard water, like Los Angeles.
Hard water contains calcium and magnesium, two minerals responsible for limescale. Water softeners use rock salts to switch hard water minerals with sodium to create soft water.
Smaller water softeners are seen installed with showerheads but must be replaced a couple of times a year. On the other hand, whole-house systems require monthly salt refills to combat the effects of hard water.
Soft water can benefit any home in Los Angeles, but it can’t directly target the contaminants that affect water taste like carbon filters do.
2. Carbon Filters
Pros:
- Removes various contaminants
- Improves water quality
- Carbon filters are environmentally friendly
Cons:
- It doesn’t address other contaminants
- Routine maintenance require
Carbon water filtration targets contaminants like chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, lingering disinfectants like bleach, and other chemicals to improve water taste. A carbon filter also improves water quality by removing contaminants like hydrogen sulfide (responsible for rotten egg odor).
Carbon filters are widely used, and they are found in Brita filters and refrigerators to filter drinking water from the dispenser. Larger, whole-house carbon filters are often paired with other filtration systems like sediment and water softeners to provide a home with more water treatment.
Because of their high usage rate, carbon filters must be replaced every few months to maintain water treatment effectiveness. As popular as carbon water filtration is, it cannot treat water better than our list’s number one water filter.
1. Reverse Osmosis Systems
Pros:
- Provides purified water
- Addresses all kinds of common contaminants
- Combines multiple types of water filtration
- Encourages more water drinking
Cons:
- Requires periodic filter replacements
- It can cost more than other kinds of water filtration systems
A reverse osmosis system is a multi-filtration system that helps purify water by 99.9%. RO systems treat water by having it pass through a sediment and carbon prefiltration stage, followed by a semi-permeable membrane and a post-carbon filtration for further treatment.
A typical RO system consists of the following filtration stages.
- Sediment Filter
- Carbon Filter
- Semi-Permeable Membrane
- Postfilter
- Extra Filtration stages such as UV filters or water softeners (optional)
Most homes have an RO system under the kitchen sink. With all the filtration included, homeowners are responsible for periodically changing the filters. Whole-house reverse osmosis systems are also available but can cost over $7,500 and produce a lot of wastewater, which isn’t ideal in drought-prone places like Los Angeles County.
Still, no other filter offers water purification like reverse osmosis systems, making them ideal for any family looking to stay hydrated without having to resort to buying cases of expensive imported water.
Which Water Filter Is Best for My Home in Los Angeles?
Drinking water may be accessible through the tap of your kitchen faucet, but it can lack quality compared to filtered water. With so many water filters, water treatment is highly available for any home in Los Angeles. Now that you know the top water filters, you can start narrowing down your search for the best water treatment system for your home’s water needs.
At Monkey Wrench, we’ve helped hundreds of families improve their homes’ water quality by installing all kinds of water filters, whether for the kitchen or a whole-house system. For over 15 years, we’ve seen how water filtration can encourage families to drink more water and save money from buying cases of bottled water.
If you’re interested in a water filtration system, contact us using one of the buttons below. You can also book an appointment through our online water filtration scheduler.
Another way to prepare for a future water filter installation is to learn about their cost through this article.
