If you’ve found yourself on this page, you’ve probably been told by your local plumber that you have “hard water” and that you need something called “water filtration.” So what does this mean?
In this article, we are going to go through what water filtration is, how it works and how water filtration protects your home. We’ll also discuss the benefits of the different water filtration options and which options are best for which homes.
We at Monkey Wrench are passionate about water filtration and believe that every home should have some type of water filtration to protect their home and their family.
Water Filtration? What Even Is That?
For those of you who are not familiar with this term, water filtration is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use; in this case, it's the water being used in the home. In some cases, it can also protect the incoming water from the city to your home, as well as the piping fixtures, from hard water. If you’re also not hip to what hard water is, we’ve got an article here that explains just that! But back to water filtration!
While the basis of water filtration is pretty straightforward, there are many different kinds of water filtration. The main difference in water filtration is that some water filtration is designed to be a filter to filter out contaminants, whereas other water filtration systems are designed to protect from hard water.
Now you must be thinking, “Nicolette, this sounds just like a filter?” Well, you’re sort of right! I want you to picture water filtration as an umbrella, and under the umbrella are different water filtration systems.
Five Different Types of Water Filtration
As mentioned earlier, there are many different types of water filtration, and each has a different use, but these are the most common types:
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- Whole-House Softener
A whole-house water softener will protect your entire home’s plumbing. Softeners will reduce hard water, but they won’t filter out contaminants like chlorine and chloramine. The soft water will help prolong the lifespan of your home’s plumbing appliances and water heater by preventing harmful scale buildup due to hard water.
Benefits
- Reduces hard water
- Save up to 75% on cleaning products yearly
- Cleaner and shinier silverware, glassware, tiles, and fixtures
- Softer skin and clean, smooth hair.
2. Whole-House Carbon Filter
- Whole-House Softener
A whole-house carbon filter is not going to give you that softer skin and hair, but it will still protect your drinking water since it removes chemicals like chlorine. It’s a convenient and cost-effective way to remove or reduce many of the impurities in your water, including chemicals, disinfectant by-products, and volatile organic compounds commonly found in municipal water supplies. Whole-house carbon filters are best suited for chlorine, taste, and odor reduction.
Benefits
- Reduction or removal of chlorine and associated disinfectant by-products
- Clean, filtered water from every tap
- Better water-mixed beverages like coffee or tea
- Reduced environmental impact due to water bottle waste associated with plastic bottles and the production process
- Better tasting and smelling water
- Your home's pipes will be protected against the chlorine’s corrosive effects
- Cost savings due to the reduced use of bottled water
- 3. Point-of-Use Filter
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Point-of-use water treatment is used for only one area of your home, typically found in a fridge. It can also be used to solely protect your tankless or conventional water heater. It does not protect any other part of your home from hard water. So if you only have the point-of-use filter on your kitchen sink, it will not protect you from hard water in your shower or bathroom sink.
- Flow-Tech
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A Flow-Tech also covers the entire house, however, this differs from a water softener or a carbon filter. The system sends out a low-frequency signal that is pulsed several thousand times per second and pushed through your entire plumbing system. This electromagnetic signal dissolves the contaminating minerals in the water.
Benefits
- Water and energy savings
- No maintenance is needed
- No chemicals needed
- Breaks away scale that’s already been formed inside
- Small and compact
- RO Systems
An RO system or reverse osmosis system is similar to a point-of-use filter. Mostly found in the kitchen, the RO system gives clean water through a multi-stage filtration process. This unique design eliminates the need for individual connections between filtration stages. The RO system comes with a built-in booster pump that helps to maintain the system’s maximum feed rate production and performance rating.
The highly pure water, however, can pick up tastes and odors from any holding tank. Therefore, when drawn to the tap, the water is run through one last carbon filtration process. This assures you of the highest quality drinking water.
- Flow-Tech
How Is Water Treatment Installed?
No water heaters come with water treatment, so how do they get there? Water treatments can be installed in one of two places: the main water line coming into your home or at the point of use.
- Main water line
Water treatment will be installed at what is known as the main incoming pipes of your home if you plan to get a water treatment for your whole house so that it feeds all of your fixtures. Three water treatments that could be installed here are a whole-house water softener, a whole-house carbon filter, and Flow-Tech.
Point of use2. Point-of-Use
If you're not looking to have whole house water treatment and only want water filters around certain fixtures in your home (like sinks, fridges, and water heaters), this is when you'd install a point-of-use filter, like a pre-filter for a tankless water heater or a RO system.
Now actually having the water treatment installed is another story. We recommend that you have a professional install the water treatment due to the amount of technical work involved. Installation includes cutting pipes or tying the filter into the pipes to insert the water treatment. However, the installation process depends on the kind of water treatment installed.
Is Water Filtration Right For You?
To recap, in this article, you learned that water filtrations are essentially filters that protect your home or water heater from hard water. We also discussed what water treatment is and its five different types. We also walked through what it takes to maintain water treatment, along with some benefits and which options are potentially best for your home.
To fully understand hard water and its effects on your water heater, read the articles below. You can even learn how to test your water now to see if you are already experiencing hard water.
Common questions about water testing
As the content writer for Money Wrench Plumbing, Heating & Air, I hope to have filled your brain with so much water treatment knowledge that you can even discuss it at parties! Well, maybe not parties, but you get the idea! Reach us here at 310-853-8690 if you have any further questions regarding water treatment, and we’d be happy to assist you.
