With a whole-house carbon filter, you will not have to worry about below-average-tasting water. So, besides cleaner water, what are the other benefits of installing a whole-house carbon filtration system?
In our experience, whole-house carbon filters have plenty of advantages. At Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating & Air, we’ve installed water filtration systems all over Los Angeles for over 15 years. In that time, we’ve become experts in all types of water filtration, including whole-house carbon filters.
Let us walk you through some of the benefits of a whole-house carbon filter, so you can better decide which filtration option is for you. With a whole-house carbon filter, you’ll enjoy the following benefits.
- Cleaner and better quality water
- Environmentally friendly
- Save money
- Reduce plumbing pipe damage and protect appliances
- Low maintenance
But before we get into the advantages of whole-house carbon filters, let's touch on how these work!
How Do Whole-House Carbon Filters Work?
Before we jump into whole-house carbon filters, let’s summarize how they operate. You will better understand the benefits of carbon filtration when you learn how this system works.
- A whole-house carbon filter is installed by a technician near your water heater or home’s main water line.
- Your city’s public water enters your home and immediately goes through the whole-house carbon filter.
- As the water flows through the activated carbon filter tank, it leaves behind contaminants.
- These specific contaminants remain in the filter, and the filtered water makes its way throughout your home.
- The leftover contaminants are drained from the carbon filter when it enters a backwash cycle.
Whole-house carbon filters are available in different sizes to accommodate houses depending on family size, water usage, and the number of bathrooms.
What Are the Benefits of Whole-House Carbon Filters?
Once installed, you can enjoy whole-house carbon filter benefits almost immediately. One of the first benefits you’ll notice and enjoy is cleaner and better-tasting water, which we’ll focus on in the following section.
Cleaner and Better Quality Water
Not all water tastes the same. With a whole-house carbon filter, you will immediately taste the difference between your tap and filtered water.
Carbon filtration attracts different contaminants that alter the taste of water, such as chlorine and chloramines. According to the Los Angeles Department of Water, chlorine in the water supply helps kill off bacteria and microorganisms that are deemed harmful. Other contaminants that whole-house carbon filtration addresses are,
- Herbicides
- Pesticides
- Reduced fluoride
- Other organic compounds
Whole-house carbon filters attract specific contaminants through a process called adsorption. Certain contaminants become attracted to the activated carbon, like magnets with metal filings. The result is filtered water with an improved taste.
Proper hydration is essential for short and long-term health. Some homeowners have reported that they improved their water-drinking habits thanks to their whole-house carbon filter.
So, everyone knows whole-house carbon filters improve water, but are they good for the environment?
Environmentally Friendly
One of the key changes you’ll notice after you install a whole-house carbon filter is that you will no longer have to rely on bottled water. Even if you recycle, a lot of plastic ends up polluting the oceans. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, without increased recycling efforts, plastic will outweigh all marine life in the ocean by 2050.
It’s still important to do your part and continue recycling efforts, but with a whole-house carbon filter, you will not have to worry about accumulating plastics in your recycling bin.
You will also start saving money since you no longer need to purchase cases of bottled water. Everyone loves saving money, right?
Saves Money
Whole-house carbon filtration is an investment, but it’s an investment that will produce savings in the long run. You will no longer have to purchase bottled water, saving you a few hundred dollars yearly.
Aside from bottled water, you may have giant five-gallon water jugs you routinely fill up. Filling up these jugs isn’t expensive, but they’re heavy. With a whole-house carbon filtration system, you don’t have to worry about refilling that jug, eliminating heavy lifting while saving you some money and the trip to refill.
Another way whole-house house carbon filters save you money is by protecting your home’s plumbing, fixtures, and appliances.
Reduces Plumbing Pipe Damage and Protects Appliances
Installing a whole-house carbon filter will reduce the chance of unexpected major plumbing issues. A whole-house carbon filter will help reduce contaminant buildup in your pipes, even if you don’t have old plumbing pipes.
Over time, contaminants in water can cause scale or corrode your home’s pipes if made out of galvanized steel. These can lead to pinhole leaks, which can turn into pipe bursts if it’s not addressed correctly. Before installing a whole-house carbon filter, re-doing your home’s plumbing may be beneficial.
It’s not just your pipes that will have an extended lifespan, but your home’s appliances too. Your coffee maker will no longer have to deal with contaminants building up. And thanks to the improved water quality, coffee will taste better too.
Whole-house carbon filters seem like huge maintenance because of all the work they do, but did you know they’re low maintenance?
Low Maintenance
Besides a monthly dust-off, whole-house carbon filters require low maintenance. The carbon filtration system can last around 10 years before a technician needs to replace it.
Some whole-house carbon filters have backwash cycles, so they clean themselves. The contaminants remain on the filter, but whole-house carbon filters are designed to backwash, so they flush away contaminants periodically. The wastewater is drained away to the city’s wastewater plants.
Is a Whole-House Carbon Filter Right for Me?
If you’re tired of buying bottled water or want better quality water flowing in your home, installing a whole-house carbon filter makes perfect sense. Whole-house carbon filters are a sure way of getting filtered water and other benefits. Understanding these benefits will make you feel even more confident about purchasing a whole-house carbon filter or when speaking to a technician about different water filtration options.
We’ve seen homeowners follow up with us at Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating & Air to let us know how much they love their whole-house carbon filter. Regardless of where we’ve installed these systems, the result is the same; happy homeowners enjoying their filtered water.
If you’re curious about whole-house carbon filter installation or have questions about other water filtration systems, contact us using one of the following buttons. You can also reach out to us using our water filtration scheduler.
Although whole-house carbon filtration is great, they do have a few drawbacks you can learn more about to help you make the best decision for your home.
