The amount of rainfall where you live strongly impacts water quality. If you live somewhere like Portland Oregon where there is plenty of rain, the aquifers are fresh and the water pumped out to your home is clean. But if you live somewhere where there isn’t as much rain, the underground water doesn’t get replenished as much and becomes stagnant. This is when you have to worry about contaminants like arsenic, sulfur, other heavy metals, nitrates and nitrites, and more.
You should also be concerned about water contamination if you live in a city. The problem with cities is that the infrastructures are old and deteriorating. When it comes to pipes, this means that you have deteriorating pipes that are leaching heavy metals into your drinking water. Urban municipal water treatment facilities treat these old pipes with disinfectants and other harsh chemicals to keep the bacteria levels down which is also something you shouldn’t be drinking.
So who needs a whole-house water filter? The answer is people who live in low rainfall areas, people who live in cities with the curate and infrastructure, and smaller towns where the municipal water treatment facilities are not that advanced. If you are unsure, you can go to your local hardware store and pick up a water test kit. The water test kit will show you the concentration of the most dangerous contaminants, like heavy metals.
For a whole house water treatment system, the first stage is generally a sediment filter. This removes pebbles, sand, and other larger debris from your water. This is important if you’re using a well. The second stage is generally an activated carbon filter. This removes chlorine and most other contaminants to about 96% filtration.
The rest of the stages depend on the company making the filtration system. We like systems that include KDF filtration for removing heavy metals. Especially in rural areas, heavy metals can be a big problem. We also like systems that use ceramic filtration because the different levels of the ceramic filter can target smaller contaminants like leftover pharmaceutical drugs, nitrates and nitrites, and other things that an activated carbon filter would miss. If you test your water and discover that it has high levels of arsenic, you are going to need an activated alumina stage to remove that arsenic. A KDF filter may miss some of the arsenic in your water.
Unlike a water ionizer, it is ideal for a whole house water filter to produce acidic water. You want this water to be acidic because acidic water cleans better. Acidic water is empty and takes on the properties of what it comes in contact with it. So when you’re doing your laundry or taking a shower, acidic water is best.
For the best drinking water, couple your whole house water filter with a water ionizer in your kitchen. A water ionizer will restore lost minerals to your water and then use water electrolysis to increase the alkalinity and create antioxidants in your drinking water. This way you are drinking water that is full of beneficial minerals and also antioxidants to help your body detoxify.
If you have any questions about whether you need a whole house water filter system, feel free to give us a call.
