best home water purifier?
by adminWhat is the best water purifier for home use. I also see them sometimes coupled with shower filters. What about those of us who like baths?
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/downloads/wqs_3q07.pdf
Here is my local water content details.
You have some serious hard water and a high chlorine residual. The solids/turbidity (cloudiness) is fine. You should address the hardness and the chlorine only. If you use the word “filter”, you should only be talking about an activated carbon filter.
If that were my house, I would install a water softener with a carbon bed on the main feed coming into the house. I would also install a bypass around the softener to the kitchen tap to supply drinking water. I would use a Brita or similar unit on that kitchen tap to remove the chlorine. (When water is softened, the process replaces calcium ions with sodium ions. With your high level of calcium, the replacement sodium will also be high and unhealthy. The bypass prevents that from happening)
An alternative to that bypass, if money is no object, is a small reverse osmosis (RO) unit for the kitchen tap. A RO unit uses a membrane to effectively remove everything from the water.
Small filters for the shower or tub will not handle the aggregate flow of materials you have – they will require constant replacement.
The water softener/carbon bed will give you a most luxurious bath experience. No more soap scum and itchy skin! You also will double or triple the life of your hot water heater.
Brita
References :
You can get water purifiers that are attached at the point of water entry into the house. This would purify your bath shower and bath water as well as all faucets. Or you can get systems that mount to one pipe/faucet only purifying water from that point. The type/brand you want depends on what is in your local water.
References :
You have some serious hard water and a high chlorine residual. The solids/turbidity (cloudiness) is fine. You should address the hardness and the chlorine only. If you use the word “filter”, you should only be talking about an activated carbon filter.
If that were my house, I would install a water softener with a carbon bed on the main feed coming into the house. I would also install a bypass around the softener to the kitchen tap to supply drinking water. I would use a Brita or similar unit on that kitchen tap to remove the chlorine. (When water is softened, the process replaces calcium ions with sodium ions. With your high level of calcium, the replacement sodium will also be high and unhealthy. The bypass prevents that from happening)
An alternative to that bypass, if money is no object, is a small reverse osmosis (RO) unit for the kitchen tap. A RO unit uses a membrane to effectively remove everything from the water.
Small filters for the shower or tub will not handle the aggregate flow of materials you have – they will require constant replacement.
The water softener/carbon bed will give you a most luxurious bath experience. No more soap scum and itchy skin! You also will double or triple the life of your hot water heater.
References :
You have a couple of options to protect your drinking water and shower/bath water.
The best option, but also most expensive, would be a whole house water filter, attached to the main water line where it enters the house. This is an excellent system with many benefits because all the water is being filtered. However, the systems are fairly expensive, and would require professional installation.
There are two main types: activated carbon, and reverse osmosis. Activated carbon requires filter changes approximately every six months, and these can be expensive. On the other hand, reverse osmosis doesn’t require the filter change, but uses a lot more water to achieve filtration, generally a four to one wasted water to pure water. In Austin that may a consideration, as the cost of water is likely to be higher.
Beyond that you have another good option; using two filters, one for drinking water, and one for shower/bath water. For drinking water you could install a faucet, above-counter or below counter model (also generally active carbon or reverse osmosis), or even just use a filtered pitcher, such as Brita or Pur.
For bath shower, you could install a filter on the water line that supplies the bath/shower. Most shower filters install directly on the shower head. That doesn’t help you with baths, and many consumers object to the look of them. But if you have access to the water line that feeds your shower/bath, you can attach a filtering system to that. This would require a professional installation unless you are handy. Often the pipes to the shower bath can be isolated by running hot water in the bath only and finding which pipe is hot in the basement. If the bathroom sink happens to be on the same line (which it often is) then it is just an additional tap that is filtered.
As for best brands, there are many brand names on the market. Some of the best are Aquapure, Pur, and GE SmartWater. Try to find a local retailer that specialises in water filters and talk to them. It is usually a good idea to have a local supplier because you will need to replace filters from time to time, and ordering them online can sometimes be a pain.
Good luck!
References :
http://water-filter.HealthyHomeFacts.com