Your Options in Water Treatment Systems

When you need to treat the water before you can use it for drinking, bathing, and other purposes, you will need to choose a treatment system for your home.  There are several water filter and water treatment options to choose from.

With ultraviolet treatments, the water will pass through an ultraviolet light to kill any biological contaminants.  The problem with this type of system is that it will not work on dissolved chemicals to make the drinking water completely pure.

Ozone treatments use ozone, a gas, to kill contaminants.  They also reduce odors from iron, sulphur, and other dissolved chemicals.  The drawback is that it is an expensive method and it contains mild carcinogenic by-products.

With membrane treatments, a membrane is used to remove impurities from water.  An electric current can be used to move water through the membrane.  It will remove both biological and organic contaminants, but it an expensive choice for water treatment.

One of the most popular and effective treatments is reverse osmosis treatments.   It can be used to remove pesticides, microbes, chemical toxins, and organic contaminants.  Water is forced through a dense membrane that will not allow anything else to get through.  The benefit of this option is that it removes impurities with no changes to the taste or smell of the water.  However, it also removes any helpful minerals from the water.  The membrane may have to be replaced if it gets clogged with use.

If you are not sure which treatment option is best for you, you can talk to your local plumber for advice.  They will also help you with installation of the water treatment system that you purchase.

Home Water Filters

If you are unhappy with the test of the tap water in your home, but tired of buying bottled water, a home water filter may be the answer.  Tap water can contain all kinds of contaminants including lead, bacteria, sediment, rust, and many others.  Water quality varies highly from place to place so your water could contain some, none, or all of these contaminants.

Bottled water is usually a great alternative, but in many cases bottled water is little more than filtered tap water.  Bottled water is very expensive compared to tap water, and our landfills are filling up with empty plastic bottles.

A home water filter professionally installed by your plumber is much more cost effective and environmentally friendly solution to get great tasting, healthy drinking water.  Depending on your needs and water quality, you will need to choose between a whole house water filter or one or more undersink water filters.

Undersink filters are mounted under the sink and filter all of the water at that tap.  They are much less expensive than whole house water filters and can be a great choice if your goal is to have one source of clean, filtered drinking water and there is no problem with showering, washing dishes and clothes, and cooking with unfiltered tap water.

A whole house water filter has the advantage of filtering all of the water in your home including water for your dishwasher, showers, ice maker, and at each tap. It is installed in your main water supply line and filters all of the water coming into your home. If your water has an unpleasant odor or if you want clean filtered water throughout your home, a whole house filter would be an excellent choice.  These are more expensive to install than under sink models, but they can filter thousands of gallons of water.