Water filtration is now seen in almost every home in one way or another. In simple terms, these filters are used to remove impurities in your water supply caused by chemicals, sediment and other external factors.
Water is an essential part of our daily lives and therefore ensuring access to clean and pure water helps to keep you, and your family, safe and healthy.
More people than ever before are having filtration systems fitted in their home. Let’s take a look a closer look at whole home water filtration systems and how they work.
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What is a whole home water filtration system?
Many of us may have some experience with water filters in jugs or other smaller devices which are handy around the home. The idea of a whole home water filtration system is not totally different, it’s just on a larger scale.
In essence, a system of filtration is set up around your home to remove the impurities of any water coming in. In some areas this will be more complex as the water supply could have known contaminants that need specific filtration, in more urban areas the water tends to be filtered already so it’s just a question or adding an extra layer to remove anything else.
A whole home water filtration system should be set up to meet your specific needs, rather than being an off the shelf product.
In all cases, home water filtration systems are designed to be the first and only line of defence needed to stop impure water entering your home. This allows you and your family to use every tap and faucet in your home with complete confidence, and eliminates the need for smaller filtration devices. TheHomeHardware is the best place to learn more about your home water filtration systems, you may visit there.
How does a home water filtration system work?
The exact specifications of a whole home water filtration system will be totally dependent on your water supply and your specific environment but the core function remains the same.
Water filtration systems are attached to all water entry points in your home (generally there is only one) and therefore all the water in your system, hot or cold, is filtered.
For those living in cities or built up areas it can be easy to find the single entry point for water, but for others who have an older set up it can be more work. Either way this can be a complicated undertaking and you will likely need the help of professionals to access it.
Once you’ve got the source of the water you need to consider the type of filtration you need, and this will depend on your environment. For some it can be a simple mechanical filter, but for most homes you will want to get a combination system fitted.
By using a combination or mechanical, ion exchange, absorption and reverse osmosis filtration in one system you can remove all of the different chemicals and impurities, leaving you with pure water to enjoy.
Whole home water filtration systems are designed to be robust, and you want the system to be as effective as possible. If you’re considering one then you should first understand what the problems are and get all the technology you need to fix it.
Types of home water filtration systems
There is certainly no one size fits all for whole home water filtration systems, as each one should be set up to solve the specific issues you are facing. If you’re serious about getting the best filtration then you should first get your water tested (you can get inexpensive home kits online) so you can understand just what impurities you’re dealing with.
Once you have this information you can make a much more informed choice.
While our recommendation is to get a combination filtration system, there are a couple of key systems we would expect to see in order for it to be effective:
- Sediment Filtration
Sediment filtration is simply the removal of any particles of dirt within the water which can cause it to be cloudy and impact the taste. Generally this is done using a physical filter which water will pass through but sediment will not.
These filters can vary but some of the most effective and now made with carbon because of its porous properties. More modern techniques for sediment filtration now also feature charged particles which help remove greater levels of impurities.
- UV Sterilisation
UV sterilisation is one of the most modern filtration techniques which has been found to be incredibly effective. A UV lamp is used to focus beams through the water and deactivate and clean bacteria.
The primary benefit of this filtration method is that is can kill harmful viruses that exist in the water, helping protect you and your family.
- Catalytic Conversion
While the name sounds complicated, the catalytic conversion filtration system is fairly simple to understand. It has been specifically developed to deal with hard water, a known issue that occurs in areas with a build up of calcium and magnesium in the soil.
Unlike other filters built to deal with this issue, catalytic converters don’t remove the chemicals, they change them so they don’t impact the water. This should be an essential part of your filtration system if you have hard water.
The filtration systems above each have a range of benefits, and they have been used to manage specific impurities. While you may decide to use just one, you’ll find that using them in combination can be much more effective and will give you purer water. There are lots of combination filtration systems available online so you won’t need to put it together yourself.
Whole home water filtration systems
Having a filtration system working throughout your home gives you an extra layer of protection from harmful chemicals and will ultimately help keep your family safe. While they may seem complicated, or a lot of hard work, the research and development done by experts and there are off the shelf products that work effectively.
If you have known water issues or just want to have more confidence in your home water supply, then this is definitely something you should consider.
