Reviews & Guide 2021

Table Of Content

• SpringWell CF
• How Much Does A Whole House Water Filter Cost Compared To A Reverse Osmosis Filter?
• 📚 Methodology: How We Picked The Best Whole Home Filtration Systems
• Whirlpool 3.4-GPM Charcoal Whole House Water Filtration System
• 🧾 How to Select the Best Whole House Water Filtration System
• Number of Stages
• Express Water Heavy Metal Whole-House Water Filter
• The 10 Best Whole House Water Filter Systems of 2024

Using a whole house water filter is also more environmentally-friendly than using other types of filters or even buying bottled water. Depending on the water testing results, you have to choose the right micron rating for your filters. As you might expect, they are more expensive than the filters that block only particles larger than 1 micron. If you don’t have a highly contaminated source, a 0.35-micron filter might be overkill.

SpringWell CF

The filter has a great filtering capacity and it should remove most of the contaminants from your water for a long time. Some households use this volume of water in a year, while others do it in two. This ensures that the water is properly filtered, but that it’s also treated with salt molecules, which bind to hard metals and render them inert. Removing these minerals from hard water is integral to maintaining the durability of the pipes, faucets, and hot water tank. Users who don’t want to add salt to their whole-house filter system can get a salt-free softener that coats the hard metal particles to prevent them from sticking to the plumbing infrastructure. The Culligan whole-house water filter can also be used with 12 kinds of Culligan filter cartridges to remove a wide range of contaminants based on the water composition and quality of the home plumbing system.

How Much Does A Whole House Water Filter Cost Compared To A Reverse Osmosis Filter?

There’s no other way around it and it’s how all salt-based, ion-exchange softeners work. How much salt gets added depends on how hard your water is, but even very hard water (15 gpg) only ends up with about 30 mg of sodium in an eight-ounce glass. For comparison, a whole avocado has about 15 mg, and an unseasoned boiled egg has close to 80 mg.

📚 Methodology: How We Picked The Best Whole Home Filtration Systems

It comes with one sediment filter and one CTO carbon filter, so it’s set up to handle both particulate matter and unpleasant tastes and odors right out of the box. Flow rate is measured in gallons per minute (GPM), and it refers to how many gallons of water can pass out of the filtration system each minute. To determine the flow rate you'll need, calculate the sum of the gallons per minute of all fixtures that may be used simultaneously in your home. For instance, if you have two showers (2.5 GPM each) and a kitchen sink (2 GPM), you'd want a system that can handle at least 7 GPM to maintain proper pressure. Larger homes typically need higher flow rates than smaller homes, and homes with many residents require higher flow rates than homes with only a few residents. Warranties on whole house filtration systems are highly variable between manufacturers, products, what they cover and for how long.

The Best Reverse Osmosis Systems of 2023 - Top Picks by Bob Vila - Bob Vila

The Best Reverse Osmosis Systems of 2023 - Top Picks by Bob Vila.

Posted: Mon, 22 Apr 2024 22:06:01 GMT [source]

We’ve tested tens of well water treatment systems, and many of them use chemicals to remove the likes of iron and manganese. The SpringWell WS uses air injection, our preferred method of well water treatment because it’s low-maintenance and chemical-free. Even with our experience in using a variety of systems, we felt more reassured using a system that treated our water with a natural process, with no risk of accidental chemical overuse or leaks. Plus, we didn’t have to worry about additional filtration stages to remove chlorine or other taste-altering chemicals because the WS didn’t add anything to our water.

🧾 How to Select the Best Whole House Water Filtration System

Most water solutions are available for $9.95 per month for the first three months. A free, in-home water test is necessary to customize the perfect solution for your home. Please fill out this form to have your local water expert contact you today for accurate pricing. Chloramine is a chemical variant of chlorine that contains ammonia, and is generally safe to drink and use around the home in the same way traditional, chlorine-treated tap water would be. You can easily get an estimate of your flow rate by filling a 5-gallon bucket and using the calculator below.

When you have these, your water looks brown right out of the tap and is also called “rusty water.” Because of this design, the WS1 is also the best whole-house water filter for rust. If it’s hard now, it’s going to be forever, so the last thing you want is a softener that winds up in a landfill before the next census. These things are too expensive, and you will have spent too much time researching one and getting it installed to even consider the possibility of it not lasting you more than a few years. To do this, the SS1 relies on ion exchange, a chemical process in which hardness minerals in your water (calcium and magnesium) are exchanged for sodium. This is the most effective way to soften water and works no matter how hard your water is. It can even soften “very hard” water with a hardness measure of 15 grains per gallon (gpg) or more.

Whole house water filters can remove elements in your drinking water that large-scale filtering can’t address, as in the case of municipal water. Additionally, whole house filters can remove water-borne contaminants that enter the water after it leaves the city’s treatment facility. The installation cost of a whole house water filtration system depends on the type of water filter system you purchase.

The 10 Best Whole House Water Filter Systems of 2024

Replace the filter cartridge, then reattach the filter and lock the latch to secure the house filter with no leaks. The Aquasure Whole House Filtration System has a reverse osmosis filter that is installed under the sink, for extra filtering of tap water. On top of being effective, this water filtration system has a heavy duty, high-capacity tank that is corrosion resistant and reinforced with durable fiberglass. This UV filter does not have the ability to filter sediment or heavy metals, so if you’re in an area where you find that you need these things filtered, you may want to choose another filtering system.

First of all, you will never spend a dime on new filters and replacement cartridges. The system has its backwash mechanism, which refreshes the filtration and allows the unit to keep doing what it does best. If you’re on the fence, you can test your water to see whether or not it is necessary. There are a few different tests you can purchase, including some where you test your water yourself using test strips to see which contaminants are present or, some that have you send in a sample of your water to a lab to be analyzed. The PENTAIR PUV-14 Whole House Water Treatment & Disinfection System is a UV filter that does not remove sediment, only waterborne pathogens, fungi, viruses, and bacteria. In addition to removing chlorine from water, it also reduces mercury, chloramines, herbicides, pesticides, and more.

While the best solution is to fix your well, you may also need to install a UV purifier or a reverse osmosis system. There’s a lot of chemistry and biology going on, and manufacturers often like to use jargon and buzzwords to make their products sound advanced and superior. We vet every filter technology we come across, scouring the literature and using our own expertise to make sure it’s up to the job. Whole-house filtration can be a bit complicated, but if you start by testing your water and then match the filter you buy with the contaminants you want to remove, you’ll find clean, clear, and great-tasting water right around the corner. Whether or not this is an issue depends entirely on the condition of your well water.

Kourey adds that, before committing, it’s “important to be informed about your water source,” and whether or not you’re using city or well water. Once you’ve tested your water, you can select a whole-house water filtration system that targets the right impurities. “Activated carbon filters are particularly good for organic compounds, chlorine, and odors,” says Hancock. That might be all you need if your water quality is high, or you may need more advanced filtration methods.

If you’re worried about installing yourself, it’s best to call a professional. You can read more about how we evaluate water filters in our Labs — plus everything you need to know to shop for the best water filter — at the end of this guide. The iSpring WSP50ARB is our favorite sediment filter, because it’s easy to install and operate, with a digital display, automatic flushing option, and a built-in housing scraper. The touch screen is a little dim, but it’s a great feature that provides intuitive controls.