Water Treatment Systems For Home

Water goes through a long journey before it reaches your faucet. Along the way it can pick up sediment, chemicals and heavy metals.

Water filtration systems can reduce the contaminants and sediment in your water. They can also help you to save money by eliminating the need for bottled water.

Water Softening

Water softeners rely on the ion exchange process to remove calcium and magnesium from home water. Water runs through a bed of resin beads that are water treatment systems for home saturated with positively charged sodium ions. As hard water passes through the resin, it exchanges the minerals for the sodium ions, which makes your household water no longer hard. A softening system can extend the life of appliances, prevent soap scum and mineral deposits on fixtures, and improve cleaning results.

Many salt-free systems function similarly to softeners but without using sodium. They’re plumbed into the water line that enters a home and treat all the water receptacles within the house, including hot tubs. Depending on the model, these systems may affect the flow rate of your home’s water and need regular filter replacement to function properly.

Some smart water softeners include an odor removal element to provide clean, fresh-smelling water. They can also reduce iron and manganese from the home’s water, as well as chlorine, VOCs and PFOS/PFAS.

A smart water softener can help you save time and money with its automatic regeneration cycle, which only flushes and recharges the resin when it’s needed, based on your household usage patterns. Older models with time clocks regenerate on a set schedule, regardless of whether the resin needs it, but newer technology uses electrical or mechanical sensors to monitor bead depletion and other metrics and automatically initiate recharging when necessary.

Water Filtration

Water takes a bit of a journey before reaching your faucet. As it travels from lakes and rivers to your home, it picks up sediment, particulates and contaminants that can affect the taste, smell and appearance of your water. Water filters capture these impurities, reducing or eliminating them from your household water supply so that you can enjoy clean, healthy water every day.

A water filtration system usually consists of multiple stages: a sediment pre-filter, which catches rust, dirt, silt and other debris that can damage your plumbing and appliances over time; an activated carbon media to reduce chlorine, chloramines, herbicides, pesticides and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) that can cause health problems; and a copper-zinc post filter that further reduces chlorine and protects the integrity of your plumbing and appliances. Some water filtration systems even have a scale inhibitor to prevent the buildup of hardness minerals in your pipes and appliances.

Water filtration systems come in two types: point-of-use systems that filter the water at each tap, such as pitchers and sink and shower filters, and whole-house systems that filter the water at the source, such as water filtration systems for the entire home or office. Generally, the larger the house, the more comprehensive the water filtration system should be. Water treatment professionals can help you choose the right size system for your home and your water needs.

Odor Removal

Many homeowners encounter sulfur odors in their home well water. Often, this is due to hydrogen sulfide in the pipes. A whole house well water filtration system eliminates sulfur odors by oxidizing and neutralizing it with catalytic carbon.

The first step to odor removal is to find out the source. If odor is only present at certain sinks or areas of the home, it is likely the result of drains, fixtures or pipe leaks. These can be treated with disinfectants or aeration.

Another way to remove odors is by absorption or adsorption. Activated carbon or other adsorption materials capture water treatment systems manufacturer odor molecules by binding them to themselves. This is the same process used to remove cigarette smoke and other odors from air.

In most cases, the source of odor is hydrogen sulfide or other sulfur bacteria. These can be controlled with a hydrogen peroxide injection system installed on the well or, if a proportional feed-type pump is used, directly before the pressure tank.

This system injects peroxide at precise levels based on the flow of water. The water then flows through a catalytic carbon backwash filter that oxidizes and removes the remaining hydrogen sulfide gas and any peroxide residual. A UV water treatment add-on is also available to control coliform bacteria, as needed. This ensures clean, healthy and safe water for the entire family.

Mineral Removal

The ion exchange process in water softeners removes minerals like calcium and magnesium from your household water. These are called “hard” minerals, and they have a negative impact on many aspects of your home’s water use. Hard water dries skin and hair, leaves spots on glassware and prevents soap and detergent from lathering properly, all of which can lead to expensive damage over the long haul. These minerals also build up in pipes, dishwashers and hot water heaters, reducing their efficiency and shortening their lifetimes.

Standalone water softeners are the only filters specifically designed to remove minerals. This is why most experts recommend pairing a water softener with a filter that gets rid of other contaminants, including heavy metals.

A filter can be used to get rid of a variety of minerals, from uranium and arsenic to mercury and even chlorine and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). If you’re concerned about the mineral content of your home’s water, ask your local water utility for a copy of your water quality report. Or consider having your home’s water independently tested by a certified laboratory to find out exactly what contaminants are in your water.

It’s important to remember that, while most water filtration systems remove healthy minerals, these nutrients can be easily reintroduced to your home’s water in the form of remineralizers and alkaline pitcher filters. There are even home water filtration systems that use reverse osmosis to remove contaminants while reintroducing these healthy minerals.