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Water Softeners Part 4: Types of Water Softener Systems

Water softeners.

Salt-based. AMT. Ion-exchange. RO.

Choosing a new water softener can be confusing. Don’t let the process tie you in knots!

The bottom line:  consider what would benefit your household the most. To help you get a handle on finding your new water softener system, we’ve put together a list of the most common water softeners and a brief explanation of their pros and cons. Happy reading!

Salt-Free Water Softenerssalt free water softeners

While it is commonly thought that salt-free water softeners remove hard water chemicals, that is not the case. This type of water softener changes the chemical composition of the magnesium and calcium in the water so that they won’t stick to surfaces. All that means is that you won’t have a residue buildup in pipes and lines, the walls of your hot water heater, and no “scales” on your dishes. The “salt-free” water softener doesn’t “soften” one’s water, but rather “conditions” it. This option is more of a filtration system than a water-softening system.

Magnetic/Anti-Scale Magnetic Treatment (AMT)

The AMT is less expensive than some other water softener options, including salt-based. It has an incredibly long-life expectancy of up to forty years. This would also be a great option for the household that needs to limit their daily sodium intake. While this option is considerably cheaper than its counterparts, unfortunately, hard water scalingit comes with a catch. An AMT doesn’t remove hard water chemicals, it just alters their composition, so they won’t leave as much “scale” effects on dishes. This option does not prevent buildup in water-using appliances where water stays for up to forty-eight hours, such as a hot water heater. There is also less scientific evidence that this method works efficiently and effectively.

Salt-Based/ Ion Exchangesalt based water softener ion exchange

This water softener option uses the process of Ion Exchange, which removes the hard water chemicals magnesium and calcium from the water. During this process, the hard water chemicals are attracted to a negatively charged polymer resin bed, which is what removes them from the water supply. Those chemicals are replaced by positively charged sodium ions when salt is used to clean the water softener and regenerate the resin bed so that it can continue to do its job effectively. This option is the exact definition of what a water softener is.

Reverse Osmosis

As with the salt-free water softener system, Reverse Osmosis (RO) is more of a filtration system than a water softening system. This option uses hydrostatic pressure across the membrane, which acts as a type of water filter. This process physically removes contaminates and hard water chemicals from the water supply itself. Below is a list of benefits for installing a reverse osmosis system:

reverse osmosis system

Tasteless water– some water supplies have a foul taste to them and adding a RO system might help to alleviate this problem.

Tinted and/or Stinky Water– hard water minerals and even some impurities can cause a water supply to look murky and have an unpleasant smell. RO might help to fix this.

This option is also considered more environmentally friendly than others since it doesn’t use chemicals in its process. Some reports say that this process can remove up to ninety-eight percent of water imperfections. RO can be a tricky system to use. For example, some reports find that consumers only had five to fifteen percent of usable water returned. The rest just washed down the drain. You can read more about reverse osmosis water softeners here.

So, how do you decide?

Ultimately, it is up to you, but Knoxville Water Treatment is here to help. Our experts in water softening systems can meet with you and help you determine what is best for your household. We’ll help you assess past concerns and issues, identify your specific household needs and get the water softener system that’s just right for you and your family. Give us a call today!

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4 Reasons to Buy A Whole House Water Filter Before Christmas

Reasons to Buy A Whole House Water Filter Before Christmas

One of the ways that pollution can affect you, your family or friend in the comfort of your home is your water source. Water pollutants or contaminants may come in the form of harmful chemicals or microorganisms that can prove dangerous to your health and the health of your loved ones. This is the reason why you should own a water filtration system in your home.

With the aid of a water filtration system, you will not have to worry about buying individual filters for your bathroom or kitchen. Just have the water filter fixed in your plumbing system and you get clean water from all water sources inside or outside the house in an instant. Doing this, you are fully prepared for Christmas holiday.

Here are the reasons why whole house water filter is necessary prior to Christmas holiday:

REASON #1: Friendly Water for Laundry Purposes

For homes without water filters installed in their water system, one of the common challenges is washing the clothes without getting the fabric damaged or discolored. A whole house water filtration system is the solution to this. With the use of a filter, harmful chemicals that destroy your clothes are gotten out of the way. Your visitors enjoy cleaning clothes using filtered water.

REASON #2: Guest Friendly Showers and Baths

Another advantage of a water filter in your home is keeping your skin free from harmful bacteria or microorganisms that may be carrying diseases. Without a water filter, these elements can get in direct contact with your skin, causing your skin to feel dry, itchy and even smell bad. With the use of a water filter, you will be able to keep your skin healthy especially when using showers and baths. It is easy to host a guest during a holiday without worry.

REASON #3: Cost Efficient and Safe Water for Drinking

Perhaps the number one benefit a water filtration system can offer you is pure drinking water. The tap water you and I drink is very likely to be contaminated with any of the following: live bacterium and viruses and toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. The list of impurities in our water is enormous. You could pay a lot of money for bottled water that doesn’t solve the problem of your shower water. When you have a water filter for the whole house, there will be no need for you to buy pure drinking water from the market. All you need is to open your faucet and presto! You have clean water ready to drink and use it to prepare healthier coffee or tea.

REASON #4: Get Water Filter Now

A water filter is easily installed on your faucets or shower head creating safe drinking and showering water. In many sections of the country, water coming from the treatment plants is still not properly filtered when it reaches your house. That’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Every day there are stories about people getting sick from the water they drink. To avoid this, just hire an expert to install whole house water filters systems in your home. By putting up a water filtration system for your whole house, you are ensuring the overall health of your entire family and not just your own. It is quietly efficient, and it gives you peace of mind. Get a water filter now for your house to make Christmas holiday more enjoyable.

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How to Choose the Best Water Filter Systems for Your Home

Having clean and safe water is vital for every home. This can be achieved by installing water filter system at your home. However, most people face challenges in choosing the best water filter system for their homes. Whether you want to use water filtration pitcher, Under-sink filter or whole-house water filter, you will need to have an in-depth knowledge of water filter systems.

In this article, we are going to provide you with tips of on how to Choose the Best Water Filter Systems for Your Home. Having an in-depth knowledge of water contaminants, water filtration technologies and the basic of water filters will help make a wise purchase decision.

Contaminants in water

It is important to note that different water filtration systems may not effective filter out some contaminants. Therefore, you should identify the type of contaminants in your water. This will help you buy the right water filtration system that will remove such contaminants. NSF provides the list of common water contaminants. Moreover, NSF has suggested the most efficient technologies that reduce various water contaminants. Therefore, you will have to perform a test to know the type of contaminants present in your water. After that, you use the results to choose the most effective system that will meet your needs.

Common Water filtration technologies

All filters use the same technology, but not all technologies are effective. For instance, ion exchange reduces magnesium and calcium but will not remove other contaminants. On the other hand, mechanical filters will effectively remove sediments but cannot reduce chemical contaminants. Moreover, carbon filters can remove chlorine, mercury, lead and asbestos.

Types of water filters

These include Pitchers, Under-sink, and whole-house filters.

Pitchers

These basic water filtration systems require not set up since water move into the system via gravity. Therefore, you have to refill the pitcher as you use the water regularly.

Under-sink Water Filter

This system filters water using a secondary faucet on the kitchen sink. Under-sink water filter system treats water just before consumption.

Whole-house Water Filters

This is the most advanced system that treats water at the point of entry into the house. The water from the municipal line is treated before flowing into the entire home.

Salt-free water softener

This is ideal homeowners who want to avoid scale build up in the pipes or home appliances. Just like water filters, salt-free water softeners are installed on the home’s water line.

Water filter certification

Usually, water filters are subjected to stringent quality measures to ensure they serve the intended purpose. In this case, the best water filters should have NSF seal. NSF is an international organization that test water filtration systems determine their compliance with the required standards for quality, performance or safety. Therefore, you should consider water filters with NSF seals as they are reliable.

Water filter costs

The prices of various types of water filter systems vary greatly. Therefore, you will not expect to buy pitchers, Under-sink or whole-house system at the same price. If you need the basic and the cheapest water filter system, then you should consider pitchers. On the other hand, you may take into account the under-sink water filter if you want the convenience of getting filtered water at your sink. However, this option is more costly than pitchers water system. Otherwise, Whole-House filter system will deliver high performance. In this case, you will enjoy clean water throughout your house. Whole-house system is the most but it worth the value of your money.

Conclusion

Water filter systems are very vital in our homes. Without clean water, your family is at risk of getting water-borne diseases. However, it can be a daunting task to Choose the Best Water Filter Systems for Your Home.

The initial step is to determine the type of contaminants present in your water. This will guide you in choosing the system that will reduce specific contaminants in your water line. If Lead is a major contaminant in your water, you will have to consider the system that will effectively remove that contaminant.

Moreover, the filtration technology and the type of water filter system are things you should consider. Whether you choose Pitcher, Under-sink or whole-house water filter system, you will have to check for the NSF seal. The systems that are certified by NSF will serve the intended purpose. Conclusively, the above tips will help you get the best water filter system in the market.

 

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Cleaning With A Whole-House Water Filter

CLEANING AFFECTED BY WATER FILTER

Everyone knows how important it is to use pure, safe, hygienic water for drinking and cooking for better health and living. Clean water is good for your skin, hair, metabolism and a myriad of other reasons which will always want you to look for options to get the best water purifying system. To enhance the healthy lifestyle of your families it is very important to use clean water for not just consumption or sanitization purposes by it is very interesting to know how a whole house water filter affects your cleaning.

 

Tap water contains many contaminants such as chlorine that could be very hazardous to health and needs to be filtered out before drinking or using for cooking. Let us check out how the different chemicals present in the water can affect cleaning and the advantages of having a whole house water filter system.

Protects your Clothing

A Whole House Water Filter system is designed to filter water at the source so that right from the time it is out of the filter tap, it can be used for all household chores including laundry, dishwashing etc. It is a known fact that chlorine based water is unhealthy and we should only consume filtered clean water. As clothes can be a medium of absorption for our bodies through skin, it is very essential to use filtered laundry water for our health. This will also help to prolong the good quality of the clothing, protect the colors and elasticity from fading away and the beauty of your clothes. A whole house filter system can be used to address this issue effectively.

 

Breathe Cleaner Air

Everyone knows that breathing unhealthy air full of contaminants can be detrimental to health. Even in small traces, this kind of polluted air can built up over time causing bigger health issues. A common occurrence could be breathing under a hot shower bath with unfiltered water. Do you know that there are traces harmful being sucked into your lungs daily if you are not using a whole house water filter? The same pollutant is being emitted from your laundry machine and dishwashing equipment too. Since municipal water supply has chlorine in it, we have to stress on removing that chlorine at the source itself before using it for any household chores. This will help to clean the air that we breathe for better quality of life and prevent respiratory disorders.

Prolong the life of your Appliances

The same health concern with unfiltered water can be true while dishwashing. We do not want any chemical traces on our cookware than there already is by using untreated water. The chemicals can build up on the utensils gradually that can be annoying and we mistakenly blame the dishwasher and try to replace it. Well, the culprit is not the dishwasher but the chlorine loaded contaminated unfiltered water that is slowly but steadily damaging the cookware. In fact, by continually using polluted water the dishwasher can be less efficient and may not perform at its best.

The whole house water filter does have the copper zinc based mineral stone filter and a carbon activated element to eliminate chemicals and prolong the life of various household appliances. To take it a notch up, an advanced filtration system can be used to include salt water softener and other variants. So, it is the need of the hour to install a whole house water filter system for better cleaning and quality of life.

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