| Whole house water purification means just what it | | | | smaller, molecularly speaking, than water and will |
| says. The idea is to filter all the water coming into | | | | pass through these membranes and will not be |
| your home by installing a water filter system near | | | | filtered out. That is why these systems must be |
| the point your water supply line enters the home. | | | | used in combination with a carbon filter. |
| That way all the water past that point has been | | | | Most reverse osmosis systems produce only a |
| filtered and you can have good, safe water | | | | gallon or two of filtered water an hour and will |
| everywhere, in your sinks, showers, bathtubs and | | | | waste two or three times that for every gallon |
| even for laundry and dishwashers. In this article | | | | produced. They require a storage tank to create |
| we will look at whole house water purification | | | | any volume of filtered water and, sometimes, a |
| systems, what they do, how they do it, and the | | | | booster pump as well to maintain pressure. Initial |
| best technology to use to get the job done for | | | | costs for the various components and |
| you. | | | | maintenance costs make these units about equal |
| 1. What do they do? | | | | in cost with distillation. |
| Simply put, any good whole house water purifier | | | | Both distillation and reverse osmosis systems |
| should give you clean, healthy water by removing | | | | remove all the minerals from the water, including |
| virtually all (over 99%) of the debris and harmful | | | | the ones our bodies need. When the minerals are |
| contaminants from your water. This would include | | | | removed, the water changes its acidity and will |
| chlorine, THMs or the toxic by-products of | | | | try to re-balance itself by stripping needed |
| chlorine, SOCs or synthetic organic chemicals, lead, | | | | minerals, like calcium, from the body. For this |
| weed killers, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceutical | | | | reason, many health experts consider this water |
| drugs, etc., the list goes on and on. | | | | unhealthy. |
| 2. How do these systems remove the pollutants? | | | | The third system starts with the adsorptive |
| First, keep in mind there is no single filter that will | | | | power of activated charcoal and blends it with a |
| do the job, all whole house water purifiers will | | | | chemically charged resin to create a very |
| consist of a series of filters one after another. | | | | different, but highly effective, filter media. |
| The series will begin with a pre-filter to remove | | | | This blend is compressed into a solid carbon block |
| larger particles of debris that might clog the finer | | | | in which contaminants bond, either chemically or |
| filters to follow. | | | | physically, to the adsorptive surface. Chemicals |
| Next, will likely be a carbon filter of some type. | | | | like chlorine, drugs, pesticides, etc., physically bond |
| Activated carbon is recognized by the EPA, | | | | to the surface of the charcoal thru adsorption, |
| Environmental Protection Agency, as being the | | | | and minerals, such as lead and mercury, are |
| best available technology for removing chlorine, | | | | chemically altered by the resin through an ion |
| THMs, and VOCs (volatile organic chemicals). | | | | exchange, allowing them to be filtered out as well. |
| The third stage of filtering could come from | | | | Finally, even very tiny chlorine-resistant cysts, |
| distillation, reverse osmosis, or a system utilizing | | | | such as giardia and cryptosporidium, and any |
| adsorption with activated charcoal, sub-micron | | | | remaining inorganic contaminants, are trapped in |
| filters and ion exchange, called selective filtration | | | | the blocks tiny pore structure. |
| or multi-stage filtration. | | | | It is true that selective filtration was not designed |
| Distillation is a process that passes water over a | | | | to handle salty water, but, since most of the |
| heated coil to form steam that rises to a cooling | | | | nation does not have that problem, it is not likely |
| tank and condenses back into a liquid. This | | | | to be an issue. |
| process kills any remaining bacteria in the water, | | | | The big pluses with these systems are the initial |
| and removes inorganic compounds like lead, | | | | cost and their low operating costs. They process |
| calcium, potassium, etc. The process does not | | | | water very quickly, with a very small loss of |
| remove organic chemicals, so, a distiller must | | | | water pressure, so they don't require booster |
| always be used in combination with a carbon filter. | | | | pumps or storage tanks. |
| Distillation units operate slowly, producing only | | | | 3. What system will work best for you? |
| three or four gallons of filtered water a day, and, | | | | If you are dealing with a salt water problem, you |
| at a relatively high energy cost due to the | | | | definitely want to go with a reverse osmosis |
| electricity used. | | | | system. Yeah, it is wasteful and expensive but it |
| Reverse osmosis units push water under pressure | | | | will clean up the water, believe me. |
| against a semi-permeable membrane with very | | | | If you don't have the salt problem, you want to |
| fine pores, the size of water molecules. The | | | | use the selective filtration process. Their systems |
| process rejects certain contaminants, minerals, | | | | are very compact, less expensive to own and |
| and even a large part of the water. Most SOCs, | | | | operate and, if they are installed properly, they |
| such as herbicides and pesticides, are even | | | | work virtually maintenance free. |