What if I Already Have Soft Water?

Even though 85% of homes in America have hard water, the other 15% is fortunate enough to have naturally soft water. According to the Harwich Water Department, the following states have the softest water available: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, North Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and all of the New England states. The lucky residents of those states won’t necessarily need to have a whole house water softener, but they’ll probably still want to filter their drinking water. 

There are a couple of options when it comes to filtering drinking water. A whole house water filter, an under-sink water filter, and a countertop water filter. In this guide we’ll go over the difference between the three and hopefully by the end, you’ll be able to decide which system will work best in your situation.

Whole House Water Filter-As the name states, it’s a filter for the whole house. These are installed right at the water main and they come in a variety of types, price ranges, sizes, and micron ratings. Some of these systems are as simple as a sediment filter designed to catch large sediment particles found in water such as rust, dust, sand, and scale particles. 

Then there are more sophisticated systems that incorporate multi-stage filtration to trap a number of contaminants as well as odors and tastes. Take for example the Pro+Aqua ELITE 3 Stage Whole House Well Water Filter System. This unit is designed to remove up to 99% of chlorine, water-soluble lead, mercury, nickel, chromium, and other dissolved metals as well as iron, rust, dirt, sand, fungi, sulfur, silt, turbidity, aluminum, copper, VOCs, cadmium, cloudiness, odors and many other contaminants. This is an ideal filter system for homes with 3-4 bathrooms and can be used with city water and well water. With the included wrench, replacing filters is a breeze since the unit comes with a pressure release valve on top of each filter head. This system can be mounted to the water main point of entry. Equipped with 1” ports, it is compatible with most household plumbing fittings. 

Under-Sink Water Filter-These systems provide high-quality filtration at a lower cost compared to other methods. The U200 Premium Drinking Water Filtration System by iFilters.com offers 2 stages, a coconut carbon block pre-filter-with carbon block post-filter that are designed to help reduces dirt, sand, silt, sediment, rust, chlorine taste & order, cysts, lead, parasites (cryptosporidium & giardia), cloudiness (turbidity), THMs (trihalomethanes), VOCs (volatile organic chemicals), asbestos, and more. In addition, the U200 comes with a water hammer prevention device called the ShokBlok to help protect your system from leaks. Furthermore, it comes with a very handsome, high-quality lead-free faucet that is installed on a countertop or sink. The U200 can be easily installed under a kitchen sink with the included hardware. All it needs is a water source coming from the cold water line. This is the perfect filter for homes that have a pre-dilled hole to accept the included faucet. If a hole is not available, then one will need to be drilled out either on a counter or on the sink. 

Counter Top- This style of water filter is the most economical and the easiest to install of the three mentioned in this guide. The iFilters CNTP counter-top water filter system is highly compatible with most kitchen faucets. With its 0.5-micron rating, it is able to filter a variety of contaminants such as sediment, dirt, rust particles, scale particles, cysts, cryptosporidium, entamoeba, toxoplasma, VOCs, pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, chlorine taste & odor. This type of filter is ideal for small spaces such as apartments, RVs, and mobile homes. But it can also be used for an office faucet to provide employees clean, freshwater. 

To install the CNTP filter, all that is needed is to place it on the counter, remove the aerator screen on the faucet. Screw on the provided hose/fitting, turn on the cold water, flip the switch on the attached faucet adapter and within seconds you now have access to clean fresh water.

Conclusion- In this guide, we discussed 3 types of water filters and their applications. A whole house water filter works for homes with 3-4 bathrooms. The 3 stage filtration does an amazing job in getting rid of several contaminants found in water. These are normally installed at the water main point of entry such as a garage or basement. The second was an under-sink water filter which is very easy to install and maintain. All they need is a cold water line source, room for the filter, and a hole for the included faucet. Last but not least, the countertop water filter is perfect for smaller homes or offices. This is the easiest and cheapest of the three to install since it simply connects to the kitchen faucet and yet it offers remarkable filtering all thanks to the 0.5-micron rating it carries. 

If you are in an area that has naturally soft water, you won’t need a water softener. But you should still filter the water before drinking or cooking with it. Even though your water is soft, it can pick up several contaminants along the way between the water treatment facility and your home. The 3 types of filters mentioned above provide a broad range of choices in terms of application, capacity, and price. Hopefully, when it’s time to choose the right filter system for your home, you can make the right decision based on the things mentioned in this guide.