When it comes to your household water supply, it is important that your water is properly filtered. From bath water to drinking water, you want to be confident that you and your family have safe water. This is where a whole house water filter comes into play. Like its name describes, a whole house water filter attaches to the water line that enters your home to guarantee that only treated water is dispensed throughout your house.
While this is the main idea of a whole house water system, it is still important to understand the details of this filter and how it can work for you. Keep reading below to find out about this important household water appliance.
What is a Whole House Water Filter?
As stated above, a whole house water filter treats the water supply of your whole house before it enters your household through your sinks and faucets. This process usually takes place even before the water enters into the hot water heater. This ensures that the water throughout your home comes out properly purified before entering any part of your house.
However, this does not apply to your outdoor water supply. There are two different water lines that supply water to your property: an indoor, or “home,” water line and an outdoor, or “yard,” water line. It is possible to purify your outdoor water, but that will require a bit more work and a good understanding of your city water utility.
How Does it Work?
The first step in understanding how a whole house water filter will work for your household is figuring out the type of whole house water filter you will need. The main purpose of whole house water filters is to remove contaminants. These contaminants vary depending on where your water comes from. If your household water supply comes from the city, you will need a whole house filter capable of removing chlorine, chemicals, sediment and hardness minerals. If you have well water, you will need to get your water tested to determine the specific contaminants and then proceed from there.
Four Factors that Affect How a House Water Filter Works
There are four categories to focus on when choosing a whole house water filter that will work best for you. Those categories are flow rate, filter size, filter life, and port size. The flow rate is measured in gallons per minute or GPM. To guarantee that your whole house water filter can handle your household water supply, look for a system with a flow rate of greater than 10 GPM. Filter size will impact the service interval of your whole house water filter. Ideal filter size for a household is around 4.5” x 20”, though many times larger homes require a second unit entirely. Filter life will vary depending on the amount and quality of sediment found in your city or well water. Finally, there is port size. As a rule, ideal port size for whole house water filters is 1”, which allows enough water to eliminate pressure drops.
Because whole house water filters vary largely based on the original water supply coming into your home, it is important to know the details of your city or well water before purchasing one of these filter systems. If you have any questions about buying a whole house water filter, please contact us today for more information!
