Installing a water filtration system in your home or business can provide major benefits by ensuring that your water is clean, tastes normal, and is free from any potential pollutants and contaminants. Contaminated water is a growing concern in certain parts of the country, and a filtration system will make sure that this is something that you never need to worry about. With that in mind, here is a quick overview of the different types of water filtration systems, why they work, and the benefits that they will provide.
The Benefits of Installing a Water Filtration System
If you’re concerned about your home’s water quality, you will definitely want to consider upgrading your plumbing with some type of water filtration system. This is true even if your home is connected to a municipal water system as water treatment plants will never remove all contaminants and pollutants, and the water can also pick up contaminants as it travels through pipes on its way to your home.
Lead is one of the biggest worries as evidenced by the water crises in places like Flint, Michigan. It is also not uncommon for municipal water supplies to still contain some bacteria, viruses, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other harmful contaminants. Drinking contaminated water is a serious health risk, and the only real surefire way to avoid this risk is by installing a water filtration system in your home.
Whole-Home vs. Point-of-Use Filtration Systems
When deciding to have a water filtration system installed, you have a variety of different options to choose from. The very first thing you will need to decide is whether you want a whole-home or point-of-use system. Whole-home filtration systems purify water as it enters your home so that the water flowing out of all of your plumbing fixtures is clean and free of any contaminants.
On the other hand, a point-of-use system works to filter and clean the water at only one fixture. These units are most commonly installed underneath your kitchen sink to ensure that the water you drink and cook with is clean. These units can also be connected to your refrigerator so that the water and ice from it are also pure.
Reverse-Osmosis Filtration
The most common type of water filtration is a reverse-osmosis system as these are generally the most effective and also don’t require any energy. A reverse osmosis system will remove the vast majority of all contaminants and pollutants. This includes heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, pesticides, arsenic, nitrates, salt, etc.
Reverse-osmosis filters work by using a semi-permeable membrane. Water flows into the system and passes through tiny holes in the membrane. Due to the size of these holes, any solid contaminants are trapped as they are too large to pass through the membrane. In this way, a reverse-osmosis system can naturally filter out almost all contaminants from the water.
Activated Carbon
If you’re mainly looking to filter out any contaminants that could make your water taste bad, you may instead want to consider a carbon filtration system. Activated carbon filters are effective at removing chlorine, magnesium, pesticides and fertilizers, sediment, and most organic substances. However, they generally aren’t quite as effective as a reverse-osmosis filter. In addition, most reverse-osmosis systems also include a secondary carbon filter to help improve the water’s taste.
UV Light Filtration
There are also UV light filtration systems that will eliminate bacteria, viruses, and other organic particles. These systems emit different frequencies of powerful ultraviolet light that harms the DNA of any organic particles, which essentially kills them or renders them harmless. The only issue is that UV lights will only kill organic particles, which means they won’t filter out metals, pesticides, chlorine, and other non-organic contaminants.
Ion Exchange
A water softener is a special type of filtration system that uses an ion-exchange process to remove dissolved calcium and magnesium particles from the water. An ion-exchange system uses resin beads that are negatively charged to attract, capture, and remove all of the positively charged mineral ions from the water. These systems can also filter out certain radioactive compounds. However, they only work to remove certain mineral particles, and they won’t filter out lead, bacteria, pesticides, or most other contaminants.
At R.J. Groner Inc., we install a range of water filtration systems and can assist you in choosing the best system for your home and your specific needs. We also offer a range of other plumbing services, including drain cleaning and leak detection. Our team can help with boiler, water heater, and sump pump repair and installation services as well. If you need any cooling or heating service, we have a team for that too. To learn more about the benefits of water filtration or if you need any plumbing or HVAC service in the Stroudsburg area, contact R.J. Groner Inc. today.
