Whole house water filter?
 

We are considering a water filtering system.. Please share your opinions of
1. Whether it really makes a difference, and if so, how?
2. Best filtration system and cost/contractor?
3. Can it be installed diy?
Thanks:)

Whole House Filter
 

I have always put a simple whole house filter on my incoming water. It is a canister that goes in at the point the water enters the house. The filter can be a simple cotton wound sediment filter, or I prefer a carbon filter that blocks sediment and improves the taste. The carbon filters are less than $10, last 3 - 6 months and you can change them in 5 minutes. The canister is about $35 and easy to install. Last year, they flushed the hydrants near my home in New York State and unleased a flurry of rust and crud. The filter was completely clogged, but none of that stuff got into my hot water heater or in the valve seats in all the faucets. Good investment in my book.

Go to the search box, type in water filter and a lot of info will come up .

No $35 filter is reallly going to do anything much.....

Take a look at the Nova Filters

Check this page

There R also several customer feed backs on it.

It's a real HD filter for the bad water here.

Check out Puronics whole house purifier. We chose the system that does not make the water totally soft, but allows the water to be drinkable from the tap; doesn't leave smell in washed clothes and doesn't have an odor in the shower.
Customer service has been excellent, just like the water!

Water filter
 

We purchased a whole house Whirlpool Filter System at Lowes nearly six years ago. Flushes itself, doesn't require any maintenance other than making sure that there is power to it. It does require a drain when it regernerates and flushes. DIY in about an hour. About $280.00 now at Lowes. Has worked great for us.

Thanks for saying this. This is the system we want. Anything else you can tell me about it?

That is not a filter it is a softener, water softeners do not filter they soften......

WE believe is more important to have chlorine, sediment and other junk removed than having all the stuff in soft water.

Folks I've been doing filtration since 1974, you're not comparing the correct items here.

Therefore, your mileage will vary.

Hybrid
 

We bought a hybrid system from Sears... About $800...

"A standard water softener has a tank that has ion-exchange resin which takes out the hardness from the water and a hybrid water softener also has that, but a regular water softener does not have a second chamber which has carbon to remove the tastes, odors, chlorine and chemicals."

Here is a link to this type of system. I drink my water out of the tap and it tastes like bottled water!

What is a Hybrid Water Softener and Why Would I Want One? | Ask The Water Doctor

Someone on TOTV recommended it! The water is soft and tastes great as well.... Just another option.

make sure you get a reverse osmosis system. they should cost you under 3000 with a water softner. do not use a company by the name of TAS. they are overpriced on their units and they will charge you up the kazoo for new filters. I would reccomend a company by the name of "PEGASUS". the owner is very relyable.

Anything more than 400 or 500 dollars and you are being ripped off.

I had a Kinetico system in my prior house. It had a carbon filter and an inline filter. It was a water softener as well. I did have to backflush it manually.

So, JIMBO, is your system over $500?

Whirlpool has a water filtering system as well.

No it is less than that, $425.
And that's three filter not two as you stated above.

I will say that Kinetico systems that I had direct feed back on here in TV were over $2500.

Got one of these about a year ago for about $ 700 and had it installed $ 285 by Mike Scott plumbing. I have a Lantana with an offset in the garage and the plumber taped into the line and ran it to the nook out of the way. Uses about 2 bags of salt or potassium chloride a year with a usage demand flush which you can set. Has worked great for me.

:thumbup:

I don't see any type of sediment filter in that system?

Sorry but that really isn't doing the whole job.

I use the same inexpensive filtering system described in post number 1 with the same results. It absolutely works. Started using it in NY with the plain cotton filter then switched to the charcoal filter. It removed sediment and chlorine taste and odor in NY. When I moved to TV I couldn't stand the stench of the water at times so I installed the same system in TV and it works well for us. No odor, just good, clean tasting water. Sometimes I change it more frequently due to the sediment in the water. The filter element changes to the color of sand. Guess where that ends up if it's not caught by the filter? You'll know when to change the filter by the decreased water pressure but I've never had to change one in less than two months.

Ok as long as it works for you.

It's not the same quality water that comes from a commercial grade unit such as ours.

We get good, clean tasting and smelling water. That's about all I expect a water filter to do. You must have one of those fancy units which change water into wine. I'm saving up for one of those.

I had jimbo212 (Nova) install ours whole house filter system and we are very pleased with it plus the price was good. We have had our system since February and what a difference in our water. The smell is gone and our bath soap seems to lather up better. I had two company's give me estimates and both wanted to sell me a water softener and a whole house filter system $2500 to $3500. This system does not take up any room in the garage and depending on water usage you should be to get a year use out of the filters. Job well done on the installation!

We love our water filter and water softener system. Purchased from Sears.

I liked the no maintenance feature of this unit but needed installation. After calling many companies I found Mark from MAJESTIC WATER, 352-327-7335, who installs a unit like the LOWES unit. The bad taste is gone from my water. $550 parts, labor, Factory Guaratee, Local Business

Can you say Brita?
 

Been here 4.5 years.
When we moved in we purchased a large Brita pitcher for the refrigerator on sale for under $20.00. We drink a lot of water and the Brita water filters do a Great job. The water tastes great and all it costs is about $6.00 every 6 months for a new filter (about $1.00 a MONTH!)
We were only concerned about our drinking water and "Brita does the trick" for the right price!

First of all the replacements are $8 + tax and Brita tells you to change them every two months, so you're incorrect it's not a $1 a month.

Must be difficult taking a shower chilout or washing your clothes with a brita, the most capacity they have is 10 glasses, it also cleans to 96%.

The better way to get clean water is a Nova whole house triple filter.

This filters ALL your water, drinking, cooking, ice, bathing, laundry even your pool fills from the system.

Filter replacements about 2 years, $70 for a complete set or $3 a month.

Don't know how I missed this thread....but, by now I think all the oldies know I am a big believer in the Pegasus water system! Didn't want it, hubby did...have had it for a year now and LOVE IT!! Clean clothes, clean shiny dishes and utensils from dishwasher, smells and tastes great (from the tap!), and feels nice on my skin...call Robert Flink 352-748-7873. Well worth the $$$... IMO

Bob...
I believe the previous poster (Ourtime) said that all they were interested in was drinking water...nothing else.

I read all the reviews on Lowe's website on the RCA Whirlpool, talked to a few who had it also, and it was all positive.
I have had one in my NC home for about a year.....love it. Have one in my Villages home.....love it. My hair is not a "bed of snakes" now, the tubs, showers, and sinks stay much cleaner, the water is clear, and it works for me and the scores of others who love it.
When cooking, the water doesn't have all of the "scum" that use to be there without the RCA Whirlpool. My aunt would not drink the water before the Whirlpool system, said she could "smell" the chlorine, and water tasted bad. Now she drinks it.

If anyone knows about water, jimbo knows.

Actually if anyone knows about water Gat0r does.I was a engineer for Honeywell and in my experience of testing clean rooms I found the easy way to get clean water is a softener (larger resin tank the better) and then a RO unit with a faucet on sink for drinking water.With a carbon filter on the leaving side.Reverse osmosis removes almost everything from the water so you have to add some mineral back to it so it does not remove it from you.It's all about the ion's.I think this was practical science in my day. Discussion needed

I've been working with water quality for 40 years in the aquarium industry, fish corals and invertebrates demand a much higher level of water purity than we do.

Water softeners do not clean the water they thru an ion exchange soften the water. The results are soft dirty water so to speak.

there are many myths about water softeners, read this , it is my opinion that there is no a need for one, many have spent a lot $$ for them here for little benefit.

As far as reverse osmosis or RO water, this can't practical to be used in a whole house water filtration system, they are typically installed for drinking water at the sink. They do strip the water of most minerals than we do if fact need, I know people have them then add ice cubes form the fridge which are plain water not have gone thru the RO :22yikes:

the carbon filter after the softener is correct, however there is carbon and then there is high quality carbon.

Less expensive filers use granular carbon, to tell what you have if you shake it or turn it end to end and you hear carbon moving around it's granular.

Meaning it's loose packed, the problem with these is water finds a path of least resistance in so doing it creates channels bypassing the carbon reducing its effectiveness. I see many installations of water softeners using this type also resulting in dirty soft water.

Carbonaceous substances are the raw materials used to make activated carbon, and the most common are:

Wood (hardwood and softwood)
Peat
Coal (lignite, sub-bituminous and bituminous)
Palm shell
Coconut shell.

My carbon filter is not granular it is solid bloc preventing bypass or channeling.

Importantly it is made from coconut shell, Coconut shell carbons are generally harder, more pure, more active (greater surface area) and have a microporous internal structure.

Coconut shell activated carbon has the greatest density, highest hardness, lowest ash and highest activity level in the activated carbon family tree.

Gator not saying you're incorrect just amplifying with my opinion.


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Thanks Jimbo for your "Enlightening Comments". My post CLEARLY STATES "We were only concerned about our drinking water and "Brita does the trick" for the right price!" so your comment about washing clothes and taking showers with a Brita do not apply and "budget" bargain shoppers (like me) find the LARGER quantity of filters on Sale for less than the Average Shopper and I got my 3 Brita pitchers for FREE when they ran a price Paid "Total Rebate" offer 3 years ago. We find NO ISSUES with using the regular tap water for washing clothes and showering. Britta may "recommend" changing out the filters every 2 months but that is to sell more filters. I have used these filters for drinking water for OVER 6 months at a time with very little diminished water flow so "through experience" I know it works just fine!