Water Softener vs. Filter
There are many advantages to treating the water in your household. Filtering and softening your water increases the quality significantly by removing harmful contaminants and hard minerals. This article will break down the benefits and the differences of softening and filtering the water in your home.
Water Softener Benefits
The benefits of using a water softener in your home range from how nice your dishes look, to how soft your skin feels. The water softener unit works by removing the minerals such as magnesium and calcium from the incoming water supply. If these minerals are left in the water, you will have hard water in your home. This can lead to clogged pipes, which can significantly reduce the efficiency of your water heater. This, of course, can lead to higher utility expenses. Hard water also leaves water spots on countertops in bathrooms that are tough to remove.Soft water makes your showering and bathing experience more enjoyable. Using hard water leaves skin feeling itchy and dry. This is because soap interacts with the minerals left in water, which form soap scum. This makes the soap less effective and has an adverse effect on skin. Washing hair with hard water also leaves hair looking dull and stiff. Using soft water will leave your skin feeling soft and your hair looking shiny and healthy.Since the hard water adversely interacts with soaps, using a soft water makes your dishwashing soaps more effective. This leads to cleaner and shinier looking dishes. The same holds true of your laundry detergents. Using softened water will give you cleaner and better smelling laundry.
Water Filter Benefits
Like the softening of water, filtering the incoming water supply also has tremendous benefits to the quality of water used in your home. These benefits include removing bacterial contaminants from your drinking water, which has health implications.Filtering your water also removes unwanted chemicals from your water. Depending on your incoming water supply (e.g. city water, well water etc.), you may have loads of unwanted chemical contaminants such as chlorine and chlorine byproducts. Many water supplies are treated with chlorine to control microbial contamination. However, once the chlorine has done its job, you do not want it in your drinking water. Using an appropriate water filter will remove the unwanted chlorides, giving you a significantly higher level of purity in your household water. There is also evidence that filtering water significantly reduces the risk of developing a gastrointestinal disease. This is because the filter does not allow harmful microorganisms to enter into the water supply of your home.
Do Water Softeners Also Purify Water?
A water softener does contribute to purifying water by removing unwanted minerals. However, using a combination of a softener and filtration will give you the best results.
Is a Water Softener a Filter?
There is a common misconception that a water softener is a filter. While a water softener does exchange chemical ions to remove unwanted minerals, it does not filter out all contaminants, such as lead and microorganisms.
Can you Filter Softened Water to Drink?
Yes, absolutely. Using a combination of a water softener and filtration will give you a high purity of water. For assistance on developing the appropriate treatment for your home, contact Jason's Water Systems to set up your free water analysis.
