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Water Filters
updated: Dec 06, 2012, 1:47 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

We are considering a whole house water filter instead of a water softener. Does anyone have experience with this or recommendations for the best type of filter?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 350977	2012-12-06 01:59 PM
sure. Go to Economy Supply and see TJ. Tell him you want a Big Blue whole house filter like Art uses.
COMMENT 350978	2012-12-06 02:00 PM
Check out the Water Store in Goleta on Hollister. They have a bunch of different filters you can learn about. And research online.
COMMENT 350983P	2012-12-06 02:17 PM
The best review is in Consumer Reports, but you'd need to buy a membership to see details. Or drop by the library and look it up in the magazine. I think they recommend a multi-stage, to get sediment and the various chemical or biological components out. Each type of filtration, and brand/model of filter has advantages and drawbacks.
BURNTTHISTLE	2012-12-06 02:35 PM
We have an Aquasana Rino that we bought on line and had installed. We have had no issues and would buy again cost about $800 + installation
COMMENT 351028	2012-12-06 03:32 PM
I have a water softener and a reverse osmosis filter on the drinking water tap in the kitchen. I don't think you need a filter for the whole house.
GILBERT	2012-12-06 04:50 PM
If you are trying to conserve , be careful of r.o. systems. I believe they waste as much water as they produce.
COMMENT 351093	2012-12-06 05:32 PM
A whole house filter system is the way to go if you can afford it, no salt and the water is great you can wash your car and have no water spots great for laundry and you can drink your water out of the tap.. R O is great but it takes out all the minerals out of the water , and it flushes out about as much as you use, Recomend taking vitamans and mineral supliments if you drink RO water As we know water grabs all the minerals it can and if it is barren of them it will take the minerals out of your body, But on a good note It is great for kiddney stones eats those little Ba#$%@ds right up...
COMMENT 351103	2012-12-06 05:51 PM
Multipure (brand name) water filters are the best. Amazing tasty water. Takes out lots of impurities- truly the best ever- and doesn't waste water like reverse osmosis. Makes even LA tap water taste better than store bought 'filtered' H2O
COMMENT 351110P	2012-12-06 06:03 PM
I agree with 028!
COMMENT 351125	2012-12-06 06:42 PM
We have a whole house filter and an RO system. The whole house is great for showers, laundry, etc as mentioned by others, and removing all the impurities. The water tastes alright but even better with the RO.
COMMENT 351136	2012-12-06 07:05 PM
I use a whole house filtration and soft mineralization system that requires no salt/potassium, does not waste water, does not need a drain or electricity and makes no noise. It only takes up one square foot of floor space. Needs servicing once every 5-10 years or so. It has a zero carbon footprint and the best thing is, I can drink filtered water from every faucet in the house. It tastes good enough that I took out my old reverse osmosis system. And all the while it protects everything in the house from hard scale/mineral damage. They are called "Eco-Safe" from a company called Puregen in Chino. They can probably refer you to a local supplier/installer. Ask for Allan 909-548-0339.
D8VANILLA	2012-12-06 07:23 PM
A person can get minerals from other means, besides in the water.
COMMENT 351176	2012-12-06 08:40 PM
1st.. A whole house filter doesn't soften the water, so if you like to lather up it wont work! 2nd.. Whole house filters primarily filter sediment. Be careful about the sizing of your whole house filter! Make sure that the filter can provide the needed GPM(gallons per minute) for the fixtures currently in your home. The most common mistake made by installers is "undersizing" the filter. Having a 3/4" water service doesn't mean you should install a 3/4" filter housing, the type of filter determines how much water will flow through it per minute, so make sure the filter doesn't restrict the flow needed to sufficiently supply ALL fixtures at the same time. 3rd.. A reason why your softener "isn't doing it" for you would help with providing a fix.
COMMENT 351309	2012-12-07 09:19 AM
We use Mountain Spring water in Goleta. They put in and maintain filter for drinking water in our kitchen. Whole house unnecessary. Great Co. to work with. Had for 20 years.
COMMENT 351357	2012-12-07 11:04 AM
I have been drinking only deionized or distilled water for 30 years without ill effect and I...urrrggk?!....
COMMENT 351425	2012-12-07 01:49 PM
Mountain Spring Water and Rayne are two companies that I believe offer whole house filtration. I'd advise a very good carbon block filtration system. From extensive research I have done, I'd say don't get RO. It's not just that it removes minerals--its that RO water is "aggressive" and will absorb carbon dioxide etc. making it acidic. I did a home experiment (admittedly not rigorous science--but interesting!) in which I boiled RO water in first a glass pot with plastic handle, then a stainless steel pot. The water tasted very very strongly of plastic in the first experiment (presumably from just the plastic handle getting hot and "off-gassing") and then a very strong taste of metal in the second experiment. I then boiled regular (mineralized) spring water in the same two pots and this water did not take on the tastes of plastic or metal. Just interesting. This could be a clue that RO water may remove a lot of bad stuff, but then it can easily re-absorb stuff too.
COMMENT 351429	2012-12-07 02:01 PM
We also have water softer and RO (for drinking water) combo in our house. Our RO is a Zero-Waste system that uses a bit of electricity but as a result does not waste any water in the processing. My recollection from researching RO was that the waste was much higher for normal RO systems, more like 5 to 1 waste to product.

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