Water treatment systems for homes come in a variety of designs to suit many needs. If you're looking into your options, here are three things you should understand before you buy.
Know What You're Treating
Putting in a system works best when you know what you're dealing with. Different methods treat different problems, and no single treatment system addresses every problem. If you're dealing with a mixture of issues at your location, you may need to install multiple stages to treat each one.
The two most common sources of trouble are bacteria and minerals. UV radiation, distillation, and reverse osmosis are common techniques for getting bacteria out of water. Concentrations of minerals, on the other hand, may best be treated with filtration, distillation, or reverse osmosis. Water softeners are also a potential solution to mineral-hardened water.
Where to Treat
You'll also have to decide where you want to launch your attack against contaminants. The two options are at the point of entry to the house or at the point of use.
Doing it at the point of entry means dealing with the water somewhere between the water meter and your home's system. If you install it before any lines are split off, you'll be treating everything, including the water that comes out of the garden hose and goes into the toilet.
You can also perform treatment after the splits, such as filtering the lines that go to the kitchen and the bathroom. This approach is best if you're trying to prevent, for example, hard water buildup that can damage a hot water tank. You may, however, need to have a professional plumber handle the work. This is especially the case if you plan to install the system anywhere close to the main water line that comes into the house.
The other approach is to do the work at the point of use. In other words, you'd have a unit installed along the lines going to sinks, showers, ice cube dispensers, and other fixtures you regularly use. This approach may be best if you're mostly worried about the quality of drinking water.
Maintenance Concerns
Every system is going to need attention at some point. Closely watch the ratings for the units you have installed. These usually include a lifetime capacity limit, such as 1 million gallons of water. Bear in mind filters and membranes will need to be replaced regularly long before you reach that limit.
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