Whole House Water Purification Systems
Whole house water filtration systems protect every faucet, showerhead and household appliance in your home from the dangers of contaminated water. Unlike point-of-service filters that attach to individual sinks, whole house water filtration provides clean, safe water at all times.
A typical system starts with a pre-filter to reduce larger contaminants like rust, dirt and silt from your water. Next, an activated carbon filter helps to reduce chlorine, chemicals and odors.
Pre-Filter
A pre-filter eliminates large suspended particles from your water supply before it enters a carbon filter. These include sand, silt, rust and other sediment that is not easily filtered by carbon filters. By removing this debris, the carbon filter can work more effectively and reduce clogs. Pre-filters also extend the lifespan of carbon filters and increase your overall savings.
The benefits of whole house water filtration extend far beyond your kitchen faucet. They ensure clean water for every sink, showerhead, and water-attached appliance in your home. From showering to washing your vegetables and feeding your pets, these systems keep your family healthy and happy with fresh, clean drinking water.
Sediment clogs plumbing and decreases water pressure throughout your house. It can also shorten the lifespan of household appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines and water heaters. The best way to prevent clogs is to install a sediment filter in your household water system.
Adding a pre-filter to your home water filtration system can help you achieve the cleanest, safest and healthiest drinking water possible. These systems eliminate chlorine, chemicals, heavy metals and other harmful substances from your drinking water and improves the taste of the water in your home. They are highly recommended for homes with high levels of sediment in their water. Our systems are made with Australian craftmanship and quality to provide you with the highest-level of contaminant removal.
Activated Carbon
Activated Carbon is an inert, highly porous carbon material that has enormous surface area and pore volume making it very effective for the adsorption of a wide range of chemicals. Activated carbon is used to remove chlorine, chloramines and disinfection byproducts from liquid and gas streams. It can also be used to remove organic impurities such as herbicides, pesticides and solvents from water. It can be supplied in granule (GAC) or powder form (PAC).
The adsorption of contaminants by activated carbon is whole house water purification systems accomplished by physical and chemical forces that attract the molecules to the surface of the carbon. As the contaminant molecules contact the carbon they are forced to diffuse through its large surface area, leaving smaller molecules behind.
There are two common methods for making activated carbon: steam activation and chemical activation. During steam activation, raw carbonaceous material is heated in a high temperature kiln to convert it into activated carbon. Chemical activation is a more advanced process that involves impregnating raw carbon with a strong dehydrating agent, such as phosphoric acid or zinc chloride, before processing it at lower temperatures. This method allows for a more consistent pore structure and greater adsorption capacity.
The adsorption capabilities of activated carbons vary widely and are affected by a number of factors such as operating temperature, polarity, concentration, other chemicals in the stream and the molecular weight of the chemicals being removed. Your General Carbon representative can provide you with an expected operating life based on your specific system conditions and the chemicals being treated.
Post-Filter
Whole house filtration systems work to take problem water and turn it into cleaner, better-tasting water for your entire household. Often, these systems are used to filter well water that contains dirt, silt, clay and other types of sediment. The first stage is the pre-filter that works to remove larger contaminants and particles from your water before it enters the system. The next step is the carbon filtration, which absorbs water filter membrane volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chlorine and chloramines. It also helps to reduce tastes, odors and cloudiness from your water.
The last stage is the post-carbon, which removes anything that the other filters in your filtration system may have missed. These systems usually have a storage tank that holds the purified water until it is needed, which makes them an excellent option for homes with multiple people who use the same water at once.
A whole house filtration system can be installed at the point of entry into your home to eliminate chemicals and other contaminants from entering your water before it goes to your kitchen, bathrooms, showers, toilets and other points of use. These systems can be combined with other filtration methods like reverse osmosis to make sure that you get the best water possible for your home.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis is a highly effective water treatment solution. It can produce up to two to three times more high-quality water and screen out a higher percentage of undesirable dissolved solids.
Reverse osmosis uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate freshwater from concentrated aqueous solutions. A reverse osmosis system creates a stream of freshwater that is known as “permeate,” and a stream of saltwater that is called “reject.” The membrane allows pure water molecules to pass through the membrane while rejecting dissolved solids and other contaminants.
A quality reverse osmosis system includes prefiltration to remove sediment and chlorine that could clog or damage the RO membrane. A postfilter is also included in the system to further filter and deodorize the water. In addition, a reverse osmosis system requires a water pressure pump to increase the amount of water that passes through the membrane. The system also utilizes a high-quality semipermeable membrane to reduce the amount of wasted water and energy.
While distilled water is a great option for removing unwanted contaminants, bottled water may not be as contaminant-free as you think. In fact, a lot of bottled water is simply tap water that has undergone minimal or no processing.
Installing a point-of-use reverse osmosis system at your kitchen sink ensures you have access to high-quality, contaminant-free water at the push of a button. Kinetico offers a wide variety of third-party certified reverse osmosis systems that are designed to significantly reduce the levels of arsenic, chromium, lead and other unwanted contaminants. Contact your local Kinetico dealer to learn more about how our systems can help your family.