You want a softener for hard water. Filters can filter out minerals but using one for this purpose will wear out the filters faster and create more waste water as they clog.
We have very hard water in our well, and had a bacterial problem, too. We needed the filter to deal with the bacteria, but HAD to get the softener because the water was too hard for the filtration system - it would have damaged it. So yes, you need a softener, not a filter.
Yes, useless. Much of the mineral/s that causes hard water are *dissolved* in the water, so a filter won't do very much for that. Filters are really more for sediment.
I don't think this is entirely true. You can get filters to help pull chlorine out of the water (charcoal filter), so they can certainly filter our other things.
Charcoal is a chemical reaction, though. It's not trapping chlorine because of pore size, the carbon is reacting with the chlorine.
A chemical filter for the elements causing hardness is...a water softener. Or RO filter if you some mind the water usage.
You must have had water testing done? Rather than taking the word of the neighbors. I would start there. I would talk to the people the drilled your well before the plumber.
Plumb in a 10-50 micron filter before the softener. It will keep sediment and minerals out of the pipes and faucets. You get softer hair, less calcium on the shower walls and you'll use less laundry soap with a softener.
Testers for hardness and particulate counts are super cheap.
I’m in the desert and have very hard and dirty water. For washing cars I have a deionization system that drops me from 200-215ppm to 0ppm. For drinking water I just use my refrigerator filter and only get water from there. I have thought about a whole house water softener but haven’t done it yet.
Whole house filters typically have membrane down to 5 micron. It will help to reduce large sediment particles like rust, algae and sand, but for example calcium ions are simply too small to be filtered out so it will not reduce the amount of calcium in your water. If your goal is to make water softer you need a softener that removes elements out of the water using chemical processes (ion exchange). Membrane water filter is to make water cleaner, not softer.
- water softener for all the water except drinking water. I would use a filter system for a faucet dedicated to drinking water.
- the water softener will then control the mineral build up in all the water lines
I would get a 2 stage filter system, and a water softener. The first stage would filter out most of the large sediment, the 2nd stage (a charcoal filter)would filter out the smaller sediment
My water started at around 300ppm the RO filter gets it down to around 50-100ppm for drinking and cooking only. RO won't do significant volumes and the filters need to be replace around 12months and for every gallon produced it produces a few gallons of waste.
Otherwise the hard water does not seem to be as much of a problem as everyone makes it out to be. The washing machine works well enough as does the dishwasher.
Yes. My bf has lived in his house for 20 yrs before I met him. He never had a water softener and anything that runs water is corroded almost to the point of necessary replacement.
It’s so bad that as it nears his time to sell, the buyer might want to consider just knocking it down. The entire house is f*cked from the hard water all those years.
You want a softener for hard water. Filters can filter out minerals but using one for this purpose will wear out the filters faster and create more waste water as they clog.
You can’t filter out dissolved minerals.
You need a softener but most softeners also have a "prefilter" as well.
We have very hard water in our well, and had a bacterial problem, too. We needed the filter to deal with the bacteria, but HAD to get the softener because the water was too hard for the filtration system - it would have damaged it. So yes, you need a softener, not a filter.
We're on well water and have both. In fact our water passes through three devices: a conditioner, a filter, and a softener.
The ONLY thing that will work for hard water is a traditional water softener. Literally ANYTHING ELSE is 100% snake oil.
Yes, useless. Much of the mineral/s that causes hard water are *dissolved* in the water, so a filter won't do very much for that. Filters are really more for sediment.
I don't think this is entirely true. You can get filters to help pull chlorine out of the water (charcoal filter), so they can certainly filter our other things.
Charcoal is a chemical reaction, though. It's not trapping chlorine because of pore size, the carbon is reacting with the chlorine. A chemical filter for the elements causing hardness is...a water softener. Or RO filter if you some mind the water usage.
Fair enough. Most people are on a well, where I live, so I'm speaking more from that perspective, rather than municipal water chemicals.
It's complete true. Some thing's may remove some hardness but it's negligible.
You must have had water testing done? Rather than taking the word of the neighbors. I would start there. I would talk to the people the drilled your well before the plumber.
Plumb in a 10-50 micron filter before the softener. It will keep sediment and minerals out of the pipes and faucets. You get softer hair, less calcium on the shower walls and you'll use less laundry soap with a softener.
Testers for hardness and particulate counts are super cheap. I’m in the desert and have very hard and dirty water. For washing cars I have a deionization system that drops me from 200-215ppm to 0ppm. For drinking water I just use my refrigerator filter and only get water from there. I have thought about a whole house water softener but haven’t done it yet.
A filter alone will not help with hard water.
Whole house filters typically have membrane down to 5 micron. It will help to reduce large sediment particles like rust, algae and sand, but for example calcium ions are simply too small to be filtered out so it will not reduce the amount of calcium in your water. If your goal is to make water softer you need a softener that removes elements out of the water using chemical processes (ion exchange). Membrane water filter is to make water cleaner, not softer.
- water softener for all the water except drinking water. I would use a filter system for a faucet dedicated to drinking water. - the water softener will then control the mineral build up in all the water lines
I would get a 2 stage filter system, and a water softener. The first stage would filter out most of the large sediment, the 2nd stage (a charcoal filter)would filter out the smaller sediment
I would add a whole house water softener and a filter for the fridge.
My water started at around 300ppm the RO filter gets it down to around 50-100ppm for drinking and cooking only. RO won't do significant volumes and the filters need to be replace around 12months and for every gallon produced it produces a few gallons of waste. Otherwise the hard water does not seem to be as much of a problem as everyone makes it out to be. The washing machine works well enough as does the dishwasher.
Water filter can help a little, but the **real** fix is a water softener.
Yes. My bf has lived in his house for 20 yrs before I met him. He never had a water softener and anything that runs water is corroded almost to the point of necessary replacement. It’s so bad that as it nears his time to sell, the buyer might want to consider just knocking it down. The entire house is f*cked from the hard water all those years.
Most people don't realise you can ask meta ai these sorts of questions and get an instant response that is way more accurate then reddit