When it comes to looking for cleaner, safer water you naturally want the best water treatment available. Today I present you with a guide to getting the best water for your money. I will take a look at the different water treatment options and tell you not only which one is best, but how each affects your wallet in both the short and long term.
First we will look at whole house systems. These systems purify all water, including shower and laundry water, and are by far the most highly recommended. The majority of chemicals are actually taken in by the body during hot baths or showers through inhalation and absorption.
Whole house systems are the most expensive systems but provide the best water treatment possible. There are two general types of system for water treatment; reverse osmosis and multi-stage.
Reverse osmosis units are the more expensive and least effective of the two. These units remove valuable trace minerals from your water and waste two gallons for every one gallon they keep. They average between 1500 and 3000 dollars per unit, plus filter replacement costs. These units cost an average of twenty five cents per gallon of water produced.
Multi-stage systems are able to remove over 99% of impurities while leaving valuable and beneficial minerals in your water. These systems are usually under a thousand dollars and the filters need be replaced only every three years. The cost per gallon of water with these systems is less than ten cents.
When it comes to kitchen counter systems, whether on or under counter, the best water treatment system is still the multi-stage unit. While the multi-stage unit averages around 125 dollars for a countertop unit or between 150 and 200 dollars for an under-counter unit. Reverse osmosis units are at cheapest 150 dollars for a countertop unit or 200 dollars for an under-counter unit. The price per gallon with these units still leaves reverse osmosis units costing over twice as much as multi-stage.
In short, multi-stage units are the most cost effective choice in both the short term and the long term. In addition, they also provide much safer and healthier water. By leaving in trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium, these units ensure that their water is the healthiest you can obtain. This makes the multi-stage water treatment system the absolute best possible choice on the market today. When it comes to the cleanliness of your water, it is wise to be proactive. Buying a water filtration system for your family is by far one of the smartest and best choices you can make.
We had an old hard water treatment system that was broken. The tap water from this old system gave me a severe headache so we bought bottled water. I was buying about 10 gallons a week, or about $10.00 per week, that is over $500.00 per year. I looked over the available literature and found 3 systems that could provide us with drinkable water for about 9.7 cents per gallon vrs $1.00.
After investigating each of these home water treatment systems we settled on an Aquasana system. I could do a diy installation of the hard water treatment system in the garage where the old hard water treatment system used to be. This would give us a water treatment process for baths, showers, dish washing and clothes washing.
This hard water treatment system uses no salt to condition the water. It can filter 300,000 gallons of water before it should be changed out. I added a water meter in line to the system that displayed gallons of water used up to 9,999,999 gallons to determine how much water we were using.
We added an Aquasana Premium Under-counter Water Filter for a drinking water treatment system under the kitchen sink to get drinkable water. This filter extracts the impurities down to 0.995%. This is the equivalent or superior to the bottled water and I don't acquire a headache from drinking this water.
I installed a special faucet on our porcelain sink in the kitchen for this filtered water. I drilled a hole in the porcelain sink to mount this faucet. This is a tricky job and must be done very exactly. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself then have a plumber do it.
I investigated the documents and implementations on how this job can be done. There is a special drill set for drilling holes in porcelain but I decided to build my own jig to drill this 5/8" hole. I got 2 brass washers, the largest had 3/4" inside diameter that I used a rubber based glue to glue it to the sink at the spot I wanted the new faucet.
You need to let the glue set for 10 minutes or more and then take a Dremel tool with a diamond bit to cut through the porcelain inside this large washer down to bare metal. This is the most critical process you don't want to chip the porcelain under the brass washer. Keep water inside the brass washer while you are drilling to keep the temperature of the drill bit and brass washer low so that it doesn't crack the porcelain.
The second step is to put a 3/4" outside (OD) and a 1/4" inside diameter (ID) brass washer in the center of the other brass washer. Also you need a 1/4" OD and a 1/16" ID spacer to place inside the smaller brass washer. This gives you the exact center for the faucet. Use the Dremel tool with the diamond bit again to drill a guide hole through the center of the spacer and through the porcelain down to the metal.
The third step is to remove the spacer and small brass washer, leave the large brass washer attached to the sink. It acts as a heat sink for the porcelain below it. Drill a 1/4" starter hole through the porcelain and metal sink at this location.
The fourth step you can take a 5/8" carbide hole saw drill bit and carefully drill out the 5/8" hole in the sink. The hole saw drill should fit easily into the center of the large brass washer with good clearance all around. Use a low speed drill and remember keep water on this hole drill to keep every thing cool at least below the boiling point of water.
After finishing the hole, take a small hammer and screw driver and carefully knock this brass washer off, being careful not to break the porcelain on the sink. Porcelain is unforgiving and is very difficult to fix. Remove the surplus glue off the sink, you should have a clean hole through the sink with no chips or cracks in the porcelain. The shroud of the faucet should cover up any cracks. You can mount your new faucet on the sink.
Fasten the hoses of the new faucet and end stage filter per the manufactures guidance. Turn on the water and examine for leaks. Tighten any connection that leaks. Run water through the filter per the manufacturers guidance. Now do a taste test of the water from your own Aquasana Premium Water Filter and whole house water treatment system.
Both Thomas Manso & Bruce Contryman are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Thomas Manso has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Water Filters and Family. About the Author: Thomas Manso - If you're looking for a filter with outstanding value, conside. Thomas Manso's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.
Bruce Contryman has sinced written about articles on various topics from Kitchen Home Improvement, Water Garden and Gardening. How to select and install a new water treatment system. our Bruce Contryman's web site on his new drinking water treatment at