Our goal is to provide visitors with excellent plumbing how to's and other great plumbing-related articles.

Point Of Use Water Filtration Systems

Filter Systems

Buying bottled water is not only more costly than filtering your own household water supply, but the quality of the water may not be as good as filtering your own household water supply. Also, the plastic bottles used are rapidly becoming an environmental waste problem if not properly recycled. Water filters are not the same as "water conditioners". Water filters remove sediment (sand, dirt particles), bad taste, chlorine, and odor. They also reduce chemical contaminants and volatile organic compounds that are detrimental to your health. Water conditioners add minerals to the water and change the chemistry of the water to make it usable. Water filters will not remove dissolved solids. Special systems such as reverse osmosis or distillation are used for this purpose. Water filters are available to filter your whole house water supply or can be installed point of use, under the counter at the faucet you would like to have filtered.

Point of Use Water Filters

The most common "point of use' water filters are installed for drinking water out of the kitchen faucet or a separate drinking water dispenser mounted next to the kitchen faucet or on the countertop next to the sink. These types of filters are typically installed in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. In some places, under the counter installation is just not possible and a "counter top" filter would be used. Various filter cartridges can be used in these types of installations and your choice of which one to use will depend on the condition of your water and what you, the customer, desire the water quality to be as the end result. Other "point of use" water filters can be installed for the filtration of automatic icemakers and water dispensers on your refrigerator to help produce fresher-tasting water for ice cubes and beverages. High temperature water filters can be installed after the water heater to reduce suspended sediment in the hot water line. Since most municipal water districts now add chlorine to control bacteria in the water supply, activated carbon filters have become the leading choice of filtration products. Activated carbon filter cartridges are designed to reduce bas taste, odor, chlorine, taste, lead, volatile organic chemicals (VOC's), and cysts from water.

Under Counter Drinking Water Filter Systems

We believe one of the best "point of use" drinking water filters is the WLCS-1000 dual stage water filtration system made by American Plumber. This system reduces chemicals including trihalomethanes, pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, cryptosporidium, giardia cysts, bad taste, odor, and fine sediment. Unlike reverse osmosis systems there is no water waste, no bulky storage tank, and no recovery waiting time. The WLCS-1000 system is completely assembled with filter cartridges and is ready to install. It includes a high arc, long reach filter faucet, and an electronic monitor for notification of filter replacement (lights and sound tell you when to change the filter cartridges). Also included is a 9-volt DC battery for the filter monitor, installation hardware, instructions, and a filter wrench.