The Ultimate Water Purification Guide

What this guide will answer:

Quick-Start Troubleshooting Guide

The most common household water issues and the water treatment solutions to fix them

From bad-smelling water to stains on faucets and appliances, there’s a solution to handle most issues you may confront with your home water supply.

Whole Home Chlorine Filters

May improve the taste of your tap water and reduce the concentration of chlorine and other contaminants in your home’s water supply.

Whole home chlorine filters (also called “whole home carbon filters”) are one of the simplest and most reliable solutions for some of the most common water quality concerns, including bleach smell and taste.

These days, chlorine is added to most municipal water supplies in order to kill micro-organisms, both at the treatment plant and along distribution pipes that bring water into your home. And while chlorine has been used to kill waterborne microbes for decades, it can infuse your water with the unpleasant taste and smell of bleach.

How they work: Typically installed on the main incoming water line in a basement or utility room, water enters the filter’s housing, percolates through carbon particles, then leaves the filter. Impurities are bound by the carbon, while the resulting purified water flows from the filter to both the hot and cold sides of your household supply.

Choose from two types of whole home chlorine filters:

• Backwashing-type-filters — cylinder-shaped pressure vessels sit on the floor in the basement or utility room.
  • Active ingredients: Carbon particles—which look like coarse-ground coffee but are black in colour, not brown—sit loose in the bottom of the filter body.
  • Benefits: One filter can handle all the water that flows through an average home for several years before carbon replacement is required. And, with regular maintenance and carbon replacement, a backwashing filter will easily last a very long time.
  • A great choice: Coconut carbon—the highest-quality and most effective activated carbon for whole home filters.
• Cartridge-style filters – smaller in size than backwashing filters, but the operating cost is higher (replacement filter cartridges are more expensive than loose carbon for the same duration of filtration activity). These filters are typically point of use and not whole home systems.
  • Active ingredients: Carbon particles contained in a cartridge inserted into the filter body.
  • Benefits: Most cartridge-style filter bodies can accept more than one type of cartridge.
  • A great choice: A variety of cartridges are available to address specific filtration needs, whether you want to remove sediment, tannins or chlorine.

When it comes to installation, it’s best to consult with experts.

Though it’s relatively simple for a licensed plumber to install, you’d be wise to book an in-home session with a water treatment advisor before deciding to have a whole home filter installed. This is especially important because your situation may involve more than just chlorine.

Tips for choosing a whole home chlorine filter

• Consult a water treatment advisor to determine the type of water purification that’s right for you.
• Consider the carbon replacement costs for a backwashing-type filter (which uses loose carbon) vs. a cartridge-style filter system.

Water Softening Systems

Reduce or eliminate the appearance of mineral build-up on fixtures, tubs, showers and sinks, and help to avoid hazy residue on glassware and silverware

What is hard water, and why does it need to be softened?

Water is considered hard or soft depending on its concentration of dissolved minerals, particularly magnesium and calcium ions. Some of the common reasons why people consider softening their household water supply:

• When water is too hard, it requires more soap for a given cleaning job.
• It can cause mineral build-up on taps, showers, baths and kettles.

Water softening systems come in various forms to meet homeowners’ diverse needs:

• Salt-based softeners – also called “ion exchange water softeners”; effectively replace naturally occurring mineral ions in the water with other ions that don’t cause the same issues as hard water; salt must be added from time to time to recharge the internal resin bed that makes ion exchange happen,

Key Considerations

1. Salt consumption: The amount of salt you will need will depend on a variety of things. The salt needs to be added into a compartment in the softener, and the system regenerates automatically based on a pre-set schedule.
2. Water usage: All salt-based softening systems use water that’s ultimately sent down the drain to complete the regeneration process.
3. Flavour: Many people don’t like the taste of softened water, so they configure at least one cold water tap in the house (usually at the kitchen sink) to be fed with unsoftened water for drinking purposes.
4. Bundling potential: If your water is moderately hard and you have a reverse osmosis (RO) system or plan to have one installed, consider a salt-based softener to treat the water before it goes into the RO unit. Pre-softening water may extend the working life of RO filter cartridges.

Tips for choosing a water softening system:

• Consult a water treatment advisor for help in choosing a model that suits your needs.
• Ask about a rental agreement, extended warranty and service contract to avoid any financial surprises.

Water softening systems

Iron/Manganese Filters

Eliminate the metallic taste, improve water clarity and odour, and reduce yellow, brown or black stains on plumbing fixtures, appliances and laundry

Choose from several options to remove the majority of the iron and/or manganese in your water:​

• Iron/manganese filtration systems – can remove higher iron concentrations (more than 5 mg/L). These should be installed in the water supply line ahead of any softening systems, as even fully dissolved elements can shorten the lifespan of the resin bed used in salt-based softeners if concentrations are too high.

How they work:

One of the simplest types of iron filters includes a single cylindrical tank with air in the top and a filter media at the bottom. Iron and manganese in the water are oxidized by spraying it through the air in the tank. This causes the iron and/or manganese to drop out of the solution; the resulting rust-like particles are filtered out by the media at the bottom of the tank as the water flows through it on its way to your faucet and/or fixtures.

These systems automatically backwash every three or four days, flushing the precipitated iron/manganese out and down the drain.

Tip for choosing an iron/manganese removal system

• Always consult a water quality advisor before buying an iron/manganese filter, as it’s vital to understand your home’s water chemistry in order to choose the right model for your needs.

Iron/manganese filters – features & benefits:

How they work

Key to the RO treatment process is the fact that water molecules are small when compared with many other molecules. RO systems separate and trap undesirable substances from water as it’s pushed through a series of very fine membranes under pressure, leaving you with clean, filtered water.

RO systems typically come in two categories, which influences the type of filter mechanism used:

• Proprietary RO systems – use specific filters made by one particular company for their devices.
• Non-proprietary systems – use generic RO filters, made available by various suppliers to fit a range of different brands, often at a lower cost than proprietary filters.

Key considerations:

1. Output and your water needs: All RO systems have a maximum output of filtered water; Consult with a water treatment advisor to select the right size of system for your home.
2. Water usage: It can take 4 L of tap water sent down the drain to create 1 L of purified water using a RO system. This depends on several factors, including the system design, the temperature of the incoming water, and the pressure at which the water is delivered. (Note: If your household water pressure is 40 psi or lower, an auxiliary pump may be required to boost pressure enough for the RO system to operate effectively.)
3. Filter changes: Filters should be changed on a regular basis as prescribed by the manufacturer.
4. Bundling potential: Since RO systems offer such fine filtration, they usually come packaged with other filters for optimal water quality and purity. For instance, RO systems often include a sediment filter to protect membranes from being overloaded by large particles that may be present in the water. Carbon filtration is also often included as the last part of RO systems.

Tip for choosing a RO system:

• Ask about the warranty period and coverage before you decide which unit to rent or buy.

Ceramic Filtration Systems

A simple, low-cost way to remove contaminants from drinking water​

Most popular in seasonal homes, cottages and camps with private water systems (e.g., wells), ceramic-based systems use very fine, stone-like micro-filtration cartridges to separate contaminants from the water stream. Good ceramic filters capture substances down to 0.2 microns in diameter.

How they work:

The filter canister is connected to the incoming cold-water supply pipe, typically underneath a sink counter. The canister is mounted on the inside of the cabinet, with the drinking/cooking water output of the filter dispensed through a small, secondary tap that’s typically situated next to the main faucet.

Key considerations:

1. Output and your water needs: Ceramic filters flow about 1 gallon/minute (about 4 L/minute) when new, but flow rate slows as residue builds up on the outside of the cylindrical filter itself.
2. Maintenance: Shut off the water supply and open the filter body, remove the ceramic cartridge and scrub its outside surface with a clean, soft scouring pad (like the type used on cookware) or a clean toothbrush under running water. Avoid soaps and detergents or rough materials like steel wool, which can render your filter unusable. Reinstall the cartridge in the filter body, then turn the water supply back on.
3. Filter changes: Typical ceramic cartridges can be cleaned up to 100 times before needing to be replaced.

Tip for choosing & using a ceramic filter system:

• An additional hole will need to be drilled in your countertop to accommodate a ceramic filter tap.

Whole Home Sediment Filters

Remove sediment and tannin discolouration from your water and prevent water purification equipment and the screens on taps and fixtures from clogging

If your water is cloudy or contains residue that clogs the filters in other parts of your plumbing system— including your tankless water heater, water-dispensing fridge, washing machine or other appliances—then a whole home sediment filter might be a good solution for you.

How they work:

Used most often in homes supplied by a well, lake or river, whole home sediment filters remove relatively large suspended solids from household water and are typically the first device installed on the incoming water line in your home.

Tips for choosing a whole home sediment filter

• The larger the filter, the longer it will last between cleaning sessions.
• Regular maintenance requires a visual inspection of the condition of the filter element, typically by looking through a clear filter housing. Consider placing the filter where its filter is as easy as possible to inspect, remove and replace.
• As you assess different models, consider the price and availability of replacement filter cartridges.

With so many great and effective water purification systems and solutions available on the  market today, your first step to finding the right solution for your household is to determine the chemical makeup of your water, your daily water consumption needs, and the changes you’d like to make in your water supply.

A Reliance Home Comfort^® Water Purification Advisor can help determine what water purification solution is right for your home and family’s needs.