Whenever we want to buy a water filter or water softener, the manufacturers claim that the water quality will be of a high class. But which manufacturer should we trust more? What system will be better?
The water to our homes comes from the underground, which means that it includes a lot of minerals that are not preferable for body’s health. This kind of water is called hard water and consequently it runs from our taps and we use it while cooking, drinking etc. To improve the situation, there are water softeners that reduce the number of minerals in the water, making it cleaner. The second variant is a water filter – its system is little more complicated and perhaps that’s why deals with hard water in a more tough way, resulting in an excellent water quality.
Water softener systems or water filter systems?
Making a choice, it is always very important to understand what the decision should be based on. Hence, one should know about the systems with the help of which water softeners and filters work. Below you will see the main distinctions between these two water systems and hopefully will be able to make your final verdict.
Water treatment depending on the type of system
As it was mentioned above, the main duty of the water softener is to remove the harmful minerals from the hard water, whereas the water filtration system removes all the possible contaminants from hard water too. The water filtration includes in itself more tasks than water softeners. Also, there is a wide range of them, for instance: sediment filters, fluoride adsorption filters, sulfur and iron removal filters and many others. The filtration they do is qualitative and fast. The systems of the water filters and water softeners are very different. That’s why based on your needs, should you select the right solution for you personally.
The differences in technologies
There exist many types of contaminants that water filters fight with, hence there are many technologies. In each and every water filter, you will see an advanced media bed, in simple words – filtration layers. They are the following: the first one is oxidation, then catalytic conversion, the next is micro filtration, ion exchange, and the last adsorption. In some media beds the layers differ, but they are still capable of removing heavy, natural and man-made chemicals. No longer as you get the filtered water, it is 100 percent safe and healthy to drink.
If we speak about the water softener system the following elements should be used for good filtration: salt and ion-exchange resins. Thanks to these two elements, such chemicals as calcium and magnesium will be completely removed. But what helps them to remove? On these resins, the sodium solution is located and it makes magnesium and calcium remove from the water and then they reach the resins and are replaced with the sodium ions. That’s how the water softener filtration system works.
Maintenance of the two systems
Water softeners are based on salt and the main job you will have to do from time to time is to change the salt as it gets consumed with every filtration. Other water softeners which are not based on salt system filtration, can be damaged faster by the amounts of oil. And the third filtration system is called magnetic. Among these three systems, this one needs the least maintenance. But at the same time though it requires the least maintenance, it can’t cope with metallic dissolved elements.
Moving to the water filters, one should say that they don’t require too much maintenance at all and it is an advantage but they also they cost more that is a little minor con. That’s why you should determine what exactly you need. In case if you wish to just make the water less hard, then it is better to opt for the water softener as it is inexpensive and will save you money. But if you have serious problems caused by hard water, e.g taste, odor, bacterial contamination then it is clear that simple water softeners will not manage to cope with such tasks. In this case, you need a good water filtration system.
Making conclusion should be noticed that of course, both types of water systems are used and are extremely popular among consumers and it only depends on the person which one to choose. Usually, the choice is based on the budget, water quality, desires and needs. Therefore before buying one, think of these four main factors. And later based on them, make you final decision.