Despite the high standards quality standards of United States public water systems, a huge proportion of US homeowners choose to filter their drinking water, whether from concerns over safety, purity, or taste. But what about your bathroom water supply?
Are there any reasons why you would consider adding a residential water filter to treat the water you used to shower, shave, and brush your teeth?
Safe Does Not Mean Pure
Public water utilities in the United States are closely monitored and tested for safety on an ongoing basis—but there are widespread issues and numerous areas across the nation where water supplies aren’t making the cut.
Even putting aside tragic cases like Flint Michigan (where cost-cutting practices caused widespread damage to the pipe system, resulting in massive lead exposure and poisoning) public water services here in Colorado contain various treatments like chlorine and fluoride which are used to keep the water safe for the public.
But safe does not mean pure, and these additives and their byproducts are believed to have long-term side effects that likely include an increased risk of cancer.
Private well water is generally even worse, as wells are exempt from Environmental Protection Agency drinking water regulations. Well water is routinely contaminated by fertilizer or pesticide runoff, farm waste, landfill seepage, or damaged septic systems. In particular, well water has been linked to several recent US outbreaks of norovirus, salmonella, and hepatitis as well as arsenic exposure.
Even If You Aren’t Drinking Unfiltered Water, Contaminates Can Affect You
A wide number of publicly accessible studies have concluded that even if you aren’t drinking contaminated water, simply bathing or showering in it will dramatically increase the dose of contaminates your body receives on a daily basis.
Trihalomethanes (THMs) such as chloroforms, bromoforms, and haloacetic acid are the most common culprits, and exist in water supplies as a byproduct of those same public water sterilization treatments. They’ve been linked to increase risk of asthma, lung irritation, and cancer, and when you shower you absorb them, either through directly through your skin or through water vapor as you breathe.
By installing a whole-house water filter or a premium showerhead water filter you make sure that you are completely eliminating exposure to (and immersion in) water containing any of these contaminates.
It’s Really Good For Your Skin
High levels of chlorine and fluoride in water (especially hot water) tends to dehydrate and irritate the skin, making issues like acne, eczema, and dandruff much worse than they might otherwise be. Filtering and softening that water can give the body a chance to heal and recover from the problem.
Many homeowners report noticeably softer and healthier skin within just a few weeks after switching to a filtered showerhead!
It’s Really Good For Your Hair As Well
Chlorine and hard water attack hair the same way it attacks skin, dehydrating and damaging your hair’s luster and volume and interfering with soaps, shampoos, and conditioners.
It Will Stop Lime Buildup
You know that sticky white crust that takes over showers if you get behind in your cleaning? That’s limescale, a collection of minerals left behind by hard water. This scale builds up over time and is an absolute pain to clean.
But if you use a showerhead filter or, even better, a whole house water filter you can eliminate that buildup before it starts and keep your shower looking great for years to come.
So, what are your options?
Whether you’re remodeling or just taking your home’s water quality more seriously you can easily add a water filter to your shower, bathroom, or entire home. You have a variety of brands to choose from, but the underlying filtration technology usually falls into one of the following categories.
Vitamin C Filters: These are considered the best filtration system for showerheads. Ascorbic acid cartridges are used to neutralize more than 99% of chlorine and it’s byproducts while softening your water. However, the cartridges need to be replaced as they wear out, and they can be pricey.
Activated Carbon Filters: These are the most common option and resemble the filtration you find in most drinking water systems. Replacement cartridges are cheap, but they do lose effectiveness as water temperature rises, and they don’t soften water.
KDF Filters: These filters use metals to create an electrical charge, drawing in ionized particles and neutralizing them with calcium. While this is great for taking care of hard water they don’t eliminate chloramines.
Two-Stage Filters: Using zinc and granular copper to filter chlorine and a second stage activated carbon filter to remove other particles, these filters give you extremely high water quality at the expense of cost and complexity.
CALL US TODAY at 970-691-6995 !
If you’d like to filter your home, bathroom, or shower water as part of a home bathroom remodel or simple home improvement, contact us today. We’re a one-stop shop and can help you choose the system that’s right for your needs and budget, with great installation and high quality customer service guaranteed!