How do whole-house water filter systems work?

Instead of only filtering water from individual taps like undersink water filters, Puretec’s freestanding FilterWall reduces the flow of sediment, chlorine and chemicals from the start of a home’s mains water source. 

“Mains or town water is provided by local councils and because of that, it’s treated water. This means they add chlorine to it to kill bacteria and filter it to a safe drinking standard,” says Puretec’s Scott Marshall.

However, chlorine and the other chemicals typically found in treated mains water can lead to the potential degradation of home appliances, along with other negative impacts, especially for those with sensitive hair and skin.

Chlorine can often be tasted in a glass of water. It can also be seen in the way a bathtub full of water has a blue tinge, among other telltale signs.  

“The taste can be unpleasant and it doesn’t quench your thirst as much, so people are familiar with undersink water filters and there’s a huge amount of them sold every year,” says Marshall.

“Chlorine can also be an aggravator of skin conditions like dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis, and it can exacerbate dry hair and dandruff. A lot of people that suffer badly from those conditions understand the impact chlorine has, and most likely avoid swimming pools for that reason.”

In older homes, the impact chlorine has on hair can be even worse. 

“Chlorine on its own can strip hair dye out of the hair quicker. But if the chlorine enters via an old copper pipe, a reaction is caused and can strip the colour of the hair even quicker.” 

The chemical can also harm your lawn and garden by killing the good bacteria that plants thrive on. 

While individual tap filters reduce most of the chlorine from the water that runs through the tap, installing a Puretec whole-house water filter system achieves this on a larger scale. Installed at the beginning of a home’s water line just after the mains water tap, every drop of water used on the property is filtered. 

“It means you can drink water from every tap inside or outside of your house.”

Water filters also help to mitigate the impacts of ‘hard water’. Varying in levels across the country – with water sourced from underground reservoirs typically ‘harder’ due to higher levels of minerals including calcium and magnesium – water hardness is measured in parts per million with anything above 100 considered as ‘hard water’.

While both calcium and magnesium are beneficial to our health, they can cause issues in the home. What’s often thought to be soap build-up on shower screens is commonly the build-up of calcium in the water. 

“It adheres to the glass and it doesn’t just wipe off – some cleaning products don’t even get it off. But it builds up even more in appliances, particularly appliances with heat in them like water heaters, washing machines and dishwashers. It builds up and leads to the early failure of that equipment,” says Marshall.

Water filter systems can also prevent sediment from entering the home’s water supply. 

Small particles in water that can’t always be seen, sediment can often be found in mains water and can build up in appliances over time and be ingested through drinking water. 

“People don’t realise there is sediment in mains water, but there usually is,” says Marshall. “It builds up and sits in pipes and can restrict water flow over time, particularly in appliances with hot water.”

Enabling the water entering our homes to taste better and have lower sediment, water filters also reduce the need to buy bottled water. 

“There is still so much bottled water bought every year and the plastic of water bottles can take 450 years to break down. So for all of us, no water bottle that we’ve used in our life doesn’t still exist in some form today. The challenge is to reduce the need for them so that people buy less of them, and so by having whole house filtration, people are filling up their reusable drink bottles instead,” says Marshall. 

“We hear from lots of people that say they save themselves lots of money by not using plastic water bottles since they got their water filter.”

A three-stage filtration system designed for mains water, Puretec’s freestanding FilterWall reduces up to 98 per cent of chlorine – improving the taste of water and the impact chlorine has on hair and skin, while simultaneously reducing sediment and chemicals for a more eco-friendly garden and prolonged life for home appliances. 

Two different models are available to suit the flow rate of most residential applications, and the F4 and F6 include a ScaleProtect cartridge to reduce the impact of hard water.

Designed to be installed along a fence or the side of a house, the FilterWall F Series can be used for any house connected to mains water supply, and the four Colorsteel colour options mean there’s a stylish option to suit every home’s exterior. 

Explore the range of whole-house water filters from Puretec on ArchiPro.

Disclaimer: FilterWall™ is a registered trademark by Puretec.