Do you need a whole house sediment water filter? What exactly does it do? Does it only remove sand, and would you know if there was sand in your water?
Whole House Sediment Water Filter: The Basics
To a large extent, it does exactly what it says it does: removes sediment from the whole house. Sediment is typically made up of larger particles that float to the bottom of a glass when suspended in water. Sand has a micron size anywhere from 100-250 microns. The human eye can see about 40 microns, or about the width of a human hair, so you’re likely to be able to see some of the sediment floating around your water.
Silt, on the other hand, is smaller than sand. It has a micron size that, individually, is smaller than the naked eye can see. When it adds up in your water, though, there’s a chance you’ll see at least some murkiness.
Just like hard water, sediment is extremely damaging to appliances -- including water softeners -- if they don’t have a special filter for sediment. So, is it worth it to buy a whole house sediment water filter? Almost certainly, even if there are only trace amounts of sediment in the water supply.
Signs of Sediment in Water
What are the common signs of sediment in the water supply?
-
Lack of hot water. Sediment and rust can build up inside your water heater, reducing its effectiveness to next-to-nothing.
-
A fluctuating water temperature. Alternatively, if you find that you can never quite get the temperature just right when you’re taking a shower, the sediment might just be slightly impairing your water heater’s effectiveness.
-
Cloudiness. This is also known as turbidity. On average, the higher the turbidity, the more viruses and other disease-causing pathogens in the water.
-
An earthy odor and taste. If, when you take a drink of water, you feel some grittiness between your teeth or the water smells a bit like soil, those are some dead giveaways that larger particles, like sand and silt, are floating around inside of it.
Depending on the severity of the issue, silt might be a minor annoyance or a serious issue. It’s important to keep in mind that even small amounts of sediment can cause serious health issues over time, but how do you know if it’s something you need to take care of right now?
When You Definitely Want to Consider Buying a Sediment Filter
When is it absolutely necessary to buy a sediment filter? Well, for one, when the levels of sand and silt are so high that you can feel and taste them in your water. Also, there are over 15 million homes in the United States alone that rely on well water, and you shouldn’t assume that well water is any more pure than city water. In fact, well water is actually significantly more likely to contain sand and sediment than city water because some municipalities filter out those large particle contaminants.
FilterSmart, of course, plans for this sort of thing. We have a large blue sediment pre-filter so that sediment never even comes into contact with our water softeners -- and certainly not your tap!
How Does Sediment, Sand, and Silt Affect Appliance Life?
To help you better understand how important it is to buy a whole house sediment water filter, let’s look at the effects that sediment can have on your appliances.
We already know that limescale build-up can affect the lifespan of your water heater and washer by up to 30%, but if you add on the effects that sediment pollution can have on your appliances, the outlook is even worse.
Sediment is, believe it or not, mostly made up of sedimentary rock. A significant portion of sedimentary rock is iron-rich. Your water might have high amounts of iron in it already, and when you add the smaller amounts of iron present in sediment, your appliances are going to rust much quicker than you’d like them to.
So, on top of softening the biggest limescale-forming contaminants like magnesium and calcium, you also want to be filtering out sediment in order to keep your appliances for as long as possible. And, even if the sediment in your water isn’t iron-rich nor contributes to rusting, it will still increase the frequency with which you’re forced to flush out the water heater to make sure it’s still running.
Either way, not very pleasant.
What are the Best Whole House Sediment Water Filters?
FilterSmart’s sediment pre-filter is one of the best available today, especially when paired with the chloramine filtration in the premium PRO + Clarify Disinfection unit. It’s virtually guaranteed to remove any unwanted contaminants from your water.
But how can you tell if a filter is good or not? Keep an eye open for an NSF certification, for one, and make sure that the filter is specifically designed for larger particles around the size of 250 microns or more. Some filters might say that they’re designed for sediment, but when it comes down to it, the filters actually quickly get destroyed by such large particles, forcing you to constantly replace the filter -- a hassle that you don’t need right now.
Conclusion: Whole House Sediment Water Filter
Hard water reduces the lifespan of appliances by up to 30%, and sediment can make it even worse. On top of creating a bad taste and odor in your water, sediment accelerates rusting and decimates the effectiveness of your water heater.
Common warning signs for sediment in your water include no hot water at all (a dead giveaway), a fluctuating temperature, and cloudiness in the water (also known as turbidity, which causes a whole host of health issues).
If you want to get rid of sediment in the water, look into buying one of FilterSmart’s whole house sediment water filters. The PRO + Clarify Disinfection model gets rid of everything from chloramines to biological contaminants like viruses and other harmful pathogens.
