Carol, a regular reader of the Smart Homeowner Daily Email, sent in some questions about water testing and whole home water filtration.
- Do you have any suggestions on who to contact for getting a complete water report for my home?
- Do you have any recommendations for a whole home water filtration system?
š¼ļøĀ The big picture: This is outside my area of expertise, so I wanted to take this opportunity to walk my readers through my process.
š„Ā The bottom line: Start with testing your water and act accordingly.
šĀ Look for data
- When possible I look for sources that publish data and/or have access to a lot of information.
- In this case, the CDC and EPA are great resources.
šĀ Look to high performance builders
- These builders are focused on quality and performance and apply those concepts to their own homes as well.
- My home performance mentor Corbett Lunsford has a great video on the water purification system he put in his home ā so I watched that.
- The Build Showās Matt Risinger also has a video worth watching.
šĀ Form some conclusions
- Charcoal filtration will remove many harmful pollutants for your whole home water system.
- Water softening might be necessary depending on your location and has lots of benefits including reducing wear and tear on your appliances.
- Reverse osmosis filtration for your drinking water will produce the cleanest and healthiest result.
- Depending on test results, all of these options appear to be a good investment in your health and home.
šĀ Find a vendor/supplier
- Do some googling, read reviews and get a sense from the company website what theyāre all about.
- I like what I see from Culligan Water. Theyāve been in business a long time and this is their primary business.
- I generally avoid contractors based out of one of the big box stores.
ā Ā For your Smart Homeowner list
- If youāre wondering about the quality of your drinking water, start with this $13 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter.
Best,
Travis
P.S. Carol, thanks for the questions. Hope this helps.