Whole Home Water GuideSystems index
Water Treatment System Types: Softeners, RO, and Filtration
Compare water treatment system families: water softeners, salt-free conditioners, reverse osmosis, whole-house filters, UV purification, sediment and iron filters, and well-water treatment.
Iron and Sulfur Filters: Treating Stains and Rotten-Egg Odor in Well Water
Why iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide cause staining and rotten-egg odor, the EPA secondary standards that define the problem, and the oxidation-and-filtration methods used to treat them, cited to EPA and university extension sources.
System typeReverse Osmosis Systems: Membranes, Contaminants, and Waste Water
How an RO membrane forces water past dissolved contaminants, what it reduces from TDS to lead and arsenic, the multi-stage point-of-use layout, the waste-water ratio it produces, and why many systems remineralize, all cited to real sources.
System typeSalt-Free Water Conditioners: Template-Assisted Crystallization Explained
How template-assisted crystallization controls scale without salt or sodium, what its scale-reduction studies actually show, why it does not soften water, and where its performance runs out, all cited to real sources.
System typeSediment Pre-Filters: Micron Ratings and Protecting the Rest of the System
What a micron is, how sediment filter ratings from coarse to sub-micron map to particles, the difference between nominal and absolute ratings, the NSF/ANSI 42 particulate classes, and why sediment filters protect downstream equipment but do not remove dissolved contaminants.
System typeUV Water Purification: How Ultraviolet Disinfection Works and What NSF/ANSI 55 Certifies
How ultraviolet light inactivates bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, the difference between NSF/ANSI 55 Class A and Class B systems and their UV doses, and why UV must be paired with pre-filtration, cited to NSF/ANSI 55 references.
System typeIon-Exchange Water Softeners: How They Work and What They Fix
What hard water is, how an ion-exchange softener swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium, how salt-brine regeneration restores the resin, the sodium it adds, and the capacity and standards to check, all cited to real sources.
System typeWell Water Treatment Systems: Testing First, Then Building the Right Train
Why private wells are unregulated and the owner's responsibility, what the EPA and CDC recommend testing for and how often, the nitrate limit that endangers infants, and how test results drive the treatment train, cited to EPA and CDC.
System typeWhole-House Water Filters: Point-of-Entry Carbon and Sediment Media
How a point-of-entry filter treats every tap in the home, what activated and catalytic carbon remove from chlorine to chloramine, the tradeoff between cartridge and backwashing-tank designs, and the sediment prefilter and media intervals that keep it working, all cited to real sources.