Ease of Install
& Replacement

How do you want to install it?
Whole house water filters install where your water source enters your home. Most can be installed either inside or outside, but need to be protected from temperature extremes and direct sunlight. You typically place whole house systems where you would see a hot water heater — garages or basements. They come in many forms, shapes and sizes, but the key differences in installation typically boil down to whether or not your system requires additional drainage and/or electricity, and what flow rates are required to service your home. Some systems require 'back-flushing,' which occurs when the system reverses flow and drains the dirty, used, back-flushed water into your wastewater system. These systems require additional plumbing and electricity, and the installation and ongoing maintenance is costlier and more complicated. Other systems simply install into the water line prior to your water heater. Finally, systems for well users are usually installed where your well water enters your house. Flow rates required are determined by your water consumption, which typically depends on how many bathrooms you have in your house. A typical 3,000-square-foot, three-bathroom house is well served with about 7 Gallons Per Minute (GPM) (showers flow at 2.5 GPM). Bigger houses require bigger systems, but most houses with fewer than 5,000 square feet will only require a 12 GPM system. Custom installs are available to cover larger homes.

Contaminant
Reduction

What does it do?

Or, how many contaminants is it certified to reduce? There are three areas of concern here:
1) Buy a filter system that is NSF certified. Specifically, the entire system should be certified to NSF Standard 42, for the reduction of chlorine taste and odor and particulates. NSF is a non-profit organization that independently certifies the contaminant reduction abilities of water filters. This is your assurance that the filtration does what the manufacturer claims.
2) Beware of claims of certified parts like tanks or certified media claims, since these claims do not mean the system will be effective. Look for a system certification to ensure you are getting what you pay for.
3) The design of the system is as important as the media itself. Combining multiple media into one tank often results in 'channeling,' where water will find the path of least resistance and flow only through that path, minimizing contact time with media and reducing effectiveness. Multiple tank systems and an upflow design reduce channeling and are more effective.

Ongoing Cost

How do you keep it running?

With any quality whole house water filter, you will have it for years, and many of the primary elements will last a long time before you need to replace them. You typically have two options for filter replacements: replace the tanks or replace the media in the tanks. Replacing whole tanks is generally a bit more expensive, but you avoid the messy, difficult and time consuming process of replacing the media yourself. Some manufacturers ask you to open up the tank, remove pounds of the wet media (which is the consistency of wet sand), carefully refill it, and then flush it out. Tank replacement systems are faster and require swapping out a tank, which is often worth the additional cost to you in saved labor and time. We also don't recommend systems that necessitate back-flushing due to the increased power and wastewater expenses.