When you pour yourself a glass of tap water, do you ever consider what could be lurking in it? How about when you’re cooking or baking? Do you think about the quality of the water you use to cook pasta, make beverages, or bake pastries?
We hope you answered “yes” to both questions because tap water can contain scores of toxic impurities and contaminants that can wreak havoc on your health when ingested. This is where filtration comes in—removing pollutants to ensure you’re drinking, cooking, or baking with the cleanest, safest, and healthiest water possible.
In this article, we’ll explain what filtered water is, its possible health benefits, and why whole-house water filters are the best for helping you realize all these benefits.
What is Filtered Water?
Filtered water is water that has gone through a filtration process to remove undesirable impurities and contaminants. The filtering process can involve mechanical filtration, reverse osmosis, absorption, ion exchange, or a combination of two or more. The result is filtered water free of harmful contaminants, such as chlorine, pesticides, lead, copper, sediment, etc.
Health Benefits of Filtered Water
Filtering your water is a simple yet powerful way to improve your health, so let’s discuss several remarkable benefits you can expect from making the switch to filtered water:
1. More Pleasant Taste and Odor
One of the first benefits of drinking filtered water is that it tastes and smells better. Tap water is notorious for containing contaminants and impurities, such as chlorine, sulfur, copper, lead, and others, imparting an unusual taste or odor. Because filtered water doesn’t contain these elements, you’ll notice that the water is fresher, cleaner, and more enjoyable to drink.
2. Increased Hydration
As you probably know, drinking ample amounts of water daily is vital to your health and mood. Proper daily hydration is even more important for athletes and those who work in hot conditions or engage in physical activity. But when tap water smells like rotten eggs or tastes like chlorine, you might avoid drinking it. Because filtered water tastes and smells better, you’ll likely consume more of it and stay hydrated for longer.
3. Reduced Exposure to Contaminants
From PFAS and pesticides to lead and bacteria, tap water can contain various contaminants that can have adverse health effects. These health problems can include gastrointestinal illnesses, nervous system or reproductive effects, and chronic diseases such as cancer. Drinking filtered water can reduce exposure to contaminants linked to these and other health effects.
4. Decreased Risk of Certain Cancers
Scientists at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that 22 carcinogens commonly found in tap water could increase the cancer risk for 100,000 U.S. residents over a lifetime. The analysis concluded that most cancer risk is from naturally occurring arsenic, disinfection byproducts, and radioactive contaminants. Still, other cancer-linked pollutants are found in water, including PFAS, nitrate, chromium-6, radionuclides, and 1,4-dioxane. Thankfully, filtering your water helps remove many of these cancer-linked contaminants, thus significantly reducing your risk of various cancers.
5. Strengthened Immune System
Your immune system is your body’s defense against diseases. When it’s functioning correctly, you’re less likely to get sick. Drinking filtered water can help boost your immune system because it helps flush out toxins and other impurities from your body that may have been hindering your immune response. As a result, your immune system will function more effectively and respond more quickly to invading pathogens that can cause illness and disease.
6. Healthier Hair and Skin
Water can be a double-edged sword for hair and skin quality. It can be the secret to gorgeous strands and radiant skin or tainted with harsh pollutants like chlorine, pesticides, and arsenic that can wreak havoc on your hair and skin.
No matter how many fancy beauty products you use, you’re fighting a losing battle if you’re not using filtered water. Because filtered water doesn’t contain contaminants and impurities that can dry out and irritate your skin and hair, it leaves them soft and hydrated and looking and feeling their best. Improved hair and skin health can also help to reduce the need for expensive beauty products and treatments.
7. Improved Kidney Function
The kidneys are crucial for removing waste and excess fluids from our bodies. But many contaminants found in tap water can put a strain on these vital organs and even cause long-term damage. Drinking filtered water reduces exposure to these harmful substances, lessening the workload on your kidneys and helping to keep them functioning effectively for longer. Filtered water can also help flush out any built-up waste and toxins in your kidneys, improving overall function and preventing the development of kidney problems.
8. Healthier Cooking and Baking
Apart from enhancing the aromas, flavors, and appearance of your home-cooked meals and home-baked pastries, cooking and baking with filtered water reduces your exposure to harmful contaminants that could affect your health and sabotage your cooking and baking efforts.
9. Safer for Making Beverages
Using tap water might be tempting when you need to make a beverage (say, a cup of coffee or iced tea), but that’d be risky. Without filtering the water, the result can be a weak, unappealing coffee brew or gross-tasting iced tea. But that’s not all. You may ingest the same harmful chemicals and contaminants that you can consume by drinking the water or using it for cooking and baking.
How to Know If Your Water Needs Filtering
You might be wondering if your tap water is tainted with all kinds of contaminants and needs filtering. If so, here’s how you can check the quality of your tap water:
- Look up your city’s water quality report. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires U.S. water municipalities to make their water quality information available publicly. So, call your water provider and request a copy of their latest water quality report or search for “[Your City] Water Report” on Google.
- Test your water at home. Another option—a more hands-on approach—is to test your water with a home water testing kit. You can purchase these kits from your nearby Home Depot, local pet store, pool company, or online merchants like Amazon. They are typically easy to use and very budget-friendly.
- Send a water sample from your tap to a certified local laboratory. If you want more thorough testing, send a water sample from your faucet to a state-certified laboratory in your area. Although laboratory testing can be more expensive and time-consuming than the previous methods, it is usually the most accurate.
Whole-House Filters for Cleaner, Healthier Water from Every Tap in Your Home
To realize all the benefits outlined in this article, you’ll need to ensure all the water coming into your home gets filtered. This is where whole-house water filters come in—delivering clean filtered water to your showers, bathroom sinks, and appliances like washing machines and dishwashers. Even if you only want filtered water from the sinks in your home, a whole-house system can be cost-effective and time-efficient versus purchasing several under-sink or countertop filters that need to be installed and maintained.
SpringWell’s whole-house water filters are designed to reduce harmful contaminants from every water source in your family’s home. Installed at your home’s main water line, they remove pollutants at the source, providing you with filtered water for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry, and other purposes.
Our whole house systems are tested and proven to reduce the contaminants your family worries about the most. Included in their multi-stage arrangement is a sediment pre-filter that catches rust, dirt, debris, and silt that may be present in your water. Removing these contaminants improves the quality of your water and helps protect the filtration system from clogging. Once all the sediment is removed, the water passes through an activated carbon filter, reducing chlorine and tackling pesticides, herbicides, PFOA/PFOS, VOCs, and other toxic contaminants. The post-filter then reduces any remaining sediment and organic particles in the water to ensure only safe, clean, healthy, and great-tasting and -smelling water reaches your taps.
If you have any questions about our whole-house water filters—whether it’s about the features, installation, returns, or anything else— we’ve got you covered! Reach out to us and let us know how we can help. We’re here to make sure you and your family have access to clean and safe water. So, don’t hesitate to ask away!
Final Thoughts
From improved taste and smell to reduced exposure to potentially harmful pollutants, there are plenty of remarkable health benefits to switching to filtered water. Although a simple countertop or under-sink system can help you realize many of these benefits, a whole-house system will ensure you have clean, filtered water throughout your home, keeping you and your family from contaminants, whether in the kitchen or the shower. Typically, whole-house water filters use a combination of filtration methods, such as sediment filtration, carbon filtration, and reverse osmosis, to remove a wide range of contaminants and impurities that could otherwise endanger your health.
