Whole house water filter cartridges - How to choose the right one!

Their name is pretty explanatory: They are installed to your house's main water supply and they improve your water's quality. Whole house water filters are housings, in which we place 4 kinds of cartridges: wound string, polypropylene cartridges, limescale reduction cartridges and activated carbon filters.

Wound string filters are the simplest of them all and they reduce sediment and rust. You will notice any pressure drop with these filters.

Polypropylene cartridges are "tighter" than wound string filters and they do a better job in reducing sediment and rust from your water. They clog faster though so they need to be replaced sooner.

Limescale reduction filters consist of two categories: cartridges with polyphosphate and cartridges with ion exchange resin. Polyphosphate cartridges reduce limescale but they don't soften your water. Ion exchange resin cartridges reduce limescale and soften your water but don't last as long as polyphosphate filters. If you have very hard water, you should consider buying a water softener.

Activated carbon filters reduce chlorine and a wide list of chemicals from your house's water but we strongly advise against placing an activated carbon filter to your main water supply. You need water to be chlorinated till it reaches your kitchen. Chlorine ensures you'll have safe and drinking water. Without it, water in your pipes will be vulneruble till it reaches your kitchen. So the best way to attack this problem is to allow water to be chlorinated all the way to your kitchen, where you should install a countertop or an under-sink water filter that can remove chlorine, its subproducts (like chloroform) and a wide list of harmful substances.

Wholse house water filters are tricky, because people usually forget about them and the need to replace their cartridges. This is very dangerous though, as they can clog (and as a result drop your water pressure) and fill with extremely dirty water (which eventually you drink or shower with). So if you think you're the kind of people that forget easily, please don't install a whole house water filter.