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Stephanie Robins, owner of Robins Plumbing featuring a blog titled water softeners vs water filters.

Water Softeners vs Water Filters

August 21, 2023

Water Softeners vs Water Filters, Which One Is Best For Your Home

Water softeners vs water filters, which one is the best option for cleaner water in your home? If you’re like most homeowners, you want to ensure that your family gets safe, clean water. Unfortunately this is not as easy as it may seem. Even in a first-world country like the United States it’s hard to ensure your home is getting healthy water. In fact, over 85% of American homes have water

A girl drinking water from a glass cup.containing high concentrations and contaminants. In this blog post, we discuss two of the premium water treatments that we offer —  water softeners and water filters —. Learn about the difference between water softeners vs water filters and how they can help make your homes’ water clear, delicious, and safe.

What Is a Water Softener?

As its name suggests, water softening is a process that takes hard water and turns it into soft water. Soft water is water that contains low concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals. It is clearer and less likely to cause soap scum and scale than hard water. There are several types of water softeners available. Salt-free water softeners (such as the NuvoH20 line of softeners offered here at Robins Plumbing), salt-based water softeners, ion exchange softeners, magnetic softeners, and reverse osmosis softeners are different types of water softeners available for your home.

Most consumers choose salt-free water softeners for their homes. This is why we sell and install them here at Robins Plumbing. Unlike their salt-based counterparts, salt-free water softeners are maintenance-free and cost-effective. They involve no electricity, no waste water, and no chemicals. Salt-based water softeners use ion exchange to remove mineral deposits. Salt-free softeners use a physical process known as Template Assisted Crystallization (TAC). Template Assisted Crystallization (TAC) is used to lower mineral concentrates. TAC converts the minerals into crystals, which are unable to adhere to any surfaces in your home. With TAC, there’s no need for a cleaning cycle to remove captured ions.

What Is a Water Filter?

Water filters remove impurities like heavy metals, pesticides, dirt, and sediment from your household water. Technically, a water softener is a type of water filter; however, whole-house water filters include a range of other products, such as iron and sulfur removal filters, back-washing carbon filters, fluoride absorption filters, and more. Water filters use a variety of purification techniques to treat contamination and remove impurities, including physical filtration and chemical filtration.

Which Is Right for Me?

Deciding whether a water softener or water filter is better for your home depends on the problems you are dealing with. If you’ve noticed a lot of hard water buildup along your drains and faucets, then a water softening system is your best bet. On the other hand, if you’re more worried about chlorine affecting the taste and smell of your water, or the presence of contaminants such as lead and pesticides, a water filter is the way to go.

The best way to ensure that your water is as safe and clean as possible is to install both water treatment systems. Unfortunately, this can get expensive. Luckily, our Phoenix plumbing company has solved this problem for you! At Robins Plumbing, you can get all the advantages of whole-house water softening and water filtration in one compact device, thanks to our NuvoH20 Complete System. This environmentally friendly combination device will not only save you money by reducing your energy bills and helping you avoid costly appliance replacements and repairs, but it will also ensure that your family is treated to some seriously tasty water.

Trust Robins for Your Water Treatment Needs

If you live in the Phoenix, Glendale, or Scottsdale area and are interested in installing a water treatment system in your home, turn to Robins Plumbing. We are proud to have partnered with the best-selling NuvoH20 line of water treatment systems to provide our customers with the highest-quality water treatment available anywhere. Contact our team of expert plumbers today to discuss which NuvoH20 system is right for you, and to schedule an installation appointment.

Services in Phoenix & Beyond

When you’ve found yourself in need of plumbing services in the Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale, or Chandler area, you can trust Robins Plumbing. We will  provide you with prompt and expert care. Don’t hesitate to contact our team today! In addition to our water treatment system services, we also offer a variety of residential and commercial plumbing services, including: drain cleaning, water heater repair and replacement, sewer camera inspection and locating, backflow prevention, commercial and residential jetting, water treatments, and more. Visit our reviews online to see what others have to say about our local plumbing company!

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From whole home filtration systems to just having clean purified water at your kitchen sink, we're here.

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