The Six Types of Home Water Treatment, and What Each One Fixes
Sediment, carbon, catalytic carbon, softening, RO and UV do different jobs. What each removes, what it does not, and the order to combine them.
Category Guide Guide
Whole-House Water Filtration: Point-of-Entry Systems
Point-of-entry filtration: where the system goes on the main line, how it is sized, and what each media type removes.
Guides
Whole House Water Filter Installation: Placement, Sizing and Clearance
Where a point-of-entry filter goes on the main line, how to size it to peak flow, the clearance it needs, and when the job stops being a DIY project.
How to choose
Quick answer
A whole-house system treats water once, where the supply enters the building, so every fixture downstream receives it. Three decisions settle whether it works, and all three are made before purchase: which media the contaminant actually calls for, what flow rate your peak simultaneous demand needs, and where on the line it physically fits with service clearance.
What to compare
- Media type against a test result. Sediment, activated carbon, catalytic carbon and ion exchange address different problems and barely overlap. A water test selects the category; the catalogue does not.
- Service flow rate at your pipe diameter. Undersized restricts pressure. Oversized reduces contact time with the media and treatment suffers. Both failures are unfixable after installation.
- Cartridge cost and interval, not housing price. Over five years the consumable usually outweighs the equipment.
- Whether a bypass loop is included. Without one, every cartridge change shuts water to the whole house.