Refrigerator Water Filters – Their Health and Cost Benefits
There are many reasons to have and use refrigerator water filters, with the most immediately evident reason being the actual taste of the drinking water. Quite simply filtered water tastes much better than common tap water.Most of the impurities in common tap water that refrigerator water filters eliminate from the water you drink are what makes it taste so bad.
The most important benefit refrigerator water filters provide are the health benefits. Although most public water sanitization systems strive to eliminate as much of the harmful impurities in the water, they just can only remove so much and then use chemicals like chlorine to kill many of the impurities, but not only is chlorine bad for you, it also tastes bad.
In fact according to the Environmental Working Group, who has done a National Assessment of Tap Water Quality and “found more than 140 contaminants with no enforceable safety limits found in the nation’s drinking water”. Most refrigerator water filters eliminate more than 95% of cysts, Class II particulates, turbidity, aesthetic chlorine, lead, mercury, herbicides, alachlor, atrazine, pesticides lindane, toxaphene, and many more impurities.
Many people that have natural well water think they are drinking healthy and safe water because it comes from a natural well. Although the process of water filtering through dirt and sand does filter out certain impurities, there are so many other factors that can effect the quality of the well water. Some of those factors are how deep the well is, what sort of soil, sand and rock are generic to the area of the well water. Other factors are the amount of pollution that may be leaking or dumped in nearby areas. In fact, your well water can be effected by pollutants many miles away that happen to be above the same water table that feeds your well.
Others drink only bottled water and think that is the perfect solution. With an average cost of over $1 per bottle, according to the , the yearly cost to drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day is over $1,400 per person. So for a family of 4, the cost of bottled water is over $5,600 per year! And that does not address the water you use for cooking or for your morning coffee. Americans alone spend more than $7 billion a year on bottled water and most of that cost is for the actual bottles and caps which in turn end up as litter in our streets and parks or even in a landfill where it will take 50 years or more to completely decompose. There has also been a lot of questions asked and debate as to the quality of much of the bottled water available.
Regardless of whether your water comes from a natural well or from a public water system, there are two very critical things you should do.
One is to test your water, which is very easy to do with a simple water testing kit
The other is to use always refrigerator water filters for your drinking and cooking water and make sure that your filters are replaced on a regular basis. We have created a resource for locating refrigerator water filters for virtually every refrigerator at the most competitive prices and, in most cases, with free shipping delivered to your door within a few days.
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What Type of Water Filter Does Your Home Need?
If you don’t like the quality or taste of the tap water that you have at home, you may need to obtain some type of water filter system for your home. The type of water filtration system that would work best for you depends on the quality and taste of your tap water, but most homes will not need an extravagant “whole house” water filtration system. If the natural tap water you have is adequate for bathing, washing, and watering plants, you won’t need to invest in a whole house water filtration system. Instead, all your home may need is a water filter that helps provide good tasting drinking water.
If your situation requires that you get a water filtration system for your entire home, you will need to get a water filter system that hooks up to the main water supply for your home. That means that all water coming into your home for whatever use, will be filtered by this filtration system, and you will not need to bother with anything other than cleaning or replacing the filters on a regular basis. Two important factors related to this type of water filter system are that they are much more expensive, and are normally too complicated to hook up on your own. You may need to hire a plumber to install it properly. Keep in mind that this whole house filter system is only necessary if your water is so bad that you do not even want to wash with it, otherwise, if you are just interested in having better tasting water, there are several other options available to you.
One of these options is to install a simple “in-line” water filter to your kitchen sink faucet. Another option is a water filter that can be added to your sink to provide a separate tap for drinking water, and the main faucet can provide water for other uses such as washing dishes. These filtered water dispensers can be added to your existing sink unless your sink is too small. If this is the case, or you just don’t want another faucet on your sink, you can simply can get a filtered pitcher that you place in your refrigerator. This is more than adequate for most people’s needs. You simply buy a special water pitcher with a built in water filter. You fill it with water, and then allow it to cool in your refrigerator. When someone needs a drink, they simply take the water from there. It’s very simple and very easy to use.
The water filter contained in such a water pitcher usually needs to be changed once a month, or so depending on the quantity of water you drink. These filters are normally under $10, so not a large expense. It is by far cheaper than buying bottled water and much friendlier on the environment. The water filter should be easy to change, and can be found in most stores, or purchased online as well. In fact you could purchase the pitcher and several months supply of filters online and save a lot of time and money.
Another option is if you are lucky enough to have a refrigerator that has a filtered water dispenser in it, you will have easy access to cold filtered water right from your refrigerator door. Again, it is a good idea to stock up on the refrigerator water filters by purchasing them through one of the discount water filter suppliers online.
When to Change Your Refrigerator Water Filter
Whether you’re looking for Kenmore refrigerator water filters or Whirlpool refrigerator water filters, regardless of your refrigerator brand, you need replacement refrigerator water filters on a regular basis. For most models, the recommendation is to replace the water filter in your refrigerator at least every 6 months, but this is just a general rule of thumb and can vary due to the types and quantities of certain contaminants in your water. Generally, if you begin to notice a distasteful smell or taste to your water, it is time to replace your filter.
Another telltale sign that it is time to replace your refrigerator water filter is when water pressure at your refrigerator water dispenser is very low or the volume of water that comes out of your dispenser is very low resulting in a slower trickle of water. All of these signs are telling you it is time to replace your refrigerator water filter. With most of the newer refrigerators today, there is a light that will signal when the filter needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, many of them do not give you much warning and you need to replace the filter within a few days.
When you do order a replacement refrigerator water filter, it is a good idea to buy several at the same time. This will help eliminate the panicked search for and ordering of the filter. Usually when this is the case, you end up paying extra for expedited shipping to get the filters to you as soon as possible. Also, when you order several filters at the same time, you can usually get a discount plus qualify for free shipping. Regardless, it is nice to eliminate the stress and always have a few refrigerator water filters on hand to rplace them when needed.
