Clearing Up the Confusion About Water Filtration Systems

If your tap water were contaminated, you’d be able to taste it … right? Not necessarily. In fact, what looks and tastes like sparkling clean water can still contain impurities that can damage your fixtures and appliances. Unwanted substances in your water supply can even cause corrosion in the pipes. Fortunately, Fitch Services can help you test and correct your water problems. Learn all about water filtration systems.

Reasons to Test Your Water

Though it can be difficult to recognize water problems, some clues exist:

• Water smells or tastes strange or appears cloudy
• Clean laundry looks dingy or has unexplained spots
• Detergent won’t lather
• Soap scum won’t scrub away
• Family members are experiencing unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms

Even without these indicators, there are some instances when water testing is simply a good idea: If you are on well water, for example, or if your home was built before 1986. You may also want to test if your home is located near a gas station, sewer treatment facility, factory or farm.

Experts in Water Filtration Systems

When your H2O analysis comes back, we will explain the findings. The list of possible impurities can sound scary: arsenic, bacteria, iron, lead, manganese, nitrate, and radionuclides, to name a few. But never fear — Fitch Services offers a variety of water treatment solutions designed to address specific issues that are typical in Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Palmyra, and other Central Virginia regions.

We install, service, and repair reverse-osmosis systems, acid neutralizers, water softeners, iron filters, sanitizers, sediment filters, and UV lights, selecting the right combination of technologies to keep your water clean and your family healthy, plus help keep your fixtures and appliances in their best condition. We recommend choosing water filtration systems certified by NSF International, which establishes the standards.

The Right Water Filtration System

Different systems — or combinations of systems — address different problems. With water test results in hand, we can customize your solution from among these options:

Reverse-osmosis filtering system. We install this water filtration system most often. It addresses issues with sodium, ferrous iron, nitrates, lead, fluoride or organic contaminants. Be aware that if your water has a high calcium count, you’ll need to use a water softener with this system. To make maintenance easier, we recommend a system with a performance indication device (a.k.a. cutoff meter) that tells you when to change the filter. The reverse-osmosis filtration system does have a few cons:

(1) it puts out a relatively small amount of drinking water and (2) it wastes a lot of water (for each gallon of clear water, this filtration symptom wastes four gallons).

Whole-house acid neutralizers. Blue and green stains in your sink or tub may indicate acidic well water, which is a common problem in Central Virginia. It is safe to drink but causes copper water pipes and plumbing fixtures to corrode, which could lead to costly and destructive leaks that damage your flooring, furniture and possessions. Neutralizing the acid with a whole-house system is the solution, and we believe a calcite (calcium carbonate) acid neutralizer tank is the right choice for the Charlottesville, Va., area. Note: A water softener may be recommended along with this system since this type of acid neutralizer may increase water hardness.

Water softeners. Spots on dishes, dingy or stained clean laundry, or a scaley coffee maker may mean hard water caused by high calcium and magnesium levels. Because those minerals are such poor conductors of heat, they make appliances like water heaters, washing machines, and dishwashers less efficient. A whole-house water softener meets the challenge.

Iron filters. Dingy, brown-tinted laundry suggests the presence of iron in your water. Whole-house oxidizing filters correct high iron content by converting ferrous iron to ferric iron, which the device can then extract from the water.

Sanitizers. If unhealthy elements like salmonella, campylobacter, and norovirus are evident in a lab test of your water, we will recommend a water sanitizer, a disinfecting substance such as chlorine or chloramine. It won’t affect your water’s flavor, but it will help keep you from getting sick.

Sediment filters. Sand, silt, dirt, and rust harm not just appliance that use water, but also your water softener, UV water sterilizer, or other water filtration system. Two systems working together can be the best solution to your water issues.

UV lights. The gastrointestinal illnesses you may have been suffering from could be caused by microorganisms in your water. But bacteria, viruses, and parasites are no match for ultraviolet light, which prevents them from replicating. This whole-house system uses a UV bulb in a protective tube. Note: This system addresses illness vectors but does not remove particulates such as minerals or remove bad flavors or smells.

Chlorine injection systems. Like UV lights, chlorine addresses unwelcome illness-bearing contaminants. For well water, a chlorine injection system releases the substance when the well pump is running. The homeowner can turn the system off at any time.

Ready to Clear Things Up?

Our trained technicians can help you decide among the features available for these systems by presenting several options. For example, a faucet-mounted system is inexpensive and easy to install but requires frequent filter changes. An in-line system, which mounts directly to your plumbing system, costs more but its filters need changing only occasionally.

Whatever your water source, the right water filtration system can remove contaminants and supply you with the clear and refreshing H20 you expect when you open the tap. Contact Fitch Services at 434-296-9980 or use our Contact form for an estimate and free testing for pH level, iron, hardness and total dissolved solids (TDS). If you have a concern about bacteria or identifying specific minerals or metals, leave it to us to handle the task. For a fee, we will take a sample and send it to a local lab for testing.