What Are The Downsides of Point-of-Use Water Filters?

Tap water in Los Angeles is legally safe to drink, but wouldn’t you like to drink something crisper? Buying bottled water imported from natural sources in other parts of the world can get costly too.

With point-of-use (POU) water filters, you can have purified drinking water without leaving your kitchen. For the last 15 years, Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric has worked tirelessly to bring crisp, pure, and reliable water to Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, so we’ve seen a thing or two with these systems.

It’s important to understand POU systems’ disadvantages instead of focusing only on the benefits. Drawbacks of point-of-use water filters include,

• Potentially water wasting
• Single fixture limitation
• Doesn’t protect pipes
• Requires constant maintenance

Once you understand the limitations, you’ll be better informed about purchasing a point-of-use water filter for your home.

What Are the Disadvantages of Point-of-Use Water Filters?

The whole point of point-of-use water filters is to purify water by removing contaminants. There are a few types that can be installed in your home to provide filtered drinking water.

The water filtration process occurs within the filters. The more filters a POU system has, the more effective it will be at removing up to 99% of the contaminants lurking in the water.

The most common types of point-of-use filters we’ve seen and installed throughout the surrounding communities include the following.

• Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water Filtration: A process where water is filtered through multiple stages to remove sediments, chemicals, and contaminants. This system is one of the most popular ones installed in homes. If this filtration system interests you, learn about its cost factors.
• Carbon Filters: These filters are attached to the kitchen sink faucet or used in filtered water pitchers. Carbon filters effectively remove organic compounds and unwanted chemicals, such as pesticides and chlorine.
• Sediment Filters: Sediment filters specialize in removing physical organic materials from water, such as clay, sand, silt, and dirt.

Even without filters, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power routinely tests tap water in the city. Cities are also required under the Safe Drinking Water Act to publish information on the drinkable water quality for the public. This information must also be shared with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

May Waste Water

Reverse osmosis filtration systems are designed to provide purified drinking water, but some of these systems may waste water on the side too. It varies from system to system, but an RO system can produce three to 25 gallons of wastewater for every gallon of purified water.

Discharged water from these systems ends up in the drain. If you do not adequately maintain your RO system by periodically replacing the filters, the likelihood of water being wasted is high.

To avoid wasting water, it is worth looking into filtration systems that recirculate excess water into the hot water line. This water is used whenever you turn on the hot water.

We recommend investing in a reverse osmosis water filtration system that is zero waste. Zero waste RO systems don’t waste water but use it to recirculate it to the hot water line in your home. Single-filtered water cleaning systems don’t waste any water at all.

Limited to Single Fixture

A point-of-use water filter is limited to one house fixture. If you have a large home, you must rely on one fixture to obtain purified water. In our experience, we’ve seen that it is usually the kitchen sink.

Many residential houses and apartments deal with hard water in other sinks and bathroom fixtures. Hard water occurs when there is a buildup of minerals such as calcium and magnesium in your water.

Whole-house water filtration systems are better suited to soften water throughout the entire home instead of a point-of-use system. These systems treat water from the point of entry, starting from the point water enters your home.

Doesn’t Protect Pipes or Appliances

In our experience, some homeowners have a misconception that point-of-use systems provide clean water and pipes. Clean pipes are less susceptible to clogs. The water is purified before it comes out of the faucet, and not from the moment it enters your home from your city’s water supply.

Point-of-use filtration systems are only designed to clean water, but they don’t clean out your home’s water lines or plumbing pipes. It also doesn’t protect your pipes from clogs or cracks. Pipes can accumulate debris which can lead to a clog. Pipes require special tools or drain cleaners to flush out clogs, not POU systems that only clean water.

Requires Constant Maintenance

Installing a point-of-use filtration system is not a one-and-done process for water purification. These systems require simple maintenance, such as replacing filters, cleaning scale buildup, and disinfecting the unit.

Filters for POU systems need to be replaced every three to six months. The filters are responsible for purifying the water, so not replacing them can make a POU system less efficient at purifying water. The less effective filtration can cause the quality of your water to taste differently.

Hard water can cause a buildup of calcium and magnesium in the filters, causing a buildup of scale. Scale buildup on filters looks like a white chalk-like substance. We recommend contacting a technician for tips on descaling your water filters or investing in water softeners for your home.

We also recommend periodically cleaning and disinfecting your POU system. The filtration systems can collect dust if left uncleaned.

Are Point-of-Use Water Filters Right For Me?

Point-of-use water filtration systems are excellent for providing purified water, yet they have a few downsides worth knowing apart. Now that you learned about them, you’ll be better informed on choosing and maintaining one of these systems in your home. With proper care, your family can make the most of these water purification systems.

At Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric, we’ve helped thousands of homeowners across Los Angeles with either installing or addressing any concerns with point-of-use water filtration systems. We’ve seen how convenient these systems are, but we also understand that they have a few disadvantages worth sharing with the public.

If you have questions regarding POU systems, book an appointment through our water filtration page.

If you’re curious about specific point-of-use water systems, learn about reverse osmosis water filtration.