Whole House Water Filters? need advice...

[adventuregirl]

The water in my house is extremely HARD. It leaves residue in the toilet (have to *scrub* it constantly), on my shower curtains (eewww), my pets' water dish (beyond scrubbing at this point), cakes on the faucets, and my tea pot - I scrub and scrub and I get big chips out, but it never comes completely clean. We do drink the water and it tastes ok, but I really think we need a filter. So, I am curious about whole house water filters, are they worth it? Or do I just suck it up, get a faucet filter and scrub?
I don't know what specifically is in our water, it is well and we are close to the continental divide, so it's not really processed, hasn't been through any municipal systems. But there are a lot of old inactive mines in the area, so the ground it is probably traveling through has been very disturbed. We did a county water potability test when we bought the place 3 yrs ago, and it came back as potable, but that's not telling me much. I guess I need to figure out exactly what it is I want to filter, can anyone tell me what kind of test I should use?
So please share if you know anything about whole house filters vs. just kitchen sink ones. I'm afraid my & dh's (& ddog/dcat) bodies are going to start looking like the teapot on the inside!
Any advice on this would be a great help!

[Envision]

here is my thought...

Hi!!
Personally I would get a whole house water filter system...
I have no idea what tests you should do but the hassel of having to scrub and the such is so time you could be doing other things!!
I don't know if the residue would build up inside or get metabolized but I think overall a system is an ideal way to deal with everything you are talking about.

I know that I want to get one for our house. We live in the city but I would get one wherever I am...just because you never really know what is in the ground these days. Our company sells one, so I am just waiting till we buy a house and just use a small filter now.

Good luck in your search!!
Oils
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[EMomma]

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a whole houes filter too instead of individual tub, shower, and kitchen sink filters.

My dh says that there isn't anywhere to put a whole house filter on our house. We don't have basements here. We live in a brand new house, and I guess there isn't a pipe we can get to to put the filter on. Does anyone have any experience with that?

[blueridgewoman]

You'll need to probably install the water filter on the pipe that feeds your well pump.... Though, I don't know if you have a well pump. I'm not sure how it works for city water users…. You could also install one at each point of contact in the house but that's not practical and would get expensive. The best thing is to install it wherever the water comes in. If you have a well pump, you should have a long pipe that feeds the intake. If you cut away a portion of the pipe and replace it with the filter, that should work. But, definitely ask someone- I'm no plumber! But EMomma, there has to be SOMETHING feeding the water into your house.

We’re installing a whole house filter in our new house because there is sediment in the water which is causing the appliances and faucets to break down and not live as long as they ought to. Be sure to get the best filter that you can, even though they’re more expensive and you have to replace it more often.

Consumer Reports recently did an article on whole house filters and rated the Kenmore one of the best. I think it’s also one of the cheapest.