What does a whole house water filter actually do?
It filters every drop entering the house, rather than one tap. A 3-stage system reduces sediment, rust and particles; prevents limescale forming on your hot water system, kettle and tapware; and reduces chlorine, taste and odour. Showers, laundry and appliances all get the same water your kitchen tap does.
Is a whole house system better than an under-sink filter?
They do different jobs. An under-sink filter treats drinking water only and can go further on dissolved contaminants, particularly reverse osmosis. A whole house system treats everything, which is what protects your plumbing and appliances from scale and gets the chlorine out of your shower. Plenty of homes end up with both — whole house on the mains, RO at the kitchen sink.
Do I need a plumber to install one?
Yes. Anything that connects to your mains supply is plumbing work and must be done by a licensed plumber in WA. That is included in our price — our plumber partners carry out the install. Changing cartridges afterwards is not plumbing work and most people do it themselves.
How long does installation take?
About half a day for a straightforward install, with the water off for a couple of hours. Awkward pipework or a difficult location can extend that, and we tell you at quote stage if we expect it to.
Will it reduce my water pressure?
Not noticeably, provided the system is sized for your household. That is the point of sizing it against your peak flow rather than fitting the same unit everywhere. Pressure loss becomes a real problem when cartridges are left in too long — which is why we set a reminder for the annual change.
Does it soften the water?
Our standard system prevents scale rather than softening. It conditions the hardness minerals so they are far less likely to bind as limescale, but they stay in the water and your hardness reading will not change. If you specifically want the soft-water feel on skin and hair, that needs ion exchange softening — tell us and we will quote it.
What does it cost to run each year?
Around $240 a year in replacement cartridges for a typical household, changed once a year. No salt, no power, no service contract. If you would rather not do the change yourself, we do it for $60 in the Perth metro area.
Can you replace an existing system?
Yes — that is a large part of what we do. We remove proprietary systems and fit a ProperWater system on standard 20" × 4.5" housings, so replacement cartridges are available from any supplier rather than one. If your existing system is fine and you only want cheaper cartridges, we will say so.
