Water filtration systems come in a wide variety of forms to suit the needs of individual households. These needs can change over the years, though. Whether you feel it’s time to upgrade from your faucet-mounted system or you’ve just got a nasty shock from your water company’s latest water quality report, it may be worth looking into a more advanced water filtration system.

Undersink/below counter

While faucet-mounted and counter tops systems are better than nothing, undersink systems offer several advantages. Most importantly, the offer more stages of filtration, which results in cleaner water. They also provide better water pressure than faucet-mounted filters.

Whole House Water Filters

Whole house, also called in-line water filtration systems connect to your main water supply and filter all water coming into your home. These can cost over $1000 and usually require a certified plumber to install, but provide major benefits over the point-of-use filtration systems that hook up to single faucets. You’ll not only get clean water for washing clothes and doing dishes, you’ll eliminate the harmful chorine gas in the air caused by chlorinated water.

While filtering your drinking water should be your top priority, if at all possible, you should be filtering the water in which you bathe, wash your dishes, and clean your clothes, too. After all, any time contaminants in the water come in contact with your skin, the have a chance to enter your bloodstream.

If it’s been a while since you’ve checked into you area’s water quality, now may be a good time to do so. This will let you know if you’re fine with your old system or if you should start looking at some of the more advanced water filtration systems available.