The main reason to have a residential water filtration system installed in your home is to add extra protections against contaminants. Your city's water supply gets cleaned before being distributed, but municipal filtration systems don't catch everything. A variety of contaminants could end up in your drinking and bathing water, so using an in-home filtration system offers extra peace of mind that these particles won't harm you or your family.

Pesticides and Herbicides

Even if you don't live near a farm, the chemicals used to treat plants could end up in runoff and contaminate your local water supply. Pesticides are used on everything from crops to ornamental flowers, so it's possible that gardens around your city use them, leading to waste ending up in the runoff. In addition, chemicals meant to kill weeds could contaminate your municipal water. A water filtration system can purify your water and remove these potentially harmful chemicals.

Synthetic Contaminants

An acid known as PFOS is frequently used in the manufacturing of carpets, furniture, clothing, and other household items, and it can end up in municipal water. Unfortunately, certain levels of exposure are harmful to your health, so you want a water filtration system that can eliminate it from your drinking and bathing water.

Medications

Many people dispose of unused medications by flushing them down the toilet or sink because it's a relatively safe way to ensure that no one else gets a hold of narcotics or other potentially dangerous prescription drugs. However, when these medications get into the water supply, they might cause unwanted health effects, so it's important to filter them out of your home's water. It's not only drugs made for humans that can contaminate water; medications for veterinary care and farm animals can also end up as waste and leech into the residential water supply.

Chlorine and Chloride

Both of these chemicals are used by municipal water treatment plants to disinfect the water of bacteria and eliminate odors. However, certain levels of exposure can be harmful to your health. Installing a water filtration system will not only reduce your exposure to these chemicals, but it can also improve the taste of your water and lower its sodium content if that's a health concern for you.

Filtering out common contaminants is likely to have an impact on the quality of your drinking water as well as the effectiveness of your washing water. When you are considering different residential water filtration systems, you have many options, so it's recommended that you work with a professional to select the best system for your needs.