Why Buy a Single, Twin or Triple Water Filter System?

If you’ve been considering a new water filtration system for your drinking water, this article is for you.

There are plenty of reasons why you would need either a Single, Twin or Triple water filtration system to go Under the Sink or on the Benchtop, and it all comes down to two things:

1. What You Need To Remove From The Water.
2. What Your Challenges Are From The Water.

Once we are clear on that, we can put together a system to create the best water you can for your individual needs.

Rain Water In A Concrete Tank

Starting with the easiest scenario, there’s not a lot that you need to do with it, especially if it's contained in a concrete water tank. When rainwater is stored in a concrete tank, the lime in the water leaches out of the walls of the tank, elevating the pH of the acidic water up to neutral.

In this case, all you need to do is install a Single Stage Water Filter to remove the bugs, bacteria, metal from the roof, copper from the water pipes, herbicides and any pesticides that may have washed in from the roof.

The Ultrapure water filter with the Coldstream cartridge inside would be sufficient; even the Aragon would do the trick too. That would remove all the bugs and block the sediment on the outside of the cartridge.

Because the Coldstream cartridge is ceramic, if it happens to get too blocked, you can just scrub the outside of it with some hundred grit sandpaper under flowing water, and it’ll be right to put back in again.

If you have a concrete rain water tank, a Single Benchtop or Single Under Sink water filter would be perfect for you.

However, if you have a lot of sediment in that tank or an old tank, you wouldn't want your quality, expensive cartridge getting blocked up, so Twin Under Sink Water Filters are the best solution for that.

This scenario requires you to have a prefilter cartridge in position one, and then you would have the quality cartridge like the Coldstream, Doulton or Aragon in position two.

The sediment pre-filter would block the sediment so that the expensive high-quality Coldstream would continue to function properly without being blocked up.

Finally, if you have a Whole House Water Filter or Sediment filter treating all the incoming rain water before it flows into the house, you would also be OK with just a single-stage system.

Rain Water In A Tank That Is NOT Concrete

If your water tank is made from steel, aqua plate, galvanised, poly etc. Your water will remain acidic and require extra treatment before entering the home. If the water is not brought back up to at least a neutral pH, it can eat out the copper pipes and ruin your appliances and tapware.

Plus, you still need to treat the bugs and heavy metals from the roof.

So in this scenario, the best set up is a Triple Water filter. Again, you can go with either an Under Sink or Benchtop system.

You would have a pre-filter in position one and then your high-quality cartridge in position two, which takes care of the bugs, heavy metals from the roof, herbicides and pesticides.

Then in position three, you have a cartridge to elevate the pH of the acidic water.

To raise the pH, you have a couple of cartridge options. You could use a Calcite carbon to elevate the pH to neutral 7 or an Alkahydrate cartridge that will boost the pH of the water up to 9, which would slowly come back down over time, and sit between 8 - 8.5 before it eventually needs replacing.

It’s best to have a triple system in your home to elevate the water if you’re on rain water.

If You Live In The City

If you live in a city, you’ll be dealing with completely different water.

I'd like to say that you shouldn't have any sediment in your water, but because we cover the whole of Australia, that's just not the case.

Where I live in Busselton, Western Australia, I set up a Doulton Ultracarb cartridge as the pre-filter and left it in front of my filtration for three years just to test it. I never had to clean that thing for three years!

But, in other cases, I've seen them blocked up in four days in some suburbs of Melbourne, so it varies based on the location.

Generally speaking, you can get away with just a single benchtop or single under sink with the Ultrapure cartridge, the Coldstream or the new Coldstream Max for outstanding results in the cities. Even the Aragon cartridges are amazing for that scenario.

However, if you have a sediment issue, and it does happen occasionally, we'd have to jump on that but generally, in the cities and the larger country towns, there's not that much sediment.

You can always have a sediment cartridge to protect your quality cartridge for peace of mind because sediment cartridges are very cheap. If you want that peace of mind, go with a Twin system with the sediment cartridge in position one and your quality cartridge in position two.

If the government pumps some dirty water down the pipeline and it comes into your home prematurely, even just for a few minutes, the first cartridge will block it up. If the water slows, you simply throw out the pre-filter, put another cheap pre-filter in, and your good cartridge is still happy.

Are you living in the city? Get a Twin Benchtop or Under Sink Water Filter, and you’ll be fine.

Other Challenges With Water In Capital Cities

Fluoride - It may be suitable for teeth, but it’s terrible for your health. Many people are against it and want it removed. The problem is that it's not that easy to get out.

Luckily we’ve sourced the best solution globally for this and can provide you with a suitable cartridge from Omnipure in the USA, which will pull out 97% of that fluoride.

If you’re working with fluoride in a city scenario, we recommend putting your water through a fluoride cartridge first and then through a Doulton or a Coldstream or Aragon, etcetera.

The best Benchtop water purifier is either a Doulton, Coldstream or Aragon. We’ve searched the world, and these are the best around.

If you’re in a city and don’t want to drink fluoride, the Best Under Sink Water Filter or Benchtop system option is the Triple.

This can be a pre-filter or fluoride in position number one, a quality filter in position two to take out the nasties, chlorine, chloramines, herbicides, heavy metals, etc. Then a cartridge to elevate the pH in position three.

Water pH

Because the Australian Government pump copious amounts of lime in the water to protect all the pipework, city water is normally always above 7pH.

But if you want to elevate it higher, you can use the Alkahydrate cartridge which is packed full of mineral that brings your water up to a pH of about 9 - 9.5, which drops back to 8 - 8.5 over time.

No matter whether you live; in the sticks or in the city, if you’re on rain water or city water, a Benchtop or Under Sink Water Filter is a necessary investment in the future health of your family.

Remember, a healthy family is a happy family!

If you still have further questions before decided whether to purchase a Single, Twin or Triple system for the Benchtop or Under Sink, please contact us; we’d be delighted to help.