Choosing a Water Filter for Your Home? Here Is How to Get It Right

How to choose the right water filter for your home

Most WA households buy or rent a water filter system to solve one or more of the following water quality issues: 

• Chlorine taste and odour 
• Hard water scale 
• Contaminants including dirt, sand, heavy metals, PFAS, fluoride and pesticides 

The right water treatment solution depends on the problem you want to address and whether you want to improve drinking water at the kitchen tap or water from every tap, shower and appliance across the home.

This guide covers the main water filtration and treatment options available, and the answer gets simpler once you understand what the water in your home is doing. 

We are here to help and will always recommend the most cost-effective, reliable solution for you and your household, based on your water source, where you live, and what you want to improve. 

What is in Perth tap water?

Perth tap water is safe to drink. Water Corporation tests over 74,500 samples per year across WA supply schemes. No health-related parameter exceeded Australian Drinking Water Guidelines limits in 2023-24. Instead, the issues Perth homeowners notice are usually related to taste, smell, quality and how water behaves around the home, rather than water safety. 

Chlorine taste and smell come from disinfection. Water Corporation adds chlorine to all WA supply schemes. Chlorine keeps the water safe between the treatment plant and your tap. The WA Department of Health directs fluoride addition in some schemes.

According to WaterScore’s analysis of Water Corporation 2023-24 data, Perth water is generally harder than water supplied to most east coast cities. Hardness levels also vary across the metropolitan area, with some northern suburbs experiencing significantly more scale buildup than homes in the hills and southern suburbs.

If you would like to understand more about the water supplied to your area, the Water Corporation’s Drinking Water Quality Annual Report provides suburb-level information about hardness, chlorine levels and other water quality measures.

Water filters and treatment types

Here is how the main system types compare across WA homes. 

A closer look at each system

Under-sink filter systems are the most common first choice for homes on mains water. Filtered drinking and cooking water on demand at the kitchen tap. Entry-level systems start from $500 to $600. The under-sink water filter guide covers how they work and what to check before buying.

Reverse Osmosis provides purified water by pushing water through a fine membrane under pressure, removing up to 99% of dissolved substances including PFAS, fluoride, lead and copper. Under-sink filters and reverse osmosis compared helps Perth homeowners work out when RO is the better fit.

Whole house filter systems treat water at the point of entry. Every tap, shower and laundry outlet receives filtered water before it reaches any fitting. They reduce chlorine, sediment and contaminants across the home. Our whole house filtration guide explains what whole house filtration actually addresses. 

Whole house filtration systems with scale reduction combine water quality improvement with scale reduction technology to help reduce hard water scale buildup throughout the home. They are a popular option for households wanting scale reduction without installing a water softener.

Water softeners remove calcium and magnesium through ion exchange before water reaches any tap. Scale reduces across the whole house. How water softeners work takes the softener decision through step by step. 

Shower filters attach to the shower arm and reduce chlorine at that single outlet. They suit households wanting targeted chlorine reduction where a whole-house system is not the right fit. The shower and bath filter range offers what is available for this type of install. 

Matching the right system to your water problem

Not all water filters are created equal.

The quality of the filter cartridges inside the system is just as important as the system itself. A well-designed filtration system fitted with poor-quality cartridges will never deliver the results you expect.

When comparing products, look for:

• A filtration system that is designed to treat your water quality issues
• High-quality replacement filter cartridges from a reputable supplier
• Ongoing servicing and support

Be cautious of cheap online filters making broad performance claims without explaining how they work or what they are designed to reduce. The best water filter is not necessarily the most expensive one. It is the system that best suits your water source, your water needs and what you want to improve.

At Water2water, we have been installing, servicing and maintaining water filtration systems across Perth, the Pilbara and regional WA for more than 25 years. We are always happy to provide free, unbiased advice and will always recommend the most cost-effective and reliable solution for your needs and budget.

How to choose a water filter system for your home

Chlorine taste at the kitchen tap. An under-sink filter at the kitchen tap is the most direct answer for mains water homes focused on drinking water. Cartridges need replacing every 6 to 12 months and we send a reminder when yours is due. 

Chlorine across every tap and shower. A whole-house filter treats water at the point of entry. Every outlet benefits. It does not address hard water scale. A softener handles that.

Hard water scale on surfaces and appliances. A water softener removes calcium and magnesium before water reaches any tap. Scale reduces across the whole house. Homes dealing with both chlorine and hard water scale often benefit from running a whole-house filter and softener together.

PFAS, fluoride, lead, copper or bore water. A reverse osmosis system removes up to 99% of dissolved substances. Perth mains water homes without specific quality concerns are better served by a standard under-sink filter. In these cases, homes on bore or dam water may be more susceptible to contaminants, bacteria and heavy metals in the water supply. 

Honest exception: if you rent, use very little filtered water daily and cannot modify plumbing, a portable bench-top filter system may be the right call for now. We will tell you that too.

Once a system is installed, our guide to filter maintenance covers water cartridge lifespan, servicing and what to expect between visits.

Water2water stocks and services every system type covered in this article. We have worked with Perth and Pilbara water for 25 years. We start with the water source and the problem your home needs fixed. The system follows from that.