About 65% of French people drink tap water on a daily basis. However, the quality of this water is still a source of questions for most of us. More and more households prefer to adopt systems for treating or filtering tap water before drinking it, both to improve its taste and to make it better for health.
So, is tap water really safe or, on the contrary, is it essential to filter it? Discover the answer here as well as some solutions to consume healthier water on a daily basis.
Summary
Is the water softener essential?
Limestone is a scourge for our household appliances, pipes and all the resistances of our devices that heat water. It will generate overconsumption of energy, because it will prevent the good exchange of heat necessary for optimal operation.
This limestone will also settle in plaque to clog our taps, but also settle and become embedded on our worktops, taps, tiles and others … In addition to the aesthetic and household aspect, limestone is conducive to development bacteria.
We will then have to get rid of detergent products that are not always very ecological and beneficial to our health. Appliances will be subject to more routine maintenance if not the obligation to have to change them more frequently!
So yes, using a water softener to limit these problems can prove to be essential, an investment that will quickly pay off in the benefits it can bring if the right system is chosen.
Should we remove limescale from water for health?
Clearly, limescale should be avoided without removing minerals. Limestone is a phenomenon of crystallization of calcium and magnesium contained in water.
These minerals are essential for humans to be in good health!
The bad taste that water can have, its color which can sometimes be doubtful, its smell … are not linked to limestone, but to chlorine and other products found in water.
The marketing arguments for the sale of salt softeners will quickly paint you a chalkboard of limestone for your health, it is completely false.
Since when is mineral water bad for your health?
To improve the quality of the water you consume and make it even better than mineral water, you will simply have to filter it with a water purifier.
You will therefore not correct this problem with a water softener.
Water that is too hard is conducive to the formation of limestone, water that is too soft will eat away at the pipes and may have a corrosive effect. We can now neutralize the limestone without removing the minerals from the water, which allows a water softener without salt by modifying the ionic bonds of the elements it contains and without « softening » (acidifying the water and the Th) .
How does the salt-free water softener work?
Some models act thanks to an electrostatic field amplifier. Indeed, the friction of the water inside the device will act on its molecular bonds. Limestone (calcium and magnesium) and other mineral salts are partially ionized. When it passes through the electrostatic field barrier, the water will undergo ionization, which will prevent scaling and lime precipitation.
Other methods will use magnetic fields, electrostatic induction, the goal being always to act on molecular bonds.
Water softener with salt or water softener without salt: which one to adopt?
The softener with salt will use the principle of ion exchange to limit the presence of calcium and magnesium. Chemically, the softener will exchange calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions (Na +). This replacement is done using a resin loaded with sodium (salt). This system is largely excluded from health organizations, salt promoting high blood pressure among others …
As for the salt-free softener, it works on modification of molecular bonds. Instead of replacing magnesium and calcium, it will change their polarity. It will thus prevent lime deposits and scaling. This is the type of softener to favor, because it is both ecological (containing no resin) and practical (no need to regularly add salt). One of the advantages of such a device is that the water will always contain the mineral compounds that are beneficial for our body.
Is a salt-free water softener enough to improve the quality of tap water?
The answer is definitely no! Indeed, traces of harmful substances (pesticides, drugs …) that can be found in water even in a very very small amount can have an impact on our health. The water softener will have no effect on these substances, it will be necessary to use another system to purify the water.
The filters that are often sold and recommended with softeners or anti-limescale are simply used to clarify the water and remove the coarser deposits that may have formed in the pipes of the public network.
What it will bring you:
Softer water without removing minerals
Unlike the salt system, it does not remove the minerals essential for the proper functioning of our body that are contained in the water.It is a technology that allows significantly reduce tartar deposits and corrosion of metallic elements.
Benefits for the body
In most of the French departments, the lime content of the water is high. The water is therefore particularly hard, which leads to skin irritation and scalp. Once the crystallization of minerals into limestone has been brought under control, these drawbacks will be a thing of the past.
Your wallet will say thank you!
No more the appearance of whitish traces en masse on sinks and taps, the greater use of detergents (which represents an increase in expenditure and not at all environmentally friendly behavior), scaling of appliances and overconsumption of energy…
To have much better water in terms of taste and smell
You will understand, do not be fooled by some unscrupulous sellers, you will have to opt for a complementary system; a water purifier.
It is a filter system to be placed under the sink that will add a filtered water point to your kitchen. It can be connected to a 3-way tap to replace yours or to an additional specific tap.
Can tap water transmit germs?
In France, water treatment is taken seriously. Hence the fact that it has not been responsible for serious diseases such as cholera for several years. Before arriving in our homes, the water will undergo various treatments, including one chlorine disinfection. However, the water can sometimes be contaminated, but this is very rare. These epidemics caused by tap water often stem from the dilapidated nature of the distribution networks. It is thus the small municipalities that are the most affected by this phenomenon.
It is true that the water receives treatment to be drinkable, however, substances harmful to health are still found in tap water. Indeed, the water is not entirely pure, because we find there nitrates, drugs, sulphates, iron, aluminum salts, pesticides …
For the more informed: we should take into account the « cocktail effect » of these products, the isolated quantity of which is not dangerous, but of which no study considers the multiplicity of sources that we ingest and the real impact they have. can have on our long term health …
What about the water filter?
Here again, beware of confusion, keep in mind that there are 3 main types of water filters.
- the polyphosphate filter; the only one that is anti-lime, but also chemical whose beads of crystals will retain minerals, but also end up in our body …
- pre filters; filtration cartridges which will retain the sediments formed in the water (deposits, pieces of limestone, sand, etc.)
They are strongly recommended to improve the efficiency of other filters and anti-limescale - Filters of the water purifier or reverse osmosis type, the role of which is to purify drinking water by ridding it of pollutants. (chlorine, aluminum salts, drug residues, etc.)
In conclusion
Do not confuse filter, anti-lime filter, water purifier and softeners. These are many different solutions that are rarely combined in one device.
Inform yourself well before you start, knowing the device that will be responsible for cleaning the water, neutralizing lime or purifying it.
Only the purification of water remains optional if your goal is not above all to consume it.
You now have all the keys to choose the system that suits you best.
