Shower water filters are great, but what about how they do what they do. And does it effect the output – I’ll go over the short and long of it.
Some may say it’s just a water filter, but considering you are regularly soaking yourself in the water supply (which often you don’t really have control over). For me, it’s important to maybe take some steps to get healthy water that’s good for my body.
Using a shower water filter you will notice that your hair is softer and your skin is more moisturized.
It is almost like magic, simply having to turn a nozzle and your appearance is automatically improved. However, there is a science that backs this wonderment.
Short answer first, then dive into the detail.
How Does a Shower Water Filter Work? Shower water filters remove chlorine, chloramines, and other synthetic chemicals. Different filters use different processes, many use a combination of popular media that include Kinetic Degradation Fluxion and Granular Active Carbon.
If you are a keen shower water filter user or are simply curious about its function before you jump into purchasing one, look no more.
Shower water filters are very effective and are quite easy to understand, despite their extreme water filtering capabilities.
Continue reading to figure out why chlorine is in your water, why you do not want it in your shower water, and how different shower water filters work.
How Different Shower Water Filters Works
There are many different shower water filtration systems on the market.
While you could imagine that many of them function similarly, the technology behind each of them can range quite a bit.
Different manufactures use various methods to get all the goop out of your shower water.
However, they all generally employ the same sorts of media (media = things with holes in it that catch the stuff you don’t want as it passes through).
Crystal Quest Shower Water Filters
Crystal Quest’s line of shower filters uses a three-stage filtration system.
First, water passes through the ERA-6500 and ERA-9500 media for de-chlorination and pH enhancement (pH is acidity, think vinegar on kind of one end of the spectrum). This natural process of electrochemical oxidation/reduction and absorption reduces and removes unwanted contaminants.
It also is able to very effectively dechlorinate water and also reduces heavy metals while inhibiting bacterial growth.
After this, the water travels through the coconut shell GAC that acts as a sponge to absorb contaminants in your water. This activated carbon gets rid of potentially hazardous carcinogenic chemicals that are in your water.
Once this is done, your water is taken through the showerhead and introduced to your hair and skin without being an offensive shower guest! Crazy, but yep you kind of need this!
Crystal Quest is one of my favs, 6 to 12 months per filter, cost-effective – check out the minimalist shower filters here.
Aquasana Shower Water Filters
Aquasana has come out with shower filters that actually use a two-stage approach when it comes to shower filtration, but are still very effective – just different design.
A unique copper/zinc media is paired with coconut shell carbon that helps to filter out 90% of chlorine from your water while also getting out all of those other harsh chemicals.
Even more, the filter enhances your water’s pH levels which keeps it nice and soft rather than hard and unmanageable. pH is kinda important and you want this aspect which Aquasana provides, hence why it’s one of my fav’s.
The process is simple, effective, and gets the job done in an eco-friendly way. When using these products, you will be sure to see a difference in your hair, skin, and even the shower surface itself.
Check out Aquasana shower filters, they have different options and can be easily removed if you want to stash them – here is their shower filter page.
Why is Chlorine in Your Water?
In case you were unaware, chlorine is in most public water that passes through a public water filtration system. Yes, fortunately, many shower water filter systems can remove this, but it can be confusing why it is in your water in the first place.
With that said, if you are drinking from any sort of public water source, chlorine is going to be in your water. I know, we all thought that chemical was reserved for all those nasty public pools to keep you from contracting some horrible disease.
As it turns out though, we need it for our consumable water as well to make it just that – consumable.
Chlorine is one of those “end all be all” things when it comes to really disinfecting your water. Viruses such as typhoid have been eliminated due to its disinfecting abilities.
Its main purpose in public water is to kill those disease-causing bacteria in order to make tap water something that is consumable without the consumer having to think of what their water might contain.
The use of chlorine though is not something that is foolproof. There are still parts of the world that use chlorine as a bacteria killer, yet are still seeing contaminated tap water.
As with many things, constant adjustment is necessary in order to see the changing landscapes of water in different locations in order to add the proper amounts of chlorine to combat bacteria.
As a side note, chlorine is not the only solution to clean water, but also it is on society to ensure that they work tirelessly to keep their lakes, rivers, and streams clean rather than simply adding more and more chlorine.
It is quite clear that we need chlorine so that we can have consumable tap water, so there is no way around it making its way into your shower water.
Although the amount of chlorine in most water is more than safe to consume, it can have a different effect on the outside of your body, more specifically, your hair and skin.
Why You Don’t Want Chlorine in Your Shower Water
Chlorine is a disinfectant and because of this, it makes it an agent that is very drying when it comes in contact with things that hold moisture. How does this concern you?
Your hair and skin are the biggest ticket items susceptible to its drying abilities and they will suffer if exposed to excess amounts.
Many people think this is the hellish condition in which they have to perpetually live (no one likes dry hair and skin, come on, it’s dreadful). However, there are solutions out there.
Although you know about the great shower filters that Crystal Quest and Aquasana offer, it can be encouraging to truly understand what, exactly, the filtration of chlorinated water means for your hair and skin.
How Shower Filters Help Your Hair
For your hair, I want you to think of the most beautiful head of hair you have ever seen. It’s long, it’s shiny, it’s thick, and it’s super smooth.
Now think of an uncooked noodle that is brittle, starchy, and incapable of conforming naturally to any other shape than something that is straight. Unfortunately for your hair, if there are large amounts of chlorine in your water, it will resemble the later example.
Chlorine sucks the moisture straight out of your hair and sends it right down the drain leaving you with a mane looking more like a pile of straw than the free-flowing luscious locks you have been working on.
How Shower Filters Help Your Skin
For your skin, chlorine is just as damaging. Everyone wants skin that is soft, moisturized, and glowing. Even if the glowing part isn’t your thing, you, at the very least, want your skin to be moisturized enough to where it isn’t itching all the time.
When your skin is exposed to warmth, your pores open up more and are thus more easily able to absorb whatever it is they are exposed to.
When you are in the shower, this means chlorine. Chlorine, just as it does with hair, dries your skin out over time and can make it very itchy and hard to love.
No one likes alligator skin, whether it is their own or someone else’s. It is not attractive, it is uncomfortable, and it is simply unnecessary.
To avoid your hair and skin turning into something that resembles traits from a character in a horror film, invest in a shower water filter and wash those dry days goodbye!