Whole House or Kitchen Filter for Arsenic Removal

Arsenic is a naturally occurring metal with toxic properties. I’ve written about arsenic poisoning elsewhere in this blog. In 2006 the maximum amount of arsenic allowed in public water supplies was lowered from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. Yet I have spoken with people who exhibit signs of arsenic poisoning at levels below 10 ppb. And people with private wells may be drinking this amount or more without knowing it.

There are two types of systems that can be used to remove arsenic. One is a whole house system, also known as a Point of Entry system (POE). POE systems are expensive to buy and expensive to maintain. Still, they have the advantage of removing arsenic from bathing water as arsenic is thought to enter the body through pores in the skin during bathing. You may see the whole house arsenic filter systems I sell here.

The factor that makes POE arsenic systems expensive is the cost of new media. People are often quite disturbed to learn that replacement media costs nearly as much as the original system, but this is the reality regardless of where you purchase your arsenic filter.

With a whole house filter for arsenic one must also make certain that other chemical characteristics of the water do not interfere with arsenic removal. It is best to talk to someone who knows about this before buying any water filter for arsenic removal.

The other type of system for arsenic removal is my custom reverse osmosis system. A kitchen filter such as this is known as a Point of Use system (POU).

Sweetwater’s custom reverse osmosis system for arsenic removal can be modified specifically to treat arsenic or used in its public water configuration when low levels of arsenic exist in the water. My reverse osmosis system is very effective at arsenic removal and a number of customers who have tested their water find that the arsenic is entirely removed or removed to the point where it cannot be detected.

One concern of mine with customers who have purchased reverse osmosis to remove arsenic is the degree to which they are still consuming arsenic in the shower or bath. What I would like to see is one of these customers getting tested for arsenic levels in their blood. This would tell us whether or not using a POU system really does eliminate the arsenic from a person’s body. If so, such a test would provide reassurance that a kitchen water filter for arsenic is all one needs. If not, well if not then that would also be valuable information for people who have arsenic in their water.

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About James McMahon

Studied ecology at the University of Illinois, mountain survival at Eastern Washing University, Deep Ecology at Naropa, River Ecology with The Nature Conservancy and Luna Leopold
This entry was posted in Exposure to Toxins, Reverse Osmosis, Water Purification, Well Water Purification, Whole House Water Filter, Whole House Water Filtration and Purification. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Whole House or Kitchen Filter for Arsenic Removal

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