Whole-house Carbon Filters
Whole-house Carbon Filters | Water Purification | Plumbing | Decherd
Imagine stepping into your Decherd home and turning on any tap—kitchen, shower, or laundry—knowing the water is as fresh and crisp as a mountain spring. HEP’s whole-house carbon filters strip away chlorine, sediment, and unpleasant odors before they ever reach your fixtures, delivering a smoother taste, gentler showers, and longer-lasting appliances. Our certified plumbers size each system to your household’s flow rate, install it neatly into existing lines, and fine-tune the bypass valves so maintenance is effortless.
What sets us apart is the attention to the unseen details: high-capacity coconut-shell carbon, pressure-tested housings, and service plans that remind you when it’s time for a cartridge change. Whether you’re building new or upgrading an older well or city connection, this is water purification that you’ll notice every single day—without ever lifting a pitcher filter again.
FAQs
What contaminants does a whole-house carbon filter remove from Decherd’s municipal and well water?
Activated carbon is highly effective at adsorbing chlorine, chloramines, disinfection by-products (THMs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, herbicides, many industrial solvents, unpleasant tastes/odors, and some heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Because Decherd’s drinking water is chlorinated at the plant and may pick up agricultural runoff on its way from surface reservoirs, a carbon filter provides an extra barrier against both chemical additives and naturally occurring organics before the water reaches any tap in your home.
How does a whole-house carbon filtration system work?
The system is plumbed into the main water line where it enters your home. Water flows through a large media tank packed with high-grade granular activated carbon (GAC) or catalytic carbon. The carbon’s enormous internal surface area attracts and captures contaminants through a process called adsorption. Clean water exits the tank and is distributed to every fixture—showers, kitchen sink, washing machine, and outdoor spigots—so every drop you use is treated, not just what you drink.
Will installing a whole-house carbon filter lower my water pressure?
A properly sized system should have minimal impact on flow rate. Our standard units for the Decherd area are rated for 10–12 gallons per minute, which is more than adequate for the average household’s simultaneous shower, laundry, and kitchen demands. During installation we match the filter’s inlet/outlet diameter to your existing supply line and verify pressure before and after start-up. If you have a very large home or irrigation demands, we can upsize the tank or run parallel units to maintain optimal pressure.
How often do the carbon filters need to be replaced and what maintenance is required?
Unlike pitcher or refrigerator cartridges, a whole-house unit uses 1–1.5 cubic feet of carbon that typically lasts 5–7 years for a family of four in Decherd, depending on water usage and chlorine levels. Most systems feature an automatic back-washing valve that periodically reverses the flow to flush out trapped sediment and re-level the media bed; this keeps the carbon surface active and prevents channeling. Routine maintenance is therefore minimal—just an annual inspection to confirm the valve cycle and a media replacement when the chlorine “breakthrough” test indicates depletion, usually done by our technicians in under two hours.
Do I need a professional plumber to install the system, and what does the process involve?
We strongly recommend professional installation. The job requires cutting into the main supply line, adding bypass valves, securing the heavy media tank, and programming the electronic control head. Our licensed plumbers will: (1) shut off and drain the main line; (2) sweat or crimp new copper or PEX fittings; (3) install a three-valve bypass for easy service; (4) connect the drain line for automatic backwashing; and (5) sanitize and pressure-test the system before returning your water to service. A typical installation in Decherd takes 3–4 hours and is code-compliant, so you won’t have warranty or insurance issues later.
How does a carbon filter compare to reverse osmosis or water softeners for whole-house treatment?
Each technology targets different contaminants. A carbon filter is the best first line of defense against chemical pollutants and taste/odor issues. Whole-house reverse osmosis (RO) removes dissolved salts, fluoride, nitrates, and nearly all other ions, but it is costlier, wastes some water, and may require a repressurization pump. Water softeners exchange hardness minerals (calcium, magnesium) for sodium or potassium but do not remove chemical disinfectants or VOCs. In many Decherd homes we pair a carbon filter with a softener: the carbon unit protects skin, appliances, and the softener’s resin from chlorine, while the softener prevents scaling. For customers with specific health concerns about heavy metals or nitrate, we may recommend point-of-use RO at the kitchen sink in addition to whole-house carbon.