USA Filtration FAQs

Wouldn't the water get dirty because of the charcoal?

Water filters use a variety of different media (the components of the filter) to reduce contaminants from water. Charcoal is a common media for many water filters. To answer this question simply, a charcoal filter does not make water even dirtier because the charcoal used in water filters is generally solid or granulated (like grains of sand) and not ashy like the charcoal used in art pencils. In a water filter, as water passes over the media, the granules of that media trap large water contaminants and stop them from passing through with the water. The process is very similar to river water passing through rocks and emerging cleaner on the other side. 

While this method of filtration is certainly useful, it is not perfect. Water filters can only reduce certain contaminants and smaller contaminants will easily pass through the granules of the media with the water. Most modern filters now use chemical processes to filter water, in addition to simple physical filtration. Modern filters use a media that will attract contaminants (using a process of positive and negative charges similar to magnets) and encourage these contaminants to break their bond with water. For example, chlorine is a chemical that often contaminates water. Chlorine is very difficult to remove by simply passing water over a granular media. Chemically, chlorine can be removed by using a carbon-based media to attract atoms of chlorine and to encourage these atoms to break their bond with the water.

To sum it all up, water filters reduce contaminants by either physically blocking their passage through the filter media or chemically attracting them to the filter media. In general, they use a granulated or solid filter media that will not travel with water and further dirty it.

What is KDF?

Kinetic Degradation Fluxion (KDF):  A Patented media that controls algae and bacteria within the carbon bed.  In addition KDF removes heavy metals      such as lead, arsenic, mercury, etc.

Are USA Filtration's filters the same as NSA?

Our filters the commercial equivalent of NSA’S product line. Our units are used in both residential and commercial applications.

What is the warranty coverage on the products?

Our warranty is a 12 month pro-rata on most of our water products).

How quickly will my order ship?

We try to ship all orders in 24 to 48 hours.

Are filtration products considered purifiers?

Why would the filtered water from the unit occasionally appear cloudy?

As your new filter becomes saturated air is purged from the new media beds. Until the unit is completely saturated with water, the water coming from the filter may occasionally, appear milky or cloudy. Also, a siphon action in closing the faucet can create air pockets in the filter. These air pockets will produce tiny air bubbles in the filtered water that may cause a cloudy appearance. In either case the air will disappear if the glass of water sits for a minute.

Are shower filters really as important as drinking water filters?

In our opinion, they are more important! During a 10-minute shower, your body will absorb 10 to 50 times the level of waterborne chemicals that it would from drinking a glass of the same water. During a warm shower, the pores of our skin open up and absorb chlorine and other chemicals at an accelerated rate. Even worse, the steam you inhale is far more contaminated than the water itself, due to the fact that synthetic chemicals, including chlorine, vaporize much more rapidly than water. While over 98% of the water that comes out of your shower head goes down the drain, almost all of the chemicals vaporize into the air you breathe before the water hits the ground, making the steam more concentrated with chemicals. Also, inhaled chemicals go directly from the lungs into the blood stream and have magnified adverse effects. But, if the only benefits related to shower filters were cosmetic, we would still recommend them as vital products. Showering in filtered water offers amazing benefits for skin and hair.

Anyone who has ever gone swimming in a chlorinated pool knows how chlorine dries out the skin and hair. The thing most people do not realize is that we typically have more chlorine in tap water than in our swimming pool!. It is one of those products that, once you use it, you will never do without it. And, you will likely feel compelled to tell others. It’s like seeing a great movie for the first time!

How does a water softener differ from filtration products?

Water softeners are not designed to improve the healthfulness of water, but rather to decrease dissolved minerals and reduce scaling of pipes and appliances. These systems typically use a sodium-charged exchange media that releases sodium ions and removes minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, or potassium. From a health perspective, the presence of such minerals would definitely be preferred over the presence of sodium. Filtration systems are designed to specifically reduce harmful contaminants and leave in natural minerals.

How do you know if you need a water filter?

Virtually everyone will benefit from a home water filtration system. Even if chlorine were the only contaminant in your tap water (and chlorine is in all municipally treated water), there are significant health and cosmetic benefits to using chlorine-free water. Any child that has a goldfish knows that chlorine can kill; its sole purpose as a pesticide is to kill living cells/ organisms. When we consume chlorine, at any level, it kills some part of us. It has recently been linked to cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and many serious illnesses. Unfortunately, chlorine is not the only harmful substance in tap water. Over 90% of all U.S. water systems contain traces of at least 10 synthetic chemicals and lead. A recent Ralph Nader report stated, "After reviewing over 10,000 pages of EPA documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act... over 2100 chemicals that can cause cancer have been detected in U.S. tap water." Because water utilities only test for about 75 contaminants, no one knows for sure the extent of contamination. The risk is real and the solution can be so simple: quality, in-home water filtration.