Whole House Fluoride Filter: Worth the Investment? Our 1-Year Review

By Craig "The Water Guy" Phillips January 10, 2025

Understanding Fluoride in Water

Effects and Concerns

When it comes to fluoride in our drinking water, it's a bit of a balancing act. Some fluoride is added to help keep those pesky cavities at bay—especially for the kiddos. But there's a fine line here. Too much fluoride can start causing trouble. We're talking potential bone issues and even a possible link to ADHD. Who knew?

Fluoride makes its way into groundwater not just from human hands but also thanks to Mother Nature. It can come from natural rock breakdown or volcanic activity, and let's not forget about fertilizer runoff and industrial waste.

If you’re on well water, there's a chance of running into skeletal and dental fluorosis with high fluoride levels—and nobody wants joint issues or enamel problems.

Fluoride Concentration	Health Impact
Below 0.7 mg/l	Super for stopping cavities
1.5 mg/l	UK's suggested level
4 mg/l	US EPA's upper limit

Regulation by Authorities

Thankfully, the powers that be have set some ground rules for how much fluoride is safe in our drinking water. In the US, the EPA says 4 mg/l is the max. That’s their way of keeping us from overdoing it on fluoride.

Over in the UK, things run a tad different. They aim for a fluoride level of 1.5 ppm. Generally, UK tap water doesn’t have much fluoride, so for many folks, filtering it out isn't a big deal. Still, there are pockets where they decide to add a bit more fluoride to the mix.

Getting a grip on how fluoride acts in our water and what the rules are means we can make smarter choices about water treatment systems. Maybe that's a whole house filter to handle fluoride, just to play it safe.

Whole House Fluoride Filters

When it comes to Whole House Fluoride Filter then SoftPro Filters is always on top of our list.

Efficiency and Limitations

So, we're thinking about getting a whole house fluoride filter, but first, let's chat about how well these things actually work. The big question is: can they really get fluoride out of our water or not? Now, the problem with many of these systems is that water is rushing through so fast, they sometimes miss out on filtering fluoride effectively.

Picture it like trying to catch butterflies with a net while sprinting – not easy! You see, point-of-use systems, like the ones right under our kitchen sinks, are more focused and better at zapping specific nasties like fluoride. They ain't perfect, but they're more on point compared to their larger house-wide cousins.

Now, to get into the nitty-gritty, let’s say we use a cubic foot of bone char in our house fluoride filter. This setup can sift out about 1.0 mg/l of fluoride from our water. Keeping in mind that Uncle Sam’s Environmental Protection Agency says 4 mg/l is the top limit we should have in our tap water, it’s clear that some systems do a better job than others, depending on what goodies or goblins they’re made of.

Filter Type	Fluoride Removal Efficiency (mg/l)
Bone Char (1 cubic foot)	About 1.0
Typical Whole House Filter	Doesn’t kill it with kindness

Cost Considerations

Taking a glance at price tags, we can’t ignore the cost of these whole house fluoride filters. They're generally more expensive than those little guys like benchtop or under-sink filters that sit stealthily in our kitchens. A basic triple whole house setup might set us back anywhere from $170 to $800, depending on how fancy we want to get.

And we can’t forget about getting these bad boys installed. We’re looking at another $500 to $700 for a plumber’s time, so it pays to cozy up with someone who installs them right. The trick is balancing how much cash we splash with the benefits of sipping on better quality water in the long haul.