Dedicated water filter or inline water filter – what’s the difference?
Think of a kitchen water filter system and often the first image that comes to mind is a separate filter tap sitting next to your main mixer tap in the kitchen. However, things have evolved a lot over the years and an inline water filter neatly fitted under your sink, attached to your main kitchen tap is currently WFA’s most popular choice.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages but often it’s purely down to personal preference.
WFA’s technical director, Craig Hannam has been developing and designing water filter systems for over 20 years. He explains the main differences between WFA’s two most popular in house water filter systems.
The Dedicated Water Filter System
If you prefer to use filtered water only some of the time and like to have a separate tap, then the dedicated tap system may be the best water filter for you. However, fitting a dedicated water filter may require the services of a plumber, unless of course you’re an experienced DIY person!
What about flow rate?
The separate tap system has a slower flow rate than the inline system. This can be frustrating if you are using the filtered water for everyday cooking and regularly filling a kettle. However, WFA’s dedicated water filter flows 2 to 3 times faster than other competitive brands.
What about filter tap choices?
WFA supply two filter tap choices with the dedicated filter tap system. Both are chrome plated and both have ceramic discs inside for the internal mechanisms. These are designed to match similar tap ware in the market.
Choose between a gooseneck and squareneck to suit your kitchen decor.
How does the WFA separate tap system compare to other tap systems out there?
At WFA we use commercial hose threaded fittings. Most other filter companies provide plastic tubing and plastic fittings. These need to have a pressure limiting valve to protect the system from bursting under pressure.
Our water filter systems have all been tested to exceed 3,500 kPa which means they don’t need a pressure limiting valve. We use stainless steel braided, “Pex” hose.
Pex is the internal material of the hose, it is not rubber, it’s a special food grade durable lining. So these commercial hose fittings will last a long time without any service issues. Plastic fittings and plastic tubing can create leaks over time resulting in ongoing service issues.
All parts included in WfA systems are Watermark approved. Not only is the system Watermark approved, importantly, the systems performance has been independantly tested.
Inline Water Filter System
The inline filter system is a great option if you want to use your filtered water for more than just drinking water and you don’t want to drill a hole in your sink or call a plumber!
Faster Flow
Due to the fast flow rate, an inline water filter can be used for a range of other things. It fills up kettles and pots quicker. It’s very convenient if you want to cook with filtered water. It’s also easy to wash your vegetables and fruit with it. You can save space under your sink too as it can be fitted vertically or horizontally. And you can choose any tap you like as it connects to your main kitchen mixer tap.
Filtered water all the time – What about water wastage?
Some people may think that they are wasting water with an inline system. But if you look at the figures. The inline cartridge removes up to 56,000 litres of chlorine. The average kitchen uses about half this amount in a year. So you’ve got a significant amount of water to be used. When you do a wash up, it’s typically tempered with hot water – a mixture of hot and cold water. And there’s the cost saving benefits too – it costs less than 1 cent a litre. So you are not really wasting water and it’s not costing a lot for healthy filtered water on tap.
The other advantage of the inline water filter is that it’s quick and easy to install. It can be installed in a horizontal position and there is no drilling of holes…and no need to call the plumber!
Save Space with Vertical or Horizontal Installation
We recommend that you install the inline water filter horizontally. The system can be installed down the side of the shelf, under the kitchen sink with a stabilising bracket which just helps hold up the end of the water filter cartridge, because it just gets a little heavy when it’s got water in it! Also a horizontal position saves space under your sink. Of course you can also install the inline system vertically if you want to.
A Fully Reversible System
The other thing is that the filter head itself can be reversed to suit your under sink layout.
If you look at the filter front on, you’ve got your water coming in (inflow from the left) and water coming out the right hand side. There are marks on the head to show the in and out. If you need to reverse that you can.
You just take the bracket off the top (there are 4 screws). Undo the screws and turn the bracket around and that swaps the inlet and outlet. It helps you if you are working out where to fit it. If you are fitting it on the right hand side of the kitchen looking in, then the set up as it is, is fine. If you want to install it on the left hand side, you may need to reverse the in and out to make it easier for installation purposes.
Once you’ve installed it, turn the water back on and run it for a couple of minutes, just to purge the air out of the water filter cartridge and also to get rid of any carbon powder that might be in there after the manufacturing process. So if the water looks cloudy, keep it running for a bit longer to get rid of the air. All the cloudiness is just compressed air.
Take the alarm monitor out of its packaging – read the instructions to activate – stick it on the filter cartridge. Then set and forget for 12 months until we call you to remind you to change it or the inbuilt alarm goes off to remind you to reorder the replacement water filter cartridge.
At the end of the day choosing the right water filter is down to personal choice and your family’s lifestyle.
At WFA, we have a large range of quality water filter systems that we guarantee will last a long time. We are so confident in them that all parts (except for the filter cartridge which is a consumable) come with a lifetime warranty… and you can’t get better than that! (Terms and conditions apply)