Mountain View Pure Water Podcast

Point-of-Use Water Systems: Expert Insights for Healthier Hydration

• Dan Toth • Episode 8

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What Point Of Entry Options Are Available When Purchasing A Water Purification System? 

Clean water shouldn't be complicated, but the overwhelming number of filtration options makes choosing the right system challenging. Dan Toth cuts through the confusion by revealing a counterintuitive truth: those inexpensive point-of-use filters for your sink or shower aren't the budget-friendly solution they appear to be. Over time, they often cost more while delivering less effective filtration than whole-house systems.

The filtration landscape has become increasingly cluttered with questionable products. With the rise of online marketplaces, consumers face a flood of options varying dramatically in quality and effectiveness. Many people unknowingly select products that fail to meet American quality standards for contaminant removal, believing they're protected when they may not be. "The mindset is 'I need to have something, let me get the cheapest thing I can get,'" Dan explains. "In reality, it's going to cost you more and it may not be doing the job that you think it will."

When comparing filtration technologies, Dan takes a science-based approach that might surprise those following water treatment trends. While alkaline, hydrogen, and structured water systems generate buzz, reverse osmosis consistently outperforms them in removing contaminants—the primary goal of filtration. Most intriguingly, many trendy systems actually require certain dissolved solids to function—the very elements comprehensive filtration aims to eliminate. This creates a paradox where "improved" water may contain more substances that reduce its bioavailability for hydration. As Dan puts it, "The higher the TDS of water, the less bioavailable it is for hydration, and that's the whole purpose of drinking water." 

Looking for water guidance you can trust? Call 423-218-9361 for a free consultation and discover how proper filtration can transform your home's water quality.

To learn more about Mountain View Pure Water & Air visit:
https://www.MVPWater.net
Mountain View Pure Water & Air
2926 Boones Creek Rd Suite #1
Johnson City, TN 37615
423-218-9361

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Mountain View Pure Podcast, where your journey to exceptional water quality begins. Here's your host, dan Toth, owner of Mountain View Pure Water. They proudly serve homeowners in the Tri-Cities and beyond, offering advanced water and air purification solutions that support a healthier lifestyle. The mission is clear helping you get great water.

Speaker 2:

Targeted, efficient and right where you need it. Point of view systems can make a big difference. Here's how to pick the right one for your space and your lifestyle. Here's how to pick the right one for your space and your lifestyle. Welcome back everyone. Skip Monty, co-host producer, back in the studio with Dan Toth, owner of Mountain View Pure Water. Dan, how's it going? Doing well, skip? How are you today? Doing just fine, thrilled to be back. Your practical guidance always makes water wellness feel within reach.

Speaker 1:

Speaking of which?

Speaker 2:

how do I choose a point of use water system and what options are there?

Speaker 3:

All right. So point of use is filtration right where you're using the water. You think about it at your sink. You might have one of these filters that fits right on the faucet. You might have one of these filters that fits right on the faucet. You might have a filter that's down below the sink where the water filters through before it comes out the faucet. A point of use filter also is usually on most refrigerators there's a carbon filter that they're showering in, and then there's also things like we have Brita and Berkey and Pure, and there's a whole bunch of other brand names that people will know that they can use as a pitcher or a filter mechanism to sit beside the sink, and so there's a lot of ways that you can filter your water for use, no matter what the use is if it's showering, if it's drinking, cooking, things like that and so picking the right filter for that is.

Speaker 3:

I think we often look at those filters, as we do with bottled water. I think there's a little bit of awareness that a filter is needed, but discernment as to what kind of filter is needed is lacking, and so one of the things that we try to do is we help to educate every one of our customers everyone who we go out to meet with we try to educate them as to what a filter is actually doing for them, what the cost is associated with using that particular filter and then what benefits there would be to different styles of filtration. So in the last episode we talked about point of entry filtration. Last episode we talked about point of entry filtration and by and large I would say most point-of-use filters are not better than a point-of-entry filter would give you through every point of use throughout the house if you had it installed.

Speaker 3:

Typically, I feel like people spend more money on the less expensive point of use filters than they would if they had a whole house. Filtration for carbon or carbon filtration for chemicals and taste and odor so that's one of the things that I want to just get out there right away. Odor so that's one of the things that I want to just get out there right away. People think that the less expensive point of use filters for a shower head or at the sink are less expensive and I would argue that over time they're more expensive and you're not getting as much filtration as you would with a point of entry filter for the whole house water. Second, thing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I was gonna say so. Yeah, I guess with point of point of use you've got a different filter.

Speaker 3:

If you have to do a lot more replacement, I would think the filters right yes, yeah, and one of the things that you know I'm I will not be accused of being a tree hugger or something like that but at same time, why would you waste money? Why would you throw things away when you could use a process that is more effective, has less waste and costs less over time? And that's where I think that the point of entry filter is so much better at removing contaminants, foul taste and odor for your home than a carbon block or filter system that you have to replace every couple of months. There's more expense to the replacement and it filters less of the places that you'll use the water and it also doesn't necessarily filter as much contaminant out.

Speaker 3:

The other thing that you'll run into when I think this is possibly an equally bad problem is as a consumer, how do you know which filter to get? How do you know which one is an American standard quality filter and which one would be from China or another country that doesn't have the same standards for product quality or removal of contaminants that the American standards have? So that's a big problem. Because of Amazon and other online retailers, we are flooded with cheap options and often we default to the cheap option because that's the mindset. The mindset is oh, I need to have something, let me get the cheapest thing I can get. In reality, it's going to cost you more and it may not be doing the job that you are actually trying to have it do for you.

Speaker 3:

You may not be removing the contaminants that you think it will be.

Speaker 2:

Agreed Well. Do point of view systems still allow for options like alkaline balancing or UV or reverse osmosis, like a whole house system would?

Speaker 3:

Okay, so that's a loaded question. It may not seem that way to most people, but so we do have several different types of filtration for point of use that people have employed. Let's see the concept of high pH or alkalinity. That's one. There's another concept of structured water is another, Hydrogen water is another. And then you have what my personal pick is is reverse osmosis. And people will say, well, hey, why do you pick that one over the others? I pick that one simply because my goal is removing contaminants, and none of the other systems remove as much contaminant from the water. None of them give you as pure of a water as the reverse osmosis does. You can even upgrade reverse osmosis, so if you were to go to distilled or deionized water, there's even more removal of contaminants than reverse osmosis has, but you've got a lot more upkeep and a lot more costs involved. So when you figure in cost and maintenance, reverse osmosis is just head and shoulders above other options for what it removes and what it costs to keep it working properly.

Speaker 2:

Hydrogen water. You mentioned hydrogen water. What is that?

Speaker 3:

Well, this is a new thing. You can call it a fad just because it's new and popular. And what it does is it uses a certain electrolysis process to introduce more oxygen, free hydrogen, into the water than it has on its own. So water is H2O and so you have hydrogen and oxygen. And so you think to yourself, well, how can you get more hydrogen than that? And the reality is it's just splitting bonds and allowing for more hydrogen to be free to utilize it in the body.

Speaker 3:

Um, not really strong on the science of it, but some people find it to be effective to increase their energy levels and some other things. And um, along with all of these different concepts, so we'll use alkaline water, hydrogen water, structured water. There's a lot of hype in each one of these and the consumer may not notice the benefits compared to what the hype is behind them, and so I would urge someone to just have a higher quality water, which is what reverse alkaline water will give you. You, instead of going for a fad and so some of those things people get, people would maybe getting really angry with me right now for calling them fads and hyped, but the reality is, science isn't necessarily on the side of these fad concepts and what we do know is is that if you remove the contaminants that a reverse osmosis system will remove, these other products don't work as well.

Speaker 3:

They actually require a certain amount of stuff in the water to make their product change the water. That, to me, that's a big problem, because I'm trying to help people understand that the more stuff that's in the water, we refer to it as dissolved solids, total dissolved solids or TDS. The higher the TDS of the water, the less bioavailable it is for us to be hydrated, and that's the whole purpose of drinking water is. We want to be hydrated and so if there's more stuff in the water, you may have more contaminants.

Speaker 3:

But when we remove overall the percentage of stuff that's in the water, we have a pure quality water, more h2o and less other stuff. That means that there's less contaminants, we get better hydration and and sometimes that means that these other products don't work as well to produce the water quality that someone thinks that they want. And I say that only because they think that they want it, because it is popular and if it works for you, that's great. But psychologically there's been lots of sugar pills out there and things that have been given in place of something that actually causes a difference that people think causes a difference because they've been told it causes a difference. So I'm looking at the science of it, saying, hey, I know that water that has less contaminant in it is healthier for me and that's what I'm trying to help my customers get.

Speaker 2:

That's what I'm trying to help my customers get. So you're saying that these THAAD structured water, hydrogen water that they only work effectively if the water is really contaminated?

Speaker 3:

Not really contaminated. But once you reverse osmosis filter it, you may not have enough stuff left in the water for their electrolysis process to work properly. And I'm not saying it's across the board. There are some higher quality products out there that will still produce the end product that the customer is wanting, with a better quality water that they're starting with. But the majority of them are cheaper and don't produce when the water quality is improved.

Speaker 2:

Very good to know, very, very good to know. Well, dan, great insights as always. Thanks for guiding us through the nuts and bolts of smarter water access. I feel smarter already just listening to you, so for real. So looking forward to our next episode. Oh, thanks me too.

Speaker 1:

all right, we'll see you then thank you for joining us on the mountain view pure podcast. When you're ready to transform your home's water and air quality, call or text 423-218-9361 for a free in-home consultation. For more information visit mvpwaternet. Remember, great water is the foundation of a great life.