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- Learn About Shower Filters
You love swimming. Your doctor recommended you get more cardio, and perfecting your breaststroke has helped you get into the best shape of your life.
But the chlorine used to disinfect your local swimming pool is taking a toll: your skin is dry and irritated. You can’t shake that chemical smell. Your glossy hair has faded and turned limp. Finally, you decide to swim early in the morning and then wash the chlorine away at home, in the comfort of your own shower.
You’re scrolling through your timeline (no judgment here), and you stumble across a headline that makes you do a double-take. According to the American Chemistry Council, about 98% of public water systems use chlorine disinfection. Reality hits you: you might be showering in chlorine.
Why might I need a shower filter?
When it comes to residential water filtration, you likely associate water treatment solutions with drinking water. This is natural – we want the water we drink every day to be great-tasting, refreshing, and contain as few contaminants as possible.
But gulping down a glass of H2O isn’t the only way water finds its way into your body. Your skin absorbs water while you shower, and the overall quality of that water can make the difference between feeling revitalized and feeling like a raisin.
A comprehensive study published in the American Journal of Public Health notes that “skin absorption while bathing or swimming, and inhalation of vapors while showering” can be a “significant portal of entry for contaminants” like chlorine and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The study also notes that the authors reached their results in lab conditions and that the absorption rates in “environmental exposures” like your shower could be greater.
Yikes! Chlorine and other treatment chemicals can wreak havoc on your skin and hair as they pass through your pores and into your body. That’s where Pentair comes in: shower filters treat your water in the showerhead to reduce unwanted chemicals.
Shower filters turn an “AAHHH!” of horror into an “aahhh” of relief, all in the span of a few seconds.
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How do shower filters work?
Great question! At their core, shower filters function just like drinking water filters. Tap water enters the filter, passes through multiple treatment stages, and emits from your showerhead as a soothing, sauna-ready stream.
Pentair’s line of shower filters include three unique stages of treatment. Hop aboard the education train: it’s time to explore the inner-workings of our shower filters.
Stage 1 - Copper and Zinc Oxidation Media
In this first stage, we tackle chlorine treatment using a patented media blend of elements, including copper and zinc, to reduce chlorine from your shower water at a rate of 96%.
Stage 2 - GAC Carbon Media
Carbon filtration is a proven water filtration method used to reduce impurities from your water. Many brands of shower filters on the market only use carbon filtration to treat shower water.
Inside a Pentair shower filter, our steam-activated carbon media traps chloramines, other synthetic chemicals, and associated unpleasant odors in the carbon’s pores to deliver an energizing yet relaxing shower. With GAC Carbon Media, your shower can smell and feel fresher than ever.
Stage 3 - Far-Infrared Balls
Get ready for a mouthful: the Pentair shower filter’s final treatment stage contains far-infrared emitting volcanic media to induce negative ions into the water.
No, don’t worry – we’re not infusing your shower filter with lava. This type of media lowers your water’s surface tension to make it feel softer on your skin and hair. It’ll feel like you’ve just left the spa!
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Shower filter benefits
As that chilling study from the American Journal of Public Health concluded, inhaling chemical vapors as you belt show tunes in the shower can do more harm than good. So, why should you get a shower filter? To ensure you’re mostly inhaling H2O!
Chlorine and chloramines reduction
These heavy hitters do their job remarkably well. Chlorine and chloramines destroy microorganisms in drinking water so that you don’t wake up with a nasty bout of gastrointestinal distress. But why would you want chemicals designed to treat impurities in water inside your body? Learn about chlorine and its potential effects to see why ingesting too much of it shouldn’t be on your daily to-do list.
Pentair shower filters reduce the concentration of chlorine by 96%* and significantly reduces the concentration of chloramines. In case you don’t want to read another article, here are the highlights: chlorine can strip your hair and skin of its protective layer of oil, called “sebum.” With this oil gone, your skin and hair are vulnerable. Your hair can become dry, frizzy, and damaged.
Some shower filters also reduce chloramines. These treatment chemicals are essentially a mashup of chlorine and ammonia. Besides their unsavory odor, chloramines create byproducts when they react with organic molecules, transforming into the concerning VOCs referenced in the American Journal of Public Health study.
Convenience
Don’t worry, though, the solution couldn’t be simpler. Shower filters present an affordable solution to aesthetic and health concerns in your shower. Allow yourself to relax and unwind in the shower when you outfit it with a filter designed with your comfort in mind.
When you choose Pentair, you can expect these convenient features:
- Long lifespan – Filters last for 30,000 gallons, or an average of 6-9 months
- Easy Installation – no need to break out the tools. Just snap in new filters and turn on the shower.
- Lower costs – Switch between a constant pressure mode and a water conservation mode via the dual-flow shower head.
- Sauna-like shower – Your shower water smells heavenly with reduced odors. Plus, the aromatic scent bar delivers a spa-like experience, right from the comfort of your home.
Water 101
Unleash the secrets of your H2O! Explore where water originates and discover the various water filtration solutions that transform it into drinkable water.
* Test to NSF/ANSI 177 for the reduction of free available chlorine by KDF Fluid Treatment Laboratory