Drinking Water Systems for Santa Ana Kitchens
An under sink reverse osmosis system gives you one faucet of clean water for drinking, cooking, coffee and ice, while the rest of the house runs on city water. The three models are compared on the under sink drinking water systems page.
Santa Ana has a particular reason to care about what happens at the tap rather than at the street.
The City Runs Its Own Water
Santa Ana operates its own water system and is not an MWDOC member agency, which is unusual in Orange County. The city sits inside the groundwater basin, so a large share of what it delivers is pumped locally rather than imported from Metropolitan.
Practically, that means your annual water quality report comes from the city itself, and comparing notes with somebody in a neighbouring city served by a regional district is not comparing like with like.
The Oldest Housing Stock in the County
Santa Ana has more genuinely old residential building than anywhere else in Orange County, and that is relevant to drinking water in a way it is not in the newer master planned cities.
Water leaves the utility meeting every standard that applies to it. Then it travels through whatever pipe your house happens to have. Older interior plumbing can add taste, sediment, or dissolved metals on that last stretch, and nothing the utility does at the treatment plant addresses what happens after the meter. A system at the kitchen faucet is the last point in that chain, which is the sensible place to treat if the pipes between are part of the problem.
"In Santa Ana I pay attention to the house as much as the city report. The utility can be doing everything right and the water can still pick something up between the meter and the kitchen in a place with plumbing that old. Testing at the faucet you actually drink from is the only test that tells you the truth."
Gregg Stewart, Owner, Puronics of Orange County, CA C-55 #904801, (714) 545-3022
What the Stages Do
- Carbon. Removes sediment and chlorine, and protects the membrane behind it, since chlorine damages membranes.
- Ultrafiltration. Fine enough to act as a barrier to waterborne cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia if present, and self cleaning.
- Reverse osmosis. Water crosses the membrane and most dissolved solids do not, including dissolved metals such as lead and copper where they are present.
- Carbon block polish. A final pass on taste and odor before the dedicated faucet.
The Pur Alkaline filter returns calcium and magnesium after the final stage and raises the pH if the water tastes too clean.
Choosing a System
The MICROMAX 7000 is the low profile four stage unit and the usual answer in the smaller older kitchens here. The MICROMAX 6500 splits sediment and carbon into separate stages, suiting a heavier dissolved solids reading and stretching the service interval. The MICROMAX 6000 is the value option. All three run on household water pressure, so no electrical work is needed, which matters in an older house.
It Will Not Address Hard Water
One faucet only. Santa Ana sits on the basin and the water is hard, so the shower, dishwasher and water heater are still accumulating scale regardless of what you fit under the sink. That is a water softener in Santa Ana, and if the complaint is taste and smell at every tap it is whole house filtration instead.
The free water test at your home measures all of it in about twenty minutes.
Drinking Water FAQ: Santa Ana, CA
Where does Santa Ana water come from?
The city runs its own water system and is not an MWDOC member agency, which puts it in a small group in this county. Santa Ana sits inside the Orange County groundwater basin, so a large share of the supply is pumped locally rather than imported. Your annual water quality report comes from the city rather than from a regional district.
Does the age of my house affect my drinking water?
It can, and Santa Ana has the oldest housing stock in Orange County. Water leaves the utility meeting every standard, then travels through whatever pipe the house was built with. Older interior plumbing can contribute taste, sediment or metals that were not in the water at the street. A treatment system at the kitchen tap sits at the end of that journey, which is the useful place for it.
Is Santa Ana tap water safe to drink?
Yes, it meets federal and California drinking water standards. People install drinking water systems here for taste, for sediment, and because of what older interior plumbing can add on the way to the faucet, not because the utility is failing a standard.
What does reverse osmosis remove that a carbon filter does not?
Dissolved solids, including dissolved metals such as lead and copper where they are present. A carbon jug or fridge filter deals with chlorine, taste and odor, and does that well. It cannot reduce the dissolved load. In an older home that distinction is worth understanding rather than assuming.
Which Micromax fits a Santa Ana kitchen?
Cabinet space usually decides. The MICROMAX 7000 is the low profile four stage unit and fits the smaller kitchens common in the older neighbourhoods. The 6500 adds a fifth stage by separating sediment and carbon, which suits a heavier dissolved solids reading and stretches the service interval. The 6000 is the value option.
Will it fix hard water?
No. It treats one faucet, so the shower, dishwasher and water heater are untouched. Santa Ana sits on the basin and the water is hard, so scale is a genuine issue here. If that is your complaint you want a softener, and the free test measures both so you can decide what to do first.
More from Puronics of Orange County: the Santa Ana water treatment overview, salt free systems in Santa Ana, plus drinking water systems in Tustin, Orange, Anaheim and Irvine.
