Drinking Water Systems for Yorba Linda Kitchens
An under sink reverse osmosis system gives you one faucet of clean water for drinking, cooking, coffee and ice. The rest of the house carries on with city water, which is the sensible arrangement, because there is no point sending polished water to a washing machine.
The three models are compared on the reverse osmosis drinking water systems page. What follows is why the case for one is a little different up here.
Two Things Are Affecting the Taste
The first is disinfectant. The imported share of the north county supply is chloraminated, and Metropolitan's Diemer plant that treats it is in Yorba Linda itself. Chloramine is the swimming pool note, and it is the taste most people can identify.
The second is mineral load, and it is the one people struggle to name. Water carrying a lot of dissolved solids does not taste chemical, it tastes heavy, or flat, or leaves a mineral finish. Yorba Linda water is hard, and hardness is dissolved mineral content by definition. That is why a carbon filter here often produces a partial result. Carbon handles the first problem and cannot touch the second.
"Up here people tell me they already tried a filter and it did not really work. Usually it worked exactly as designed, on the chlorine. What was still bothering them was the mineral weight, and no carbon filter on earth removes that. You need a membrane, and once they taste the difference the conversation is over in about ten seconds."
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 the dissolved solids largely do not. This is the stage that answers the mineral heaviness, along with dissolved metals where present.
- Carbon block polish. A final pass on taste and odor before the dedicated faucet.
If the result tastes too clean after years of mineral rich water, the Pur Alkaline filter returns calcium and magnesium after the last stage and raises the pH.
Which System for a Yorba Linda Home
A heavy dissolved solids reading points at the MICROMAX 6500, the five stage system that splits sediment and carbon into separate filters and consequently needs servicing less often. Where cabinet space is the binding constraint, the MICROMAX 7000 is the low profile four stage answer. The MICROMAX 6000 covers the same ground as the 7000 at the value end.
It Will Not Help the Rest of the House
One faucet, by design. The shower, the dishwasher and the water heater are all still receiving hard water, and in this part of the county that is where the expensive damage happens. That job belongs to a water softener in Yorba Linda, or to whole house filtration if the complaint is smell at every tap rather than scale.
The free water test at your address measures all of it, so you can sequence the work sensibly instead of guessing.
Drinking Water FAQ: Yorba Linda, CA
Why does Yorba Linda water taste heavy rather than just chlorinated?
Because there are two things going on. The imported share of the supply is chloraminated, which is the swimming pool note people recognise. On top of that, water in this part of the county carries a substantial dissolved mineral load, and that reads on the tongue as heaviness or a flat mineral finish rather than as a chemical taste. Reverse osmosis is the only common household treatment that addresses the second one.
Will a carbon filter fix it then?
Partly. A carbon jug or fridge filter will take out chlorine, taste and odor, so it helps with the disinfectant note. It cannot reduce dissolved solids, because that requires a membrane. If your water tastes heavy rather than chemical, a carbon filter will improve it and leave you still not satisfied, which is a common experience here.
Does hard water affect coffee and tea?
Noticeably, and it is one of the more common reasons people call. High mineral content changes extraction and leaves scale inside the machine. Reverse osmosis water at the kitchen tap gives you consistent water for brewing and stops the kettle furring over every few weeks.
Which Micromax fits a Yorba Linda kitchen?
Where the test shows a heavy dissolved solids reading, which is common here, the five stage MICROMAX 6500 is usually the better pick because it separates sediment and carbon into their own stages and stretches the service interval. The low profile MICROMAX 7000 is the answer where cabinet space is the limiting factor, and the 6000 is the value option.
Should I put in a softener as well?
In this part of the county, quite possibly. A drinking water system treats one faucet and does nothing for the shower, the dishwasher or the water heater. Hard water is doing its damage in those places whether or not the drinking water is sorted. The free test measures both so you can decide what order to do things in.
Can minerals be added back after reverse osmosis?
Yes, with the Pur Alkaline stage, and some people prefer it. Reverse osmosis strips calcium and magnesium along with everything else, and if you are used to mineral rich water the result can taste thin at first. The alkaline filter returns those two and lifts the pH. It fits after the final stage on any of the Micromax systems.
More from Puronics of Orange County: the Yorba Linda water treatment overview, salt free systems in Yorba Linda, plus drinking water systems in Fullerton, Orange, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
