Well Water vs City Water: Which Shower Filter Do You Need?

Short answer: it depends on where your water comes from. City water is treated and monitored, and it usually carries a disinfectant such as chlorine, which a vitamin C shower filter is designed to reduce. Private well water is not regulated or monitored by the government, and a shower filter is not a treatment for it.

City water

Public water systems are covered by EPA rules and typically keep a disinfectant in the water as it travels through pipes. Utilities use chlorine or chloramine, and the CDC considers up to 4 mg/L of either safe in drinking water. Your utility publishes an annual water quality report (a Consumer Confidence Report) that says which one it uses. That is the first thing to check. A vitamin C cartridge is designed for chlorine, and chloramine is a caution area (more here).

Well water

The CDC states that EPA rules that protect public drinking water systems do not apply to privately owned wells, and that government officials do not regulate, treat or monitor tap water from private wells. Testing is up to you. The CDC and EPA both recommend testing a private well at least once a year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH, plus anything of concern in your area. Your local health department can help, and may offer testing.

Well water is often not chlorinated unless the owner treats it, so a chlorine filter may have little to do. What tends to matter more with a well is what is in it: sediment, rust or minerals. A microfiber filter can trap sediment and rust from pipes (see how our heads work), but no shower filter can make unsafe water safe to drink or bathe in.

What to do

  1. City water: read your water quality report. If it uses free chlorine, a vitamin C filter fits. If it uses chloramine, be cautious and consider testing.
  2. Well water: get it tested by a certified lab first. Treat any bacterial or chemical result with a treatment your lab or health department recommends, not a shower head.
  3. Hard water either way: filters do not soften it (what does).

See do shower head filters actually work? for what a filter can be tested for, or browse the shower heads.

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