The idea of filtering shower water seems strange to most people that first hear about shower filters.

Most first time shower filter users are amazed at the immediate benefits of showering in soft water that’s chlorine-free.
Read on to compare shower filter benefits with your needs and desires.The first benefit of a shower filter is relief from dry itchy skin. Chlorine is added to water systems to kill disease causing micro-organisms. Unfortunately, chlorine also binds with proteins in your skin and kills skin cells. This leads to dry, itchy skin and aggravates existing skin conditions such as eczema.

Hard water leaves behind mineral deposits when it evaporates and combines with soap to form soap scum.

These residues form on your skin and dry out the natural oils. They also flake off as your skin moves, but damage the skin in the process. Filtered shower water also give you silky hair that’s easy to manage. Chlorine and hard water also damage your hair. Hard water and soap scum deposits are even worse for fine hair. Your hair becomes stiff and dry from these deposits. Also, your hair is damaged when the hard water deposits flake off. Chlorine-free showers make your hair color or highlights last longer.

Chlorine is the active ingredient in household bleach. Just like bleach can turn a pair of blue jeans white, chlorine in shower water fades your hair color.
The chlorine in your shower is a lower concentration, so you don’t notice it right away, but chlorine does remove hair color.
Shower filters also reduce your exposure to chemicals.
Your body absorbs many times more chemicals in the shower that it ever could by drinking the same water.

Warm shower water opens your skin’s pores so your skin readily absorbs whatever is in the shower water.
Chemicals like chlorine evaporate quickly in a hot shower and enter your lungs as you breathe the shower steam.
Your home’s indoor air quality will be improved by a shower filter. The chlorine that evaporates from your shower water is often combines with other chemicals in the air of your home.

Modern homes are “tight” so they retain heated or cooled air for energy efficiency. This means all the chemicals released inside your home are also retained in the indoor air. Thus everyone in your home can be affected by breathing the chlorine derivatives found in the typical modern home. Shower filtration also eliminates a trigger for asthma attacks.

If someone in your home suffers from asthma or other breathing problems, eliminating every source of irritation to the lungs can help avoid an asthma attack.

It’s certainly worth a try to eliminate a major source of indoor air pollution, especially when the shower is typically near a bedroom, where we spend many hours sleeping (and breathing).

Filtration of shower water protects your children’s health. All the above benefits apply to adults and children, however because children have immature immune systems they are most susceptible to many of these problems. Children can be impacted by chlorine in shower water even if they don’t take a shower themselves.

So how many of those benefits align with a problem you or someone in your home experiences on a daily basis?

Any one of these benefits can easily lead to an improvement that would make the small investment in a shower filter seem insignificant.

By: Richard Mouser

About the Author:
Ready to get that shower filter you’ve been thinking about? Perhaps you’ve seen too many options and need some help choosing a shower filter that meets your needs?
Richard Mouser provides water filtration information and products online as Mr. Water Filter.

The search for a good handheld shower filter can be tough. At least, it was tough for me. It’s hard to get the details out of some companies. You almost have to call them up and ask them questions.

What contaminants do your handheld shower filters remove? What filtration steps are included? How is the percentage of contaminant reduction? Those are the questions that you need to ask. It is sometime hard to get the answers, but every once in a while, you run across a really good product that is worth mentioning to other people.

First, though, I’d like to tell you how I tell the good products from the bad. I am always suspicious of companies that do not go into a lot of details about their products. They may be trying to keep it simple, but I feel as though they are trying to hide something.

There is one handheld shower filter made by a company called Paragon Water. On there website, they claim to reduce chlorine by 99%, but they don’t go into any detail about removal of other contaminants. They do mention a reduction of Hydrogen Sulfide, but if you have that in your water, you would know it.

It produces a smell like rotten eggs and it’s present in some shallow wells. Charcoal would reduce the smell, but not the actual gas content in the atmosphere. Since the company doesn’t go into any details, I have to assume that they use charcoal in their handheld shower filters.

I was able to find independent surveys indicating that Paragon handheld shower filters reduce chlorine by only 50%. That won’t work for someone who’s allergic to chlorine. For the rest of us, it just won’t make that much difference.

A handheld shower filter should reduce chlorine by at least 90%, in order to be effective. There’s another problem with Paragon and other showerhead systems that reduce chlorine. They don’t reduce THMs.

THMs or trihalomethanes are in any publicly treated water supply. There are some regulations in place to limit the amount that may be present at the treatment facility, but research indicates that exposure to any amount increases an individual’s risk of cancer.

There is some disagreement among scientists as to what source of exposure is accompanied by the greatest risk. But, at least one research group has concluded that exposure by inhalation in an enclosed bathroom carries the greatest risk. So, in order to protect your health, you need handheld shower filters that reduce THMs by at least 90%.

Another problem with Paragon and some of the other companies is that they don’t reduce metallic contaminants, such as lead and copper. You might wonder why it is important for a handheld shower filter to remove these contaminants.

It is true that consumption carries the only risk of lead poisoning. But, if lead or copper is present in your water, your skin and hair will be duller. Copper can actually change the color of your hair. So, for strictly cosmetic reasons, the best handheld shower filters remove the metals.

The most effective handheld shower filter on the market can be purchased for less than $85.00. It was the right choice for my family and maybe yours, too.

By: Larry Fletcher

About the Author:
Larry Fletcher is a dedicated researcher on the health benefits of purified drinking and bath water. Visit his site now at http://www.pure-and-safe-water.com to discover the handheld shower filter he endorses.

Don’t buy water filters for shower heads until you know the facts. We all need shower filters for copper and chlorine, but there are some products on the market that are a real waste of money.

I don’t mean to sound cheap. But, why pay more, when you can get something effective for a fraction of the cost? We are on a budget. So, I always shop around, comparing quality and performance. If I have to pay more to get better quality, then I will. But, when I began to compare water filters for shower heads, I realize that some of these companies are trying to rips us off.

“Wellness”, for example, is the most expensive brand on the market. They make unsubstantiated claims about the performance of their products. They have not had their products evaluated by independent laboratories, the California Health Department of other regulating agencies.

On the flip side of the coin, there are water filters for shower heads that do not remove copper or lead. They do not reduce hazardous chemicals that become airborne in the shower. Yet, they cost more than the most effective systems on the market.

When it comes to shower filters for copper and chlorine, there are only three products on the market with effective chemical reduction. The prices range from $67.99 to $249.00 for the Wellness brand.

Companies like “Paragon” and “Shower-wise” do not provide effective chemical removal, but there prices are about the same as the more effective shower filters for copper and chlorine. I’ve already mentioned that Wellness is a waste of money.

But, a $70 system that does not remove chlorine byproducts or metallic traces is also a waste of money. The Paragon and Shower-wise systems only reduce chlorine by 50% and do nothing to reduce chlorination byproducts. Those byproducts have been shown to increase your cancer-risk. The threat in the shower is believed to be greater than the threat in the kitchen. In other words, inhaling the fumes and allowing the chemical to soak into your skin is worse than consuming them in a glass of water.

So, you need shower filters for copper and chlorine that also remove trihalomethanes (THMs). The most effective systems remove more than 90% of those chemicals and about 70% of the lead and copper.

If you’re tall, you might want to rule out water filters for shower heads that reduce the shower head height. If you like an invigorating massage, you need to look for one with a flow-rate around 2.5 Gallons per minute.

If you have kids or if you like a tub-bath, you want to look for shower filters for copper and chlorine that have a removable wand. That way you can fill up the tub, too.

Once you find the right system, you will never go back to showering in chlorinated water. It’s almost like showering in spring-water. It feels that good. Hopefully, the information here will help you find the right water filters for shower heads and save some money, too.

By: Derek Reeve

About the Author:

Derek Reeve runs an informational website that provides details of chlorine filters for shower heads. Get the lowdown on the best place to find water purifacation systems for home