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Reverse Osmosis vs. Refrigerator Filters: Which is Best?

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 16:43:15 GMT

Reverse Osmosis vs. Refrigerator Filters: Which One Is the Best?

When it comes to improving the quality of your drinking water, many Cleveland homeowners choose either a refrigerator water filter or reverse osmosis water filter. Reverse osmosis systems are the better option because, although they’re more expensive to install, they provide purer, better tasting water and have similar maintenance.

We’ll compare reverse osmosis and refrigerator filters in terms of:

Filtration process (and contaminants removed)
Regular maintenance
Cost

Want purer, better tasting drinking water? Call Global, at  (216) 797-1230  to schedule a free in-home water test .

Our plumbers will answer any questions you have about refrigerator and reverse osmosis water filtration systems. They’ll also go over our reverse osmosis systems, which have a 4-stage filtration process that helps eliminate contaminants to give you cleaner, clearer water to drink and cook with.

Reverse osmosis filter solutions (RO water filters) are a convenient and economical way to improve the taste and purity of your drinking water.

Filtration Process

Refrigerator water filtration process

Many refrigerators today have built-in water dispensers that include a filter to remove contaminants. Refrigerator water filters use single-stage activated carbon filters to remove contaminants. Carbon filters use a process called adsorption, where contaminants adhere to the filter when the water passes through it.

The average refrigerator filter is designed to remove:

Lead and some other metals
Chlorine and chlorine byproducts (like trihalomethanes)
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Most refrigerator water filters can reduce the presence of, but don’t completely remove:

Dissolved substances (minerals, salts, and metals like iron)
Some viruses and bacteria
Arsenic
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

You can upgrade to an advanced refrigerator filter that removes more contaminants than basic filters, but you’ll still be limited to a single-stage system that only filters water once.

Reverse osmosis water filters have more filtration steps, which means they’re more effective at removing contaminants from your water.

Maintenance

Refrigerator filter maintenance

Maintenance on refrigerator water filters is relatively low effort. You’ll need to replace the carbon filter every 6 months. If you let the filter run longer than that, you risk contaminants getting into your drinking water.

However, keep in mind that water filtration systems are one more feature of a refrigerator that can break down. This means refrigerators with water filters typically require more repairs, and you could pay up to a couple hundred dollars for each repair.

Reverse osmosis maintenance

Reverse osmosis water filters also require regular replacements. You’ll need to replace the:

Sediment filter every 18-24 months
Two carbon filters every 6-12 months
Reverse osmosis filter every 2-3 years

How often you need to replace the filters will depend on the water contamination level and how often you use the system.

Between the replacement filters and higher upfront installation cost, reverse osmosis systems will cost more than a refrigerator water filter.

Cost

Refrigerator water filter cost

Since refrigerator water filters come built into your refrigerator, you’re not technically paying an installation cost. That said, refrigerators with water filters are usually several hundred dollars more than refrigerators without water filtration.

You can also expect to pay between $40 and $100 a year in filter replacements for refrigerator water filters.

Reverse osmosis cost

The cost of a reverse osmosis system can range anywhere from $200 to over $7,500, depending on whether you choose a point-of-use or whole-house reverse osmosis system and depending on its effectiveness.

A point-of-use reverse osmosis system will cost between $200 to $1,500. Your reverse osmosis installation cost will increase if you choose:

An under-the-sink model, as opposed to a countertop system. Countertop models can run $100-$400, while the more convenient under-sink systems can cost between $300 and $1,500.
A tankless system over a tank one. Tankless reverse osmosis systems are more convenient, since you don’t have to wait for a tank to fill up and essentially have an endless supply of fresh, pure drinking water—but that convenience will cost you several hundred dollars more.
Advanced filtration. Some reverse osmosis water filters remove more contaminants than others. More advanced filters will cost you more—in both the upfront installation and filter replacement costs.

After installation, you can expect to pay between $50 and $100 a year in maintenance and operation costs for a reverse osmosis system.

If you don’t want to foot the upfront cost of a new reverse osmosis system, but still want the purest drinking water for your family, Global offers reverse osmosis systems for only $29.99/month.

Want Better Water With Reverse Osmosis? Call Global.

Call us today at  (216) 797-1230  or schedule an appointment for a free in-home estimate.

We’ve been offering the Global heating and cooling service in the greater Cleveland area for 17 years and counting. Our skilled technicians will explain the benefits of reverse osmosis systems over refrigerator filters and how to get the healthiest, best-tasting water in your home.

6 Benefits of Home Filtered Water

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 16:35:37 GMT

6 Benefits of Home Filtered Water

Thinking about installing a water filter in your home? Water purification has a number of benefits for you and your family, including:

Purer, better-tasting water
Healthier hair, skin and nails
Longer-lasting fixtures and appliances
More flavorful food and drinks
Eliminating single-use plastic bottles
Saving money on detergents

Before we explain the benefits and the best system for each one, we’ll go over the different types of water filtration systems.

Want to enjoy all of the benefits of filtered water? Call Global Heating and Cooling at  (216) 797-1230  or schedule an appointment .

Our water filtration experts will go over the systems we offer and recommend the best water purification option for your home. You’ll also get the same five-star customer service we’ve been giving Cleveland residents for 17 years and counting.

Types of water filtration systems

When choosing a water filtration system for your home, you ultimately have three options:

Whole-house water filter: Whole-home water filters attach to your home’s water supply to remove specific chemicals or minerals. Most homeowners choose either a chlorine water filter, which also removes chloramine and chlorine byproducts, or an iron water filter, which also removes manganese and hydrogen sulfide.
Water softener: Water softeners, sometimes called ion exchange filters, also attach to your home’s water supply to remove calcium, magnesium and other minerals from hard water. The system has a basin of resin beads that trap the minerals, which are removed using a salt or potassium solution and sent down a waste drain.
Reverse osmosis systems: Reverse osmosis water filters attach to a single fixture in your house—most commonly beneath the kitchen sink—to provide filtered water for drinking and cooking. RO systems use a four-stage filtration process to remove the majority of additives and contaminants in Global water supply.

Since each system filters water differently, they have different benefits.

Benefits of water filtration

Purer, better-tasting water

The main reason most Cleveland homeowners install a water purifier is to improve the taste of their drinking water.

Bad-tasting tap water can come from a number of contaminants or additives, including:

Chlorine or chloramine , which has a bleach-like taste and odor to it.
Total dissolved solids (TDS) , like chlorides and bicarbonates, which can make water taste salty, bitter or metallic.
Sulfates , which give water a rotten egg smell.

Installing a water filtration system can also protect you and your family in cases of drinking water contamination because it will remove the harmful germs and chemicals.

Best water filter for better-tasting water

The best way to remove chlorine and other contaminants from drinking water is to install either a:

Reverse osmosis system
Whole-house chlorine filter
Whole-house iron filter

Healthier hair, skin and nails

The minerals and chemicals in unfiltered water can negatively impact your hair, skin and nails. Here’s how:

Hair: Hard mineral buildup and chemicals can strip your scalp of the natural oils that moisturize it, drying it out and also prevent shampoo and conditioner from working as well as they should. Plus, if you have color-treated hair, chlorine and minerals cause the dye to break down faster, leaving your hair looking dull faster than normal.
Skin: Chlorine also dries out your skin, inflaming and irritating it. And other minerals in hard water leave traces on your skin, leaving it looking dull and feeling dry. This can also cause you to spend more on moisturizers.
Nails: Minerals in hard water, like calcium and magnesium, can break down the keratin that keep your nails and nail beds strong—making them frail and brittle.

Best water filter for better hair, skin and nails

Water softener
Whole-house chlorine filter

Longer-lasting fixtures and appliances

Minerals like magnesium and calcium build up on water-based appliances (water heaters, dishwashers and washing machines) and fixtures (faucets, shower heads, etc.). Over time, the buildup becomes so severe that it restricts water flow and prevents the fixture or appliance from working properly.

This extra wear and tear causes appliances to work harder than they need to, which decreases their efficiency and shortens their lifespan.

The iron in hard water can also cause unsightly rust stains on toilet bowls and on sink and tub basins.

Best water filter for appliances and fixtures

Water softener
Whole-house iron filter

More flavorful food and drinks

Since the chlorine and other minerals in hard water impact the taste of the water, they also impact the flavor of anything you use that water to cook or brew with.

Filtered water can improve the:

Flavor of brewed drinks like coffee and tea
Taste of foods cooked in water (pasta, beans, grains, etc.)
Quality and taste of homemade bread, especially sourdough, since chlorine can impact yeast performance
Cleanliness of fruits and vegetables you need to rinse before eating

Best water filter for more flavorful food and drinks

Reverse osmosis system
Whole-house chlorine filter

Eliminate single-use plastic bottles

One of the main reasons many people in Cleveland drink bottled water is because they don’t like the taste of tap water.

With bottled water, you will:

Pay more. The cost of bottled water adds up since you’re not only paying for the water, but also the cost of packing, transportation and branding.
Negatively impact the environment. If each person in a family of four drinks three bottles of water a day, that’s almost 4,400 plastic bottles a year that go into landfills.

By installing a water filtration system, you could save hundreds of dollars and thousands of bottles a year.

Best water filter for saving on plastic bottles

Reverse osmosis system
Whole-house chlorine filter

Save money on detergents

The minerals in hard water build up on clothes and dishes. This means you need to use more dishwasher and laundry detergent to remove not only the dirt and grime from your everyday life, but also the hard water minerals that build up on them.

Using filtered water will make laundry and dishwasher detergent more effective, which will require less product—letting you save money on detergents. Plus, you’ll also save on cleaners used to remove hard water stains from tubs and glass shower doors.

Best water filter to save on detergents

Water softener

Want the benefits of filtered water? Call Global

Call us today at (216) 797-1230 or schedule an appointment for a free in-home estimate.

We’ve been offering the most Global water filtration service in the greater Cleveland area for 17 years and counting. Our Skilled Technicians will listen to the water purification benefits you want to get, then go over your water filtration system options. We’ll help you get all of the benefits you want from purer, cleaner water.

How to Remove Chlorine From Drinking Water

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 16:27:40 GMT

How to Remove Chlorine From Drinking Water

While most municipalities add what are considered safe amounts of chlorine and chloramine (a chlorine compound) to the water supply, many Cleveland residents choose to remove chlorine from their water for taste and health reasons.

To remove chlorine from your drinking water, you have three options:

Distillation or evaporation
Chemical neutralization (with Campden tablets)
Filtration (by reverse osmosis or charcoal filters)

We’ll go into each method in more detail, but first we’ll explain what chlorine is and why it’s in Cleveland water supply.

Want to remove chlorine from your drinking water? Call Global at (216) 797-1230 or schedule an appointment .

Our water filtration experts will go over the systems we offer and recommend the best option for your home. You’ll also get the same 5-star customer service we’ve been giving Cleveland residents For 17 years and counting.

What is Chlorine?

Chlorine is a chemical compound that’s commonly used as a disinfectant. While chlorine also exists as a solid (in some natural compounds like crystalline rock salt) and a gas (at room temperature), you’d likely recognize it as a liquid primarily used as a cleaning agent and disinfectant for drinking water and water features like swimming pools, fountains and more.

Chlorine Vs. Chloramine

You might have also heard of “chloramine”, which is similar to chlorine but not the same. Chloramine is essentially chlorine that contains ammonia, another compound that’s primarily used as a fertilizer and cleaning agent. Chloramine in drinking water acts as a secondary disinfectant because it lasts longer and has fewer byproducts than chlorine.

Why Are Chlorine And Chloramine In Drinking Water?

Chlorine and chloramine are added to municipal drinking water to control the presence of water-borne microbes (parasites, bacteria, viruses, etc.). Many cities are starting to use chloramine over chlorine because, in addition to lasting longer, it tends to have a less noticeable taste and odor.

Is Chlorine Safe To Drink?

According to the CDC, chloramine and chlorine levels up to four milligrams per liter are considered safe—meaning you’re unlikely to suffer harmful health effects.

Chlorine becomes unsafe when exposed to high levels of it over a period of time, but that kind of exposure most commonly comes from household cleaning agents or chlorine tablets for swimming pools.

Many Cleveland homeowners want to remove chlorine from their drinking water simply because they don’t like the bleach-like taste and smell of it.

How To Remove Chlorine From Drinking Water

We’ll go over the three ways you can remove chlorine or chloramine from your home’s water supply.

1. Distillation or evaporation

Since it turns into a gas at room temperature, chlorine will eventually evaporate if you let your water sit before using it. How long you need to let it sit depends on the temperature. Chlorine in water sitting in the fridge will evaporate completely within 24 hours, but will do so faster in warmer temperatures.

You can speed up this evaporation through distillation, which is just evaporation by boiling. Boiling water for 15 minutes will remove the chlorine.

While evaporation is a natural solution to removing chlorine from water, it’s time-consuming and will increase your electric bill if you choose the distillation method.

2. Chemical neutralization (Campden tablets)

You can remove chlorine from water by neutralizing the chemical with Campden tablets. These tablets are made of potassium or sodium metabisulfite and primarily used by wineries and breweries to kill bacteria that inhibits the growth of wild yeasts in wine, beer and cider.

Campden tablets are also quick and effective at eliminating chlorine and chloramine from drinking water, with one tablet neutralizing about 20 gallons of water in 20 minutes—making it relatively inexpensive, too. But the tablets can be harmful if you or anyone in your family is allergic or intolerant to sulfite (the main ingredient). This method also requires space, like pitchers or other containers, for you to mix the tablets with your drinking water.

3. Filtration

The most effective method for cleaner, better-tasting water is to install a chlorine filter at your water supply. You can install either a:

Whole-house chlorine filter: Attaches to your home’s water supply line (usually in the garage or basement) to remove chlorine from all of the water your household uses. These filters use an activated carbon filter, which is the most effective filter type for removing chlorine from drinking and cooking water.
Reverse osmosis system: Attaches to a single fixture (most commonly the kitchen sink) to provide water that’s not only filtered for chlorine, but most of the other contaminants in Cleveland water supply. Reverse osmosis systems have a 4-stage filtration process, making them highly effective at removing additives and contaminants. You can learn more about the pros and cons of reverse osmosis systems in our blog.

Designed to remove the most common contaminants found in our city’s tap water, including lead, arsenic, barium, and many pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

Want to Remove Chlorine From Your Drinking Water? Call Global

Call us today at  (216) 797-1230  or schedule an appointment for a free in-home estimate.

We’ve been offering the most Global water filtration service in the greater Cleveland area for 17 years and counting. Our Skilled Technicians will listen to your concerns, then go over your chlorine water filter or reverse osmosis system options. We’ll help you get purer, chlorine-free drinking water in no time.