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Shower Filter vs Water Softener in Australia: Understanding the Difference
Jun
In Perth’s harder-water suburbs, a water softener and a shower filter do two different jobs. A softener takes calcium and magnesium out of the water on the main line, and those minerals are what leave white spots on the shower screen. A Suhae shower filter works at the shower arm, on the chlorine your utility adds to the water. You smell that one most in a hot shower. Because the two sit at different points in the pipes, a home can run both.
Hardness changes a lot from suburb to suburb, and Perth shows it more than most cities. The suburb-by-suburb picture is in Perth hard water, and our water by postcode page lists hardness and disinfectant by city, taken from the utilities’ own figures.
Understanding Water Hardness in Australia
Water Corporation, which supplies Perth, describes hardness as a measure of the calcium and magnesium salts in water. Hard water carries more of these naturally occurring minerals, and over time they show up as:
- Limescale build-up
- White residue on fixtures
- Appliances that work less efficiently
- Blocked shower heads and taps
The spots on glasses and shower screens are minerals left behind once the water evaporates, as Water Corporation explains. It also notes that country customers are more likely to have hard water, because most of their supply comes from groundwater. How hard yours is depends on where you live and where your supply comes from.
What Does a Water Softener Do?
Water softeners are built for hard water. They use ion exchange to take calcium and magnesium out of the water before it reaches the household plumbing.
What a softener gives you:
- Less scale build-up
- Appliances that last longer
- Easier cleaning in bathrooms and kitchens
- Fewer spots on glass
A softener treats the water where it enters the property, so it covers the whole house. It is fitted into the supply line, which makes it a job for a licensed plumber. The plumber question for each type of filter is in whole-house, under-sink or shower filter.
What Does a Shower Filter Do?
A shower filter treats the water at the moment you use it. In a Suhae shower filter, a vitamin C cartridge turns free chlorine and chloramine into chloride. It goes on at the shower arm, so there’s no plumber to book, and the first thing most people notice is the smell: less chlorine in the air when the hot water runs.
Under KEWI certificate IW-230133, a Suhae shower filter removed 99.9% of chlorine, and the lab’s samples still showed no chlorine after 6,000 litres.
Which Solution Is Better for Australian Homes?
Start with what you can see and smell. White crust on the shower screen, scale in the kettle and taps that keep blocking up all point to hardness, and a softener is the tool built for that. A chlorine smell when the hot tap runs points to your disinfectant, which is what a Suhae shower filter is for.
Perth has both. Hardness moves from suburb to suburb, with the northern corridor at the hard end, while chlorine is in the metro supply everywhere. If you want to start this week, start at the shower: the filter goes on by hand, with nothing plumbed in.
Using a shower filter and a water softener in one home
The two work side by side without getting in each other’s way. The softener sits on the main line and deals with calcium and magnesium before the water reaches a single tap. The shower filter sits at the shower arm and acts on whatever chlorine or chloramine is still in the water when it gets there.
Upkeep is separate too. The shower filter’s cartridge comes out every two to three months, depending on how much the household showers, and you swap it yourself. Vita Refill cartridges are AUD $29.90 and come in ten scents.
Already have a softener? A shower filter adds the chlorine step at the shower. Starting from scratch? The shower filter can go on now, and the softener can wait until you’re ready to book a plumber.
How a Suhae Shower Filter Improves Shower Water Quality
There’s a Suhae shower filter for most bathrooms, from AUD $49.90.
Suhae Universal (AUD $49.90) fits between the shower arm and the shower head you already own.
Suhae Nourish (AUD $99) is a hand shower that reduces chlorine and fine particles with vitamin C filtration.
Suhae Radiance (AUD $149) is a hand shower with the Aera spray plate, vitamin C filtration and fine-particle filtration.
Suhae Aura (AUD $249) is a rain shower with full-body coverage and the same vitamin C filtration.
Conclusion
A water softener and a shower filter work at different points in the house. The softener deals with the minerals in the supply, and the shower filter deals with the chlorine in the water you stand in. Match the first one you buy to what’s bothering you. If it’s the chlorine, a Suhae shower filter goes on at the shower arm in one sitting.
