Meta Title: 3 Best Water Filters For Calcium And Lime | Water Defense
Meta Description: Struggling to find the best water filter for calcium and lime? Check out our comprehensive review to learn all you need to know!
Water filters that remove calcium are highly effective at preventing limescale buildup in your pipes and appliances. But if you’re in the market for one, where do you start?
The three main types of calcium water filters are ion exchange softeners, TAC softeners, and reverse osmosis systems. We tested and reviewed the best in each category, so you know the different options out there.
The best ion exchange system is the SpringWell CSS1. It has excellent calcium removal capabilities, so it’s highly efficient at preventing limescale formation. Plus, it’s equipped with Bluetooth connectivity which gives you full control over its settings and monitoring.
Our favorite TAC softener is the Aquasana Salt-Free Water Conditioner. This one works a little differently—instead of removing calcium, it prevents it from sticking to your pipes and appliances. This means you still get the benefits of calcium in your drinking water without the downsides.
The best RO unit we tested was the AquaTru RO System. It requires no installation, is easy to maintain, and it’s the most affordable unit on our list.
Best Water Filter to Remove Calcium and Lime
1. Springwell CSS1
- Price – $2,416.33
- Flow Rate – 9 GPM
- Warranty – Lifetime warranty on tanks and valves
PROS
- Can both filter and soften the water
- The filters are very effective at removing calcium and lime, as well as other contaminants like chloramine, chlorine, TTHMs, and PFOA
- Comes with a handy Bluetooth app that allows you to monitor and control the system from your phone
CONS
- Very expensive when compared to the other models on this list
The best thing about the SpringWell CSS1 model is that it’s both a water filtration and softening system.
Its water-softening capabilities make it effective in removing hard minerals like calcium, so you don’t have to worry about limescale formation. In contrast, the filtration technology it employs can remove many other organic and inorganic contaminants.
While it’s the best calcium and lime filter on our list, it’s also by far the most expensive. So, if you’re looking for the most effective filter on the market—this is absolutely it. Just bear in mind that it will set you back $2,416.33 (at the time of writing).
Effective Filtration
The system comes with a pre-filter that catches larger soil and sodium fragments that might be present in the pipes and ensures they don’t enter the tanks and clog the main filters. If some inorganic contaminants like sand, silt, or clay are small enough to get past the pre-filter, they’ll get caught by the 5-micron sediment filter in the tank.
The main water filter consists of a KDF media that removes common water contaminants like chlorine and a catalytic carbon media that tackles pesticides, herbicides, VOCs, and other common organic contaminants.
Ion Exchange Tech for Water Softening
During the ion exchange process, water passes through a resin tank full of positively charged sodium ion beads. These beads take in hard minerals like calcium and replace them with sodium ions. This effectively softens the water that passes through the tank, removing the calcium and the possibility of limescale buildup.
Bluetooth Connectivity
This system also comes with a convenient app that allows you to connect your phone to your filtration unit via Bluetooth and monitor it. Thanks to the app, you can view your valve settings and tank status on your phone, get reports on the current water usage, and even manually start the regeneration cycle.
We absolutely love features like this, as they remove any guesswork and make the unit really user-friendly. In the digital world, we think all water filter systems should at least have a digital interface. Well, SpringWell takes this a step further, and we couldn’t be more into it!
2. Aquasana Salt-Free Water Conditioner
- Price – $799.00
- Flow Rate – 11.8 GPM
- Warranty – 6-year limited warranty
PROS
- Very affordable compared to the SpringWell CSS1
- Environmentally friendly as it doesn’t waste any water
- Decent flow rate of 11.8 GPM, which makes it suitable for large homes with high water demands
CONS
- The TAC system doesn’t remove the calcium from the water, it softens it instead
The Aquasana Salt-Free Water Conditioner is a compact unit and effortless to install. You don’t need too much space for it, yet you’ll get a decent flow rate of 11.8 GPM—ideal for apartments or homes with up to 3 bathrooms.
Pre-Filter and Water Softener
Like the SpringWell CSS1, the Aquasana unit comes with a pre-filter that removes large contaminants, preventing them from getting into the filtration tank. This pre-filter removes soil, sediment, and clay particles and can catch sand and other larger contaminants commonly found in water.
As for the water softener, it uses a TAC system rather than an ion exchange system. Template Assisted Crystallization, or TAC, coats the calcium and the other hard mineral molecules in crystals. This crystallization prevents the minerals from sticking to the inside of your pipes and other surfaces the water touches, which, in turn, prevents limescale formation.
That being said, remember that TAC doesn’t remove calcium from the water. The crystal coating prevents the calcium from forming limescale on surfaces, but testing the water will show that the hardness has not gone down, which makes estimating how effective these devices are tricky.
Space-Saving and Eco-Friendly
Since this system is salt-free, it doesn’t need an additional sodium tank along with the main water softener unit. As a result, you won’t need that much space to install it, and you won’t need to constantly replenish the salt supply like with the ion exchange models.
The lack of salt required makes this unit much more eco-friendly than other water softeners because it doesn’t flush any salt or chemicals into the environment.
Decent Warranty
The system comes with a 6-year limited warranty, which is more than respectable for such a reasonably priced softener. You also get a 90-day money-back guarantee that allows you to return the product if you have an issue with it or its performance.
Of course, this isn’t as good as the CSS1’s lifetime warranty but considering the price difference is around $1,600, it’s not that surprising. The pre- and post-filters are also reasonably priced at $29.99, so it won’t cost you a fortune to keep the system running efficiently. The slight downside is that the pre-filter needs to be replaced every 2 months and the post-filters every 6 months.
3. AquaTru RO System
- Price – $449.00
- Flow Rate – 4.5 GPH
- Warranty – 1 year
PROS
- No installation required so you don’t need to pay for a plumber
- It removes 82 different contaminants, which is impressive for a countertop model
- NSF-certified which means its contaminant removal capabilities have been independently verified
CONS
- Needs to be refilled manually as it doesn’t connect to any pipes or faucets
- Doesn’t include a remineralizer to reintroduce the beneficial minerals that are lost during the RO process
The AquaTru RO System is by far the most convenient filtration unit on our list in terms of ease of use. All you need to do is place it on your counter, plug it into a socket, fill up the water reservoir, and turn it on.
The water filtration takes 10-15 seconds, and the device has an average flow rate of around 4.5 GPH (gallons per hour). If you’re looking for an efficient, affordable unit that’s straightforward to install and use, we’re sure you’ll love this system.
Key Features:
4-stage filtration: This unit uses a 4-stage process that removes calcium, lead, chlorine, fluoride, arsenic, nitrates, and many other common contaminants. Like the other units on our list, it’s highly effective at preventing limescale buildup.
Filter longevity: Depending on how much water you drink per day, the filters in this unit can last between 6 months and 2 years, during which time the manufacturer says they can purify as much as 4,500 bottles of water.
Digital display: Although it’s nowhere near as good as the CSS1, this unit does come with a digital display. It’s fairly basic but tells you when and which filters need replacing. We were a bit disappointed that there was no Bluetooth connectivity. Still, this isn’t a common feature among countertop models.
What Is a Calcium and Lime Filter?
While filters targeting hard water minerals and those removing large molecules are technically effective “calcium” filters, they aren’t specifically made just to filter calcium. Yes, they eliminate calcium or “lime” (a general term for various calcium-containing compounds), but they can filter other things too, so their benefits are broader.
Because they remove calcium, they also effectively eliminate limescale, a byproduct of mineral-rich water rather than a substance present in water. The calcium molecules stick to surfaces the water has touched. These mineral deposits remain when the water evaporates, leaving a visible stain called limescale.
If you want a filter that removes calcium, lime, and limescale, you just need one that targets hard water minerals.
Types of Calcium and Lime Filters
There are three types of filters that are effective against calcium and lime—ion exchange softeners, TAC softeners, and reverse osmosis systems.
Ion exchange filters use a positively charged resin with sodium ions to exchange the calcium in the water with salt. The water is softened, and the calcium remains in the resin tank until it’s removed by the regeneration cycle.
TAC or salt-free filters crystalize the calcium ions to prevent them from sticking to surfaces. These units don’t require a sodium tank, so they use fewer resources and less space.
Reverse osmosis filters pass the water through a thin screen with very small holes. The screen prevents the calcium molecules from passing through, removing them from the water.
The Best Filter for Calcium and Lime
While all the filters we’ve picked effectively remove (or chemically alter) calcium, specific models are much better suited to the job than others.
Ion exchange systems like the SpringWell CSS1 use resin specifically made to soften your water and eliminate calcium molecules that promote limescale buildup on surfaces.
Salt-free TAC softeners like the Aquasana unit prevent calcium molecules from sticking to surfaces through crystallization. However, they don’t remove the calcium from the water. They’re effective against limescale, but the calcium will still be present in the water.
Reverse osmosis systems remove the calcium molecules from the water, but only to a certain degree. The AquaTru RO System can handle a GPG of around 10. Any water that’s harder than 10 GPG will clog the membrane with calcium, and limescale might form in the RO screen itself as a result.
The bottom line is that ion exchange units are the best calcium filters because they’re the only models capable of entirely removing high concentrations of calcium molecules from the water.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cheapest calcium and lime filter on our list is the AquaTru RO System, which comes at a relatively affordable price of $449. However, it’s not as effective as the other units on our list.
The market’s cheapest calcium and lime filter would probably be the iSpring ED2000. The problem with this unit is that it can only prevent the calcium from forming limescale inside the pipes, so we don’t recommend it.
If you’re looking for something that can remove calcium throughout your home on a budget, then your best bet would be the Aquasana Salt-Free Water Conditioner which costs $799.
Average prices are difficult to estimate, especially when you review a variety of products that use different filtration technologies like we just did. However, we can share a few rough price ranges with you to at least give you an idea of what to expect.
Smaller units like the AquaTru Ro System will be priced somewhere in the $200-800 range. They still have very capable filters, but their small size makes them less than ideal for whole-house use or families with more than two people.
On the other hand, whole-house units can be anywhere from $800 to $3,000 and higher. Larger grain capacities and flow rates will increase the price, as will additional features and perks.
Whole house units generally have a lifetime of around 10 years or closer to 15 if you maintain and clean them properly and regularly.
The lifetime of smaller units varies. Under-sink models will likely last 5-7 years, and the same is generally true for countertop models. But, again, this varies from model to model, and if you know how to take care of your device, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get a few more years out of it.
Conclusion
The SpringWell CSS1 is the best overall unit on our list. It’s relatively inexpensive for its size, and it boasts a good flow rate and a very effective filtration system.
The Aquasana Salt-Free Water Conditioner is a great salt-free option with the best flow rate on our list. While big houses can benefit from its flow rate, this unit is small enough to fit into any apartment, making it a good option for both large and small homes.
The AquaTru RO System offers fast filtration, a long filter life, and a mineral boost feature as a perk. This makes it a great all-rounder, as long as you don’t mind spending upwards of $500 on a countertop model.
Lastly, all the filters we recommend will help you eliminate (or alter) calcium and, consequently, limescale buildup, but the ion exchange unit, the SpringWell CSS1, will be the most effective.
