Will a Water Filter Remove Calcium?

by Jay | Posted on November 16th, 2022

Humans require healthy mineral calcium to live. However, lime scale, a coating left on surfaces by calcium in tap water, is damaging.


A water filtration system often employs numerous filter stages to remove a particular group of pollutants, including chlorine, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and other dangerous chemicals.

Calcified bathroom fittings in a hotel

Calcium removal from water is not a function of the typical whole-house water filter. However, certain filters have micron ratings low enough to capture big calcium particles, helping somewhat to reduce the amount of this mineral in water.

Health effects of calcium 

Calcium in water poses no threat. Instead, medical practitioners believe that the mineral is advantageous. Additionally, the water we drink contributes around 20% of our daily calcium requirements.

Research shows that calcium ingestion reduces bone loss and fractures while enhancing bone mass growth in people with osteoporosis.

You won’t suffer any negative health impacts from consuming water that contains calcium at regular to high levels.

However, bathing or showering in it could cause dry skin and hair, which may be a problem for you.

What kinds of filters are best for calcium removal?

Calcified faucet

It’s crucial to understand that there are no calcium water filters. There aren’t any filters designed particularly for removing calcium. That’s because most filtering methods, such as activated carbon and KDF, cannot eliminate this hard water mineral.

The best ‘calcium water filter’ is only an extra benefit; it wasn’t made to filter calcium.

Ultrafiltration 

Like reverse osmosis technology, ultrafiltration is a membrane filtration method that employs a hollow fiber membrane to capture impurities as tiny as 0.01 micrometers. Although UF membranes can still remove calcium from hard water, they cannot remove pollutants as tiny as those RO membranes.

A 50% calcium removal rate is possible using an ultrafiltration system for drinking water. An ultrafiltration system does not guarantee the removal of calcium from the water. While some UF systems advertise the removal of calcium, others do not.

Reverse osmosis 

A semipermeable membrane, made of minuscule pores and found in reverse osmosis water filters, traps the bulk of impurities, including magnesium and calcium.

Calcium is drawn into the RO chamber because it is too large to pass through the RO membrane. Here, a small amount of wastewater, calcium, and other impurities is flushed down a drain.

Between 92% and 98% of the magnesium minerals and calcium carbonate from drinking water may be eliminated using a reverse osmosis system.

How to reduce calcium in your home water supply

Your water’s calcium content can be greatly lowered with a water softener. In actuality, the only function of a water softener is to eliminate the minerals in hard water. In contrast, a whole-house filtration system removes all water impurities, leaving your water pure and safe.

Ion exchange, a mechanism used by water softeners, replaces calcium with potassium or sodium. The process that softens water is ion exchange.

Jay

Jay is a health and wellness enthusiast with expertise in water quality and nutrition. As a knowledgeable advocate for holistic well-being, Jay successfully manages Type 2 Diabetes through informed lifestyle choices. Committed to sharing reliable and authoritative insights, Jay combines firsthand experience with a passion for enhancing health."