Shower Filters and Bath Filters
Take Out Chlorine and More
Leave Healthy Water
Click here to go straight to shower filters and bath balls in the store.
"We purchased a friendsofwater.com shower head filter and I have really noticed a difference in the texture and feel of my hair. It is MUCH softer."
WDL
Santa Monica, CA
It seems that this technology, which uses a process-patented disk made of a combination of copper and zinc known as kdf is the best solution available for shower filters and for bath water filters. Our manufacturing partner has patented the way these disks are made, forming them from powdered kdf. This makes them SEVERAL TIMES more effective than other kdf shower and bath water filters. These water filters remove chlorine, iron, lead, bacteria, hydrogen sulfide and hundreds of other problem contaminants from your water.
Chlorine is a poison that attacks organic matter. It binds with the protein in your body. We absorb more chlorine from bathing and showering than from drinking water. Additionally, the EPA has declared that US households have elevated levels of chloroform in the air due to chlorine releases from showering water. So it's in our showering water and in the air in our homes. Chlorine, on top of irritating skin, eyes and lungs and drying skin and hair, is a suspected cause of breast cancer. We don't know about you, but it just seems blatantly obvious to us that soaking in chlorine, which kills living things, is bad for our health!
for more information see our page on chlorine risks.
The copper-zinc kdf PowerDisk water filters, which is the filter media in both our TurboShowers and Bath Balls, also remove aluminum, mercury, sulfur, and lime scale among many other inorganic compounds.
We have compared different brands' approaches to shower and bath filters. One of the issues that isn't readily evident on those that use carbon (because they don't tell you) is that while carbon is a very good filtration device in some cases, it doesn't work above 96 degrees! And that is below normal shower temperatures. The water is also moving too fast through carbon in a shower filter, anyway. Carbon can be excellent an excellent media in your drinking water filter, but it's the wrong filter for showering or bathing.
Keeps Working for a Long Time
Power Disk water filters are the most efficient, longest lasting and lowest maintenance water filter media available. The power disks work best because the copper-zinc alloy has no pores that plug up, has no membranes to replace, and remains bacteriostatic (bateria can't breed). You swap out the water filter disk once a year. The media is non-hazardous, non-corrosive and is recyclable.
The copper-zinc alloy stops the calcium and magnesium from forming hard scale, adhering to your showerhead - which builds and slows flow and pressure. They also stop scale from building up in your shower and tub. Interestingly, calcium and magnesium are not eliminated, rather they remain soluble in the water, which is natural and healthful. In nature, these minerals are picked up as water filters through rock strata. Excessive salt is reduced, however.
Hydrogen sulfide is also removed by these shower and bath water filters. If you sometimes get a 'rotten egg' smell, that's hydrogen sulfide. It is a poisonous gas that can in larger amounts cause nausea and illness. It also corrodes metals. When hydrogen sulfide passes through these water filters, oxidation occures, removing the hydrogen sulfide by creating zinc oxides and zinc sulfides.
Please note that through shipping, some copper-zinc powder sometimes loosens in new bath balls. If this happens, it won't last long. You can soak and rinse them to clear it more quickly. But this won't cause harm to bathers, and is far preferable to chlorine, particularly for children.
There is no maintenance required for the kdf copper-zinc filter, just swap it out once a year.
Click here to go straight to the store:
Shower Filters & Bath Balls
TurboShower shown with Earth Showerhead
The BathBall hangs from clear strapping
What About Fluoride?
Fluoride is now being recognized by many as being very dangerous. In our view, there is no longer any reasonable doubt that drinking it is a bad idea. In November 2006 the American Dental Association reversed itself and said that the ingestion of fluoride is too dangerous for babies. There are several other fluoride risks, too, including that it is carcinogenic.
Click here to learn more about fluoride dangers.
However, most information that we have been able to find is clear in the opinion that fluoride causes health problems through ingestion, not through showering or bathing. Most sources say that fluoride, unlike chlorine, is not released into the water and air as a gas. It travels through water as part of a metallic compound, and therefore doesn't release into the air like chlorine. Even the people who sell activated alumina (this not aluminum) for water filters, and the manufacturer firmly believe that fluoride is not absorbed through the skin by showering or bathing.
We do hear from the occasional customer who reports that bathing or showering in fluoride causes them health problems. Those who have problems seem to have been previously overfluoridated through dentistry, municipal water supply or fluoride drops their parents were told to give them as children.
Please be very careful about claims that you can get a whole-house activated alumina (the standard for removing fluoride) system at a cost for a few hundred dollars that will remove fluoride and last for a year or two. This simply can't be true. It takes a lot of activated alumina to remove fluoride from the whole house. Water filter systems that seem cheap compared to others are cheap because they won't do the job over time.
We don't know of any shower or bath filters that remove most fluoride. It's very hard to remove and there is not sufficient time that the water is in contact with the filter media to do a great job removing fluoride in the shower.
Having said all that: THE TURBOSHOWER & HEADFREE SHOWER FILTERS WILL REMOVE ABOUT 40% OF FLUORIDE. This is possible because our manufacturing partner has a patent for a process to produce kdf filter disks that make the disks SEVERAL TIMES more effective than kdf without that processing.
If you are one of those who must remove fluoride from your bath water, there is a more affordable solution - and that is to have a plumber insert a fluoride-removing filter it into your bathroom plumbing line. We do have 2-canister FLUORIDE PLUS fIlters in the store in the kitchen / drinking section that you could use for this purpose.
Click here for information about the need for kitchen water filters.
And here for information specifically about fluoride water filters.
Call us toll-free at 866-482-6803 to discuss your situation.
Not Just Filtering the Bad - Leaving Healthy Water
The shower and bath water filters release miniscule traces of zinc and copper into your bathing water. In proper amounts, both are necessary for healthy body functions. These are defined as food supplements and nutrients by the Food and Drug Administration. The trace amounts in your bath water are a small percentage of the minimum daily requirement. The EPA has declared that this water filter media imparts nothing harmful into the water. The National Sanitation Foundation found it to be in compliance for water treatment plant applications and for aesthetic effects of taste, odor and chlorine reduction.
These water filters make your water softer without the use of salt. They will reduce excessive salt.
friendsofwater.com Options
We have two types of shower heads that use the Power Disk water filters. The "Headfree" is designed to be used as a filter and showerhead combined. These leave more headroom in the shower. You do not need to add a showerhead.
The "TurboShower" (shown higher on this page) is the one most people get. It holds the water filter disk, and you screw a showerhead onto it. This is the one we got for our home. I can't tell you what an improvement it gave us over the showerhead we had before. The Big Splash here at friendsofwater.com is particularly happy with the increased softness and manageability of his hair. "I run a brush through it and it stays where I want it."
We have a several showerheads that fit onto the TurboShower. If you have a good showerhead now, you can continue to use it. Just unscrew it from the pipe, screw on the TurboShower filter, and then screw your showerhead onto the TurboShower Filter. If yours is getting a little old and crusted, or if you would enjoy a new one, we have numerous options in our store.
One example of the many types of Evolve Showerheads in our store
A great type of showerhead is the Evolve Showerhead. These are beautifully designed, and save water and energy. You turn on your shower, and go brush your teeth, make the coffee or feed the dog. When the temperature reaches 95 degrees, the water slows to a trickle. When you get in the shower, pull a switch and the water flows very strongly. To learn more, visit Evolve Showerheads.
Don't wait. Your family should stop soaking up chlorine.
Visit the store to see more pictures and pricing.
Shower Filters
Bath Balls
friendsofwater.com guarantees everything we sell.
If you aren't satisfied, return your purchase for a full refund -
including the original shipping cost.
friendsofwater.com can be reached at:
sales@friendsofwater.com
or 866-482-6803
