When looking to treat your own water at home, understanding the differences between point-of-use (POU) or point-of-entry (POE) systems can help you find the most efficient set up to meet your needs.
POU: Point-of-use treatment systems often installed right at the tap
POE: Point-of-entry treatment systems are installed on the main water supply line
Whether you need to disinfect your water, reduce hardness, or improve its taste, both styles of devices give you a range of options for putting control of your water quality back in your hands.
What’s the Difference Between POU and POE?
POU and POE are two different approaches to treating water in your home.
POU devices are installed where the water gets used and are meant to treat water for drinking and cooking.
POE devices where water enters your home and continuously treats water for the entire building.
Both treatment styles utilize similar but often scaled-down versions of the same technologies deployed by water utility plant operators at centralized drinking water treatment plants.
Either style of treatment has its own advantages and can be used in combination to help tackle a variety of water quality issues. It is important to check the instructions and certification of the devices you install to make sure they are meeting safety standards.
POE: Should You Treat Water For Your Whole Home?
POE systems are the total home approach to treating the water that goes out to every tap in the building. This ensures you’re covering not just the water meant for drinking, but the water used in bathrooms and appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines.
POE systems are typically larger treatment units that are installed in front of your home’s water heater and can treat several thousand gallons of water per day. There are a few trade offs to consider when installing a POE system:
Pros
Convenient: POE devices are an easy way to ensure all water in your house is treated.
Low maintenance: Their higher capacity makes them more durable and easier to maintain, with some units lasting 5-7 years before requiring a filter replacement.
Reduce overall cost: While they can be expensive upfront, installing one POE system may ultimately be cheaper than maintaining several POU devices at every individual tap, depending on the number of taps that need treatment.
Preserve plumbing: Treat POE devices, like ion exchange units, are often preferred for treating hard water, which prevents scale buildup in pipes and appliances throughout the house.
Cons
Expensive: POE systems are pricey and generally require a specialist to install.
Fixtures: While these devices can provide high quality water throughout your home, they may not address contaminants coming from fixtures, like lead or copper.
POU: When Is Filtering at the Tap Better?
The water you shower in doesn’t necessarily need to meet the same drinking water health targets that you want from your kitchen sink. Water you ingest is more likely to impact your health than water you bathe or shower in. By installing POU devices at individual taps you can target specific drinking water quality issues throughout your home which might otherwise be much more expensive or impractical to treat with a POE device.
POU water treatment systems are installed at a single water connection typically under the counter or at the sink where the water is being used. Examples include under-counter and countertop reverse osmosis (RO) and carbon faucet filters. There are both advantages and drawbacks to fine-tuning water quality at specific points in your home:
Pros
Water Quality: POU devices can produce high quality drinking water right at your kitchen sink.
Accessible: They are typically compact and easy to install.
Low cost: If you only plan to treat a few taps in your home, POU devices are cost effective to install and maintain.
Cons
Low volume: While POU-treated water can be distributed to multiple taps, their low volume production (20-100 GPD) makes these devices mostly suitable for light usage.
High maintenance: These devices require frequent filter replacement as often as every 3-6 months, so their maintenance can add up.
Water Filter Type Comparison
Both POE and POU systems have their strong suits, however, it’s worth noting that a single system on its own cannot remove all contaminants. There’s no one-size-fits all approach, so identifying the needs of your home can help you choose the best system or combination of treatment options for you.
Water testing or a water treatment professional can help you come up with a comprehensive treatment plan. Testing can also help ensure that your filters are functioning properly and removing a safe level of contaminants.