Does Brita Water Filter Remove Limescale? (The Real Truth)

If you want to improve the taste of your hot beverages at home, you need to have something that removes the limescale.

But does the popular Brita water filter system remove it from your water, and if not, what does it remove?

Let’s explore the possibilities and features of the Brita water filter system together and see what it has to offer.

While this is a very cost-effective system that will help clean our drinking water, we need to know how useful it is.

Read on to find out whether the Brita water filter system is effective enough to remove the limescale from your water.

What Is Limescale?

Limescale is the chalk-colored deposit that accumulates inside water pipes and in appliances such as kettles.

This hard buildup consists mainly of calcium carbonate and can be of different colours, from white to reddish-brown and even grey or pink.

This happens because of the presence of calcium and magnesium in the water, which is why it is called hard water.

The buildup is mostly present where warm water flows and in lesser amounts in cold water pipes.

Descaling chemicals are used in water cleaning systems to remove this limescale.

In contrast, filter systems try to remove the minerals from the water—the less calcium and other ions present in the water, the fewer chances of limescale buildup.

Does The Brita Water Filter Remove limescale?

The short answer here is no. This system does not remove the limescale accumulated in the water pipes in your home.

These filters lower the calcium content in the water that comes to your home, which in turn reduces limescale.

What Do Brita Systems Remove?

Brita water filter systems are available in various formats that do many different things, depending on the model you choose.

These systems include an on-tap water filter system for your home that comes in various configurations.

But let’s take a look at what the Brita water filter system removes from your water when installed in your home.

Lead

Lead in our water has become a prime concern, especially for those who want to drink the water from the tap instead of bottled water.

Many different health problems have been linked to high lead content in the drinking water in many areas worldwide.

Fortunately, both the Brita faucet system and Brita’s long last filter system have been designed to remove as much as 99 percent of lead from our water.

Installing a Brita system in your home might be the best option if you suspect high lead in your water supply.

Contact your local health agency to find out the minimum safe lead levels allowed in drinking water.

Chlorine

Too much chlorine in your home water supply can have a huge impact on the taste of your drinking water.

High levels of chlorine in your drinking water can also lead to health problems if you consume it through your drinking water.

The standard activated carbon filters with your Brita water filter system can remove chlorine from your drinking water.

These coconut-based filters effectively remove chlorine and lower it to much safer levels in your water supply.

It can be used in the faucet system or with the Long last filter system to remove almost all chlorine from the water.

Calcium

Well-based water and other natural springs contain high calcium levels due to exposure to the earth’s crust.

Sometimes, calcium concentration can be quite high, depending on where the water supply to your home originates from.

While high levels of calcium may not be harmful, they will impact the taste of your drinking water.

The activated carbon filters in Brita water filter systems can effectively remove calcium from the water supply in your home.

With lower calcium levels in the water, it will improve the taste and the texture of your home water supply.

It will also effectively reduce limescale build-up in the water pipes and inside appliances, especially those that heat the water.

Microplastics

In recent times, due to run-offs from factories, microplastics have become a problem in the natural water supplies in many areas.

These microplastics are not something you want to have in your drinking water and may cause health issues.

Even though the Brita filter system can not remove all microplastics, it will reduce them to lower levels so you can safely consume the water.

It can also help remove herbicides and industrial chemicals that coincide with these microplastics for safer drinking water.

To effectively remove these microplastics from the water supply coming to your home, installing a whole house system is a good option.

A whole-house system might be more expensive, but it might be a good option to have a healthier water supply for your home.

Chloramine

In many areas, chloramine, a disinfectant, is used to keep water safe and healthy when transported in pipes to homes.

What is not good is that these chemicals can be harmful to the digestive mucosa membrane and may cause itchy, dry skin.

The activated carbon filters found in the Brita filter system will be able to remove these chemicals from the drinking water.

You need to run the water several times through the filters to ensure that all the chemicals have been removed.

The chloramine needs to contact the filters for longer periods before it is completely removed.

Doing that will remove up to 100 percent of the substance from the water and give you clean water to drink.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAs)

Recently, PFAs in water have become a concern because of the potentially harmful impact they may have on us.

Removing these substances from the water supply to our homes is quite complicated and needs specialised systems to be 100 percent effective.

The activated-carbon filters that are standard with Brita water filter systems will be able to remove just over 70 percent of these substances.

It also depends on the system you use, such as a Brita sink filter system will be more effective than a Brita pitcher.

To remove 100 percent of PFAs from the water supply, a reverse osmosis system will be more effective but far more expensive.

What Does It Not Remove

There are several things the Brita water filter system can not remove from your home water supply.

Bacteria

The filter found in Brita systems will not be able to remove bacteria from the water supply in your home.

This means you will not have bacteria-free water to drink without the help of a complicated and very expensive reverse osmosis system.

Minerals

The Brita filter system does us a big favour by not removing beneficial minerals from our water supply.

The activated carbon filter in Brita systems leaves the minerals intact and leaves you with healthy drinking water while removing harmful contaminants.

Fluoride

Brita faucet filter systems and pitcher filters can not remove the fluoride in your water supply.

The only way to have completely fluoride-free water is to use bottled water for drinking.

Conclusion

As you can see, Brita water filter systems do not remove limescale, but removing the calcium reduces the chances of build up.

This means you do not have to remove the scaling very often when you use a Brita water filter system in your home.

To quickly remove the build up from your kettle and other appliances, use vinegar and leave it inside it overnight.