A home water setup is a sequence, not a shopping list. Each stage changes the water
the next stage receives. You get a real water report and a budget. You build the train.
1
Read the report first. Treat what is actually there. A stage that removes nothing you have still costs money, pressure and maintenance.
2
Order is the engineering. Sediment protects carbon. Carbon protects an RO membrane from chlorine, which would otherwise destroy it. A softener keeps scale off the membrane. UV goes last, because it needs clear water and it does not cover a carbon bed downstream of it.
3
Every stage costs pressure. Five cartridges on a low-pressure house is a trickle. Watch flow, membrane life, and cost per litre.
4
Health before taste. When the budget will not stretch, fix the thing that is a health risk and live with the one that is a nuisance.
DRAG orbit the column 1–9, 0 install media P booster pump D distiller ← → pick a slot ↑ ↓ move it BACKSPACE remove ENTER run R restart
WHAT THIS IS NOTThis is a teaching model with rounded numbers. It does not tell you your water is safe or unsafe, and it does not replace a certified lab test or a local advisory. Real removal figures come from the certification listing for a specific model, not from a medium in general.