Shower water, like tap water, contains different contaminants, including chemicals, heavy metals, and microbes such as bacteria and mold, which build up from the showerhead itself. Ensuring your shower water is free from such contaminants is imperative just as it is in drinking water because the skin is an important organ that’s responsible for vital functions like creating vitamin D.

It also acts as a sponge hence absorbing much of what comes to contact with it.

Shower filters offer a relatively simple and cost-effective way of removing such harmful contaminants from your water. They are available in different shapes and sizes, specially designed to fit directly onto a showerhead. They can be hand-held or stationary.

This review will look at the ShowerFilterStore April Shower water filter, also known as the Aroma Sense shower filter. This is a hand-held shower filter and a product of ShowerFilter Store, a subsidiary of Newmarket Naturals Inc., a family-owned company established in 1992, mainly to provide water filtration systems, including shower and bath filters.

The April Shower(R) filter is one of their innovative products. It’s a combination of several filtration media, among them being vitamin C that effectively removes chlorine and chloramines from the shower water.

The filter is able to remove several other common contaminants found in water, but what makes it stand out more is that it’s more than just a filter. It emits vitamin C and negative ions into the water, which have beneficial effects on the skin, hair, and body. It also gives a soothing aromatherapy effect which is equally beneficial to the body.

It does all these without affecting the water pressure and even reduces water consumption compared to many ordinary shower filters. Here is our in-depth review of it to give you more insight into what it offers and what you can expect from it.

Filtration Performance

As mentioned earlier, the April Shower(R) filter is equipped with several filtration media that help remove contaminants from the shower water and perform other functions. These media include a micro fabric filter, an antibacterial ceramic ball, and a vitamin C filter.

The April Shower Vitamin C shower filter which sits inside the showerhead’s handle makes up the first stage of filtration. It’s the most innovative and important feature of the April Shower(R) filter. This media is highly enriched with Vitamin C (equivalent to 3,000 lemons). It emits it into the water, effectively removing chlorine, chloramine, trihalomethane, and other contaminant residues.

Vitamin C causes a disruption that alters the balance of both chlorine and chloramines, hence stripping them of their toxicity. It completely clears out up to 98% of all the chlorine and chloramine present in the shower water. Vitamin C as well promotes healthier hair and skin. It’s delivered to all parts of the body through shower water, and it affects the texture of the skin, increasing its firmness while leaving it soft and smooth.

This April Shower Vitamin C filter media also includes natural lemon oil, which is rich in antioxidants and helps detoxify and rejuvenate the skin. It also gives a soothing aromatherapy effect, alleviating stress, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms by relaxing the body and the mind. The aromatherapy effect of lemon oil also helps promote improved concentration, increased awareness/alertness, and increased energy.

From the April Shower Vitamin C filter, the water goes through the antibacterial ceramic ball filter, which is highly effective in preventing germs and bacteria from developing within the showerhead. It kills bacteria and also deters bacterial and mold growth by breaking down the organic compounds in the water that comprise bacteria, like the bacterial cell membrane.

The media is porous like dense spider webs, which have absorptive powers and deodorizing effects and boost the body’s metabolism and activate cells by emitting far-infrared radiation.

The final filtration stage is the micro fabric filter media which is another distinct feature of this April Shower(R) filter. The micro fabric filter clears all the fine rust and impurities that arise from worn pipes or polluted water tanks, thereby ensuring that water is free of rust particles and dirt.

From the micro fabric filter, the water finally comes out of the showerhead through the water spray plate, which is a stainless steel water plate with very fine triangular/polygonal-shaped holes.

These fine holes emit 421,000 negative ions per cubic centimeter, that’s four times greater than those emitted around the Niagara Waterfalls, which only emit up to 100,000 ions. They, in fact, generate 6 to 10 times greater amounts of negative ions compared to showerhead filters with water spray plates that feature round-shaped holes.

Having such a high count of negative ions is really great because negative ions are beneficial to our bodies. They can increase the body’s capacity to absorb and utilize oxygen, thereby promoting feelings of well-being and improving sleep quality.

To sum it all up, the April Shower(R) filter is a versatile and very effective shower filter that provides clean water that’s free of chlorine, chloramine, and other contaminants and filled with Vitamin C and negative ions. It keeps you safe from harmful toxins and gives you water that has beneficial effects on your skin, hair, and entire body.

Vitamin C, in particular, promotes healthier hair and skin while generating anti-oxidants. It helps the skin and hair appear and feel younger, fairer, and softer. The aromatherapy effects from the lemon oil released in the water also leave you feeling refreshed and relaxed after showering.

Many users have reported feeling the difference immediately after installing the April Shower(R) filter. They mentioned that their hair felt cleaner and softer afterward, and their skin much more supple. Some equally reported that their skin’s overall elasticity also increased.

Beyond just cleaning your shower water and adding Vitamin C and negative ions, the April Shower(R) filter is perfect for masking unwanted smells or if you have a large bathroom due to the fragrance released by the aromatherapy cartridge.

Using the Shower Filter

The April Shower(R) filter is quite simple to use, being a hand-held shower filter. It’s ergonomically designed and pretty versatile as you can use it as a hand-held shower or set it in a stationary position. The holding bracket attached to the shower arm has a cradle that allows you to hang it as a fixed showerhead. The showerhead is also extra wide such that it increases the headroom by 10 inches, a better fit for those who are tall.

If you don’t want to use it that way, the showerhead is attached to a six ft. hose that allows you to lift it out of the cradle and use it as a handheld shower to bring the water spray close to where it’s needed. The house itself is a flexible metal hose that you can adjust to various angles and heights, making it perfect for seated showers and bathing children and pets or cleaning tubs and shower stalls.

The filter offers only a single spray setting which is a full spray. Despite that, the showerhead is extra-wide and provides a strong and fine water stream.

While the water flow rate through the filter can go as high as 2.5 GPM, the fine holes of the water spray plate (manufactured using a photo etching method of the stainless steel plate) generate a high-pressure water effect that’s 2 to 5 times greater than that of ordinary showerheads. For instance, the water spray of this April filter can reach up to about 2.5 meters, while that of most ordinary shower heads tends to reach only up to 0.5 meters.

Water consumption when using this April Shower(R) filter is equally lower compared to ordinary showerheads. The unique design of its water spray plate has a huge water-saving effect as it reduces water consumption by up to 25%, hence saving you around 36,000 liters of water per year.

Installation

The April Shower(R) filter is made up of four main parts, which include a holding bracket with a cradle, a six ft. metal-flex hose, the showerhead handle which holds the Vitamin C filter, and the showerhead itself, which holds the antibacterial ceramic ball filter, the micro fabric filter, the water spray plate, and the water cap in that order.

The installation process is hassle-free and straightforward, requiring no tools at all. First, you make sure that your faucet is completely shut off, and then separate the old shower head from the shower arm by twisting the end counterclockwise. Once the old showerhead is detached, you install the April Shower(R) filter bracket by turning it clockwise and attaching the metal-flex hose to the bracket.

When you have the bracket set up, you then insert the rubber O-ring into the end of the hose (if there isn’t one there already) and attach the end of the hose to the new shower head by turning the end clockwise. From there, you turn on the faucet and check to ensure that there is no leakage in the new shower head.

In case of any slight leakage, ShowerFilterStore provides a Teflon tape with the April Shower(R) filter, which you can apply over the thread of the bottom of the showerhead and reattach the hose to stop the leakage – you can as well use any thread-sealing tape if the Teflon tape doesn’t get the job done.

Maintenance

Maintaining this shower head filter is more than easy too. The only work you have to do is clean it regularly and change the filters, which is simple – the whole unit assembles and disassembles easily, unlike ordinary showerheads, which are usually difficult to open and clean.

The filter that you may need to change frequently is the Vitamin C filter. One filter lasts for 6,000 liters, so you may need to replace it after every 45 to 65 days or approximately two months, depending on your usage, or when the cartridge turns clear (or you can’t smell the aroma from the showerhead anymore).

The process of replacing it is straightforward. You grasp the head and the handle with different hands and turn the head counterclockwise until they separate. From there, you remove the used cartridge filter and replace it with the new one.
The cartridge will have a label stating in and out, so you have to ensure that the in section goes into the showerhead handle first, which means that the pre-injected hole on the cartridge needs to go face in first. Once you have inserted the cartridge, you just reassemble the showerhead, and you are done.

If the filter is not used up, but you feel that the aromatherapy scent is not as strong as you want it to be or it has subsided, you can easily increase the strength of the fragrance without having to change the filter. You just remove the cartridge filter from the handle of the showerhead, grab a tack or any other sharp object and puncture a larger hole on top of the cartridge’s pre-made hole.

Once you have enlarged the puncture hole, you reinsert the cartridge back to the shower head and tighten the handle until it’s secured. Doing this will help increase the aromatherapy fragrance without having to replace the Vitamin C filter, which is convenient, especially if its lifespan is not yet exhausted. You can carefully puncture the hole, gradually increasing it each time until the fragrance is as strong as you desire.

The other maintenance you’ll need to do is to clean both the shower plate and the micro-fabric filter regularly to keep the performance of the April Shower(R) filter optimally. Your showerhead stream becomes scattered, or the water flow becomes inconsistent when the micro-fabric filter needs cleaning.

To do so, you open the shower head cap by twisting it counterclockwise and then remove the showerhead spray plate, the micro fabric filter, and the O-ring. Once these three parts are separated, you can clean the micro fabric filter by washing it in a circular motion using your fingers in order to remove all the excess debris and particles. When it’s clean, you then wash the spray plate the same way but this round using vinegar or dishwasher detergent.

If the micro fabric filter has completely changed into a rust-like color and it doesn’t wash off, cleaning it won’t do any good – you’ll need to replace it. Unlike the Vitamin C filter, there’s no specified duration/lifespan after which you’ll need to change it, but the manufacturer recommends replacing it after two to three washes depending on your water quality.

The good thing is that provided you clean the micro fabric filter and the spray plate, you won’t have to worry about the showerhead getting clogged due to lime buildup. The shower head’s fine holes and high water pressure create lime-free residues in the water, so simple regular cleaning of the showerhead components will always keep the water spray strong.

Build Quality

Regarding build quality, the April Shower(R) filter is a sturdy and durable unit. All the parts, including the holding bracket, the cradle, the hose, the handle, the spray plate, and the casing for the filters, are made of metal. So you are guaranteed durability against possible breakage or cracking.

The design of the showerhead and even the metal flex hose is modern and quite appealing in terms of aesthetics. It has a polished chrome finish that would fit in any bathroom.

Final Remarks

The ShowerFilterStore April Shower(R) filter effectively removes chlorine, chloramines, and other contaminants from the water. The fact that it also adds Vitamin C, lemon oil, and negative ions into the water, all of which are beneficial to the skin and hair, puts it ahead of most other showerhead filters within the same price range.

We also liked the fact that it provides a strong and fine water stream and reduces water consumption compared to ordinary shower water filters.

Overall, this is a great option for anyone looking specifically for a Vitamin C shower filter that’s also able to remove chlorine and other contaminants. It’s an option you can consider too if you want to mask unwanted smells because it releases a strong aromatherapy fragrance that would effectively get rid of any foul smell in your bathroom.

There’s not much information on the warranty, but the manufacturer offers a money-back guarantee that applies for 30 days from the date of purchase. They also have responsive customer service – many users reported that they respond quickly to customer queries and are always helpful in case of any issues with the filter.

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