Note: To jump straight to the water filter reviews click here.
If your are looking to find the best water filter, you’ll probably encounter a lot of misleading claims. Much of the misinformation comes from manufacturers eager to sell expensive water filters. Government sources also tend to gloss over issues of water pollution — it’s not in their interest to point out problems with municipal water. We’ve found the best reviews of water filters comes from independent experts.
Unfortunately, there are many sources of water contamination in the modern world (see the graphic below), and sophisticated water purification is simply not possible on the massive scale that municipalities have to deal with.
The best source of information on water purification I’ve found is The Drinking Water Book by Colin Ingram. He suggests that we should find out what pollutant are in (or have been in) your local water supply. You can then customize your filtration by selecting filters that target those specific pollutants. For example, if are you in a region of the US where radon and uranium is commonly found in the groundwater, choose specific filters to remove those radioactive pollutants.
Here’s the list of types of health-threatening contaminants you want to remove from municipal tap water:
- Organic Compounds (Pesticides, Herbicides, Pharmaceuticals, Fuels, etc.)
- Toxic metals (Lead, Mercury, Aluminum, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, etc.)
- Bacterial and viruses (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, etc.)
- Radioactive substances (Radon and Uranium, etc.)
- Additives (Chlorine and Chloramines, Fluoride, etc.)
Ingram’s book also contains a comprehensive collection of water filter reviews. He rates filter from “Acceptable” to “Excellent++”. Notably, all the pitcher-style filters and faucet-mounted filters get a rating of “Acceptable” (the lowest rating). Here’s how types of filters and purifiers were rated:
- Pitcher Filters (Acceptable)
- Faucet Filters (Acceptable)
- Countertop Filters (Good)
- Under-Sink Filters (Good to Very Good)
- Reverse Osmosis Countertop Purifiers (Good to Very Good)
- Reverse Osmosis Under-Sink Purifiers (Good to Very Good)
- Countertop Distillers (Excellent to Excellent++)
- Whole House Filters (no clear answer, but appears to be mostly “Very Good”)
Pour-Through Pitcher Filters
As you can see from the list above, pitcher filters aren’t particularly effective filters, but they are better than nothing. The pitcher filter which has the highest degree of filtration is the Crystal Quest Pitcher. It has microfilters, a carbon filter, and an ion-exchange filter for removing lead.
Faucet Mounted Filters
Faucet-filters are also minimally effective. The Crystal Quest faucet filters was slightly more effective than the other brands like Pur and Culligan.
Countertop Filters
There are dozens of brands countertop filters, and many are made to high manufacturing standards. However, the cost of replacement filters can be high. So countertop filters with standard 10-inch cartridges are recommended. Ingram says: “The availability of a wide variety of standard cartridges allows consumers to customize a water purifier for specific water conditions and to purchase cartridges from a competitive array of suppliers.”
Recommended countertop filters with 10-inch cartridges include: Superior Water Filter System, Puritec CT-12 and Aquatic Reef Countertop.
Under-Sink Filters
The notes on the countertop filters also apply to under-sink filters. Under-sink filters tend to tend to have space for two or three different filter types, which is useful. Look for those filters that accept standard 10-inch cartridges. Recommend brands are Pure Water Products, Puritec and Superior Filters.
Countertop Reverse Osmosis Purifiers
Countertop reverse-osmosis filters are full-size, multistage systems with performance that approaches or equals that of under-sink reverse osmosis units. One brand, TGI (Topway Global Inc.) received a “Very Good” rating from Ingram. Specifically, the TGI CT-445 and the TGI CT-475R. These filters have four stages: a sediment filter, a granular carbon filter, an reverse osmosis membrane, and a final granular carbon stage.
Under-Sink Reverse Osmosis Purifiers
There are hundreds of brands of under-sink reverse osmosis systems. Under-sink units generally perform better than counter-top reverse osmosis units, because they employ booster pumps and allow the reverse osmosis membrane to function optimally. Recommended brands systems are: the GE Merlin RO System, Rioflow USR04-50, TGI WIN445, and the Puregen ERO-535.
Countertop Distillers
Countertop distillers are very effective water purifiers, but they take some time to distill water (for example 5 hours to distill 1 gallon). They also give off some heat and the integrated fans make some noise.
Countertop distiller that get a rating of “Excellent” are the Megahome Countertop Distiller, Waterwise 4000 and Waterwise 8800, Kenmore 34480, Pure Water Mini-Classic.
Megahome Countertop Water Distiller
This distiller is sold under many brand name, and it’s the most widely distributed distiller in the world. It has many quality components despite being inexpensive. It produces 1 gallon of water in 5 hours. The water is passed through a small granular carbon filter. There’s a sealed connections from the distiller to the water collection container, so there is minimal risk of contamination by air. The unit has a stainless steel boiling chamber that is easily accessible for cleaning.
The Megahome Countertop Distiller is available from Amazon for about $150.
Waterwise 4000 Countertop Distiller
This is a more powerful version of the distiller listed above. It has the same features but produces 1 gallon of distilled water in 4 hours. Also received an “Excellent” rating.
The Waterwise 4000 is available from Amazon for about $280.
Waterwise 8800 Water Distiller
The Waterwise 8800 is an inexpensive high-quality distiller. It produces 1 gallon of water every 4 hours. It received an “Excellent” rating from Ingram.
The Waterwise 8800 is available from Amazon for about $280.
Pure Water Mini-Classic
This rugged distiller is built out of stainless steel. It weighs 24 pounds, the filter housing is also made of stainless steel so there’s no contact with plastic.
The Pure Water Mini-Classic is available from Amazon for about $600.
Automatic Distllers
Automatic distillers are large systems that connect directly to the cold water supply. They provide continuous distilled water, but at a price — they cost between $1000 and $2500. Recommended brands include Waterwise, Glacier and Aqua Technology. The Waterwise 7000 received a rating of Excellent++.
Waterwise Non-Electric Water Distiller
This is distiller from Waterwise built to operate a heat source other than electricity. It works with a gas stove, propane grill or campfire (you can also put it on an electric stove). This unit is made entirely of stainless steel and it has no moving parts. It produces 1 gallon of distilled water every 1.5 hours.
The Waterwise Non-Electric Distiller is available from Amazon for about $370.
Read more! Related stories:
- Efficient: Foot Pedal Faucet Controllers
- How To Filter Your Drinking Water Very Efficiently
- Most Efficient Water Cleaner: Terra Cotta Gravity Water Filter and Cooler
- Faucet Restrictors/Aerators
- Producing Drinking Water from Rain Water
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Great review Justin thanks.
Just wanted to point out the reverse osmosis systems reject (i.e. waste) more water than they filter.
That doesn’t sound to efficient – unless we could figure a way to use this grey water say for shower or clothes washing.
Anyone hooked up a system like that?
Todd
I’ve read that it doesn’t matter how superduper your water purifier is, pollutants get in through the back door. The back door being your shower nozzle. Supposedly you absorb the waterborne toxins thru your skin.
But i’ve never been able to substantiate this. Can anybody out there verify or debunk this claim?
I’ve never bothered to reply to anything here before but this article is just…GRR!!!
All those countertop distillers you’ve listed are most certainly NOT efficient! They are all energy hogs since they work by boiling water and then condensing the steam. And you’ve totally ignored the potential health issue they pose since they remove all the healthy minerals from the water that are needed for good bone health etc. If you’d mentioned just one solar still I’d have not been so appalled by the list of energy pigs.
Thanks to Todd I’ve no need of adding an additional rant over the inclusion of reverse osmosis water pigs!
Aside to marinus:
http://books.google.com/books?id=FsTJIOgt3RIC&pg=PA593&lpg=PA593&dq=skin+absorption+of+water+contaminants&source=web&ots=hEj_X-lRsq&sig=tPidmVtQQnzGIouq0r1cSwbtQG0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
If the link doesn’t work just google “skin absorption of water contaminants”. For that reason the truly metaefficient choice would be the appropriate whole house filter with perhaps an additional undersink passive filter as a backup.
marinus and brivari:
This site reviews products based on their meta-efficiency. Energy efficiency is only one factor in this assessment.
I stated that using rain water is the most efficient way to obtain pure water. It requires some filtration but not as much as ground water sources. However, it does require an expensive installation to retrofit an existing house.
Whole house filters are good. But as far as I’m aware they cost over $4000 to install. Affordability is an important in my assessment.
Distillers do use electricity, but they are effective and inexpensive. I also mention a non-electric distiller. They could be powered by renewable sources like biogas or even wood.
Distilling does remove minerals from water, but this is not particularly important — we get enough minerals from fruits and vegetables.
Solar distillers are inconvenient and the water does not get sufficiently hot from solar power alone. They should actually be called solar evaporators. They also get contaminated because they are not sealed.
Most reverse osmosis units do waste water. But recirculating RO units are more efficient, and the waste water can be re-used as like any other greywater.
I’ve yet to hear any efficient alternatives to the filters I list. Keep in mind that comprehensive filtration and affordability are important.
Ok –
Marinus and Brivari –
I will try and comment on toxins absorbed thru the skin – I am by no means an expert but I am a doctor (allergist) and have a B.S. in Biochemistry so I know some about the partition coefficients mentioned in Brivari’s google book link.
I have seen these filter showerheads sold on green websites for preventing toxins absorbed thru the skin. Chemicals definitely can be absorbed thru the skin. There are common medicines given by way of a transdermal patch system (think nicotine patch – birth control patch – clonidine patch and others.)
However remember in those examples you have a high local concentration of a pure chemical that is lipophilic (which is important because this only works for lipophilic things because only they get absorbed thru the skin (the cell walls of the skin are made of lipid membranes so to pass thru these a chemical needs to be lipophilic.))
Then recall that lipophilic things do not dissolve in water. They float on the surface (think oil slick).
Most of the data referred to in the google book link talks about bathing under a toxic “octanol” layer. Where as most people shower instead of bath.
Perhaps a toxic water filter is more important for bathing than showering.
Then also the book link talks about non human systems (rats) bathing not showering. Remember also that smaller things (rats) have a higher surface area to volume ratio and therefore abosrb toxins thru the skin easier. There were reports several years ago of toxicity from applying chlorhexidine to the skin but they were mostly in children because of the SA/vol ratio.
So in summary – although toxins can be abosrbed thru the skin and should be studied I think people shouldn’t be too worried because:
1. only lipophlic toxins can work this way.
2. the data mentioned here is for bathing – whereas most people shower.
3. the data mentioned here is for small mammals (high SA/vol)
I’d like to see some adult human data on toxic levels of things present in the blood after only a regular tapwater shower before I’d worry.
And remember – All toxicity is dependent on dose. We all have PCB’s in our body – hopefully just too low of a dose to matter. So even if they could measure toxins in the blood from showering it wouldn’t mean much unless they showed they hit a critical level.
Final thought – sunlight causes cancer – so if we want to avoid every possible carcinogen you either have to live inside all year.
Hope this helps – feel free to differ.
Todd
Hello.
A very sensible and very clear explanation for shower water. But, do you have any comments on swimming pool water? The best managed public swimming pool is full of chemicals, while the not-so-well-managed can be ………I will appreciate your comments. Some years ago I stopped going to a public swimming pool because of some rather unusual water (un)management techniques and concern for what happened at the skin interface. Some days you could even see mounds of powdery chemicals lining the bottom of the pool, which nevertheless still had cloudy water. That started me thinking and soon the decision was to forget about the swimming.
Ekkwarttoch
>Distillers do use electricity, but they are effective and inexpensive.
I have to disagree with this reasoning, Justin. The same could be said of incandescent lamps.
According to my calculations, purifying 1 gallon of water with a distiller would use 2.75 kWh of electricity. If you made a gallon of water a day, that would be 1000 kWh/year for water purification *alone.*
Nathan,
Consuming electricity is better than drinking polluted water. If your electricity is coming from a dirty source, that is a different issue.
Also, I point out in the article and in the comments that using rain water is the best solution.
You don’t provide any solutions yourself.
Justin
Well said Justin, your article is very informative and makes a lot of sense. I have been searching for more efficient ways to get cleaner water and I’m definitely going to be trying out some of the counter-top distillers. The only problem I have with this is that my electricity does come from a dirty source, though I am also reaching towards that goal of living a life completely free of any kind of environmental pollution. I think this is a goal that everyone should have.. we need to be working to save our planet, especially in times like these.
I wont mind electricity if it means health for my entire family.
Guys nice review and conversation. How about Aquasana filters? I ve found several websites mentioning them as one of the best around, not if they are just bogus. Could you provide some insight? Thank you
Aquasana seems ideal. It only takes out part of the fluoride, about half. The water tastes great! It’s cheap and easy in all ways of installation, filter change, usage.
Would really appreciate your taking a look at it. I am thinking about ways to remove more of the fluorine at this time.
Thanks for a great job.
J. Howell