Your Furniture

Recently we wrote about the high incidence of pharmaceuticals in US cities’ drinking water supplies.  That got us to thinking “Which water filters really work?” Brita, Pur, reverse osmosis….it’s a filter jungle out there!  Here is the low down on home water filters.

First off, there are several different types of water filters. There are pitcher or carafe models, of which the Brita is the most popular. These models are good for filters small amounts of drinking water and have the benefit of requiring no installation.  Next there are the faucet-mounted models, which are relatively easy to install and allow you to filter all water coming from your faucet.  However, they do typically slow the flow rate of your faucet. Then there are countertop models, which typically mount on your sink next to your faucet.  They allow you to filter a larger amount of water and have better flow rates than the faucet-mount models.

Next are the bigger systems, which require some degree of plumbing modification. The under-sink models filter large quantities of water and don’t clutter your sink or countertop.  But they do take up cabinet space under your sink and require plumbing modifications. A hole must be drilled through the sink and/or countertop for the dispenser.  Then there are reverse osmosis filters. These remove a wide range of contaminants and are the only filters certified to remove arsenic. On the down-side, they are quite slow and typically creates 3 to 5 gallons of waste water for every gallon filtered. They also take up cabinet space.  Finally whole-house filters are relatively inexpensive (compared to reverse-osmosis systems) and remove rust and some chlorine. However they typically do not remove other contaminants.  In a nutshell reverse osmosis sytems are the most comprehensive in their removal of contaminants– but they are also the most expensive (usually several hundred dollars). Click here to find reverse osmosis systems.

Consumer Reports tested and rated 27 home water filters. They rated water filters for lead removal, chloroform removal, flow rate, clogging, and bad taste removal. The filters that ranked best in terms of removing lead and chloroform were the Shaklee Best Water system, the e-Spring system, the Aqua Pure by Cuno, the Culligan SY-2650 and the Kenmore 38460. The worst rated filters were the Omni F1, the Whirlpool WHCF, the GE SmartWater, and the Kenmore 38440. 

In the carafe/pitcher area, the Brita AquaLux rated good for chloroform removal but fair for lead removal. The Shaklee Perfect Pitcher rated good for lead removal and fair for chloroform removal.  Both rated excellent for flow rate and clogging.  The Pur Ultimate CR-900 rated very good for lead removal and excellent for chloroform removal. However, it rated poor for flow rate and clogging.  It seems you can’t have it all in a pitcher filter!

We highly recommend you subscribe to Consumer Reports so you can read the full feature for yourself– they provide many more ratings and also great commentary on the functionality of the various filters.  Click here to sign up.

Have you had a good or bad experience with a water-filtration product?  Please share your thoughts in our comments section.