Best Water Filter of 2021

Why do I need a water filter?

Tap water is out and filtered water is in. Contaminants can make their way into our municipal water sources without us realizing. While it doesn’t necessarily mean our tap water is deadly to drink, there are plenty of reasons to consider a water filter. In fact, while tap water is normally safe to drink, you may find it has a bad taste or smell. In some rare cases, there can be toxic elements found in our water. Millions of Americans’ drinking water violates the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards. This makes it increasingly important to be aware of what’s in the water you consume.

How does a water filter work?

Water filters remove contaminants from our water so that it’s safer to drink. Different water filters remove different particles and have different ways of functioning. There are four main types of water filter. These filters use processes like reverse osmosis, distillation, and activated- carbon filtering. Carbon is a powerful absorptive element. It traps harmful chemicals like chlorine, metals like lead, and organic compounds.

Refrigerator filters

These filters integrate with your refrigerator. In fact, some fridges come with their own built-in water filtration systems. If your filtration fridge has a freezer, it uses that water to make ice as well.

Faucet filter

Build these filters right into your sink. Faucet filters often have the option to switch between filtered and non filtered water.

Pitcher filters

These are filters inside of pitchers that water passes through before drinking. They are cheap and simple to use. All you have to do is fill up the filter part of the pitcher with tap water and wait for it to fill on the other side.

Whole-house filters

This is the most serious option amongst the best water filters. It filters the water from the main source that connects to all the different sources of water in the home. That means your taps, showers, and even your dishwashers will use the same filtered water.

What makes a great water filter?

While no water can eliminate absolutely every contaminant, the best water filters have a few qualities in common. We looked at the following when choosing the best water filters:

The toxins it removes

While it’s important for filters to remove certain bad chemicals, it is important they don’t remove other elements. Filters should remove contaminants like lead, mercury and pesticides. For example, filters that use techniques like reverse osmosis or ion exchange, may remove fluoride. Children need fluoride to reduce the risk of tooth decay, so check to make sure your filter isn’t removing too much of the element.

The quantity of water

Some filters produce more purified water than others. Other filters are also slower than others. Pitchers tend to produce smaller quantities of filtered water over longer periods of time. Filters built into a faucet or fridge produce larger quantities of filtered water.

Cost

You can buy anything from a pitcher to a full professionally installed filtration system for your entire home. There is a filtration system for any budget.

Bells and whistles

TDS meter

These measuring devices give you the total amount of minerals, anions, or cations in a volume of water. When TDS levels are high, water has contaminants in it. If you’d like to keep tabs on the water in your area, it may be a good investment.

Reverse osmosis pump

Reverse osmosis filters require a certain level of pressure to produce clean water. Pressure that is too low produces reject water. Booster pumps raise pressure so you get more of the good stuff.