Tip of the day: Find the right water filter

A flood of new water filters is making it easier than ever to remove impurities from your tap water. Here’s how to choose the right model for your home.

Analyze your water. Your first step is to review the Consumer Confidence Report, which your water system must provide to you each year. The CCR is usually mailed to you, printed in newspapers, or posted on the Web site of your local government. For help understanding the CCR, read “Deciphering your water report.”

But remember, this report tells you about the water in your municipality, not necessarily what’s coming out of your taps. The only way to know the quality of the water supply in your home is to test it. To find the names of state-certified testing labs or the state authority responsible for certifying these labs water, go to www.epa.gov/safewater/labs or call the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791). You might be able to get a test kit for free or at minimal cost.

You might also consider using the Watersafe All-In-One Drinking Water Test Kit, about $18, to check your water. In our tests, it provided quick, accurate results for chlorine, lead, nitrate, nitrite, two pesticides, pH, and total hardness. Results for bacteria were less reliable and took 48 hours.

Ultimately, you might find you don’t need a water filter.

Choose the right model. Read our analysis of the different filter types to find one that matches your lifestyle and water problems. For example, if your family consumes several gallons of water a day, a single carafe just won’t do.

Read the fine print. Even within a specific type, the claims of which contaminants a filter can remove vary. So match the filter to the contaminants in your water. And use our Ratings (available to subscribers) to gauge the efficacy of each device.

Add in the long-term costs. All but one of the 27 models we tested for our latest report have filters that you must replace periodically. Our Ratings include the yearly filter-replacement cost for each model; it ranges from $20 to $330 annually.

Illustration by Mark Synder

Comments

[evangelos raptis]

what is the best shower head water filter?

[brian k]

i was hoping to see more info on which filters were the best at filtering out many of different contaminants. it focused on chlorine and lead, but what about atrazine (pesticide) or benzene or cysts or lindane or mercury and the laundry list of other contaminants in water
i was disappointed to not see more attention to this.

[steve chapman]

This is not helpful in finding specific shower head water filters, that are tested and recommended products. That is why I subscribe to your service, and not what I expected for this product. There are many types and brands available, with different performance and quality. It would be helpful for you to review, rate, and recommend the best as you do in most other products.

[Elene Murray]

I am interested in a product for my home that removes all impurities, especially the most common ones in treated water like chlorine and flouride. I would go with a reverse osmosis but they waste so much water. You have no alternative systems such as a distiller rated at all. It would help me if you had a better representation of the available products tested and available for our review.

[Shari]

I would like to purchase a whole house water filtering system. There are so many types out there but you haven't reviewed any whole house systems. Why not? Please do soon. We have a high iron content in our water.

[Shari]

I need to purchase a whole house water filtering system and you have yet to review any of the many available out there. There is such a large range of prices and types of systems that I am asking that you please review these soon. Please help identify those systems that work best and reduce the most common impurities at the most reasonable price. We also have a high iron content.

[Darren]

Please review whole house softener and purification systems, such as those offered by Rain Soft and Culligan. Lowes and Home Depot sell products for a fraction of the price. However, the high-pressure sales of those companies make the consumer feel that those "big-box" products are inadequate. We live in an area with horrible water and the tests run on our carafe-filtered water looked horrible. Is this a gimic? It's hard to get all the facts.

[Margaret]

I, too, am seeking information about recommended SHOWER water filters, not drinking water filters.

[Lisa]

I'm interested in water filters, both in the kitchen and the shower, that remove fluoride. I'm extremely disappointed to not find any ratings information on those kinds of filters AND that the information you DO have on filters doesn't go into nearly enough detail in terms of which filters successfully remove which contaminants. Lead and chlorine aren't our only concerns!

[Marilyn]

What are various SHOWER water filter ratings?

[D Clark]

I need to purchase a home water softener. I have not seen anything about these, but they are a common need for houses near the water.

[Christina Jones]

I need a whole house water purification system to remove high iron and mineral content. I also have acid water but have a neutralizer already in place. It would sure be helpful if you would look at the systems available as the price varies greatly. My current system (Echowater 3000 /R40 has started failing (after ten years) and I need to know what can do the job most economically. Prices vary greatly. I just got a price of $3650 installed (EC4-250) that uses potassium chloride. Tank holds 500lbs.
I'm not impressed with the life time guarantee, as I am 64 years old and likely to sell the farm before 10 years. Please help us get the facts.
Christina

[Chris]

Like the others above, I am in need of a high output water softening system for my home. The Las Vegas desert water is as hard as it gets! I need a very high output system since my pool was installed with an auto-fill feature which unfortunately was tapped into the home water lines rather than the irrigation lines. I guess my pool water will also be soft.... Obviously many people would love a review of this product type. How long until we can hope to see it?

[Bill]

I would appreciate a thorough review of the performance of no-salt water treatment equipment (such as the Freije Easywater system or GMS Clearwater system). These claim to successfully use magnetic elements to treat an entire household's water with the effect of the water being soft. I don't want to use a salt-based water softening system and would like to know how well the magnetic systems actually work.

[Duane]

I'm not in a position to answer questions about water treatment systems performance and/or reliability, but here is an interesting site:

http://www.chem1.com/CQ/

This guy provides good, sound, scientific information debunking many of the pseudoscience water treatment systems out there. It's a good first-stop site before you spend big bucks on a home water treatment system.

[Patty]

I would like information on FREIJE EasyWater System. It is a saltless water conditioning system.

[Toni]

I'm throwing my 2 cents in as well. I would REALLY like to see some information on water softener systems. The levels of lime in the local water have risen to incredible levels lately (its actually killing our pet fish now - we'll have to switch to bottled water until we can get this fixed.) Our current system is either overloaded or not able to treat this at all. Filtration and water softening systems can be expensive, so it would be great to have CR's objective view!

[Sandy]

Like others.....I desire a whole house filter and would LOVE your research of them! PLEASE!!!!! Also pool info. Salt water? Ultraviolet? Copper? I realize that you can't test everything; but, these products have been around for a while and your subscribers need advice :-)

[Sandy]

Like others.....I desire a whole house filter and would LOVE your research of them! PLEASE!!!!! Also pool info. Salt water? Ultraviolet? Copper? I realize that you can't test everything; but, these products have been around for a while and your subscribers need advice :-)

[John]

I'd really like to see CR do a review / evaluation of whole house water purification systems. It seems that water quality issues are becoming more prevelant no matter where you live. I've seen ads for Puronics and others which run $5000 or more and are as significant a purchase as a car (which is annually reviewed by CR).

[Daren P]

A review of house water softeners would be very helpful. Hope you have one coming soon.

[Anderson]

I agree that a review of house water softeners would be very helpful. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 85% of the US geography has hard water. Based on this statistic, it seems as though many consumers would be interested in such a review. I hope to see one soon.

[Beth]

I would like to see a review of whole house filtration systems.

[Mindy]

I, too, would like info on water softeners and whole house water purification systems. We have been without a water softener for 6 months and we have had skin problems, dishes that aren't clean and fish that have died. I hope to see something soon, because I can't wait much longer to purchase something!

[Bill]

We need guidance from CR on home water purification systems, i.e. which companies are good, what to look for, etc. Can you tell us when you might do a feature? It looks like from the comments above, there is a need. This article does not address my issues so your help is needed.