
After water flows through those, a reverse-osmosis filter does the heavy-lifting of removing contaminants before a fine carbon GEC filter performs a final polish to deliver clean water to your faucet. It comes with three pre-filters-a PP sediment, carbon KDF, and carbon block, which you should replace roughly every year. TechGearLab awarded it Editors’ Choice for that, but also its ability to extract about 95 percent of salt.
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The iSpring RCC7 is a five-stage reverse-osmosis filter that you can install under your sink to remove 99.9 percent of harmful contaminants (like lead and chlorine) that may be in your municipal or well water. Total Expert Score: 93/100 | Consumer Score: 94% give it 4 stars or moreįilter type: 5-stage reverse osmosis | NSF/ANSI standard 58 | Estimated annual cost: $36 | Dimensions: 15 x 8 x 8 in. Our Consumer Score represents the percentage of people who rated the product at least four out of five stars on retail and review sites like Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot. Because more affordable faucet attachments, pitchers, and dispensers aren’t rated by enough sources for us to give them expert scores, we relied solely on consumer reviews for those models. To determine the Total Expert Score, we calculated the ratings from trusted publications, such as TechGearLab and Helpful Habitat, and converted them to a 100-point scale to make it easier for you to weigh the best options. We researched 10 expert sources and 27,000 consumer reviews to select the best water filters. The most common NSF/ANSI standards to be aware of include 42 (for removing chlorine and other bad tastes and odors), 53 (for reducing health contaminants like heavy metals), and 401 (for “emerging contaminants” like pharmaceuticals).īecause pitchers are limited in capacity and may filter slowly, big families may want a larger dispenser that still fits in the fridge. You can search some filters in NSF’s database to learn in more detail about what contaminants each is designed to protect you from. In addition to your water source and budget, you should consider the speed of the filter and your household size as well as how easy it is to install and maintain.


The price range of water filters is vast, ranging from reverse-osmosis models that cost hundreds to $20 pitchers. We looked into all kinds of filters, from under-sink and countertop systems to faucet attachments, pitchers, and dispensers. No filter will remove all contaminants, so it’s important to select the right type for your water source. If you confirm your water source may have harmful amounts of arsenic, nitrates, chlorine, lead, or other contaminants, you’ll want a water filter that can specifically address those concerns. However, the CDC warns that many contaminants cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled.

You may decide you want a water filter just to improve the taste of your tap water, even if the poor taste isn’t due to anything actually harmful to your health. If you get water from a public system, you’ll get a report from the EPA on the quality of your drinking water that will come with your water bill and tell you what contaminants your water may have. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that if you get water from a private well, you get it tested at a state-certified lab at least annually.

But in order to assess whether or not you should get a filter, you need to understand your water source and its potential contaminants.
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While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates public water supplies, this doesn’t mean your water is totally free of certain contaminants like chlorine, asbestos, cadmium, copper, and fluoride. We found the best of a variety of different water filter options that can all make your water cleaner and healthier. You may not be able to control the quality of your well or municipal water, but you can use a filter to protect yourself and your family from potentially harmful contaminants-or just improve your water’s taste.
