The Best Water Filter For Home Use (Pitcher, Charcoal, Under-Counter)

Health

Solid Block Carbon Filters

Recognized by the EPA as the best option for removing chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, and VOCs. Quality carbon block filters will remove chemicals, pesticides, bacteria, fluoride (with filter attachment), heavy metals, nitrates, nitrites, and parasites. Most are gravity based and can safely transform any type of water into safe drinking water including rain water, pond water and even sea water (though these types of water will clog the filters much more quickly and are not ideal). It will even filter water with food coloring to create clear water (yes, I tested it…).

Whatis the best water filter for your family? Bottled, Pitchers, Reverse Osmosis, Distilled Water, and Carbon Filters evaluated on price and effectiveness.

This is the option that we used for years and my only complaint is that it does take up counter space. The advantages are that it is gravity based and will work even without electricity or running water. While these types of units can be more pricey that pitcher filters or other filters up front, they seem to be the least expensive in the long run and require the fewest filter replacements (a big plus for me!). These types of filters also don’t remove naturally occurring minerals from the water, making it the best tasting filtered water option, in my opinion.

Using a filter calculator, I’ve determined that the specific system we use won’t need to be replaced for over 20 years with our current usage (though I’m guessing our usage will increase as the kids get older).

The most common type of this filter is the Berkey and it comes in many sizes for different uses. It can even be used camping to filter river water for drinking! (Tested this too and it saved one of my brother in-laws from Giardia when other members of his group got it while camping).

Pros:
Filters VOCs, heavy metals, chlorine, fluoride, nitrates, nitrites, bacteria, parasites, and other chemicals. Very inexpensive per gallon cost and infrequent filter replacement. Great tasting water. Doesn’t require electricity or water pressure to work. Portable options can even be used while traveling.

Cons:
Does require counter space and has to be manually filled (wasn’t a big deal for us, we just fill at night and we have plenty of water the next day). More expensive up front. Does not remove endocrine disruptors and there are some concerns with third party testing with some brands.

Verdict:
A good option, especially in places where under-counter or permanent systems are not an option. We used this one for years before our current system.

Under Counter Multi-Stage Filters:
After years of research and trying all of the options above at some point, we finally found and switched to an under-counter multi-stage water filter system that meets all of the criteria and exceeds them. I review the one we personally use in depth in this post, but in short, it filters water through a 14-stage process that utilizes most of the methods listed above, along with others like UV and adds minerals back in. During the filtration process, water goes through these stages:

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