the low down on green living
September 8th, 2008
The Low Down on Water Filters
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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.
Comments
donna emig
September 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Anyone have any info on the carafes used in the Brita and Pur systems?
Any BPA in the plastic?
Donna L. Watkins
September 9th, 2008 at 9:41 am
We’ve used the Nature’s Spring Reverse Osmosis system and loved the taste of the water, but didn’t like the waste of water to make it. We like how much purer the water is through this process and have recently thought about being able to recapture the “waster water” for use in the garden.
With all that’s in the water supplies these days, we just don’t believe a faucet or pitcher model is worth much so it becomes necessary to go with a more expensive system. However, compared to bottled water, the RO system is more environmental:
http://www.thenatureinus.com/2008/04/theres-more-to-bottled-water.html
And there’s the consideration of whether the bottled water is safe to drink:
http://www.thenatureinus.com/2007/08/dont-buy-bottled-water.html
Alan
September 9th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Does anybody know how the options above compare to using the water dispensing machines at the supermarket or water delivery services? I believe some of the machines at the supermarket are reverse osmosis.
Batya
September 9th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Do any of these filters block out pharmeceuticals found in drinking water (see Low Impact Living’s previous e-mail with an article on this)?
mudnessa
September 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I currently use Pur’s 3 stage faucet mount filter. I don’t know how it actually ranks and all that but my local water tastes DISGUSTING and I have no problem whatsoever taste wise with this filter. I had previously used their 2 stage and used it to cook and all that but I could not just drink a glass of water. My dad uses one of Brita’s pitcher filter and while I can drink the water I would prefer not to. Not so good in taste but better than unfiltered tap. I do think about the plastic used in both of these but these but that is why I personally went with the faucet mount vs a pitcher that my water would be sitting in for long periods of time. It’s got to be better than buying bottled water.
Kari
September 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I was just wondering how environmentally friendly I’m actually being by using my water filter pitcher. I just changed my filter for the first time and it seemed to have a lot of components. Does anyone know if they can be recycled in any way? If not, would it be better to just buy big 5 gallon jugs of water?
Michael
September 9th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
My Ayurvedic doctor (Nancy Lansdorf) recommended AGAINST reverse osmosis because it filters out minerals in water which are necessary to prevent bone loss. I switched to Multipure because they claim their carbon filter does not strip out minerals. As an alternative, Nancy recommended natural spring water, which has a full complement of minerals.
Nancy
September 10th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Water Distillers were not addressed in the article. For years I have been using Waterwise’s water distiller. The upside is distilling is really good at getting almost everything out. The downside is the space it uses on the counter and the hassle of filling, running, cleaning.
Recently I contacted the company over my concern that the very warm distilled water drips into a plastic container. The representative assured me that bisphenal A is totally safe and referred me to a website sponsored by the American Plastics Association. Oh, OK! I am very disappointed with the company. I am trying to figure out a way to rig it with a glass container.
Katrina
September 10th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I contact Brita a while back regarding the plastic in the pitcher issue. Here was their emailed response:
“The pitcher lids and filter housing are made from Polypropylene plastic. The reservoirs and pitchers are both made either from NAS (a Styrene based plastic) or SAN (Styrene Acrylonitrile). The soft-touch handles are made from an elastomer called Santoprene (not to be confused with Neoprene or Latex). The lids for the chrome pitcher only are made from ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene). All were tested by NSF International for safety and wetted contact.”
At the time i was worried about BPA and wanted to be sure that they weren’t made of polycarbonate.
dennis
September 14th, 2008 at 8:13 am
the sugestio to drink spring water be careful as spring water can contain herbacides and pestacides and other agriculcher applications that leach into the ground water
showerob
September 24th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I agree with David about the Multi-Pure filters. I think a couple of people expressed concerns about plastics being used to house water filters. For those that would like environmentally-friendly water filter housing, I think you should consider Multi-Pure. They have several stainless steel models and the steel housings come with a lifetime warranty. Information about these filters are available here at http://www.multi-pure-water-filters.com.
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