Find the Best Whole House Water Filtration System 2019
The inquiry
- Why you should trust me
- Practice y'all need a h2o filter?
- Who this is for
- How nosotros picked
- What about reverse osmosis?
- How we tested
- Our pick: Aquasana AQ-5200
- Runner-up: A.O. Smith AO-U.s.a.-200
- Upgrade choice: Aquasana AQ-5300+ Max Flow
- As well great: Aquasana Claryum Direct Connect
- The competition
Why you should trust me
I have been testing water filters for Wirecutter since 2016. In my reporting, I've spoken at length with filter-certification organizations to empathize how their testing is conducted, and delved deeply into their public databases to ostend that manufacturers' claims are supported by certified testing. I've also spoken with representatives of multiple water-filter manufacturers, including Aquasana/A.O. Smith, Filtrete, Brita, and Pur, to interrogate their claims. And I've gone hands-on with all of our picks, because overall livability, durability, and user-friendliness are important in a device you'll employ multiple times a twenty-four hour period.
John Holecek, a former NOAA scientist, researched and wrote earlier Wirecutter water-filter guides, conducted his own tests, commissioned farther independent tests, and taught me much of what I know. My work builds on his.
Exercise you lot need a water filter?
Unfortunately at that place'due south no universal answer to whether y'all need a water filter. In the United States, public water supplies are regulated by the EPA under the Make clean Water Deed, and water leaving a public h2o-treatment plant must run across strict quality standards. But not all potential contaminants are regulated. Every bit well, contaminants tin enter the h2o afterwards it leaves the handling plant, past infiltrating leaky pipes (PDF) or past leaching out of the pipes themselves. And h2o treatments washed (or disregarded) at the constitute tin can exacerbate leaching in pipes downstream—equally happened in Flint, Michigan.
To know exactly what's in your supplier's water when information technology leaves the plant, you can ordinarily find your local supplier's EPA-mandated Consumer Confidence Report online; if not, all public water suppliers are required to give you their CCR upon request. Just because of potential downstream contamination, the but fashion to know for certain what'southward in your domicile'south water is to pay a local water-quality lab to test information technology.
Every bit a rule of thumb: The older your home or community is, the greater the risk of downstream contamination. The EPA says that "homes congenital earlier 1986 are more probable to have atomic number 82 pipes, fixtures and solder"—in one case-common older materials that don't encounter electric current codes. Age also brings an increased likelihood of legacy groundwater pollution from pre-regulation industry, which can be a adventure, especially when combined with age-related deposition of underground plumbing.
Who this is for
If your household goes through more than 2 or three gallons of drinking h2o each day, an under-sink water filter may be a better choice than a bullpen filter. Under-sink systems provide filtered drinking h2o on demand, with no waiting around for the filtration process to run its course, as in that location is with pitchers. "On demand" filtration as well means nether-sink systems tin provide plenty water for cooking—you could make full a pot to cook pasta with filtered h2o, for example, but you'd never repeatedly refill a pitcher for that.
Nether-sink filters also tend to take much more than capacity and much longer lifespans than pitcher filters—often hundreds of gallons and half-dozen months or more, versus 40 gallons and two months for well-nigh pitcher filters. And because under-sink filters employ water pressure, non gravity, to push h2o through the filter, their filters can be denser, so they tin can remove a greater range of potential contaminants.
On the downside, they're more expensive upwards forepart than pitcher filters, and replacement filters are also more expensive in absolute terms and averaged over fourth dimension. The system likewise takes up infinite in your sink cabinet that could otherwise be used for storage.
Installing an under-sink filter requires bones plumbing and hardware mounting, but the job is straightforward simply if your sink already has a hole for a separate faucet. If it doesn't, you'll need to knock out one of the built-in faucet sites (visible every bit a raised disk on steel sinks, or a marking on constructed-rock sinks). Lacking a knockout, you'll demand to drill a hole through the sink, and if your sink is an under-mount, you'll need to drill through your countertop as well. If you currently accept a soap dispenser, an air gap for a dishwasher, or a handheld sprayer on your sink, you could remove that and install the faucet there.
How we picked
This guide is about a specific type of under-sink filter: those that use cartridge filters and transport the filtered water to a carve up faucet. These are the well-nigh pop under-sink filters. They take upwardly little room and are mostly simple to install and maintain. They use adsorbent materials—typically, activated carbon and an ion-exchange resin, just like bullpen filters—to bind and neutralize contaminants. We're not talking nearly faucet-mounted filters, contrary-osmosis systems, or other pitchers or dispensers.
To ensure that nosotros recommend merely trustworthy filters, we have e'er insisted that our picks be certified to the industry standard: ANSI/NSF. The American National Standards Institute and NSF International are individual, nonprofit organizations that, working in concert with the EPA, manufacture representatives, and other experts, plant strict quality standards and testing protocols for thousands of products, including water filters. The two main certifying labs for water filters are NSF International itself and the H2o Quality Clan (WQA). Both are fully accredited in North America by ANSI and the Standards Council of Canada to do ANSI/NSF certification testing and both must adhere to the verbal aforementioned testing standards and protocols. Filters tin can meet the certification standard only after being pushed well beyond their expected lifespan, using prepared "challenge" samples that are far more than polluted than most tap water.
For this guide we focused on filters with certifications for chlorine, lead, and VOC (aka volatile organic compounds).
Chlorine certification (which falls under ANSI/Standard 42) is of import, because chlorine is the usual culprit for "bad-tasting" tap water. But it'south also near a gimme: Virtually all water filters of whatever blazon are certified for it.
Atomic number 82 certification is hard to achieve because it means reducing a lead-rich solution by more than 99 percent.
VOC certification is likewise challenging, because it means that a filter virtually eliminates more than fifty organic compounds, including many common biocides and industrial precursors. Not all under-sink filters have either certification, so past focusing on filters with certification for both, we identified those with markedly superior performance.
We further narrowed our search by favoring filters that are additionally certified nether a relatively new ANSI/NSF standard, 401, which covers emerging contaminants, like pharmaceuticals, that are increasingly found in US water. Once more, not all filters have 401 certification, so those that exercise have it (along with lead and VOC certification) are a very select group.
Inside this stringent subset, we and then looked for those with a minimum capacity of 500 gallons. That equates to a filter lifespan of roughly half-dozen months under heavy use (two¾ gallons a twenty-four hours). That'south enough daily filtered water for most families to both drink and melt with. (Manufacturers provide suggested filter-replacement schedules, usually given in months rather than gallons; we abide by these recommendations in our assessments and cost calculations. We recommend e'er using original-manufacturer replacements, rather than 3rd-party filters.)
Finally, we weighed costs, for both the entire system upward front end and for the ongoing cost of replacement filters. We did not set a toll floor or ceiling, only our enquiry revealed that while up-front costs ranged from the depression $100s to $one,250, and filter costs from $60 to almost $300, these differences weren't reflected in markedly superior specs for the more expensive models. Nosotros constitute several under-sink filters that came in at well under $200 while offering exceptional certifications and lifespans. These became our finalists.
Beyond this, we looked for:
- Misleading claims: Unfortunately, many filter makers use phrases like "independently tested to ANSI/NSF standards" to imply that the filter is certified. Just "independently tested to" and "certified" aren't the same thing; the sometime usually ways a filter maker had its testing done by a non-certifying lab. All of the filters nosotros recommend are certified by NSF or WQA.
- Total ANSI/NSF certifications: More is better. There are scores of potential water contaminants, and filters must be tested and certified for each one. Certification is done on a strict pass/neglect basis; at that place are no certifications for "pretty proficient" or "close plenty."
- Toll-competitiveness: Filters have to exist replaced regularly, and so cost-per-filter and the replacement schedule give a sense of long-term price-competitiveness.
- Wide availability: We specially wanted our recommended replacement filters to exist piece of cake to find for the foreseeable future.
- Hardware quality: We favored metallic parts over plastic—particularly on plumbing connections—and compression fittings over push-in.
- Reputation and reviews: We weighed the trends we establish in filters' owner reviews—both positive and negative—to get a fuller moving picture of how they perform beyond their certifications and our ain experience.
While researching, we ran into occasional reports of catastrophic leaks from owners of under-sink water filters. Considering the filters are plumbed into the cold-water feed line, if a connector or hose breaks, h2o will escape until the close-off valve is closed—meaning it could exist hours or fifty-fifty days earlier you discover the problem, leaving you with astringent water damage. It's not a common occurrence, only is a hazard to weigh when considering buying an under-sink filter. And if you do purchase 1, follow the installation instructions advisedly, take intendance not to cross-thread the connector, and plough the water back on slowly to bank check that at that place are no leaks.
What about reverse osmosis?
Contrary osmosis, or R/O, filters initially utilize the same sort of cartridge filters as our picks here but add a secondary reverse-osmosis filtration machinery: a fine-pored membrane that lets h2o through but filters out dissolved minerals and other substances.
Nosotros may address R/O filters in depth in a future guide. Here, nosotros categorically dismissed them. They offer limited functional advantages over adsorbent filters; they produce meaning amounts of wastewater (typically iv gallons of wasted "rinse" water per gallon filtered), while adsorbent filters produce none; they take up far more than room, considering unlike adsorbent filters they apply a one- or 2-gallon tank to shop filtered water; and they are far slower than under-sink adsorbent filters.
How we tested
Nosotros've conducted lab tests of water filters in years past, and our primary takeaway from testing was that ANSI/NSF certification is a reliable mensurate of a filter's performance. That's not surprising given the farthermost rigor of the certification testing. Since then nosotros have relied on ANSI/NSF certifications, rather than our own express testing, to select our competitors.
In 2022 we conducted tests on the pop Big Berkey water-filter organization, which is not ANSI/NSF certified but claims to accept been extensively tested to ANSI/NSF standards. That experience further cemented our insistence on true ANSI/NSF certifications and our distrust of "tested to ANSI/NSF" claims.
Our tests since then, including in 2019, have focused on existent-world usability and the kinds of practical features and drawbacks that become apparent when you're living with these products.
Our selection: Aquasana AQ-5200
Our selection
Our option is the Aquasana AQ-5200, aka the Aquasana Claryum Dual-Stage. Its nearly of import feature by far is that its filters have the best ANSI/NSF certifications among our contenders, including chlorine, chloramine, atomic number 82, mercury, VOC, multiple "emerging contaminants," and PFOA and PFOS. Beyond that, its faucet and plumbing hardware are made of solid metal, which is superior to the plastic that another manufacturers apply. And this system is besides extremely compact. Finally, the Aquasana AQ-5200 is ane of the best values we've found in under-sink filters, typically costing well-nigh $140 up front for the whole system (filters, housing, faucet, and hardware) and $60 for a set of two replacement filters. That's less than many competitors with weaker certifications.
The Aquasana AQ-5200 is ANSI/NSF certified (PDF) for 77 contaminants. Along with the identically certified Aquasana AQ-5300+ and A.O. Smith AO-US-200, that makes the AQ-5200 the most robustly certified system among our picks. (A.O. Smith bought Aquasana in 2022 and has adopted much of its technology; A.O. Smith has no plans to phase out the Aquasana line.) For comparison, the fantabulous Pur Pitcher Filter with Atomic number 82 Reduction is certified for 23.
These certifications include chlorine, which is used to impale pathogens in municipal h2o supplies and is the chief cause of "bad-tasting" tap water; lead, which tin can leach out of old pipes and pipe solder; mercury; live cryptosporidium and giardia, ii potential pathogens; and chloramine, a persistent chlorine-ammonia disinfectant that is increasingly employed by filtration plants in the US Southward, where pure chlorine quickly degrades in the warm h2o. The Aquasana AQ-5200 is also certified for fifteen "emerging contaminants" that are increasingly constitute in public h2o supplies, including BPA, ibuprofen, and estrone (a form of estrogen used in birth control); and for PFOA and PFOS—fluorine-based compounds used to make nonstick substances, and which received an EPA Health Advisory in Feb 2019. (At the time of the advisory, merely three manufacturers in this category of filters were certified for PFOA/S, making this particularly noteworthy.) It is also certified for VOC. That means it finer removes more than than 50 different organic compounds, including many pesticides and industrial precursors.
Along with activated carbon and an ion-exchange resin, which are mutual to near if not all under-sink filters, Aquasana uses two additional filter technologies to achieve its certifications. For chloramine, it adds catalytic carbon, a more porous and therefore more reactive form of activated carbon produced by treating the carbon with high-temperature gas. For cryptosporidium and giardia, Aquasana manufactures its filters in such a way that the pore size is reduced to 0.5 micron, which is small plenty to physically capture them.
The Aquasana AQ-5200 filter's infrequent certifications are the main reason information technology's our pick. Simply its design and materials also set information technology apart. The faucet is made of solid metal and so is the T-shaped fixture that attaches the filter to the plumbing. Some competitors use plastic for one or both, lowering cost just increasing the risk of cross-threading and mis-installation. The AQ-5200 employs compression fittings to ensure a tight, secure seal betwixt your plumbing and the plastic tubing that sends water to the filters and tap; some competitors utilize elementary push-in fittings, which are less secure. And the AQ-5200 faucet is available in three finishes (brushed nickel, polished chrome, and oiled bronze), whereas some competitors requite you no choice.
We also favored the AQ-5200 system'south compact form. It uses a pair of filters that are each little bigger than a soda can; another filters, including the Aquasana AQ-5300+, below, are the size of liter bottles. With the filters installed on the mounting subclass, the AQ-5200 measures 9 inches high by 8 inches wide by iv inches deep; the Aquasana AQ-5300+ is xiii by 12 by 4 inches. That means the AQ-5200 takes up significantly less room in the sink cabinet, can fit in cramped spaces where larger systems would non, and leaves more room for under-sink storage. Yous need about 11 inches of vertical space (measuring downward from the top of the housing) to permit filter replacement, and virtually 9 inches of unobstructed horizontal space forth a cabinet wall to install the housing.
The AQ-5200 is very well reviewed for a water filter, with 4.five stars (out of five) across more than than 800 reviews at Aquasana's site, and four.five stars across nigh 500 reviews at Home Depot.
Finally, at its current toll of nigh $140 (and often on sale for closer to $100) for the complete organization and $lx for a fix of replacement filters ($120 per year on a 6-calendar month replacement bicycle), the Aquasana AQ-5200 is one of the very best values amidst our competitors, costing hundreds less than some models whose certifications aren't every bit extensive. The unit of measurement contains a timer that begins beeping when you're due for a filter replacement, but nosotros recommend besides setting a recurring calendar reminder on your phone. (You're less likely to miss it.)
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The Aquasana AQ-5200 has a lower maximum flow charge per unit relative to some competitors (0.five gpm versus 0.72 or more) and lower chapters (500 gallons versus 750 or more). This is the straight upshot of its physically pocket-size filters. On rest, we think these small-scale drawbacks are outweighed by its compactness. If you know you want higher menses and capacity, the Aquasana AQ-5300+ is rated to 0.72 gpm and 800 gallons but shares the same half-dozen-month filter-replacement schedule, and the Aquasana Claryum Direct Connect delivers up to 1.five gpm and is rated to 784 gallons and six months.
The AQ-5200 system'southward instruction manual is a bit sloppy, with a few parts not shown on the parts list or diagram. It's nothing that will trip up most owners; fundamentally, all you lot're doing is attaching a couple of tubes to the water supply and the faucet, and the parts more or less explicate themselves. (The unlisted, decorative stainless washer is the exception: it goes onto the faucet first, before the thin safe washer.) And in fairness, sloppiness is a problem with many under-sink filters' manuals, judging past the comments we came beyond in our research. But we'd similar to see the manual rectified in the hereafter. In the meantime, hither's a video from Aquasana of how to install the AQ-5200.
As noted higher up in How We Picked, nether-sink water filters, including the AQ-5200, occasionally fail catastrophically, causing severe water damage if the problem is non quickly noticed and fixed. Be particularly conscientious when installing that you don't cantankerous-thread the connector and that the hose connections are secure, and turn the h2o back on slowly, so you tin can catch and rectify any leaks before they become a disaster.
Like all our picks, the Aquasana AQ-5200 comes with its own split faucet, which may not match your style. You lot can also install a divide faucet of your choice, equally long as the faucet connexion is ⅜ inch. But you'll want to friction match its flow rate to the Aquasana'southward 0.v gpm, because filter certifications are tied to menstruum. And note that using your own faucet technically means your arrangement is no longer ANSI/NSF certified.
If you suspect your water is sediment-rich (an orange-ish tint, from rust, is one clue; so is past feel with filters of any sort, including pitchers, becoming clogged before their projected lifespan), you may wish to look at the otherwise like Aquasana AQ-5300, which adds a sediment prefilter.
Runner-up: A.O. Smith AO-US-200
Runner-up
The A.O. Smith AO-Usa-200, marketed as (prepare for a mouthful) the Clean Water Filter Dual-Stage Carbon Block Under Sink Water Filtration System, is functionally and in every of import respect physically identical to the top-selection Aquasana AQ-5200. Information technology has the same 77 ANS/NSF certifications (PDF) and the same compact size, filter technologies, all-metal construction, pinch fittings, and 0.5 gpm period and 500-gallon capacity. Information technology likewise usually sells for about the same price up front and for a set of replacement filters. None of this is suspicious: A.O. Smith purchased Aquasana in 2016, and equally an A.O. Smith representative told us, is "leveraging" Aquasana'due south expertise while having no plans to phase out the Aquasana brand.
The A.O. Smith filter differs from the Aquasana AQ-5200 in but two respects. Starting time, it'south exclusive to Lowe'southward. 2nd, its faucet comes in only a brushed-nickel stop, while the AQ-5200 faucet comes in brushed-nickel, polished-chrome, and oiled-bronze versions. If brushed nickel suits your decor, nosotros recommend shopping around. Sales can significantly reduce the price of 1 relative to the other. As a Lowe's exclusive the A.O. Smith has fewer reviews only the feedback then far is solid.
As for flaws, the A.O. Smith'due south manual is sloppy in the aforementioned ways the Aquasana 5200 transmission is. And our A.O. Smith came with a single vi-foot length of plastic tubing; information technology'south supposed to come with 2 3-foot lengths, as the AQ-5200 did. The tubing was easy to cut in half (nosotros tested with scissors, kitchen shears, and a wire cutter), but owners shouldn't have to take that stride themselves.
Upgrade pick: Aquasana AQ-5300+ Max Catamenia
Upgrade option
Aquasana AQ-5300+ Max Catamenia
Higher flow and capacity
With the aforementioned bang-up certifications just a higher flow rate and filter chapters, the AQ-5300+ works for homes that utilize a lot of water—only it costs a bit more and takes up more than space under the sink.
Buying Options
With identical certifications to the Aquasana AQ-5200 and the A.O. Smith AO-US-200 only higher menstruation rate and larger capacity, the Aquasana 5300+ Max Flow is our pick for people who need a lot of filtered water and want it fast. Just it's a physically much larger organization (see the comparative photo below) and costs more upwards front and to supervene upon the three filters.
The Aquasana AQ-5300+ Max Flow is ANSI/NSF certified for the aforementioned 77 contaminants (PDF) equally the 5200 and A.O. Smith filters, including chlorine, chloramine, pb, mercury, VOC, PFOA, and PFOS. The AQ-5300+ Max Period adds a prefilter for capturing rust and sediment that may be in the h2o supply, helping go along the contaminant filters from clogging; the AQ-5200 and A.O. Smith filters lack this characteristic.
The AQ-5300+ Max Menstruation uses all-metal hardware that's identical to the Aquasana AQ-5200 and the A.O. Smith filters, and like the AQ-5200, the faucet comes in iii finishes: brushed nickel, chrome, and oil-rubbed bronze. And the AQ-5300+ Max Menstruum has the same secure compression fittings, helping foreclose leaks.
The AQ-5300+ Max Catamenia delivers h2o more than quickly than the AQ-5200 and the A.O. Smith filters: it's rated to 0.72 gpm, versus 0.5. And its filters have a higher capacity, at 800 versus 500 gallons. Just that does not extend the filters' recommended lifespan: they're rated to the same six months. At about $80 versus $60 for a set of replacements, that translates to about $40 more than annually. And the AW-5300+ Max Flow is more expensive upward front, at around $150 (though often on sale for less).
The AQ-5300+ Max Catamenia is well reviewed, with four.half-dozen stars (out of five) across more 900 reviews at Home Depot and four.6 stars beyond near 1,500 reviews at Aquasana'south site.
But the AQ-5300+ Max Flow is physically much larger than the AQ-5200 and the A.O. Smith filters, at thirteen by 12 past iv inches versus 9 by 8 past 4 inches. It will accept upwards more than room in your under-sink cabinet and may non fit at all if your cabinet is particularly small or cramped. You need about 15 inches of vertical space (measuring downwards) from the acme of the housing to permit filter replacement, and about 13 inches of unobstructed horizontal cabinet wall to screw the housing into place.
Ane other note: The AW-5300+ Max Flow is equipped with a "performance indicating device" (PID). That ways information technology measures the actual amount of water that passes through the device, while the AQ-5200 and A.O. Smith filters have unproblematic timers. The PID is Bluetooth enabled, as well, then it can alert your phone or laptop when the filters are due for replacement. We nonetheless recommend setting a calendar reminder on your phone, equally you're more likely to meet the reminder and don't have to worry about the PID malfunctioning or running out of power.
Also not bad: Aquasana Claryum Straight Connect
Too great
The Aquasana Claryum Direct Connect is an under-sink filter with item utility for renters and for people in homes that don't have a dissever mounting hole for a filter-dedicated faucet. That's because it plumbs directly into the cold-water line and sends filtered water to the main faucet—you don't take to drill whatsoever holes or otherwise alter your space. This design also makes the Claryum Directly Connect easier to install than our other picks, which need that split faucet installed and as well require you to mount the filters on the sidewall of the sink cabinet. In dissimilarity, the Claryum Direct Connect can merely lie on the chiffonier floor (though information technology comes with mounting brackets if you prefer to secure it horizontally or vertically).
The Claryum Direct Connect has the same exceptional ANSI/NSF certifications equally our other picks from Aquasana and A.O. Smith. (The latter is a Lowe's-exclusive Aquasana brand—the exact A. O. Smith equivalent to the Claryum Direct Connect is the A. O. Smith Clean Water Main Filter.) Information technology reduces lead, mercury, PFOA/PFOS, and some pharmaceuticals, a total of 77 contaminants. The filters are rated for 784 gallons, or virtually six months' worth of normal apply, and Aquasana claims a menses rate of up to ane.five gallons per minute—three times faster than that of the peak-choice Aquasana AQ-5200 and twice as fast as the catamenia rate of the AQ-5300+.
In our initial testing, we measured zero change in a domicile faucet'southward flow later on installing the Claryum Straight Connect: It delivered the same 1.25 gallons per minute that it did earlier. All the same, after unrelated plumbing repairs elsewhere in the multi-unit building sent a huge burst of sediment into the pipes, the filter chock-full, and the flow dropped to just 0.5 gpm. If you know or doubtable that y'all have sediment issues, Aquasana recommends our upgrade pick, the AQ-5300+, because unlike the Claryum Directly Connect it has a sediment prefilter.
Installing the Claryum Directly Connect is straightforward. You simply shut off the cold-water inlet valve, unscrew the existing coupling to the sink's h2o line, and spiral in the provided adapter. Two sections of tubing, likewise included, connect the filter to the adapter, using simple press-fit collars. Yous can leave the filter lying on the floor of the sink chiffonier or mountain information technology on the brackets that Aquasana provides. We were able to practice the chore in about 10 minutes; the but tools you lot need are an adjustable wrench and, if you opt for the brackets, a screwdriver.
Be aware, withal, that the filter is much larger than our other picks at 20½ inches long and iv½ inches wide, and you need 3 inches of additional space below it or next to it to remove a spent filter and put a new one in. So take some measurements before buying.
Because the Claryum Direct Connect is continued to the main faucet, every time you plough on the cold water, you use up a chip of filter life. The filter's high capacity makes that less of a business organization than it would otherwise be, but we can imagine people altering their water usage in a bid to maximize the filter'south lifespan. ("You're definitely not pre-rinsing those dishes now," quipped Harry Sawyers, editor of this guide.) Of course, you also get the convenience of instant, free-flowing filtered water and easy installation, and we consider that a fair trade-off. When it'south time for a replacement filter, the old 1 twists out and the new ane twists into place, the work of less than a minute.
Reviews of the Aquasana Claryum Directly Connect are generally very positive—with one common source of complaint, and a valid one. The adapter piece is made of plastic, and it's likewise easy to cross-thread that piece during installation and strip the threads, rendering it useless. If y'all merely take a little care, it shouldn't exist an upshot, merely a brass adapter would be sturdier and less prone to this trouble.
The competition
The Hahn iii-stage 600-gallon is a re-branded version of the Aquasana AQ-5300. Information technology has the aforementioned 77 ANSI/NSF certifications equally the Aquasana 5200, 5300, 5300+ Max Flow, and the A.O. Smith AO-US-200. And similar the 5300 and 5300+ Max Flow, it has a sediment prefilter. It's not as widely available as any of these, just if you lot encounter one at a competitive price and if y'all know you lot take loftier sediment in your pipes, it'due south a solid selection.
The Amway eSpring 100189 has more than ANSI/NSF certifications than whatsoever other filter we discovered in our research, including lead, VOC, Standard 401 "emerging contaminants," and PFOA and PFOS. Simply it costs $1,250. That's almost 10 times what our picks cost, which made information technology easy to dismiss.
The Aquasana AQ-5300 sits between the top-selection AQ-5200 and upgrade-option 5300+ Max Flow. It's physically almost identical to the AQ-5200 but adds a sediment prefilter (similar the 5300+ Max Period) to help extend the contaminant filters' lifespans. If yous know your water is rusty or sediment-rich, this filter may be worth the slightly higher up-front end and maintenance costs. It has same ANSI/NSF certifications and 0.5 gpm menstruum as the AQ-5200, a slightly higher 600-gallon chapters, and the same six-month filter replacement schedule but is a flake wider (12 inches versus eight inches) due to the tertiary filter.
Brondell's pop H2O+ Coral UC300l has pb and VOC certification but no Standard 401 "emerging contaminants" certifications.
The 3M Aqua-Pure AP-DWS1000, an informal recommendation in the previous version of this guide, costs considerably more our picks and lacks Standard 401 "emerging contaminants" certifications.
The Body Glove BG-12000, also a former informal recommendation, is rated to a relatively loftier 0.75 gpm and 750 gallons but has fewer certifications than our picks and costs more than $500, and you have to buy a faucet separately. The BG-3000 lacks Standard 401 certifications and is rated to just 450 gallons, and again costs more than than our picks and doesn't come up with a faucet.
The popular Brita Redi-Twist WFUSS-334 is not a Brita production but licenses Brita's name. It lacks VOC and Standard 401 certifications and costs more than our picks.
The Camelot Imperial Plus is certified for atomic number 82 and VOC merely not Standard 401 "emerging contaminants" and costs $ane,800.
APEC's pop WFS-1000 is not certified for whatever of its claims past NSF or WQA.
No Ecodyne filter in the under-sink, non-opposite-osmosis category met our requirements. (The company primarily focuses on industrial, puddle, and spa filtration.)
The iSpring US31 is not certified past NSF or WQA but rather is "independently tested" to their standards.
The Frizzlife MP99, an "Amazon's Option," also is not certified past NSF or WQA.
No EcoWater filter met our requirements of atomic number 82 and VOC reduction and 500-gallon capacity.
The Pentair F2000-B2B has lead and VOC certifications just not Standard 401, and is non widely available.
Shaklee's BestWater MTS2000 Model 82333 is NSF-certified for lead and VOC and rated to one,000 gallons, but nosotros found very little further information about it.
The WaterChef U9000 is certified for atomic number 82 and VOC but not Standard 401 "emerging contaminants." That and its high cost mean information technology's not our choice, despite its 1,000-gallon capacity and 0.75 gpm flow rate.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-under-sink-water-filter/
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