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How to Choose a Tap Water Filter

A tap water filter gives your drinking water a crisp, clean taste and removes contaminants from the water. These filters come in many forms, including pitchers and faucet-mounted systems that work directly through the faucet.

The most common type of filter uses carbon in granulated or block form to reduce bad odors and tastes. These filters are also effective at reducing most types of sediment, chlorine and lead.

How to Choose a Tap Water Filter

Filtering tap water can improve the taste and protect your health from harmful contaminants. But with a wide variety of options, how do you know which one is right for you? The type of filter you choose will depend on what contaminants are most important to you and how much money you want to spend. There are pitcher filters, faucet-mounted and under-sink filters, and whole-house treatment units. No filter eliminates all contaminants, so it’s important to understand what you’re trying to achieve before shopping (see step 1).

Start by finding out what’s in your tap water. EWG’s Water Filter Guide has a table that shows you which filters—including activated carbon, reverse osmosis and ion exchange—can remove or reduce your community’s specific chemicals. You can also see which types of contamination are reduced by a certain filtration technology in our filter comparison charts.

Once you’ve decided which type of filter to buy, consider your home and lifestyle. Some filters require a lot of counter space or are hard to install, and you may need to get your landlord’s permission to tap water filter use an under-sink system. For these reasons, point-of-use systems are a good choice for most households. They’re usually easy to install yourself using a simple DIY kit that only involves screwing connections onto your sink pipes. You can also find many professional installation companies that specialize in installing these types of systems.

What to Look For in a Tap Water Filter

Many people choose to filter their tap water because they are concerned about contaminants in the drinking water. But not all filters are created equal. First, decide what you’re trying to filter out of the water. Do you want to reduce chemicals, minerals and particles or toxins such as lead and chlorine? Then look for a filter that will target those contaminants.

A filter’s pore size, or the size of the holes that let water through, is a good indicator of what it can remove. The smaller the pore size, the more likely it will be to weed out toxins. Another important consideration is the total dissolved solids (TDS) removal capability of the filter. This includes all the salts, minerals and organic matter in the water. Some filters can even remove cysts such as Cryptosporidia.

It’s also a good idea to check the filter’s claims against those of independent testing and review organizations, such as Consumer Reports, NSF International or Water Quality Association. You can also find some excellent reviews from impartial sites that don’t sell the products. In addition, make sure the filter is certified by an independent certifying organization and that it’s easy to maintain. tap water filter supplier You don’t want to spend all that money on a system that’s hard to use or isn’t filtering your water.

Types of Tap Water Filters

Water filters are designed to remove or reduce a wide range of contaminants. Those include things like chlorine, which is used to treat municipal tap water, and heavy metals, which can leach into drinking water from aging pipes or industrial pollution. Some filters are also effective at reducing volatile organic compounds, which can be found in many household cleaning products and pesticides.

Whether you have hard water or just want to improve the taste of your tap water, there is a water filter that will suit your needs. Different filters use a variety of technologies, including activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and distillation to reduce contaminants. They can be carafes that hold a few cups or gallons at a time, whole house water filters that work throughout your home, or even faucet-mounted models that filter water as you use it.

If you’re unsure what kind of tap water filter is right for your home, start by reviewing the chemicals listed in the Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database or your local water utility’s annual Consumer Confidence Report. Then, choose a filter that specifically targets the chemicals or minerals you’d like to reduce in your drinking water. Water filtration is a simple way to support the health of your family, improve the taste of your water, and do your bit for the environment.

Buying a Tap Water Filter

There are many different tap water filters to choose from, including pitchers and carafes that filter a few cups or gallons at a time for drinking, faucet-mounted systems that filter the kitchen’s faucet, and whole house filters that reduce contaminants throughout the home. When shopping for a filter, consider your budget, cooking and drinking needs, and what contaminants you’d like to reduce. Look for a filter that lists what contaminants it will remove and its contaminant reduction rate on its packaging or website.

It’s important to read your local water quality report to see what chemicals are present in your drinking water. Some of these chemicals are linked to cancer and endocrine disruption while others make the water taste bad or have other negative effects on your health and wellbeing.

While municipal water treatment plants are generally very effective at removing dangerous contaminants from the public water supply, some chemicals can get into your drinking water through corroded pipes or during transportation. These can include traces of pesticides, chlorine and lead. Other contaminants can include arsenic, which can lead to health problems, and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are unregulated by the EPA but have been found in drinking water across the country. These PFAS are used to make plastics that resist heat and oil and to coat food-service equipment, but they can leach into the drinking water.