Whole house water filter systems are some of the most popular filtering solutions currently used throughout the country. These systems are so popular because they’re effective, and because they produce high-quality water. But did you know that the best whole house water filters are also more environmentally friendly to use than other filtering systems? In the following article, we take a closer look at how whole house water filters work, at the advantages and disadvantages of using them. We also present the best 6 whole house water filter reviews and explain why each of them made it to the top of the list. Care to know how a whole house filter works? We prepared a short buying guide explaining how these systems work, what they’re good for, and what you should look for in a model before buying one. Using a whole house water filter is also more environmentally-friendly than using other types of filters or even buying bottled water. Unlike other water filtration systems, a whole house system does not produce wastewater. This means that all the water entering the filter will come out of it in the same quantity. When you’re buying bottled water, you’re actually growing your carbon footprint. First of all, bottled water comes in plastic bottles. Not all the plastic we use is recycled, so lowering the amount of plastic you buy is beneficial for the environment. Second, the bottled water is many times produced in one part of the country and consumed in another. This means it was most likely transported via trucks from one state to another. The transport increases the bottled water’s carbon footprint. Do I Need a Whole House Water Filter? It doesn’t matter if you’re connected to the municipal water supply, or if you take the water from a well in your backyard, the water you use could be better. One of the best ways to tell if a water filtration system is necessary is to test your water source. You can do that by either using a home water test kit or just by examining it closely using your senses. Depending on the answers you get from the tests, you can notice one of the following facts. Your water is chlorinated Your water has a high bacterial contamination Your water has a weird taste or smell Your water has small particles floating through it, or it’s cloudy. If you notice only one of the previous facts, you should use a whole house water filtration system. How Does a Whole Home Water Filter Work? Whole house water filtration systems might employ different mediums to filter out the contaminants in your water, but the basic principle they use remains the same. Here is a short explanation of how these systems work. The filter is usually attached to the main water line before the water heater, so all the water in entering home will be filtered. When the water enters the filtration system it will first encounter a sediment prefilter. This filter is specially designed to remove the larger particles in the water, like silt, sand, rust, debris, or sediment. However, this is not its only role. This filter also plays a key role in keeping the next filters functional for a longer period of time. Without this filter, the other filters would need more frequent changes. After the water exits the sediment pre-filter, it has to get through the activated carbon filter. This is one of the most important components of the filtering system, as it has a crucial role in removing a lot of contaminants. Activated carbon offers a huge porous surface. This surface is lined with nooks and crannies, and the contaminants in the water are attracted to them through a natural process called adsorption. This filter is very effective, and it will remove most of the chlorine, what’s left of the sediment, any volatile organic compounds (VOCs), along with the foul smells and tastes from the water. Sometimes the activated carbon filter will also be treated with special substances to have different properties. Some manufacturers impregnate a small amount of silver in the carbon filter to give it an antibacterial capacity. ...read more

The WaterChef U9000 Premium Under-Sink Water Filtration System provides the ultimate in performance, durability and convenience in a stylish and compact, stainless steel system! Superior Contaminant Reduction (including >99% of Lead!) 1,000 GALLON Capacity! (Filter More. Spend Less.) Intelligent Monitor™ (No More Cartridge Guesswork!) Tested & Certified by NSF® International (Trusted Performance) Stainless Steel System with Premium Designer Series Faucet LIFETIME Limited Warranty! (Built to Last) Powerful Big Block™ Carbon Filtration – 1,000 GALLONS per Cartridge! Combining the power of solid carbon block filtration with a unique, proprietary blend of additional filter medias, WaterChef’s exclusive Big Block™ Filtration technology maximizes contaminant reduction and delivers up to 1,000 GALLONS (3,785 L) of freshly filtered water with a single cartridge! This unique formula provides unsurpassed contaminant reduction for a broad range of common tap water contaminants including: Lead, Chlorine, Chloramine, Cysts(including Giardia and Cryptosporidium), Chlorine By-Products (such as Trihalomethanes), Synthetic Contaminants (such as Pesticides and Herbicides),Industrial Contaminants (such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)) and Petroleum Contaminants (such as Benzene and MTBE), while allowing beneficial minerals (such as Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium) to remain in the water. Greater Savings and Convenience. Less Waste. Stop being nickel and dimed to death by small, costly and less effective filter replacement cartridges. With a WaterChef filtration system, you’ll enjoy premium quality water at a fraction of the cost. You’ll also enjoy the convenience of a 1,000 GALLON rated cartridge capacity (That’s over 7,500 plastic water bottles!). For most households, that translates into just ONE cartridge replacement per year!(Compare that to pitcher filters, faucet filters and refrigerator filters that are so small that they can require as many as 25 replacements per year!) And, fewer cartridges to change means less waste for the environment too! The WaterChef U9000 is an under the sink water filter designed to filter out a wide range of common contaminants. It’s an inline system which means instead of collecting water in a reserve tank, it filters water directly from your line as you need it. What sets this filter apart from other models on the market is its lifetime guarantee. Very few other water filters offer a warranty this long. In fact the average warranty length tends to be one to three years. Clearly WaterChef is confident in the craftsmanship of their product. The WaterChef U9000 doesn’t run water through your normal kitchen faucet. Instead, it comes with its own dedicated filtered water faucet. This faucet is offered in four different finishes: polished chrome, polished brass, brushed nickel, and oil rubbed bronze. In addition to providing filtered water to a dedicated faucet, the WaterChef U9000 can also filter water for your fridge with a simple refrigerator installation kit. It’s also worth noting that the WaterChef U9000 is rated to filter hot water up to 100 degrees fahrenheit, or 30 degrees celsius. The dedicated faucet has a flow rate of .65 GPM (gallons per minute). Some users have commented that this flow rate is slow and they wish it could be sped up. Unfortunately the design has not been changed yet. Before you buy this unit you should consider whether a slower flow rate is OK for your household. Finally, this system is optimized for removing contaminants from municipal water supplies. While the WaterChef U9000 is still going to be an effective system for filtering water from a well, there may be other water filters on the market more suited to that purpose. This water filtration system provides you with a smarter mechanism of dealing with contaminants in water. It does so by helping you trap contaminants as well as kill any microorganisms; thus improving the general taste of your drinking and cooking water. The system is integrated with a great big block filtration. This big block filtration technology minimizes a good number of tap water contaminants, including cysts, benzene, chlorine, lead, and chloramine. The unit is quite economical, given the fact that one cartridge will provide you with up to a thousand gallons of cleaner, great tasting, as well as healthier water for cooking and drinking. This means that a single cartridge of a thousand gallons can sustain a family for a year without replacements. The system is installed with intelligent monitoring; therefore, there is no guesswork cartridge replacement. With the intelligent monitor aspect in play, you do not have to dispose of a cartridge unnecessarily, or continue utilizing a cartridge that has surpassed its rated capacity. You can conveniently find the intelligent monitor LEDs on all designer faucets. The designer faucets are engineered in different premium finishes suiting your kitchen style appropriately. Unlike most models of water filtration systems in the market; this particular model from WaterChef is tested and it is NSF International Compliant. The system installation type is under-sink, and its intelligent monitor system is LEDs. It has a particle retention size of sub-micron. The unit’s rated capacity is 1,000 gallons, which is equivalent to 3,785 liters, and its rated service flow is 0.65gal/min @ 60 psi. The system’s maximum working pressure is 125psig and minimum working pressure is 30psig. Its maximum operating temperature is 100°F/ 38°C and its minimum operating temperature is 34°F/ 1°C. The unit’s filter cartridge is UR90, which includes battery and shuttle; while its EPA establishment number is 63018-NV-001. The system weighs 9 pounds, and it measures 8.8 by 11.2 by 12 inches. WaterChef U9000 Review You should buy WaterChef U9000 if you are tired of water leaks in your house that have the tendency of causing damage to the ceilings of rooms and carpets located beneath your kitchen. Unlike the usual water filtration systems, which are made of cheap plastic parts and poor designs; U9000 from WaterChef is made of high quality material and a sleek design that delivers as expected. The system design is highly user-friendly and it only consumes a small space under-sink. This system will not only provide you with great tasting water, but an additional décor in your kitchen. The WaterChef U9000 comes with one of the best guarantees on the market. A limited lifetime warranty gives customers a lasting piece of mind when they buy this system. In addition, WaterChef has excellent customer support. Many people have commented that WaterChef support representatives are competent and very helpful. You can contact a customer service representative through email or a toll free number. ...read more

Aquaperform Under Counter Water Filter Multipure's Aquaperform Drinking Water Systemfeatures our powerful solid carbon block technology with the additional performance of our specially-designed arsenic-adsorptive media, allowing for the effective reduction of deadly Arsenic V. Our signature stainless-steel housing allows for both exceptional performance and installation versatility. TheAquaperformis NSF-certified to treat contaminants of Aesthetic Concern (Std. 42) and contaminants of Health Concern (Std. 53) - including Arsenic V. Benefits & Features Performance - Aquaperform's specially-formulated solid carbon block filter is enhanced to reduce Arsenic-V, a naturally-occurring chemical that can contaminate groundwater to harmful, and often deadly, effect. Convenience - With the Aquaperform attached to your sink from your countertop or as an under-sink water filtration system, you can enjoy cleaner, healthier, better-tasting water anytime you want it. Taste - Aside from the improved taste of chlorine-free and contaminant-free drinking water, the Aquaperform can help improve the flavor of beverages you make from that water, such as coffee, tea, or concentrated juices. Cooking - No need to worry that the chemicals in your cooking water will affect your food. Aquaperform filtered water is perfect for making pasta, soups, sauces, and other foods. Pets - An Aquaperform water filter is a great way to provide clean and healthy drinking water for your pets. Versatility - The Aquaperform can be installed on the countertop or below the sink, providing water filtration in the most convenient location. Cost-Effective - The Aquaperform countertop or under-sink water filter is a great alternative to bottled water, whose costs can quickly and easily add up over time. Peace of Mind - The Aquaperform countertop and under-sink water filter system is backed by our unparalleled customer satisfaction guarantee and warranty, allowing you to enjoy your system for years to come. Protection - Protect your entire family from the dangers of harmful contaminants in unfiltered water by providing cleaner, healthier, Multipure water through the Aquaperform drinking water system. Company History: Multipure pioneered the solid block, activated carbon filtration system in 1970. Since then they have continually refined their filters to significantly reduce the widest range of contaminants that a solid block activated carbon filter is capable of treating. Over the years, Multipure has been the leader in developing filters that meet evolving treatment needs, contaminant concerns and certification standards. For example: in 2002 Multipure was the first company to have its filters certified to significantly reduce the gasoline additive, MTBE, and the commonly used disinfectant, chloramine. In 2003 Multipure was the first company with a filter line (the 880 series) certified to significantly reduce arsenic V. In addition, out of all the hundreds of companies manufacturing filters over the years, Multipure SBAC filters have been the first that were certified to significantly reduce lead, asbestos, cysts, toxaphene, chlordane, and PCBs as those standards were developed.Additional Company Information Filter Certification: Product Certification enables you, the consumer, to be confident that the advertising materials you read are accurate and that the certified product you purchase will perform as advertised.NSF International, is an independent organization that has provided certification for a variety of products for many years. Online NSF International Certifications Directory- Enter "multi" (without the quotes) into the box requesting the manufacturer name then click the 'Search by Manufacturer' button to view theMultipure listingsfor both Standard 042 (Aesthetic Effects ) and Standard 053 (Health Effects). Scroll down a bit until you see CB6 listed under "Replacement Element". NSF provides a description of the contaminants reduced by the differentFiltration Standards. As you compare NSF certification contaminant reduction lists for different filtration systems, be aware of a practice I call 'padding the contaminant list' where a company pays to separately certify and list individual Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). If a product is certified for VOC reduction, it is redundant and unnecessary to certify the compounds separately - except to look impressive. Contaminant Reduction: The certified list of contaminants significantly reduced by filter cartridges included in Multipure's filtration systems (** at 200 percent of capacity - that's after filtering twice the rated volume of the filter **) is: For Standard 042 - Aesthetic contaminants - Chlorine Reduction, Class I (actual chlorine reduction 99%) - Particulate Reduction, Class I (actual particulate reduction down to 0.5 micron) - Chloramine Reduction (actual chloramine reduction greater than 97%) - Taste and Odor Reduction For Standard 053 - Contaminants of health concern and measured percent reduction - Arsenic V Reduction 95.8 - 99.9% - for the Aquaperform 880 and Aqualuxe models - Asbestos Reduction >99.9% - Chlordane Reduction >99.5% - Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Entamoeba, Toxoplasma Cyst Reduction 99.95% - Lead Reduction >99.3% - Mercury Reduction >99% - (pH 8.5) >91.4 (pH 6.5) - MTBE Reduction 96.6% - PCB Reduction >99.9% - Radon Reduction >94.9% - for the Aquaversa 750/1200 & Aquadome MPAD 750 models - Toxaphene Reduction >92.9% - Turbidity Reduction >99% - VOC Reduction (volatile organic chemical) Reduction, including disinfection byproducts. You will see a long list of specific VOCs (individual percent reduction for the various VOCs can be found on the product certification sheet below, but most are 98-99% or more). Performance Data Sheets for theC6 and CBADandCD11A3filter cartridges provide additional detail of the NSF Certification. ForStandard 401- Emerging Compounds/Incidental Contaminants - new standard in 2014 Emerging Contaminants/Incidental Compounds is an American national standard that verifies the ability of a water treatment device to reduce up to 15 of the emerging contaminants. This list includes some prescription/OTC drugs, new types of herbicides and pesticides and chemicals used as flame retardants and detergents that have been found at trace levels in drinking water. Multipure Aquaversa, Aqualuxe and Aquadome filter models are certified to reduceall 15emerging contaminants. Multipure also manufactures the 880 filter series which was the first activated carbon filter that was certified under ANSI/NSF standard 53 for significant reduction ofarsenic V. The contaminant reduction of the 880 series, with the exception of arsenic reduction, is identical to the CB6 filter cartridge described above. Water treatment chemicals or processes such as chlorine (where there is a free chlorine residual), potassium permanganate, and ozone will change arsenic III to arsenic V. - Arsenic (pentavalent As (V); As (+5); arsenate) reduction >99.9% (pH 6.5) - Arsenic (pentavalent As (V); As (+5); arsenate) reduction >95.8% (pH 8.5) The beneficial minerals, Calcium, Potassium, and Magnesium are not removed. This is normally not important from a nutritional perspective, but these minerals contribute to the good, fresh "taste" of  ...read more