Select the Best Water Filters for Your Home

What’s the best water filter for your home? That depends on your needs. There’s no one-type-fits-all solution for water filters. Do you want to eliminate chemicals and contaminants from your drinking water? Are you interested in having a faucet sink water filter? Do you want to improve the quality of your entire home’s water? Whichever type is right for your home, our guide will help you determine the best water filter solution.

There’s a variety of contaminants that may show up in water. Below are some examples.

Tastes and odors may not be harmful but can be unpleasant.

Rust particles and other sediment can settle in drinking water, clog sink aerators and affect appliances, such as ice makers and washing machines. The condition where water has enough sediment and particles to be cloudy is known as turbidity.

Bacteria and parasites can be health concerns, particularly for the young, the elderly and anyone with weak immune systems. While well water is more likely to be contaminated by bacteria and parasites, these organisms have been known to contaminate chlorinated municipal water.

Lead can be present in water. Houses built before 1986 may have pipes joined with lead solder. Some municipal water systems may be composed of components that contain lead. Lead in water is tasteless and odorless but should be avoided as much as possible. You can find filters that reduce it, but if you’re concerned about the possibility of lead in your water, have a professional test it.

There are other potential contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, heavy metals and viruses, that may be present. Before you choose your water filter, learn what’s in your water and determine what you want to remove. Most public water suppliers, such as cities or other municipalities, must publish an annual water quality report known as a Consumer Confidence Report. If you want specifics on the water coming from your tap and not just the general water supply, test your home’s water. You can purchase water test kits and do it yourself, just make sure you understand what they test for. If your water comes from a well, you’ll need to test the water to find out what contaminants it contains.

Pay attention to exactly which contaminants a water filter is designed to reduce or remove. Look for National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certification, which indicates the filter has been independently tested to verify, among other things, that it reduces the contaminants it claims to reduce. Different water filter systems are certified to different standards. Some water filtration systems for the home are certified to simply reduce contaminants that affect taste and smell, while others are certified to reduce contaminants related to health.

Consider the amount of filtered water you need and what you want to filter (water for drinking, cooking, bathing, etc.). You can find containers that filter a few cups at a time for drinking, kitchen faucet sink water filters for tap water and whole house water filtration systems that filter all the water coming into your home.

If you’re looking for a water filtration solution that doesn’t involve a lot of extra components, refrigerator filters:

• Come built into many refrigerators
• Provide ongoing filtration of water for drinking and making ice
• Reduce sediment as well as chlorine taste and odor; some types also filter lead, mercury, cysts and more
• Typically use carbon filtration

If you want a compact, self-contained solution, water filter pitchers:

• Require no installation
• Filter water for later use
• Fit in your refrigerator or on a countertop
• Filter smaller amounts of water
• Depending on the model, can reduce chlorine taste and odor, sediment, lead, cysts and pharmaceuticals
• Available with carbon and ion exchange filtration

For an easy-to-install, above-the-sink solution, consider faucet mount water filters (also known as faucet water filters).

• They screw onto the end of a standard sink faucet for simple, toolless installation.
• They provide ongoing filtration for drinking and cooking.
• Some have a diverter valve to switch between filtered and unfiltered water.
  Typically, faucet mount water filters reduce sediment, lead, and chlorine taste and odor.
• Some models also reduce cysts and pharmaceuticals.
• They’re available with carbon or carbon-and-ion-exchange filtration.

For a seamless under sink water filtration system, under sink water filters:

• Offer a solution that’s concealed under the sink
• Provide ongoing filtration for drinking and cooking
• Require a more complex installation, including changes to your plumbing
• Sometimes use a dedicated faucet (typically included) that requires a mounting hole in your sink or countertop
• Take up more space than faucet-end filters
• Multi-stage models (image to the right) can include sediment pre-filters, carbon filters and reverse osmosis filtration
• Reduce sediment, chlorine taste and odor, lead, cysts, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, and viruses, depending on the filter type

For your bathroom, shower head filters:

• Fit between the shower head and the shower stem/arm
• Simple, tool-less installation
• Reduce sediment and chlorine taste and odor
• Use carbon or oxidation reduction filtration

For improving the quality of your home’s water supply, whole house water filters:

• Filter your entire home’s water supply for drinking, cooking, showers, clothes washing, etc.
• Some systems include a water softener
• More complex installation process that requires a licensed professional
• Depending on the filter types, reduce sediment, chlorine taste and odor, lead, cysts, bacteria, pharmaceuticals and viruses
• Filter types range from sediment-filter-only to high-end well water systems (image to the right) with multistage sediment prefilters, carbon filters and UV filtration

Get filtered water at the push of a button with a water cooler. Water coolers are easy and convenient, providing purified water without complicated plumbing or installation required. Water coolers typically hold a 3 or 5-gallon jug and can have many options including:

• Push button or paddle controls
• Child-safety feature
• Easy-to-clean drip tray
• LED night light and indicators
• A removable and dishwasher-safe attached pet bowl that delivers refreshing water to your cat or dog.
• Hot and cold water dispensers
• Mess-free, spill-proof bottle holder with leak guard
• Self-cleaning UV feature that sanitizes and purifies the dispenser

Particulate filters reduce sediment, such as rust particles, dirt and sand. Multi-stage systems often use particulate filters as a first stage to keep the particles out of other filters.

Activated carbon filters chemically bond with certain contaminants to reduce them. These are common filter types for addressing tastes and odors that chlorine causes. Some activated carbon filters also reduce other contaminants, such as lead and mercury.

Reverse osmosis filtration forces water through a membrane, collecting contaminants larger than the water molecules. While reverse osmosis doesn’t remove chlorine, it does reduce other contaminants that carbon filters can’t. Reverse osmosis systems generate several gallons of waste water for every gallon they filter. They can also remove beneficial minerals in addition to contaminants, so some systems are designed to restore these minerals to the water. Reverse osmosis can reduce contaminants, such as lead, bacteria, parasites and viruses.

Ion-exchange filtration replaces contaminant ions with additives that are more acceptable. Water softeners use this process to treat hard water, exchanging magnesium and calcium for sodium. Ion-exchange filtration also reduces containments, such as cadmium, copper and zinc.

Oxidation reduction (redox) filtration converts contaminant molecules, such as those of chlorine, into different molecules that lack the negative effects. This filtration method can reduce chlorine, lead and bacteria, among other contaminants.

Ultraviolet (UV) filtration uses UV light to remove some bacteria, viruses and cysts. UV filtration doesn’t remove chemicals.

Water softeners treat a specific condition known as hard water by removing minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Take a look at our Water Softener Buying Guide to learn more about hard water and how to treat it.

Although water conditioners are often confused with water softeners, they produce different results. Whereas water softeners reduce hardness and scaling by removing certain minerals already dissolved in water, water conditioners add new minerals that bind to existing hard minerals. This temporarily changes the chemistry of those hard minerals to prevent them from sticking to surfaces as easily.

Still not sure what you need? Visit the Water Treatment Services page to get started on a customized whole home water treatment plan. Lowe’s will help you partner with a local water expert who’ll assess your home’s water quality and family needs to give you a personalized water treatment solution.