What Should I Look for When Buying a Water Filter?

Either your water has a weird, unpleasant taste, or you've taken a look at your results from Tap Water Quality Search and now you're on the quest to get a water filter. Something! Anything! to improve taste and remove toxins. Seriously, seeing some of the contaminant levels in certain zip codes is scary!

There are hundreds maybe even thousands of options out there for water filters. Choosing a product is overwhelming! Where do you even start? What features are the most important? Are you getting what you pay for? How long will it last? All these questions and more are addressed below.

Price:

Budget, right? Whatever solution you land on to solve your water problems, it has to fit into your spending limit. Take a look at the sticker price but also calculate how much clean water will cost per gallon or per day. Whatever form of measurement you choose, apply it to all the water filter systems you're looking at so that you're comparing apples to apples. A water pitcher may be cheaper than a countertop water filter but a pitcher typically holds less water than a pitcher.

Longevity:

Take into consideration how long the system you purchase will last. Is it something that will need to be replaced often? Examine the quality--is it something that will break when you look at it wrong? The durability of the materials used and how it's made affect how long-lasting the product will be. This should play into the cost of the system too. The initial price might be really low, making it attractive, but if you have to replace it every month the overall cost might be higher. If reducing waste is a priority for you, calculate how much you have to replace parts and pieces and if they're recyclable. 

Efficacy:

How many contaminants are removed? Which contaminants are removed? At what level are those contaminants are removed? If you have high levels of arsenic (or any other toxin) but the water filter you buy doesn't remove arsenic, then what's the point? It's unlikely that any filter will remove all contaminants all the time at 100%. If a product does state that, it may be a red flag warning--too good to be true. 

Service:

IF something fails, will you be able to get a replacement? refund? It's hard to predict but you can usually get a pretty good feel for how the customer service experience may be in the (hopefully) rare case that you'll need help. What do the reviews say about the company that you're going to buy from? Do they have a team specifically dedicated to user experience? Another good indicator of a company with a strong customer service department is one that offers multiple channels to connect with them. Can you get your questions answered via phone, email, chat, and/or social media? If all those options are available it usually means communicating with customers is a priority.

Set-up:

If your water is really bad you may want an immediate solution. Do you need the quickest way to remedy bad water? Factor in the set-up time and difficulty, as well as the space, dimensions, requirements, or restrictions of setting up a water filter system. Is it as easy as taking it out of the box and pouring water into it? Or will you need to hire a contractor or plumber for installation? It might not make sense to install a certain type of water filtration system if your living quarters does allow for it. Will the installation be an additional cost? Are you able to DIY it?

Comparison:

Pitcher? Faucet? Counter-top? Structured water? Whole house? What will work best for YOU? Not every situation is the same, therefore there's no one magical solution for everyone.

Berkey Filters has done some of the work for you! Check out our versus pages to see how similar products stack up against Berkey Water Filters Systems. Curious about how Berkey Filters ranks in these key points discussed above?  Examine the price, longevity, efficacy, customer service/reviews, and set-up, to see if it's the right choice for you!