Buyer’s Guide – Best Water Purifiers of 2018 – with Reviews
Table of Contents
Thank you for checking out our reviews of the best water purifiers on the market, in 2018.
Did you know that in the US, as of 2018, approximately 85% of US residents receive their water from public water treatment facilities?
You may be wondering … why is this important?
Glad you asked. Of that 85% of US residents, many are drinking water that is contaminated with undesirable chemicals (leaving bad taste, or possible sickness), that can be indiscernible to human senses.
Given this lack of clean, and pure water, available to most US residents, it’s becoming increasingly more important filter your family’s water correctly.
Thus, we’ve rounded up the 3 best water purifiers available in 2018, and ranked them for your convenience. Hope you enjoy!
Best Water Purifier With Reviews
#1: Big Berkey BK4X2 Countertop Water Filter System
At #1 on our list of the best water purifiers of 2018, we have the Big Berkey BK4X2. This unit reigns supreme to it’s loyal fans mainly due to it’s superb capacity, and price point.
Like most water purifiers, this system works with carbon filters. Big Berkey actually developed two stages of filtering here using carbon: the first one is the Black element, which works to remove chlorine and macro contaminants like pathogens in the water. The second filtering, the Fluoride Element, works like a post filtering stage and removes as the name suggest, fluorides and heavy metals alike.
This process happens sort of fast compared to more robust systems of water filtering, specially because it comprises just two stages. Then the purified water is stored on the chromed housing that is made on stainless steel and can house 2.25 gallons, with a capacity of filtering 7.7 gallons per hour. The system is recommended to be installed on a countertop surface and includes a kit for the installation.
The filter cartridges here can last up to 1000 gallons for the fluoride element and 3000 for the black element. Also, the default pack comes with two of these at once, so the capacity here is doubled. After that limit is reached you should implement the replacement of the cartridges or you can pay attention to alteration on the quality of the water filtered. The recommended changing time when operating on full capacity is up to 3 months, but if you do not use the water purifier that often, once again, is a matter of noticing when the water is not being purified effectively anymore to change the filters.
#2: PUR 3-Stage Horizontal Water Filtration Faucet Mount Chrome FM-9400B
PUR is a brand that has some name already for its kitchen appliances related to water management. This PUR 3-Stage water purifier is one of the famous products of the brand and a more dynamic option to filtering than the Big Berkey, even though this purifier doesn’t count with a storing tank. The water filtering here works instantly. The system is connected to the water line pipe that feeds your kitchen faucet and it treats the water in a matter of some seconds.
The flux of water here is not too strong for obvious reasons, but it is not either deficient and can surely be used to wash. As the name suggest, this system works with 3 stages of filtering through carbon cartridges. These cartridges are made of coconut shell carbon and ensure an ionic reaction that is efficient enough to remove 99% of lead and 96% of mercury, along with many other contaminants.
The water goes up and down inside the filter passing by three different cartridges. While it is the same filtering technique, it is repeated three times to ensure there is enough and appropriate absorption of the contaminants.
Probably there are only two let downs on this filtering system compared to the Big Berkey: the filters here last up to 100 gallons only, each cartridge, so the replacement will happen much sooner depending on how much water is consumed through the faucet. Plus, there is no storage tank, so the water filtered is supposed to be consumed/use in time. Surely you can store it alternatively on bottles and any other containers of your preference, but the brand doesn’t include any of them. You will find this system available on a set of three different finishes: chrome, black or white.
#3: ZeroWater ZD-013 8-Cup Pitcher
The last suggestion of our list is also the most affordable and practical of all the water purifiers. The ZeroWater ZD is developed specially for drinking water and it is actually a storage jar with capacity for up to 2L of water. ZD works very differently as it is a sitting filtering process. You must fill the jar through the filter cartridge that is place vertically at the center of the jar. While you are filling you are already doing the filtering process as the water runs through a carbon activated layer, then follows to a second, denser layer of more carbon and starts to slide down the filter and pass through more two filtering stages of ionic filtering and sediment remover.
While the water is sitting inside the jar, it still goes through treatment as there is a intermediate layer that works as a catalyzer to keep the water reacting with the fourth layer/stage of ionic reaction.
The TD 5-stage filter is certified by NSF and it includes a TDS electronic meter. This meter reads the amount of TDS, total dissolved particles, that have been filtered by the cartridges. When the numbers are too low, is time to replace the filter that can treat up to 40 gallons of the less contaminated water to 8 gallon of the heaviest contaminated ones (with a TDS ratio superior to 500 PPM – part per million). This meter works with two simple alkaline batteries.
While this kind of water purifier system is more restrict to drinking water, it costs much less than the most complex purifiers and if you are not looking for a water source treated to wash dishes at the kitchen sink, this is all you will need.
What Is a Water Purifier ?
Water purifiers are quite basic water filtering systems that differ from more complex systems like reverse osmosis, whole house water filtering, carbon activated filtering and so on. The water purifiers work like filtering installed on place, juxtaposed to the kitchen faucet in general, or they are containers where the water sits and is filtered with time. Water purifiers actually work based on a carbon filtering system, but it is different from carbon activated. In general they make use of the carbon from coconut shells that is treated to become more porous. While inferior in capacity compared to activated carbon, the core mechanics of filtering here are the same: carbon is a quite reactive element with most heavy metals and contaminants, including chlorine used to treat the water, so it will suck these substances out of the water.
How do water purifiers work?
A water purifier includes a small filtering container that works as an intermediate channel between the water coming from the street and your faucet. It will provide an instant filtering result as the water goes through the container. These containers include a set of one or more cartridges of the filtering carbon and they can be replaced with time when it is necessary. Electricity is not required to make the water purifier work as the reaction between the carbon and the contaminants in the water is spontaneous, but some appliances may include electrical features to provide heated water.
The efficiency of the cartridges filtering the water right before it is released to the faucet relies on the technology implemented by each manufacturer, so the results often differ from one brand to another. The most immediate effect though on the filtering through this mechanism is a better tasting water.
What are the benefits of using a water purifier system ?
Water purifiers are often quite affordable and easy to install. Most households in America have one water purifier attached to the kitchen faucet and the immediate benefit is a better tasting water. Depending on the set of carbon cartridges, the water purifier can remove most of the contaminants of the water, not only providing a better tasting water as a cleansed one. Water purifiers like the Zero Water model we listed here offer a different treatment once they allow the water to sit for longer.
On the other hand, despite the type of water purifier, they are not overall efficient for treating heavy contaminated water, which would be the water considered improper for consume like artisan water from wells or areas where there is a known history of soil contamination due to industry activity or something equivalent.
The level of contamination of a water source must be professionally measured by competent authorities, so if you suspect the water is not showing any results with the purifier, a testing should be performed to ensure what exactly you will need to treat the water. You can check our articles on the reverse osmosis filtering and whole house water filtering systems to know better how these work to filter suspicious water sources and how, and when, they are better options than just water purifiers.
What the best water purifier system must include ?
Since these water purifiers will be installed along your kitchen faucet, you will benefit from filter cartridges that can endure the longer because the kitchen faucet is arguably the most used in the house. A lot of water running from it will take a lot of the filters daily, so they must be long lasting.
Also, you have to be sure the filtering of the water purifier is really up to the demands of treatment you need for the water source of your house. Sometimes, some models will be efficient to remove certain elements, like chlorine, fluorides and minerals, but won’t be efficient for heavy metals, or may have a limited capacity to filter heavy metals depending on the levels of these contaminants in the water source. Once again, a testing is very important and necessary to determine what exactly you need for your house.
Easy to install appliances are also better, since this is a simple filtering system, you shouldn’t be battling with it. A connection with the water line pipe that feeds the faucet is all you should need. Changing the filter cartridges should be very simple as well. Most of these equipment work with a push and release/push and lock mechanism of insertion of the cartridges.
