With lots of options flooding the market, choosing the right countertop water filter can be a daunting experience. However, this post focuses on how to choose countertop water filtration for your home.

Type

Before heading to the market to purchase a countertop water filter, you should determine the kind of filter that suits your needs. 

There are, basically, two water filter types, which include water filter pitchers and faucet filter.

Water Filter Pitcher

This type of countertop water filter purifies your water without being connected to your faucets. While most homeowners deem water filter pitcher as an ineffective option, this unit brings a lot of advantages to the table, including an efficient filtration system. 

They work well with small or narrow countertops and allow homeowners to place it on another counter, similar to other appliances. Water filter pitchers are excellent for people looking to use a filter for a small business or an office environment. 

However, the downside to this type of countertop filter is you have to fill the unit periodically, which is more of a hustle, especially if you want filtered water always.

Faucet Filters 

Unlike a water filter pitcher, this unit is connected to your faucets directly. When it comes to filtering water, these models are top-notch. Installing one of these offers an array of advantages, including easy and straightforward installation. 

Speaking about ease of use, faucet filters are designed to attach to the aerator on your faucet easily. 

Sadly, despite being easy to use, this unit has no indication of how much water has been filtered to help schedule periodical maintenance. 

Size

Next on the list is the size of the water filter. This factor is often ignored when pinning down the right model to purchase until you get home and it does squeeze into space on your sink’s countertop. 

If you are going for a faucet filter, ensure the unit can fit properly beside the faucet, on the sink or the counter. The same goes for water filter pitchers. 

However, some models are designed with compactness in mind and will squeeze about anywhere in the house. Others come with massive capacity and require a lot of space to fit in. Therefore, ensure you decide the size of the filter you want.

Filtration Capacity

Most water filters on the market can remove heavy metals, sediments, foul tastes, and bad odor. However, they differ in terms of efficiency in filtering the same elements in the water.

Some devices are great at getting rid of chlorine and chloramine; others may find it hard or not remove them at all. Further, some are great at removing most contaminants; others are good at filtering some of the minerals in the water. 

Therefore, you must be aware of the contaminants you want to be removed from your water. With a water test kit, you can find out the pH level, hardness, concentration of heavy metal, and other values. 

After you determine this, all you have to do is to pin down a filter that is better with removing such contaminants. 

Prices

Before heading to the market, you should figure out how much you are willing to pay for countertop water filtration system. As said earlier, there are over hundreds of systems in the market coming with different price tags. 

Keep in mind that high priced models may necessarily not be the ideal choice for your home needs. Also, don’t go into the market looking for cheap models that might not be able to filter specific contaminants.

Have a price range, then consider water filtration systems that are designed to remove impurities in your drinking water you don’t want. Some models are great at removing heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and many more.

Maintenance

After installing a water filter, you need to consider maintaining the filtration system. Regardless of which type of water filter you opt for, you will always have to keep the system regularly.

All filters at some point in time get used up. With regular maintenance, you will have impure drinking water from the outlets. While some models take about four months to reach maximum capacity, others take longer about 10 – 12 months. 

The maximum filtering capacity a water filter has may not affect the unit’s starting price. In fact, some high priced models require regular maintenance than model coming at an affordable price. 

Keep in mind that changing the filter may be on the pricey side. Some models require four filters to efficiently keep your drinking water clean, which means you have to change the whole four every time. 

So, when making a choice, consider the price of each filter and how often you will have to replace them. 

Taste

Without a doubt, water filters deliver healthier drinking water, but people still complaining of the water tasting bad isn’t uncommon. This may be as a result of homeowners getting used to chlorinated drinking water and find unchlorinated water tasting different.

Another thing you want to consider is that some models are great at removing healthy minerals in your drinking water, such as magnesium and calcium. If you have gotten used to drinking hard water, which makes it tasty, then you might want to consider unit designed to remineralize your water.