Navigating the many water filter solutions online can be both confusing and frustrating. Almost daily, new offers appear with "smart" filtration methods that promise impressive results in compact designs. Unfortunately, these products often fail to live up to their claims. For consumers, it has become difficult to distinguish between genuine quality and marketing messages wrapped in flashy graphics, but lacking documentation.
Effective water filtration is a complex process that requires high standards of filter quality. If you want to remove more than just bad taste and odor, it is crucial that the filter cartridge is of sufficient size, made from the right materials, and designed and manufactured with a focus on high efficiency.
Water pitcher and faucet-mounted filters:
The cheapest way to get a water filter is often either a water pitcher filter or a filter mounted directly on the faucet. Both types of filters use a smaller filter cartridge, typically consisting of granulated carbon. They can filter out bad taste and odor, as well as some chlorine and a few other impurities, but the filtration is limited. Most impurities like pesticides, herbicides, microplastics, heavy metals, PFAS, pharmaceutical residues, etc., remain in the drinking water.
The limited filtration is due to three factors: First, the filter cartridge itself is relatively small, meaning that the contact time between the water and the active carbon is limited. Second, granulated carbon, which is often used, consists of loose carbon pieces that have limited filtration capacity due to their small quantity. Third, a lower quality carbon type is often used compared to the more effective coconut-based carbon solution. These small faucet-mounted filters, along with pitcher filters, can seem tempting because they appear as a quick and easy solution to a complex problem. But beyond improving the taste and smell of water, you shouldn't expect the water to actually be filtered.
Ironically, they are also expensive to maintain, as the cartridges need to be replaced every three months, compared to 6-12 months for larger 10" cartridges.
Requirements for the filter housing:
For the filter housing you choose, regardless of type and model, there are certain requirements that must be met. Many of the products available today come from China, which isn't necessarily a problem, but it is important to be critical of the quality of the materials used in production. Recently, we've seen a number of plastic products sold on sites like TEMU where PFAS levels were far too high. It is also crucial that the material is approved for food use, is BPA and lead-free, and has the relevant certifications. At a minimum, the product should be approved by either NSF or FDA. If you're in doubt, or if the seller can't provide documentation for the quality of the materials and certifications, you should look for another option.
Requirements for the filter cartridge:
The range of filter cartridges is vast, and most people struggle to tell what is high-quality and effective versus what is just empty promises and flashy graphics. We won't go through all types of water filter cartridges here but will provide an overview of what is needed to ensure you have chosen an effective and trustworthy solution.
Size:The market is currently flooded with small, sleek faucet-mounted filter solutions that seem smart, easy, and convenient, which they partly are. However, they all face the same challenges as mentioned earlier. To begin discussing real and effective filtration of drinking water, a larger cartridge is needed to give the water more contact time with the carbon. Additionally, a block carbon cartridge is preferable over granulated carbon, as it offers a filtration capacity 10 times higher than granulated carbon. A water filter can still be compact and space-saving, but anything smaller than a 10" cartridge will generally result in significantly reduced filtration capability.
Material:
When it comes to the material used in water filter cartridges, several types of activated carbon are available, but you should only opt for coconut-based carbon. It provides cleaner and more efficient filtration than other types of carbon, is completely climate-neutral, and delivers the best-tasting water while preserving all the healthy and important minerals. Just like with the filter housing, if the seller cannot confirm that it is coconut-based activated carbon, you should move on.
Other types of filtration:
Of course, there are other forms of water filtration, including reverse osmosis filtration, which is also highly effective but comes with several drawbacks, which you can read more about in our FAQ. You can also combine your active carbon block filtration with UV light, which is effective against bacteria. Ion exchange water filtration is another solution that is good for softening water but cannot filter out enough impurities on its own, so it must also be combined with an active carbon block cartridge.
Provider, website, and pricing:
There are many serious providers both in Denmark, Spain and abroad, and whether you buy domestically or within the EU doesn't matter today. VAT is almost always included, you don't have to pay customs duties, and shipping is both fast and cheap.
However, it's worth taking a moment to study the website and get an impression of whether it’s a serious business. New providers often only offer 1-2 products, which is fair enough as we all have to start somewhere, but having only 1-2 products on the website could mean there’s limited capital behind the project, and the future depends on these few products selling well. This could result in not being able to purchase replacement cartridges in the future if sales haven't gone as expected, and the business has closed down.
Additionally, the website should clearly and thoroughly describe the products in terms of materials, filtration capability, certifications, etc. Too often, descriptions are very limited, almost giving the impression that they are trying to cover up shortcomings in the products. It should be clear what materials the product is made of, what type of filtration is used, what is filtered, and who has approved the products.
Reviews:
Another sign that a project is new and perhaps overly "ambitious" is fake reviews. We know how difficult it is to get customers to write a review and how long it can take just to get 10 reviews from real customers. So, if a new website suddenly has 20-30 reviews in record time and five were published on the same day, they’re probably not genuine. Often these reviews are only found on their own website as well, and not found on Google Reviews or Trustpilot, which is another sign that they are fake.
Prices:
Prices for water filters online vary widely, and while most are fairly priced, some providers, even in the Danish market, have no qualms about marking up their purchase price by hundreds of percent. A water filter doesn't need to cost several hundreds of Euro to be effective, and the only thing you get from paying such high prices is bigger Christmas gifts for the owner.
Conclusion:
Finding the right water filter for your needs and in the right quality can be challenging, but with a bit of online research, common sense, and a critical eye on the provider, there are many great solutions on the market that will filter drinking water effectively and at a very reasonable price.
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