Our Acme Picks for H2o Filter Pitchers

Clean, skilful-tasting drinking water is essential for keeping your family hydrated and good for you, and a h2o filter pitcher is one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to make sure your home e'er has filtered h2o without the need to continually purchase wasteful single-apply plastic water bottles.

What to Consider When Buying a Water Filter Pitcher

  • Capacity: The chapters will determine how frequently you lot demand to refill the pitcher and also how easily information technology volition fit in your fridge or on your countertop. A 6- to 7-cup bullpen is a good size for mini fridges in a dorm or home office. A 10- to xi-cup pitcher is a practiced average size for most couples and families. An 18-cup dispenser will brand life easier for large families who go through a lot of water or simply anyone who wants to go longer periods between needing to refill a bullpen or dispenser.
  • ANSI/NSF Standards + Certifications for Filters: Whether you lot want your filter to improve the taste and smell of tap h2o or are more than concerned with potential downstream contamination, which the EPA says is a higher concern for older homes with erstwhile pipe built before 1986, the all-time and most reliable way to know what a bullpen filters out is to await at the industry-standard certifications they meet. The American National Standards Institute and NSF International (ANSI/NSF) are private, non-profit organizations and the two principal certifying labs are NSF International and the Water Quality Clan (WQA), both accredited by ANSI. As a general rule of thumb, the more certifications from these organizations, the more contaminants the product filters out. As an case, the Brita Standard Filter removes chlorine taste and odor, mercury, cadmium, copper and zinc, and the Brita Longlast Filter removes those materials plus lead, asbestos, benzene and other particulates.
  • Replacement Filters: Replacing the filters is part of regular maintenance for the pitchers and an ongoing cost to consider. Most standard filters included in our picks demand to be replaced later on 40 gallons of use or about every two months, with the exception of the Brita Longlast Filter. Since the Brita Longlast Filter removes more contaminants, it takes a piddling longer to filter and is more expensive, but information technology lasts about six months instead of 2.
  • Filtering Time: Probably the well-nigh inconvenient aspect of h2o filter pitchers is the time it takes for the water to filter. The standard filters with which all of our recommendations include unremarkably have just a few minutes to filter, with the exception of almost ten minutes total for the 18-cup dispenser. If you upgrade to a lead-reducing filter similar the Brita Longlast, wait the total filter time to near double. While you probably won't want to sit and expect for the bullpen or dispenser to completely filter every time you lot refill, it'south not a big deal unless you let the bullpen get completely empty and need water right away. A perk of our pick for a big dispenser is you tin dispense water at the same time more water is being filtered.
  • Filter Replacement Indicators: About pitchers come with a sticker indicator where you can annotation when you need to replace the filter next, and for slightly more money, yous can opt for a pitcher with an electronic indicator. Since about filters take the same 2-month timeframe recommendation, we didn't prioritize an electronic indicator as a feature. You may non even find the sticker reminder necessary — you could simply enter a reminder in your telephone, set up reoccurring Amazon orders every 2 months for a new filter or just exit yourself a note in the kitchen with the date by which you need to supercede the filter.
  • Cascade Functionality + Ease of Apply: For a water pitcher, you'll presumably use every day, a comfortable, easy-to-concur handle and a spout that's precise are important features. If you plan to fill narrow-mouth water bottles frequently, the accuracy of the spout is specially important.
  • BPA-Complimentary Plastic: All of our top recommendations are made from BPA-gratis plastic. The pitchers we recommend for pocket-size spaces and all-time design are as well available in glass.

We considered all of these factors when testing and selecting our top picks.

Editor's Note: Our recommendations for filtered water pitchers are for home use; these products are non certified or intended to purify water containing viruses or bacteria.