Drinking Water Filtration Reviews
by Anna Hart
Filed under Overview of Drinking Water
Drinking water filtration reviews are difficult to find. Especially impartial drinking water filtration reviews. Certainly, you can read a manufacturer’s review of his product, but consumers usually want independent reviews.
All drinking water filtration reviews should include enough information that you can determine whether or not the filtration is sufficient for your needs. Will the filter remove from your water the contaminants and microorganisms that concern you. Will you be left with safe, healthy drinking water?
On this site, we offer drinking water filtration reviews from an independent standpoint – consumer to consumer. Before you read them, though, consider a few facts about drinking water filtration.
Drinking Water Filtration Facts
1. Filtration systems differ. In the U.S., however, all must meet certain standards to qualify as drinking water filtration systems. In our reviews, you will learn what those standards are.
2. Filtration systems are not drinking water purification systems. Regulations in the U.S. determine qualifications for drinking water purification systems, too, and they are more stringent than those for drinking water filtration systems.
3. Both filtration and purification can be used to treat small or large quantities of water. You may want to treat only the drinking water at a kitchen sink, or you may want to treat water throughout your home.
4. Filtration systems can be purchased in convenient travel sizes that will allow you to carry them when hiking or camping. Use to filter lake or stream water in an emergency.
5. Bottled drinking water is not as free of contaminants and additives as the water you will get from a filtration system.
6. Bottled drinking water is not as free of contaminants and additives as the water you will get from a purification system.
Our drinking water filtration reviews look at three systems: AQUASANA, CRYSTAL QUEST, and HEAVEN FRESH. To read our drinking water filtration reviews, click the appropriate blue button at the top of this page. Or click on the filtration system name below.
* Click here to read Aquasana review.
* Click here to read Crystal Quest review.
* Click here to read Heaven Fresh review.
Great site….I live in Mexico and water is a big concern here. It’s bottled water most of the time and I cook with the water from the filtration system. We are not using any of the brands you have listed here but I did want to say that water is a huge concern and I am hoping that changing the filters once a year will be sufficient. The water here is very hard so perhaps changing the filter every six months would be better. Any recommendations would be great. Thanks!
I would like to share my experience and thoughts about Crystal Quest Water Filters.
We drilled a new well on our undeveloped piece of rural land. I ran a complete analysis of the water before we decided to build our house. We had extremely hard water 69 gpg, 1.27 ppm iron and a little manganese and a significant amount of sulfate. I forwarded these results to Crystal Quest and hoped to get a straight forward answer and solution to our problem. I expressly asked for a solution to get the water safe to drink. With no hesitation they recommended a whole house filtering system which included a sediment filter, iron manganese filter, a conventional water softener and a GAC filter.
We had it installed by a licensed plumber when we had the house built. Shortly after moving in, one of the tanks started leaking. Crystal Quest replaced that without charge. During the next year we learned a few things the hard way. We found out that the water that passed through the filter was absolutely undrinkable. Firstly because all the calcium in the water is replaced by sodium and secondly that the system does not remove the sulfate at all. When I phoned Crystal Quest about the sulfate problem, with the necessary test results, they asked for more tests which was rather expensive to do, so I left it there.
We learned that nothing removes sulfate from water except for reverse osmosis. So we installed a RO system. This information led us to the conclusion that the $1000 GAC filter that they sold us was totally unnecessary. Then after just over a year two of their tanks got cracks at the top, one after the other. We had to pay to have them replaced by Crystal Quest, after which we found out that these tanks were available at other dealers for half the price, as well as the filter media.
We have been using this system for almost 2 years now. We are going through a bag of sodium per week and I cannot help but wonder where all those mountains of salt are going – into my septic system? I also know that if you want to kill plants, the best way is to pour salt on them. Then nothing will grow there again! The weeds on our septic field look rather anemic. The salt does not disappear into thin air! It builds up over time. Unfortunately for us, over a much shorter period of time, our septic system will become saturated with salt. Crystal Quest suggested we use potassium chloride in stead, which is about $20 a bag and rather difficult to get around here. I realised we should have bought the saltless water softener, which I asked for from the start. The Crystal Quest sales person had advised me against it and suggested a conventional water softener.
In the process we have become do-it-ourselvers. We have changed the media in the tanks a few times – what a tedious job. Now we are buying tanks separately, getting the media online and building our own system – two saltless water softeners in tandem – for a fraction of the price. Crystal Quest charges double what other retailers do.
Crystal Quest did not take our specific water problems or our situation into consideration. They sold us the wrong system. They did not inform us that the recommended system will not remove sulfate or make the water drinkable. They only wanted to sell the biggest system as quickly as possible. We also figured out that you should not regenerate a water softener with sodium chloride when all that water ends up in your septic system, unless you want to create a waste land next to your house!