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Water, the most refreshing thing on the planet, in my personal opinion. Our bodies are roughly 70% water, so it only makes sense that we would want the water we put into our bodies to be as clean as possible. Most tap water or well water has various contaminants, from bacteria to chemicals to metals to sediment, and that can alter the taste of your water and even cause health issues depending on the levels.
One of the easiest ways to make sure you are keeping that risk to a minimum is to buy a water filter pitcher to keep in your fridge. These pitchers take in the tap water and filter out the contaminants as much as possible, but which ones work the best? That is precisely what we are here to find out today, using a selection of the top choices on the market. Let’s go!
How Does a Water Filter Pitcher Work?
Water filter pitchers are a quick and convenient way to remove contaminants from your drinking water without installing equipment. They can range widely in price, but don’t let that sway your decision-making! The basic system of how these water filter pitchers work is this: water from the tap gets poured into the pitcher, passes through the filter cartridge that removes or absorbs the impurities, and comes out clean for you to store in the fridge and enjoy as needed.
These filter cartridges usually need to be replaced every few months for peak performance. You’ll also want to be sure you are cleaning the pitcher itself well to avoid any kind of growth of little nasties.
Which Water Filter Pitcher Removes the Most Contaminants?
Contaminant removal capability is one of the main factors when deciding which water filter pitcher to buy. Therefore, I researched many water filter pitchers on the market and shortlisted six of them for the final comparison.
There are:
- Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher
- Brita Longlast Water Filter Pitcher
- Aquagear Water Filter Pitcher
- ZeroWater Water Filter Pitcher
- Epic Nano Water Filter Pitcher
- PUR Water Filter Pitcher
ClearlyFiltered vs Brita Longlast vs Aquagear vs ZeroWater vs Epic Nano vs PUR: Review
Clearly Filtered
The Clearly Filtered water pitcher, priced around $75, is one of the favorites on the market these days. It’s made of 100% BPA and BPS-free medical-grade materials with an average filter life of about 4 months. The pitcher holds about 80 ounces, so around 10 cups, and the filter uses 3-Stage Affinity Filtration to remove the contaminants: a woven mesh screen, followed by a granulated coconut carbon, and lastly a composite shell that functions as a “magnet” for the remaining contaminants. Because of the complexity of its filter, it does take a while to pull all the water through, so keep that in mind.
Overall, the Clearly Filtered water pitcher removes over 365 types of contaminants, including lead, while maintaining the healthy minerals your body needs!
Brita Longlast
The Brita water filter pitcher comes in various models and runs around the $30-$40 mark. They are one of the most common to find, and while they do well to make your water taste good, they do have an issue with clogging if you live in an area with sediment-filled water. This is due to the filtration system used, which is particulate filtration.
The activated carbon filter is a fibrous matrix, designed to help absorb as much as possible. These filters last for 2-3 months and do a decent job of removing many contaminants from your water, but the list of what it takes out does not include lead. Brita does well with removing a good number of contaminants, but most of its models don’t remove lead or asbestos.
The newest iteration of the Brita filter is the Longlast+, which removes almost twice as many contaminants, including lead and asbestos. However, it does not have the greatest ratings.
Aquagear
The Aquagear water filter pitcher, priced at $70, is made with BPA-free materials and is recyclable! They are independently lab tested for quality and use activated carbon and ion exchange media to remove the impurities in your water, and the filters last for about 6 months. They remove a good number of contaminants, including lead and asbestos, but reviewers say it doesn’t leave the best taste in their mouths since it doesn’t remove any salts.
ZeroWater
The ZeroWater filter pitcher comes in a few sizes to better fit your needs and runs between $20-$60. The pitcher itself has a nice sturdy build, is made of BPA-free materials, and does very well with removing nearly all contaminants, including lead, arsenic, and asbestos, from your water with its 5-stage filtration system.
This filtration system uses both carbon and ion exchange technology, leaving your water with a perfectly clean taste, and each filter has a lifespan of about 3 months. A cool extra feature: ready pour technology. You can pour filtered water as the reservoir continues to do its thing, meaning you don’t have to wait! Downside: the system does so well with removing everything that it also removes the healthy minerals that your body can use.
Epic Nano Water Filter Pitcher
Epic Nano Water Filter Pitcher is designed to remove up to 99.999% of over 200 tap water contaminants, including bacteria, giardia, cryptosporidium, and viruses. It’s rare for a water filter pitcher to remove microorganisms at this efficiency, making it highly unique.
The filters are made in America and are tested against NSF/ANSI Standard 42, 53, 401, P473, and P231. For normal usage (filling about three times a day), the filter can last for 3 months.
PUR
There are a few different sizes of the PUR water filter pitcher, ranging in the $30-$40 area, and they can come with their regular or PLUS filter type. The regular filter does a good job removing contaminants, but the PLUS removes things like lead for better quality and taste. This filter pitcher does not remove asbestos, though, and it does take a little longer to filter than several others. Overall, though, it is pretty decent.
ClearlyFiltered vs Brita Longlast vs Aquagear vs ZeroWater vs Epic Nano vs PUR: Comparison Table
| Model | Contaminants Removal | More Details |
| Clearly Filtered | 365+ | Check |
| Epic Nano | 200+ | Check |
| Brita Longlast | 10+ | Check |
| ZeroWater | 20+ | Check |
| Aquagear | 79 | Check |
| PUR | 10+ | Check |
Water Filter Pitcher that Removes Most Contaminants: Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher
Based on the comparison, the Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher is the water filter pitcher that removes the most contaminants, with over 365 contaminants on the list. That’s a lot of contaminants for a water filter pitcher!
What is the Water Pitcher That Removes Lead?
Most water filter pitchers on the list can effectively remove lead from water, such as Clearly Filtered, Epic Nano, Brita Longlast, ZeroWater, and Aquagear water filter pitchers. All of them have great efficiency in removing lead from your water.
Best Water Filter Pitcher for Removing Bacteria?
If your main concern in water filtration is to ensure no bacteria or viruses can get into you, check out the Clearly Filtered and Epic Nano water filter pitchers. They do a great job at removing regular contaminants as well as microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and cysts.
Clearly Filtered water pitcher can remove up to 99.99% of E.coli and Giardia, and 99.9999% of Virus MS2 Phage, while Epic Nano can remove 99.99% of E.coli and Giardia and 99.95% of Virus MS2 Phage. There are only a few water filter pitchers on the market that can remove microorganism effectively, and the Clearly Filtered and Epic Nano is two of the best.
FAQs
1. What are the benefits of using a water filter pitcher?
You get better smelling and tasting water, your water is clean enough to want to drink, they’re portable and easy to use, and they are very cost-effective. You can also limit your plastic usage by having one of these pitchers instead of constantly buying bottled water, so hooray for helping the environment!
2. What is the best water filter pitcher for coffee?
Any of them, really. The real key is that the water should be cold to produce the best-tasting coffee. If we had to pick one from this batch of water filter pitchers explored in this article, we’d choose Clearly Filtered. It cleans the water wonderfully while still leaving the healthy minerals. It is also the best water filter pitcher for espresso machines!
3. Does Zero water filter remove arsenic?
Yes. ZeroWater Filtered Water Pitcher removes up to 99% of arsenic in water.
4. Which water filter pitchers remove lead?
If you are concern about lead, you may choose Clearly Filtered, Epic Nano, Brita Longlast, ZeroWater, or Aquagear water filter pitchers. They are highly effective in removing lead from your water.
5. Does water filter remove bacteria?
Yes. Advanced water filters like Clearly Filtered and Epic Nano can remove bacteria from water.
6. What are the disadvantages of using a water filter pitcher?
Weaker water filtration compared to other bigger filtration systems like the Reverse Osmosis system. Also, the size of pitcher means more trips to sink in some cases.
Conclusion
The best thing to do when choosing a water filter pitcher for your home is to really look at what you need as far as size, durability, and how many contaminants are in your tap water. Each of these water filter pitchers has its pros and cons to weigh out. A few stand out from the pack with their quality: the Clearly Filtered (my personal top choice) and Epic Nano, but it is all up to what you are looking for in a filter. We hope this list will help you narrow your search to find the best water filter pitcher for you!
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