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Under sink water filter


dtremit

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Does anyone here have an under-sink water filter they really like? 

 

We had an in-fridge water filter for years; we just moved, and replacing the fridge isn't in the cards for various reasons. I'd much rather go with an under sink filter (the kind with a little faucet) but I can't seem to find a review of a unit people are actually happy with. I just want something that provides basic filtration for taste and won't leak, something we had with the fridge filter for ages. Seems like it shouldn't be so hard to find...

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we had good water for years.  then they built a new treatment plant....  ugh.

even the ice was bad . . . .

 

installed a filter system in the basement - it services the kitchen sink plus a line that feeds the fridge ice maker.

household of two - once a year cartridge change works.  $20/5 mins....

 

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here in Manhattan, NYC, we have great water, but for my plants I need to get rid of the chlorine.  I use a hydrologic small boy - it's a dual stage filter that removes sediment and chlorine as well as a bunch of other stuff.  It's working well so far. https://www.hydrologicsystems.com/collections/dechlorinators/products/small-boy

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We have this one. It's been only a year, so I can't speak to long-term reliability, but it's been fine so far. For some reason it's currently about $30 cheaper on AmazonThese are the replacement filters.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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7 minutes ago, Alex said:

We have this one. It's been only a year, so I can't speak to long-term reliability, but it's been fine so far. For some reason it's currently about $30 cheaper on AmazonThese are the replacement filters.

Interesting - I've gone through a bunch of under sink filters - I used to use a GE single system but if we ever had any turbidity (which could have been often since they were doing construction on the water mains a few blocks away) the filter would clog in no time - a filter that was rated for 6 months would decrease to a trickle in a week).  So I'm always on the lookout for a good filter that won't clog on me.  The "nozzle" on your filter looks similar to what I had on my undersink GE model - I found it was a real pita to change filters once the system was mounted.  I'm curious as to your experience when you get around to changing the filter(s).

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I've changed them once. Easy peasy. Just follow the simple directions.

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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We recently redid our kitchen, I intended to put another filter on the cold line to the kitchen to further condition the city feed. I put a whole house filter inline just after the meter and master shutoff when we moved in 30 years ago, basic filtering just to reduce the debris that can result from street work. I change that twice a year. Whole house filtering has done me well, my hot water heater is quite happy. Draining and flushing one a year shows very little sediment accumulation.

 

The one for the sink will be used with a filter that will reduce the finer particles, possibly clean up the taste. We are lucky to have very good quality water, it tests with high marks. Reservoirs and treatment / pumping facility within 2 miles of the house. I'll drink straight from the tap, have been for years. I refuse to purchase bottled water for home use, can't see wasting the plastic.

 

So thanks for starting this thread, it'll give me a kick in the backside to finish the installation. Easy install, I replaced a lot of the 66 year old copper pipe with PEX. No more than a half hour in the basement cutting and crimping. 

 

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4 hours ago, Alex said:

I've changed them once. Easy peasy. Just follow the simple directions.

Sorry - I didn't mean to ask if it was difficult to follow the instructions, but the GE filter was extremely difficult to insert enough to be able to twist.  Difficult as in one needed to be Magnus Ver Magnusson* to be able to do it easily - especially when you have to crawl under the sink to get to it.

 

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnús_Ver_Magnússon

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2 hours ago, KennethT said:

Sorry - I didn't mean to ask if it was difficult to follow the instructions, but the GE filter was extremely difficult to insert enough to be able to twist.  Difficult as in one needed to be Magnus Ver Magnusson* to be able to do it easily - especially when you have to crawl under the sink to get to it.

 

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnús_Ver_Magnússon

 

That's OK. It wasn't difficult at all to insert and twist each filter. However, as you noted, past a certain age—which I probably am—getting one's body in the appropriate position is the more difficult part (but not all that difficult, depending on where the filter is installed, of course).

 

 

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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Thanks for all the replies to this! A lot of good options. We will be redoing most of the house over the next couple of years so I suspect installing a more central filter at that point is a great idea. @AlaMoi, do you happen to know the make and model of yours? In the meantime, we may be able to fit one of the smaller models above under our sink.

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We installed a fairly basic and inexpensive Brita under-sink system in our Arizona house a few years ago and we really liked it. It had a separate small faucet which didn't provide great water flow but was fine for our purposes. 

 

I'm really glad that I bought extra filters when I bought the system though, because apparently it's hard or impossible to find one of the required replacement filters these days. 

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Brita-Redi-Twist-2-Stage-Drinking-Water-Filtration-System-WFUSS323/204644565

Most of the low reviews are due to difficulty finding one of the two replacement filters, so whatever system you choose, make sure to buy some extras and/or get some reassurance that you'll be able to find replacements. 

 

Home Depot sells a couple of other systems that get pretty good reviews

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