What are the top 10 countertop RO filters in 2024?
Access to clean and safe drinking water is more important than ever. With increasing concerns about water contamination and the presence of harmful substances, many households are turning to water filtration systems or worse bottled water to ensure the quality of their drinking water. Among the various types of water filters available, countertop reverse osmosis (RO) filters have gained popularity due to their convenience, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Countertop water filters are compact, portable devices that can be easily placed on your kitchen counter and connected to your faucet. Unlike under-sink or whole-house systems, countertop filters do not require complex installation or permanent modifications to your plumbing. This makes them an ideal choice for renters, travelers, or anyone looking for a hassle-free solution to improve their water quality.
Benefits of Countertop Water Filters
1. Effective Contaminant Removal: Countertop RO filters are designed to remove a wide range of contaminants, including chlorine, lead, fluoride, bacteria, and viruses. This ensures that you and your family have access to clean and safe drinking water. But be aware that there is a big difference in quality between RO filters. Some might remove less than 80% of contaminants whereas others like Bluewater SuperiorOsmosis achieves 99.9% or more.Top 10 Countertop RO filters 2024
In this article, we explore the top 10 countertop RO filters available in 2024, highlighting their features, pros, and cons to help you make an informed decision. Whether you’re looking for a budget-friendly option or a high-performance system, there’s a countertop water filter out there to meet your needs.
1. Sküma Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: Sküma
Description: RO Countertop product with mineralisation and hot water.
Pros:
- Mineralisation with infusions
- Sleek design
Cons:
- Limited independent lab tests or certifications
- Low cost materials that break easily
Comment: The actual product feels much cheaper than it looks online due to materials used. The machine is quite noisy. But our biggest issue is that it clogged completely after 2 weeks. We tested it in an area with very hard water but still this shouldnt happen. Sküma said that issue with waste water collection was due to the flow restrictor being clogged with limescale and that you have to use the maintenance kit every five weeks to prevent such issues.
2. AquaTru Countertop Water Filtration System
Manufacturer/Brand: AquaTru
Description: A high-performance RO system with multiple certifications claimed for contaminant reduction. Only room temperature water.
Pros:
- Certified for reducing a wide range of contaminants
- Efficient and easy to install
- Optional remineralization upgrade
- Higher price point
- The remineralization upgrade is an additional cost
- The filter replacement process is more complex than some other models
Comment: We experienced leakage all over the place after a couple of weeks of use. The design of the product itself is defective and poorly conceived as the water has to bubble up against gravity after it is filtered into the clean water container and the connective spout between these two sections seals very poorly, which is what leads to these leaks.
3. Waterdrop N1 Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: Waterdrop
Description: An affordable and efficient RO system with a high contaminant reduction score. Only room temperature water.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Easy maintenance
- Low cost Chinese brand
- Limited certifications compared to other high-end models by e.g. Bluewater and Tappwater
- The waste water output may be higher compared to some other models.
Comment: Our team reports that the water still tastes bad, sort of a stale paper type of taste after filtration. Also that TDS doesn't go down significantly. In our test water went from 250 TDS to 156 after 4 days of use and flushing the system and completely changing the water reserve 7 times.
4. RKIN U1 Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: RKIN
Description: A feature-rich RO system with cool and hot water with a sleek design and high contaminant reduction.
Pros:
- Hot and cold water
- Great design features
- Easy setup and maintenance
- No certifications or independent lab tests
- The sleek design may be more susceptible to damage or scratches.
- The waste water output is higher compared to some other models.
Comment: We couldn't test this unit ourselves.
5. Bluevua RO100ROPOT Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: Bluevua
Description: A high-capacity RO system suitable for larger households with a nice carafe for tea for example. Provides room temperature and hot water.
Pros:
- High capacity clamed
- Effective filtration claimed
- Suitable for larger households
- Lacks independent lab tests and certifications
- Bulky design
- The high capacity requires more frequent filter replacements.
- The waste water output is higher compared to some other models.
Comments: The instructions states that you should only use half of the water in the input tank and then dispose of it. This seems like both a waste of water and effort. Our cylinder had little brown specks on it that look like rust. Maybe we were given a poorly refurbished machine. After 10 days of use, the bottom of carafe developed white algae. We cleaned it and it comes back 10 days after.
6. Express Water EZRO5 Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: Express Water
Description: A budget-friendly RO system with a simple installation process. Not really a countertop though.
Pros:
- Budget-friendly
- Easy installation
- Effective filtration
- Basic desig.
- The filter replacement process may be slightly more complex than some other models.
- The waste water output may be higher compared to some other models.
7. SimPure Y7P-W UV Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: SimPure
Description: A compact and efficient RO system with UV sterilization.
Pros:
- Compact design
- UV sterilization
- Easy to use
- No certifications or independent lab tests available to support filtration claims.
- Internal resvoir very difficult to clean.
- Limited capacity may not be suitable for larger households.
- The UV sterilization feature requires additional maintenance.
Comment: Internal reservoir which is very difficult to clean caused the water to taste bad after a month. Advertised as easy to maintain, but requires constant maintenance with flushing and cleaning fluids. Instruction manual is unclear and seems to have been autotranslated to English.
8. Frizzlife Countertop RO System
Manufacturer/Brand: Frizzlife
Description: A smart RO system with advanced technology for convenience.
Pros:
- Smart technology
- Convenient and portable
- Easy to install
- No certifications and the TDS meter doesn't seem to work as it always shows the same value.
- Room temperature water only.
- Higher price
Comment: The system was easy to install and use but the quality of the filters doesn't seem to be great. The internal TDS meter states 2 but when we tested the output water ourselves we got a TDS of 54. We also experienced some leakage inside which may be the reason for the higher TDS in the output water.
9. Stokk T1 UV RO Water Filter System
Manufacturer/Brand: Stokk
Description: A portable RO system with a focus on value for money.
Pros:
- Portable
- Good value for money
- Effective filtration
- No certifications or independent lab tests
- Basic design
- Room temperature water
Comment: We tried this for a week flushing the entire system and every time the water spent more than 8 hours in the machine it gets a bitter taste of plastic. We also tested the TDS output water which was around 68 from our input water of 280. This indicates to us that the filter is probably not as efficient as claimed.
10. APEC Water Systems RO-CTOP
Manufacturer/Brand: APEC Water Systems
Description: A portable and easy-to-use countertop RO system from a well known brand with a four-stage filtration process. However, this is more of a faucet filter than a real countertop.
Pros:
- BPA-free components
- Minimal installation required
- Effective four-stage filtration
Cons:
- No one will want this on display in their kitchen
- Requires a water pressure of 40-80 psi for optimal performance.
- A bit more noisy than other filters during operation due to the filtration process.
- The waste water output may be higher compared to some other models.
Comment: We didn't test this product.
Other alternatives
Bluewater Kitchen Station
Although it's not a countertop you may also want to consider the Bluewater Kitchen Station.
Manufacturer: Bluewater Group
Description: Kitchen Station is a compact, revolutionary water purification solution boasting SuperiorOsmosis™ technology. This sleek device connected to your tap delivers 99.7% pure water infused with the world's purest minerals, Liquid Rock. It's a blend of health, taste, and sustainability, neatly fitting under your sink. The Bluewater App allows users to precisely adjust their mineral intake, offering complete control over water's taste and health benefits.
Pros:
- Slick design and takes no space on your kitchen countertop
- Superior Osmosis and High quality Liquid Rock mineralisation from Sweden
- Connected and lets you personalise the water
Cons:
- Higher price
- Requires installation
Learn more about Kitchen Station by Bluewater
Summary
These are some of the top countertop RO filters available in 2024, each with its own unique features and benefits. I hope this helps you find the right one for your needs! If you have any questions or need more details, feel free to ask.
