What is the Best Water Filter for home in 2022?

December 24, 2021
Written by Magnus Jern

Looking for the best water filter for your home to buy in 2022?

If you are concerned about the quality of your tap water or simply don’t like the taste then you are not alone. Although public tap water is strictly regulated more and more people are concerned about chlorine, heavy metals such as lead or mercury, PFAS, nitrates, arsenic, pipe corrosion and limescale. Bottled water is even worse as it’s full of microplastics, hormone disrupters, bad for the wallet, terrible for the planet and not healthier..

Therefore millions of people are now looking for healthy and safe drinking water for their home and family.

But choosing a water filter your needs can be hard as there are so many expensive and bad products available.

This article is not a list of the top 10 water filters 2022 but instead a short guide to find the best water filter for your home. Also check out our comparison guides

How did we choose the best water filters for this guide?

We tested and evaluated over 100 different water filters in the past couple of years. Based on this we narrowed it down to a few great candidates. Jump straight to the bottom to view the results or keep on reading about the journey.

Why do you need a water filter?

Generally public tap water in North America and Europe is considered safe to drink. However, this doesn’t mean that it tastes great or that the water that flows out of your faucet is healthy.

Bottled water is worse than tap water in terms of health as it contains microplastics according to multiple studies. There is also considerable evidence that plasticizers from plastic packaging used for beverages and food cause hormone disruption and this impacts reproduction and increased risk of miscarriages. In addition to this bottled water may contain the same kind of contaminants as public tap water including PFAS, arsenic and bacteria. Finally the production and disposal of water bottles is terrible for the environment.

To be certain that you drink healthy water, an affordable high quality water filter is a great alternative.

Type of water filters available

There is no lack of water filters available on the market today. There are pitcher filters, faucet filters, under-the-sink-filters, counter-top and other formats.

As tap water enthusiasts we’ve tested and summarised the pros and cons for each alternative:

Filter Type	Pros	Cons
Pitcher/Carafe (e.g. Brita or PitcherPro by TAPP)	No installation Efficient in reducing chlorine for improving taste	Slow flow and low capacity Takes up space in fridge Issues with bacteria growth
Faucet filter (e.g. TAPP)	Easy installation without plumber on 95% of faucets High flow and filter capacity Removes all common public water and pipe contaminants	Some faucets are incompatible Not suitable for well or water supplies with water tanks unless tested
Gravity filter (e.g. Berkey)	No installation Efficient in removing common contaminants	Slow flow Space on kitchen counter Water temperature rises to room temperature Bacteria growth after filtering
Under-the-sink / Reverse Osmosis	Very high water filtration efficiency of most contaminants Once installed “invisible” in the kitchen	Expensive to install and maintain Slow flow rate Water and energy wasting Bacteria issues common Removes all healthy minerals Flat taste and not quenching
Distillation filters (e.g. Mitte)	High water filtration efficiency	Slow flow rate High energy use Bacteria issues common after filtering Removes all healthy minerals (so have to be added) Flat taste and not quenching Space on kitchen counter
UV filters	Very efficient in killing/removing bacteria Energy efficient Can be installed under-the-sink or combined with other filters	Does not remove other contaminants from water such as heavy metals, salts, chlorine or man-made substances like petroleum products or pharmaceuticals Require yearly maintenance
Whole house filters	Efficient in removing most contaminants, softening water and more Installation can be hidden Filters all water including shower	Very expensive to install and maintain Take up a lot of space Some use a lot of energy Issues if not properly maintained

Read our guide about common tap water contaminants and what TAPP filters and remove and reduce.

Here are some examples of what these water filters look like:

Filter jug (PitcherPro):

Distillation filters:

Faucet water filter:

Whole house water filter:

See full water filter guide comparison.

Conclusion: The best and most affordable choice for most homes is a faucet water filter.

In general a faucet water filter is the most affordable and convenient solution for clean tasty tap water for any public water source. Therefore the rest of this article will focus on the best faucet water filters

How do I know that the water filter works?

Unfortunately there are a lot of water filters sold that make unsupported claims about what the filters do. Simply but when put to the test they don’t work. Therefore it’s critical that you always require an independent lab report to support the claims from the water filter brand or manufacturer.

As an example see the independent lab test of EcoPro.

How do I install a water filter?

As mentioned above there are many types of different water filters. Some such as faucet filters and pitchers are super easy for anyone to install and use. Others including under-the-sink and whole house filters require a professional plumber and may cause hundreds of euros or pounds in installation alone. With TAPP you can be confident it will work as adapters are provided free of charge for almost all faucets.

How much will a water filter cost?

The cost ranges from €20 for the cheapest Chinese water filters online to several thousand euros. The cost of a high quality water filer such as TAPP is about €60-90 per year. See more in the price comparison below.

What’s the most convenient water filter for your needs?

Although there are some general rules and guidelines the best option is often based on the needs for each household. This includes

Where you live – public water source, pipes in the building and other water infrastructure as water quality varies including limescale, chlorine, mineral content, contaminants and more
Young children/infants that are much more sensitive to small amounts of contaminants such as lead, nitrate or microplastics
Kitchen design in terms of faucets and budget as some people want an under-the-sink filter even it it’s more expensive to install and maintain

We created a quiz to help guide you to a water filter based on your needs.

Take the quiz now

How does TAPP compare to other water filters?

We benchmarked EcoPro against some of the other most popular water filters on the market.

Read our more detailed analysis:

What is the ideal water filter for you?

At the beginning of this article we promised to provide a summary at the end.

The best home water filter right now based on our biased opinion is the EcoPro faucet filter.

EcoPro is simply an easy to install and use faucet water filter that delivers clean tasty water in an affordable and sustainable way.

EcoPro – The best water filter for your home 2022?

It’s small, affordable, environmentally friendly, easy to use and probably one of the greatest water filters. EcoPro filters over 100 common contaminants including e.g. chlorine, pesticides, herbicide, lead, most pharmaceuticals and microplastics.

The water flows through activated carbon which is one of the most absorbent material known to man, and it is uniquely efficient because of millions of tiny pores that it can absorb. The highly compressed carbon block used in EcoPro filters particles as small as 1 micron but leaves most of the healthy minerals.

The cartridges are made of organic coconut shell and recyclable plastic and need to be replaced approximately every 3 months. Once used they can be separated and disposed with organic and plastic waste.

TAPP offers two versions of the filter including

a) EcoPro – long lasting eco-friendly water filter

b) EcoPro Compact – the worlds smallest and eco-friendly faucet water filter

Cost:

Currently as little as €79-89 (based on campaigns) for the first year and then €59 per year.

What are you waiting for? Get your TAPP filter and start drinking healthy, affordable and sustainable water now.