Best Whole House Water Filter Reviews | Top 5 Guide for 2019

best-whole-house-water-filters

Deciding on the best whole house water filter is not an easy task. There are a number of different options that you can get to outfit your home, but not all of them are right for your needs.

Don’t worry though. We’ve reviewed each of the top-rated whole-house filters on the market, so you can quickly figure out which one will work best for you and your family.


List of Best Whole House Water Filters

Here is a list of the best whole house water filters out there today!


Aquasana Rhino Whole House Water Filter System

Best Aquasana Whole House Water Filter Review for 2015The Aquasana Rhino Whole House Water Filter is also called the Aquasana EQ-1000, which I described earlier in “Aquasana Whole House Water Filters”.

Aquasana takes their water filtration process seriously and is determined to provide you with low maintenance, clean, safe water filtration. All Aquasana products are backed with their 90-day satisfaction guarantee.

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Crystal Quest CQE-WH-01103

best Crystal Quest Water filterThe Crystal Quest CQE-WH-01103 Is a 7 stage whole house water filtration system. Cyrstal Quest has been in the manufacturing business for over 30 years and is dedicated to bring you top quality products that are designed to outperform other brands. The CQE-WH-01103 runs your houses water supply through a 7 stage water filtration system that filters out sever different impurities and particles that find their way into your water supply. Some of things include sediment, dirt, sand, heavy metals, rust, volatile organic compounds, chlorine smell and taste and several more! 

The CQE-WH-01103 7 stage water filtration system uses 20” sediment cartridge, a micron filter pad and finally, a carbon cartridge to remove volatile organic compounds. The Crystal Quest filters last for around 80,000 gallons of water, which translates to around 3-9 months for the sediment filter and around 1-2 years for the multi stage filter, making it a great choice for smaller homes, moderate sized apartments and office water filtration. The CQE-WH-01103 comes with wall mounting brackets to keep it out of the way and also makes for an easier installation. I’d recommend the Crystal Quest CQE-WH-01103 if you’ve got a small home or business and are looking for reliable, healthy water.

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Aqua-Pure AP903

Aqua Pure Water Filter ReviewThe Aqua-Pure AP903 by 3M is a 1 stage, whole house water filtration system capable of filtering up to 100,000 gallons of water. 3M has been around for over 100 years and has played a huge role in the advancement of air and water filtration. Their products are high quality and are known to be reliable and out perform most other brands. The Aqua-Pure AP903 Water system uses a carbon filter media to filter out things like sediment, dirt, rust, chlorine smell and taste leaving your water clean, healthy, and much better tasting. The Aqua-Pure carbon filter is extra large capacity allowing up to 100,000 gallons of water to pass through before it needs to be changed or once annually. The AP902 also provides a generous 20-gallon per minute flow rate, which is significantly high compared to other types of water filtration.

The Aqua-Pure also features an extremely high quality, non-corrosive, stainless steel head, which can prove to be much more reliable and easier to install than other water filters that use plastic fittings. When it comes to changing the cartridges, just simply twist off the old and twist on the new. I would recommend the AP903 if you are looking for a high quality build, simple installation and easy filter replacement.

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Watts WH-LD Premier

Best Watts Entire House Water Filtration SystemThe Watts WH-LD premier is a single stage, whole house water filtration system that will filter up to 8,000 gallons of water. Watts specializes in every type of water filtration product you could possible get your hands on and they definitely have earned their customers support. The WH-LD Premier by Watts will dramatically reduce the amount of sediment, dirt, rust, and sand in your water leaving you with healthy, clean water that is extremely drinkable. The filter used in the WH-LD is made from 5 micron spun bonded polypropylene and will last for up to months or every 8,000 gallons of filtered water. 

The Watts WH-LD Premier is another extremely easy to install whole house water filter and Watts make sure to provide you with every thing you need to get the job done besides the tools. To increase reliability and minimize corrosion, Watts has incorporated stainless steel inserts on the units water inlet and outlet. The Watts WH-LD and its filters are extremely inexpensive, which is great for those of you looking for something that is easy on the wallet. I’d recommend the Watts WH-LD Premier if you are wanting to purchase a whole house water filter and spend practically nothing.

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Culligan HF-360A

Culligan Top rated whole house water filtration systemThe Cullian HF-360A is another great choice if you are looking for a single stage whole house water filtration system. Culligan is a trusted brand when it comes to water filtration and has been serving customers for more than 75 years. Their products are well designed and reliable and the HF-360A comes with a 5 year warranty to back it up. The Culligan HF-360A is built to filter impurities like sediment, sand, dirt and rust that affect the taste of your water. You’ll notice the difference in your waters clarity and taste when you put one of these inline with your homes water source. 

The HF-360A by Culligan uses a pure spun polypropylene fiber to filter out particles larger than 5 microns. The filter will last for up to 2 months or every 8000 gallons of water. The filter life of the HF-360A isn’t as long as some of the other whole house filters I’ve reviewed but Culligan keeps the filter cost extremely low. The installation process of the HF-360A is very simple and the cartridge filter is even easier. I would recommend the Culligan HF-360A if you are looking for a whole house water filter and are on a tight budget and don’t mind changing filter often.

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Pros and Cons of a Whole House Water Purification System

Whole House Water Filter Pros and Cons

  • Pros
    • Healthy, clean, filtered water
    • On demand filtered water when you need it
    • Filters all water coming into household
    • Better for the environment than water bottles
  • Cons
    • Can be more costly than other types of water filtration
    • Does not filter certain impurities
    • Requires installation

How to Install a Whole House Water Filter

How to install a whole house water filtration system.

In these next few paragraphs I am going to be going over the different steps involved in installing a new whole house water filter. Although the installation process varies per filter brand, there are some basic installation principles that are similar between the different whole house filters.

The first step to the installation process is to gather everything you will need, that way you aren’t running around trying to find the right tool or a missing piece. Once you have all the tools and parts together you can go ahead and begin the next step, which the installation of the water filter.

You will then need to locate your houses water shut-off valve. Generally these are located right where the water supply enters the house. Once you find it, you will need to shut your houses water supply off. Once it is off, you will need to turn on a faucet in your house to relieve the water pressure in your plumbing. Leave the faucet on until nothing comes out. Now your water supply is off and you’ve relieved the water pressure in your lines.

Find the best place to install the water filter. There are a few things to take into account when finding the best place to do the install. First and most important is to install on a horizontal water line that is at the beginning of your water supply before it branches off to different parts of the house. Since it is a whole house filter, you will want to filter your whole house and not just your downstairs bathroom. Ideally the water filter will be situated after your outside spigots and before you water heater. Second thing to take into consideration is convenience. You wont want it hanging down in the way of your washing machine or in the middle of a room. The best place for the install is out of the way but still easy to reach for when it comes time to change the filter. Now that you’ve chosen the best place for the install we can move on.

First, use Teflon tape to wrap the threads of the ¾” male threaded push fittings that will be screwed into your water filter. The Teflon tape provides a nice tight seal that prevents leaks. You’ll want to put about 3 layers of Teflon tape around the threads and put it on clockwise. Now grab your adjustable wrench and screw the fittings into the inlet and outlet of your water filter. If your filter head is made from plastic, be careful not to tighten to hard to where you strip the plastic threads. Now that you’ve got both pipe fittings securely tightened into the head cap we can begin the next step.

For this next step you will need a bucket, hacksaw or pipe cutter and some medium grit sand paper. Grab your hacksaw or pipe cutter and cut out a small section of the pipe. This section length will vary depending on the water filter you’ve chosen. Before you make the cut, put your bucket under where you are going to be working as there may still be some left in your lines. Once the section is cut out, grab your sand paper and sand off all of the rough edges and burs. Once the pipe end of the piping is nice and shinny and free of burs you can move on to the next step.

Next, take your water filter and insert the pipe into the push fitting as far it will go, which should be about 1”. Once it’s nice and snug, do the same for the other side. Now install the filter and screw on the casing nice and tight. Make sure there is a rubber O-ring or gasket installed on the casing of the filter or the water filter head. Now that your filter is completely installed and put together you can turn on the water supply. If the filter is not visible from the water on/off valve, it is wise to have someone stand near the filter to spot any leaks.


Our Recommendation – Here’s What We Think

I would recommend the 3M Aqua-Pure AP903 whole house water filtration system because of the supreme, reliable quality of the components, the ease of installation and the type of filtration if it offers. This will be a great option if you aren’t looking to spend a fortune and have descent-sized household. The AP903 also has easy change filters that only need to be changed once annually, which is significantly longer than some of the other whole house water filters I’ve reviewed. 

If you are looking for the absolute best in water filtration, I would certainly suggest investing in the Aquasana Rhino Whole House Water Filter System (EQ-1000) over any of the other systems I’ve reviewed. This is the Ferrari of whole house water filtration systems and will deliver supreme quality water while the unit is completely out of site and out of mind for 10 years or 1,000,000 gallons water.