Water Filter Brands and Links

Water-quality resources

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees the quality standards for drinking water as regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act and ensures compliance by water suppliers. The EPA website has resources for finding your local water supplier's annual drinking water quality report online as well as drinking water testing laboratories certified by your state.  

Founded in 1944, NSF International provides independent certification of water treatment devices and other products worldwide. This website provides a detailed explanation of the different types of filters and drinking water treatment devices. You can search their database to find out which products are NSF-certified to eliminate specific types of contaminants.

Since 1959, the Water Quality Association has independently certified products that treat or come in contact with drinking water. You can search their database to see if a particular water filter has received their Gold Seal Certification for removal of certain contaminants. This is an industry association, and its testing methods aren't clear, but it's very easy to see which contaminants each filter handles.  

Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit group that promotes the protection of children from toxic contaminants, provides a water filter buying guide.

AbbysGuide.com, which provides consumer product education, offers a buying guide that explains the different types of water treatment methods.

A Newsweek article by Anna Kuchment, "As Pure as the Driven Snow," provides helpful information on water testing and filtering that's especially useful for water wells.

The nonprofit consumer-rights group Food & Water Watch offers an online water filtration guide that outlines the pros and cons of the different types of devices.

For directions on making your own water filter (useful in an emergency) plus information on less commonly mentioned types of filters such as infrared, ultraviolet, catalytic and magnetic filters, HeartSpring.net provides a useful article.

Water filter brands

Aqua-Pure Filters, a 3M Purification Inc. company, makes under-sink and whole house water filters.

Aquasana sells one countertop and two under-sink water filtration systems.   

Brita sells 12 styles of water filter pitchers in different colors, capacities and shapes, and one 18-cup dispenser, as well as two models of faucet water filters. 

Clear2O is a Black & Decker brand of filtered water pitcher marketed by Applica.

Crystal Quest makes pitcher, faucet and under-sink water filters.

Culligan makes one pitcher filter, one faucet filter and three under-sink water filters.  

Ecowater sells three reverse osmosis drinking water systems as well as whole house filters through a dealer network.

GE makes under-sink reverse osmosis and single and dual filtration systems as well as one faucet-mount system and one 10-cup pitcher.

Kenetico sells residential drinking water filters, whole house filters and problem filters through a dealer network.

Kenmore water filters are sold by Sears in two under-sink models and six whole house systems.

Omni makes faucet-mount, under-sink and whole house water filters.

Pur sells four faucet water filters, three models of 7-cup water pitchers and one water dispenser that holds just over 1 gallon.

Water Factory Systems, a 3M Purification Inc. company, sells under-sink water filters through a dealer network.

Whirlpool sells under-sink water filters through two licensed partners, Kemflo and Ecodyne.