Do You Need the Best under Sink Water Filter? Check Out our Top 5 Picks!

Many people buy a whole house water filter to enjoy clean and fresh water at home or their businesses, but most go for the best under sink water filter when they want to make sure they drink fresh, safe, and even enhanced tap water.

An under sink water filter has incredible environmental value as well: drinking crisp, clean sink water every day means giving up on water plastic bottles altogether, thus reducing the heavy toll plastic pollution takes on our planet.

How did We Choose Each Best Under Sink Water Filter for this List?

The best under sink water filter should remove in a high percent common and less common contaminants we find in municipal tap water and well water, purify the water, allow reasonable flow rates, and waste as little water as possible.

To sum up, we spent days asking manufacturers plenty of questions, checked users’ reviews, browsed the forums, and discussed details with experts in the field. It is how we came up with the following list of under sink water filters – with the amendment that we also handpicked a wide variety of products to meet most needs and wishes.

The Best Under Sink Water Filter of 2019 – Our Top 5 Choices!

Let’s see the five under sink water filters that made our 2019 “best of the best” list!

Why Should You Buy the Home Master TMAFC-ERP Artesian Under Sink Water Filter?

After careful consideration, we decided this was the best under sink water filter for overall city use and green living altogether. Probably the most straightforward RO system to understand, use, and rely on, the Home Master TMAFC-ERP Artesian is a hi-tech wonder. In comparison to other RO systems, it features a modular filter design, where the filter and its housing come in a single unit and are disposable together. From a hygienic point of view, this is an excellent feature. But let’s see the other specs you will enjoy!

• 3-stage filtration for excellent contaminant removal;
• The re-mineralization process introduces healthy amounts of calcium and magnesium back in the water, also increasing its alkalinity;
• Reduces storage tank degradation
• The built-in non-electric permeate pump reduces water waste up to 80% while increasing water production up to 50%;
• The package comes with a fully assembled purification unit (including the RO membrane and filters), valve, chrome RO faucet, RO adapter, drain saddle, user’s manual.
• Made in the U.S.A;
• 5-year limited warranty for faulty materials and workmanship.

Understanding the Tech Specs and Features of an Under Sink Water Filter

When you look for an under sink water filter for your home, office, or business, you need to consider a handful of tech specs and features. We discussed a few of them when we presented you with the best whole house water filters – as water filtration on large or small scale works pretty much the same – but we will resume some information you need to factor in your purchase decision.

• Filter life. As you can easily understand from our under sink water filter reviews above, the longer the filter life, the better it is for you, as you can enjoy clean, safe water for a longer time.
  • When you need to change the filter after a year (or 2,000 gallons, whichever comes first), you have to consider the money you spend with the replacement.
• Flow rate. We mentioned already that the average flow rate for a home of 3-4 people should be around 10-15 gallons per minute. The best product should not lower the flow rate in your home by much, although some do.
  • In the case of Woder 10K-Gen3 Ultra High Capacity under sink water filter, for instance, users admitted it did lower the water flow in their homes but to an acceptable extent. A water filter with a 5 GPM flow rate is not a bad product, far from it, but you should consider it for a smaller household or business.

The Ecological Impact of Under Sink Water Filters

• Waste vs. Pure Water Ratio. This ratio represents the amount of water a filter consumes to deliver you a gallon of clean water with no impurities or contaminants in it. Ideally, the best item should feature a 1:1 ratio – for each gallon of consumed water, it should provide one gallon of pure water.
  • When you read the under sink water filter reviews above, you saw ratios of 3:1. They are not bad, as back in the day, most water filters featured 5:1 or 6:1 rate, meaning a much more significant waste of water. If you choose such a product for environmental purposes in the first place, you should pick one with the smallest ratio available, as it amounts to great ecological impact.

A Few Words on Reverse Osmosis and Water Filtration

• Reverse osmosis. Water filters based on RO remove not only impurities, sediment, and contaminants from your water, but also minerals and other healthy particles.
  • In short, while reverse osmosis water is not bad for people, it does lack minerals such as calcium or magnesium, which are essential for our health. For this reason, many professional RO filters (under sink or otherwise) feature a supplemental stage in their filtration, where they add back such minerals to your water.
• Full contact technology & storage tank degradation. Most RO systems produce demineralized water – as we saw above – that is extremely clean but slightly acidic. When this purified water sits in the storage tank, it slightly corrodes the rubber bladder in the tank, dissolving microscopic particles from it. It is what experts call storage tank degradation: a process that affects in time the taste of water.
  • Therefore, to avoid this, the best water filter based on RO technology that you want to install under your sink should feature a permeate pump that balances the water’s pH at two or more re-mineralization points, preventing storage tank degradation and turning the water more alkaline for excellent taste.

What Else Should You Look for When Buying the Best Under Sink Water Filter?

A few other aspects to consider when you look to purchase such products are each item’s dimensions, and some other specs to watch out for before you click the shopping cart button.

• Size and weight. They matter a lot because you have to fit the filter and the tank (if there is one) under your sink or countertop. In other words, bulkier filters may require you some kitchen or bathroom remodels, and you have to introduce such costs in your budget sheet as well.

Choosing Water Filters Depends on the Quality of Your Water

• Contaminants. Unfortunately, our water is full of all sorts of pollutants and impurities, not to mention the ubiquitous hard water problems we have. Therefore, here are some criteria you should factor in your purchase decision:
  • For city tap water, you should find a sink water filter with a reasonable flow rate and good capacity of removing the usual suspects.
  • Well water, on the other hand, also contains heavy metals, industrial run-off, microorganisms, even bacteria or viruses, and other nasty contaminants. You should look for a specialized under sink water filter for well water in this case.
  • The best product – depending on your water and needs – should remove around 98% of the known water contaminants.
  • If your water is rather clean and you want even cleaner water, you can go for an affordable, no-fuss under sink water filter with 3-5 stages of filtration. In this case, RO tech is not necessary.
  • Hard water may require one of the best water softeners on the market that we discussed already.
  • For excellent water taste with no odd smell, impurities, and glass stains, opt for one of the best water filter pitchers we discussed a while ago. Moreover, you can even pair the pitcher with the under sink filtration system for better health and eco-friendliness.
  • If the water is terrible, go for the under sink filters with 5+ stages of filtration and other hi-tech specs, or for the best whole house water filter that matches your needs.
• Price. When you read our under sink water filter reviews above, you probably noticed some products come with interesting price tags. In short, under sink water filters, especially those in the hi-tech department, do not come cheap because they are indeed quite proficient at what they do and usually feature in the package everything you need to install and use the product.
  • However, it does not mean that a cheaper product is of low quality. When you check the price of the products, make sure you understand what that price reflects. RO systems and filters mineralizing the water are a bit more expensive, for obvious reasons.

How do You Choose Your Best under Sink Water Filter?

Do you already have an under sink water filtration system and you want an upgrade, or are you just at the beginning of your quest to buy the best under sink water filter for home, office, or business? Would you rather use one of the products above, or do you find it more comfortable (and cheaper) to use a water filter pitcher? Tell us what you think about the items we listed here and whether you have other similar ones to include in our top!