9 Best Countertop Water Filters of 2021 – Reviews and Buying Guide (Filters You Can Count On)

They say we are what we eat – but in reality, the human body is made up of around 60% water, so I’d say we are what we drink.

So what do you wanna be? A sticky, sugary soda or H2O, clean and pure? I know what I’d choose.

Scientists recommend that we drink around 15 cups of water each day – for caffeine fiends and those that like their tipple, that can seem a long way off. But you’ll be amazed by how good it feels to stay hydrated. (1)

Hitting that daily intake requires work – so it’s time to work up a thirst. And what better way than by giving yourself access to pure, filtered water – right on your countertop

Countertop water filters come in all shapes and sizes, from compact faucet-fitters to hulking giants on your kitchen counter. They all provide crystal-clean and great-tasting drinking water – perfect thirst quenchers.

The Best Countertop Water Filters in 2022

We’ve rounded up nine of the best countertop water filters that money can buy. From stylish sink-top filters to whopping gravity daddies, let’s see which countertop water filters make the biggest splash.

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Let’s dive into the wonderful world of countertop water filters – they’re sure to make a splash.

It’s a hefty unit, standing at almost 20” so you might struggle to squeeze it under the cabinets above your counter. But if it fits you could be on to a winner.

And with a flow rate of 1.5 gallons/hour, you’ll never be waiting for your water.

Thanks to its gravity-fed design, it requires no power and no plumbing. Simply fill the tank and let gravity do the work. However, don’t forget to prime Berkey’s filters before use – taking a few minutes to flush your filters will optimize their performance.

Berkey’s powerful filtration system makes it stand out amongst countertop filter systems. As well as typical contaminants – heavy metals like lead and arsenic and chemicals like chlorine – Berkey’s filter also promises to remove 99.999% of viruses and 99.9999% of bacteria.

Forget all this talk of the 1%, that leaves 0.0001%!

These filters are also exceptionally long-lasting. Whilst with other brands you might be replacing your filters every month, Berkey’s filters are good for 6000 gallons or up to 11 years.This is a top-end unit and you get what you pay for, but thanks to long-life filters it won’t hurt your wallet long-term.

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By combining charcoal filtering with steam distilling, Megahome guarantees pure drinking water. Water is heated to 212°F before being moved to a cooling chamber and returned to room temperature. They’ve also included six optional charcoal filters which you can use for additional purity.

You’ll need an A/C supply to run this countertop distiller, so make sure you have a socket close at hand. There’s no setup to speak of so simply unbox the unit and you’re ready to go.

However, because of the steam distillation technology used by Megahome, you’ll have to wait for your water. It takes around 5.5 hours to distill a gallon of water – that’s a long wait for hydration.

Overall, it’s a well-constructed product. Megahome has used exclusively BPA-free plastics and the cooling chamber is slick stainless steel. The heater and cooling chamber fit neatly together with a modern design that will look right at home on your countertop.

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It comes with three valves, to fit 7/8”, 13/16”, and 15/16” faucets. However, if you have spray or designer faucets in your home, you might find the APEC system is incompatible with your home faucets. 

Weighing in at just 7 pounds and installed in just seconds, APEC’s countertop filter system can come with you on your travels.

The filter system itself works in four stages and removes particles, chemicals such as chlorine as well as any heavy metals lingering in your liquids. And thanks to a stand-out reverse osmosis membrane, contaminants such as lead and arsenic are also removed.

99% of TDS (total dissolved solids) should be removed from your water, leaving a healthy drink that tastes great.

However, remember these filters don’t last a lifetime. You’ll need to replace the stage 1 and 2 filters around every six months, and the others every 3-4 years. That starts to add up.

APEC gives you the option of purchasing with or without a casing unit for the filter system. However, without a case, the industrial look will be an eyesore on your countertop.

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It looks so good you might be worried about form taking precedence over function, but the chic design houses an all-encompassing filter system.

It is, of course, built from all BPA-free plastics so there’s nothing leaking into your water from the unit itself.

Fill the bottom pitcher and let the unit do the work. Unlike a gravity-fed system, this system draws water from a bottom tank into a purified upper chamber. It needs A/C power supply to do so, so make sure your countertop has a socket close at hand.

The top tank only has a half-gallon capacity so if you have a whole lot of mouths to feed, you might be running to refill this a few times each day. However, the smaller capacity means this is a bijou unit that fits snugly into any kitchen.

Four-stage filtering, including reverse osmosis, removes the full gamut of contaminants from your water supply. This system removes lead and fluoride as standard, giving you complete certainty in the purity of your supply.

What’s more, AlcaPure provides optional filters for remineralizing your water. You can choose a low-TDS filter for ultimate purity or opt for calcium and magnesium to be returned to your water for an alkaline pH and a tasty flavor.

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Brondell’s countertop water filter system looks more like the next-gen audio assistant. Alexa – purify my water supply! Space-age design applied to the water filter system has produced a unit perfect for sophisticated kitchens.

Attention to detail has been extended to installation too – you can hook up a Brondell in under ten minutes using the faucet adaptor and have tap water flowing right into your filter system.

This isn’t a stand-alone unit – it needs to be hooked up to your faucet to keep the water flowing, but it’s a great looking-unit that deserves pride of place by the sink.

When it comes to filtering, Brondel has a three-stage system.

A composite filter removes small particles and combines with patented nanotechnology as well as a carbon filtering layer to leave you with NSF-certified pure water. 

However, multiple filters mean multiple lifespans. You’ll be switching out the composite filters every six months, and the nanotechnology filters once a year. With a complex filter-changing schedule, it would be all too easy to miss a shift.

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Installation is easy, so long as it’s compatible with your faucet. You can check if your home faucets have a removable aerator tip – if so, the Home Master adaptor will simply screw on. It can be fitted in seconds and filtering water from your home faucet right after.

The filter itself is composed of three stages – compression discs remove solid particles, a coconut carbon shell eliminates chemicals such as chlorine and common herbicides and pesticides, and thirdly an activated alumina layer strips fluoride and arsenic from your water supply.

The activated alumina layer is great because not all water filter systems include fluoride filtering as standard.

However, when it comes to filter efficacy, there’s some doubt that Home Master’s TMJRF2 is doing the job – it isn’t NSF certified, and because there’s no mesh filtering it’ll leave a high TDS (total dissolved solids) in your water. This can be made up of harmless particles like calcium and sodium – but there’s no way of knowing.

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Weighing in at over 16 pounds and standing at 14” tall, this water filter won’t be sneezed at!

With size, however, comes capacity: from a one-gallon water tank, you’ll get plenty of purified water from a single-use and without the added hassle that comes from plumbing in a unit. A/C power pumps the water through a four-stage filter system before returning it to a filtered tank at the front of the unit.

This filtered tank is removable, allowing you to chill your pure water in the fridge. This is a great feature for those who like a crisp, cool flavor with their filtered water. More refreshing than ever!

The four-stage filter system is reliable at removing even the most stubborn contaminants. Chlorine, lead as well as a range of organic and inorganic chemicals are removed to a standard of over 99%. You’ll be replacing filters every six months to two years, depending on usage.They even promise that rocket fuel is removed from your water. Bad news for space cadets, but good for the rest of us.

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A choice of white or opaque blue plastic casing houses the filter itself – it’s not much to look at, but in a utilitarian kitchen, it gets the job done.

iSpring have included two faucet adaptors to maximize the range of faucets with which their device can work – both 7/8″ and 13/16” are compatible, but if your faucet lacks a screw-off aerator, you won’t find a fit.

iSpring’s single-unit filter can’t remove the complete range of possible contaminants so you’ll need to ensure that local contaminants of main concern are on the list.  The efficacy of its carbon-based filter system will remove chemicals such as chlorine, leaving great tasting water.

The FC15 filter will need to be replaced around twice a year, adding a long-term running cost to your water filtering system – but they aren’t too expensive and when you factor in the low price of the original unit, it’s a cheap system.

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Because the APEX Countertop Filter plugs into your faucet, there’s no tank to fill – it’s effectively plumbed into your system. This creates a compact design that will fit in any kitchen, no matter how big or small.

A BPA-free plastic chassis houses the filter, and a rust-resistant spout is mounted on the base of the product. APEX has raised this so you can fit a pan or glass underneath it – easy access.

You don’t need to be a DIY diva to install this countertop filter system – so long as you have an adaptable faucet, the valve simply screws on, linking the filter with your home water supply.

But to avoid a DIY kitchen nightmare, check that your faucet fits before purchasing this product.

The filter itself is made up of a microfelt pad which reduces particles and an activated carbon layer – organic chemicals as well as common contaminants such as benzene and chlorine are removed in the carbon layer.

Notably, APEX has included a layer of alkaline beads at the last stage of filtering. By increasing the pH of your water and adding minerals magnesium, calcium, and potassium they aim to give a better flavor and more nutritious water.

This way, APEX’s filter system isn’t throwing the baby out with the bathwater!

However, this high-powered filter isn’t cheap – and will need replacing every 4-6 months. That’s a long-term cost you need to factor in.

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The Buyer’s Guide to Choosing Right Countertop Water Filter

Countertop water filters are indispensable kitchen gadgets – from peace of mind around the water you and your family are drinking to the green impact of ditching plastic, there are so many reasons to invest in countertop water filtering tech.

But with so many brands on the market, it’s hard to know where to start.

Do you want ice-cold filtered water, chilling in your fridge?

Or maybe you want filtered water flowing from the faucet?

Let’s dive into the wonderful world of countertop water filters – there’s a style to suit everyone.

1. Gravity-Fed Filter Dispenser

For filtered water on the go, a gravity-fed countertop filter is a great option.

By locating the tap-water tank at the top of these devices, they let gravity do the work. Water is drawn down through a filter, to come to rest perfectly purified in a lower chamber.

Powered by gravity and manually filled, these gravity-fed dispensers are so easy to install. They don’t need to be plumbed in nor does it require a power source. This makes them handily portable, although with gallon-plus capacities these babies aren’t exactly compact.

And since you’re letting gravity take the place of a power source, you’re going to have to let nature take its course. It can take up to a couple of hours for water to filter through to the lower chamber.

Refilling your gravity-fed dispenser can become another kitchen chore – but gravity-fed dispensers liberate you from DIY disasters and can even ensure you have flowing filtered water in a power outage.

2. Water Distiller

For a tried and tested water filtering, water distillation system may be the way to go. This is a modern twist on the age-old method for water purification – boiling it. If it was good enough for the pilgrims, it should be good enough for us, right?

Distillers work by heating the water into steam, running this evaporated water through a coil leaving all contaminants behind, before returning your water in a slow drip to a new chamber. The result is ultimately pure water – nothing but H2O.Of course, to heat your water up you’re going to need power – so distillers need to be located by an A/C power source. They usually require manual filling, so at least you don’t have to call the plumber.

Pure water, however, doesn’t always mean tasty water. Distilled water is guaranteed to be safe to drink, but the process can also strip away harmless elements like magnesium and calcium which give water flavor.

And poor-quality distillers can leave a bad taste in your mouth. It really depends on the construction of the unit itself.

When purchasing a distiller, it pays to splash out. Then your pure water is going to taste delicious, too.

3. Sink-Top Filter

For convenience’s sake, a sink-top filter system comes highly recommended.

Drinking cool, filtered water straight from the tap feels like the ultimate in luxury – and yet sink-top filter systems are surprisingly affordable, and easy to install.

Simply screw on a valve to your regular faucet – a pipe draws your tap water into the filter system, and then purified water is dispensed from a spout.

These filter systems are space-savers too – because you don’t need a bulky water tank attached to the filters, they have a slim-line footprint that squeezes in by your sink.

You’ll have filtered water flowing as fast as your household water pressure can provide.

We’ve seen all the styles, now it’s time for substance. Let’s take a look at some of the best countertop water filters money can buy.

Why you should get a countertop water filter

Clean Water On Tap

Whilst clean drinking water is often something we take for granted in the global north, industrialization, and privatization of water supplies have been slowly undermining our water quality nationwide.

When Flint, Michigan hit the news in 2014, it cast a spotlight on our tap water quality in the USA.

Do you know how much lead is leaking into your water supply from old pipes?

Or whether farm run-off is seeping into your system?

Or how about the fluoride that’s being added to your tap water, keeping your teeth clean at the cost of your health?

Citizens are increasingly taking water quality into their own hands, and there are a wide range of devices to do so. Don’t take any risks with the water you and your family are drinking.

Great-Tasting Tap Water

When it comes to our health, we shouldn’t take any risks. But drinking cool, pure water is one of life’s great pleasures – plus it can keep you off sugary soda!

Filtered water isn’t just better for your body – it also tastes refreshingly pure. By eliminating contaminants such as chlorine, even bottom-end countertop water filters can elevate your drinking experience.

Smart Spending

Let’s do some quick maths.

You’re spending a couple of bucks a day on bottled water – that adds up. If you’re buying bottled water when you’re out and about and drinking expensive soda at home, this can run into over a thousand dollars a year, easy.

This is why millennials can’t afford property guys, c’mon!

A countertop water filtering is a great investment – even once you factor in replacing the filters, it’s an order of magnitude more affordable than a bottled water habit.

Think about how much you could save by drinking filtered water at home. And take the savings further by turning filtered water into part of your routine – fill up a flask before you leave the house.

Saving The Planet

Plastic water bottles might cost your bank account – but there’s another hidden cost that accumulates with all that plastic. Single-use plastic bottles account for a vast proportion of the world’s garbage – over a million of these bottles are bought every minute. (2)

The thought of all that plastic floating around in the Pacific Ocean -urgh. What would Greta Thunberg say?

If you’re concerned about the environmental impact of your lifestyle, swapping out single-use plastics is one of the biggest things you can do. A bamboo toothbrush might look stylish above your bathroom sink, but plastic bottles are used day-in-day-out.

A countertop water filter system provides you with bottled-quality water, on tap. Save your wallet and save the planet with a home filtering system you can trust.

Final Thoughts…

If you’re not already considering a countertop water filtering system, it’s time to think again.

Water quality is a hot topic, and giving your family access to premium purity water is just as vital as the roof over their heads. Protecting them from lead, benzene and the full gamut of pesticides and herbicides is non-optional when you don’t know what’s flowing through your pipes.

Whether you want clean water straight from your faucet to keep the water flowing, or a countertop distiller that guarantees clean water every day, there’s a water filter for every kitchen.

Anyone who puts convenience as the highest priority will be drawn to sink-top devices – filling up freshly filtered water at the tap is one of life’s great pleasures. Ahh!

Or maybe you fancy a portable tank that filters water on the go – something to take into the garden on a hot, summer’s day. Then a gravity-fed device might be the choice for you.

Whatever your pleasure, filtered water can’t be considered a luxury. It’s an essential in today’s climate.

Just like the ‘90s RnB divas of TLC said: don’t go chasing waterfalls – but do go chasing countertop water filters, with the help of this article.

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Recommended Reading:

• 10 Best Water Filter Pitchers – Reviews & Buying Guide
• 7 Best Gravity Water Filters On The Market – Reviews and Buying Guide