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Can someone recommend a good countertop water purifier?

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If its counter top, generally its a flavor only charcoal type filter, ie one of the stages in my 5 stage reverse osmosis under counter filter system.

Ice maker outlet is just tap water, no real difference from the connection to the sink or the toilet, what it lacks that a good filter system needs is a line to a drain, as reverse osmosis needs a waste line to flush the filter.

Gallon a day is 5 or 10 times the use for most ice makers, so filters designed for an ice maker won't work very long.

Cheapest best tasting solution, buy a few 2.5 Gallon jugs and get 25 cents a gallon water from a water store or machine.
 
If I were you I'd bite the bullet and invest in a whole house filtration system instead, those pitchers are a waste of time and money IMHO.

Bigger initial investment, sure, but you're not adding more accessories to kitchen or fridge, it's water on demand, and your water using appliances in the entire house will benefit.
Yes there is a prefilter to change usually, but that's like every 3 months or dependent on your water quality. My Aquasana system's main filter array has a 10yr lifespan on it, and I get about 14 weeks on the prefilter before it needs to be changed.

A lot less scale and iron everywhere, water tastes great, and it works better in the shower, dishwasher and laundry room thanks to a copper element in the system that knocks the hardness down several notches, and without using any salt.

It's nice not having to designate one or two sources as 'the good water' in your house, or not having to mess around with cheap plastic containers that take way too long to filter a small amount of water and require a constant stream of weak filters to run. Filters made for ice machines are generally quite basic, and don't have much of a lifespan as mikeford mentioned.

Good luck! If you live in an apartment or someplace you don't plan on staying at long, forget what I said. If it's just about you and you aren't willing to make that kind of investment, buying water by the purified jug is probably the way to go.
 
I actually have my spring water delivered, but I was just informed (by a friend who works for them) that they would be going out of business by the summer. I've looked around and I don't like the alternatives for they would be considerably more expensive. I could just get that Primo water and fill a 1 or 2 5 gallon bottles every week and pay the same price as I pay to get spring water delivered, but I'm picking it up myself and it's filtered water.

And since it's just filtered water, it really just makes more sense just to get a filter especially considering how much of it I drink.

So I'm just looking at my various options and I wanted to know if I could use my icemaker outlet box to connect to a counter top water filter.

Although I do rent, I'm not entirely against a whole house filtration system, it really depends on what it costs and the work involved to install one. If it's something I can't do myself (I know almost nothing about plumbing), I know who can do it for me so that's not a big deal. And there is a possibility that it could help alleviate my dry skin problems in the winter.


I suppose I could rephrase this more simply.


  • I don't need anything super fancy to take the fluoride and stuff out. I just want my water to taste good (unlike tap).
  • It needs to be able to produce (or hold) at least a gallon of filtered water so at time when I fill up my water bottles for work in the morning.
  • I don't want anything that will stay connected to my faucet. I know it's a stupid perquisite that will eliminate most cheap options, but I don't like the way they look so that's a good enough reason for me.
  • No Pitchers.
 
88keys said:
[*]I don't want anything that will stay connected to my faucet. I know it's a stupid perquisite that will eliminate most cheap options, but I don't like the way they look so that's a good enough reason for me.
[*]No Pitchers.
[/LIST]
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What about under-sink water filters? If aesthetics is your only beef with the on-faucet type, this one connects to the water line underneath your sink so you'll never see it.
 
Brita for home, employer-funded water delivery at work.

I dont even remember an employer that did not provide the five gallon bottles.
 
Since you rent, your options are limited. (without pissing off the landlord and possibly incurring expensive repair costs)

I'll stick with my recommendation of a good quality in-line icemaker filter. They're pretty cheap, easy to install, and last up to 6 months. (some claim up to 5 years, but I'm skeptical about those claims)
 
My sister in law swears by the Dr. Merkola "10 stage" water filter. You can buy a tap adapter so that you can use it on your sink faucet. Even if you rent, you can always shut off your water and rig up a bypass although you probably shouldn't drill through your counter top, just leave the cabinet door open.

www.mercola.com

Personally, i would be ok with the ones they sell at Home depot.
 
Non RO reverse osmosis, are typically activated carbon with maybe a resin bed for minerals.

RO needs three hook ups, water source, water drain, and dispensing tap. In a pinch you could drain into the sink, and put the filter set on the counter, or be ok with running some plastic tubing around from under the sink. Water source is easy, just a T inline with the faucet connection. The drain is a bit more pesky, and should include a air gap, like a dishwasher uses, but not to be shared with one.

What might help is to know what is wrong with the tap water where you live and work from that.

Another option is a counter top distiller, but some don't like the taste of distilled water.
 
BoomerD said:
Since you rent, your options are limited. (without pissing off the landlord and possibly incurring expensive repair costs)

I'll stick with my recommendation of a good quality in-line icemaker filter. They're pretty cheap, easy to install, and last up to 6 months. (some claim up to 5 years, but I'm skeptical about those claims)
Click to expand...

I know the landlord personally and I've done work on the side for them in the past. If it's something that I can't do, either he or his son can do it for me. Either way, I wouldn't want a hole in my counter top, lol.


@mikeford
I don't know exactly what's wrong with my tap other than the fact that it tastes like tap. And no, the difference is not in my head
 
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There is no "tastes like tap", its all about the water sources. Some of the best tasting water I've ever had came out of the tap in a old buildings bathroom sink, but the source was from old deep water wells built by a farming community the originally settled the area that was included into the nasty tasting city water system.

Do you have a fridge with ice maker and water?
 
88keys said:
I know the landlord personally and I've done work on the side for them in the past. If it's something that I can't do, either he or his son can do it for me. Either way, I wouldn't want a hole in my counter top, lol.
Click to expand...

I use: http://www.purwater.com/water/pur-products/18-cup-water-dispensers-ds-1800z/
Sits on my counter, I put it in my sink to fill it. I don't know if it'll hold a gallon of filtered water.

A reverse osmosis system with its 3 hookups would require a dispenser (as mikeford said) but, it's not a hole drilled in your counter top. It's a hole drilled in your sink. Depending on your sink, the dispenser may match the other things you already have sticking out of it. I think my dad used to charge $300 for a system and installation.
 
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