Aquasana Reviews – Top Water Filters for 2020

Aquasana, Inc. is a major player in the market for home water filters and filtration systems. Based in Austin, Texas, the company designs, manufactures and distributes various water filtration products, including the ones you’ll see reviewed here. Products ranging from water softeners, water bottles and whole-house filtration systems to drinking water filters, shower filters, replacement filters, clean water machines and other water filtration products compose the bulk of Aquasana’s product offerings.

Aquasana distributes its water filtration products through various dealers and retail establishments throughout the United States – its products are easy to find, both online and at your local home improvement store. The company was founded in 1988, incorporated in 1997, and since August 2016 has operated as a subsidiary of A.O. Smith Corp.

In the below Aquasana reviews, we’ve outlined a few of their best-known products and given you a little background info on their benefits and how they work. Keep reading to learn more about the range of water filtration products Aquasana provides.

 

 

Aquasana Reviews

 

1. Aquasana Whole House Water Filtration System

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This is a heavy-hitting, high-performance system that filters water for comprehensive household use and boasts 100 million gallons or 10 years; this is a model built for performance. In fact, it can remove 97 percent of chlorine from your household water, along with reducing other contaminants like mercury, lead, pesticides and more. And because this system treats all your household water, you get benefits beyond drinking healthier, cleaner water – benefits like healthier skin and hair because you’re reducing exposure to chlorine, and improved air quality in your home because chlorine and/or volatile organic compounds are no longer evaporating via your shower water.

Your system will come with the filtration tank, fittings for a .75-inch pipe, brass fittings, 20-inch pre-filter, bend supports, brass fittings and shut-off valves. In addition, it’s covered by a 180-day limited product warranty. Its special dual-tank, up-flow design means longer water contact time with contaminant-grabbing media, leading to better results.

Users report outstanding performance from this system, though the installation can be somewhat complicated if you don’t have basic carpentry and plumbing skills, and some have reported trouble with the clarity of accompanying instructions. In fact, you may want to get help from a professional plumber in order to get this system up and running in your home.

Once installed, though, the system produces great-tasting water, along with cleaner, shiner dishes and softer clothes. There have been a few reports of a drop in pressure with this system, but not at a bothersome level.

 

2. Aquasana 3-Stage Max Flow Under Sink Water Filter System with Faucet

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This unit is one of Aquasana’s best-performing models and has recently been improved to deliver a water flow rate that’s even 44 percent faster than previous performance. Furthermore, this unit can remove as much as 99 percent of at least 65 known water contaminants, among them mercury, lead, pesticides, asbestos, chlorine, pharmaceutical residuals and chloramines.

This system is certified to full National Safety Federation standards and provides your household with instant access to healthier and better-tasting water, producing a half gallon of finished water every minute. The result is healthier water for your household that averages about eight cents per gallon.

The Aquasana Max Flow is the only water filtration system currently available that includes Claryum filtration technology – this allows the system to remove dangerous contaminants while allowing the water to retain its natural beneficial minerals, resulting in water that both tastes great and retains many of its healthful benefits.

Your unit will include the first full set of filters, along with everything you need for a quick and seamless installation. In addition, the brushed nickel faucet included with the system can help add a sleek, clean and modern aesthetic to your kitchen décor.

Users say that the DIY installation lives up to its claims of being quick and easy, and the resulting water tastes great. In addition, customer service gets high marks for being prompt, responsive and helpful, and the filters appear high quality. There have been a few reports of disappointment with the Bluetooth feature, along with the lack of an Android version of the accompanying app.

 

3. Aquasana OptimH2O Reverse Osmosis Water Filter with Remineralizer and Faucet

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This water filter is the first of its kind, combining reverse osmosis with Aquasana’s advanced Claryum selective filtration, plus remineralization. This filter system can produce a half-gallon of finished water every minute, which will give you roughly 35 gallons per day.

As one of the few reverse osmosis systems that includes a remineralizer, this filter retains your water’s healthful elements like potassium and calcium, rather than stripping them away through the filtration process. Otherwise, the system can remove more than 95 percent of fluoride from your water, plus ridding it of 99 percent of at least 87 other known contaminants – including asbestos, pharmaceutical residuals, lead, mercury and more. The system also is fully certified to National Safety Federation standards and is guaranteed not to leach any contaminants back into your water.

The brushed nickel faucet is a stylish addition to your kitchen and is 100-percent lead-free. This system includes a complete first set of filters, the faucet, reverse osmosis tank and all other appropriate components required for a quick and easy installation.

Customers are particularly drawn to the easy installation and clear instructions provided with the system, along with the supportive and responsive customer service. Some users report that the water flow is a little slower than desired, and depending on the faucet finish, some have had trouble matching up finishes to existing kitchen items. Most users report that the finished water the system produces tastes great.

 

4. Aquasana Clean Water Machine

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The Clean Water Machine is a water filter pitcher that comes with a one-gallon dispenser and is designed to reduce contaminants like chlorine, lead, asbestos, chloramines, pesticides, pharmaceutical residuals and more by up to 96 percent.

While most water filter pitchers use gravity to pull water through the filter media over time, the Clean Water Machine instead uses Aquasana’s Claryum filtration technology in conjunction with electrical power to clean your water more quickly and efficiently. This lets the Clean Water Machine remove up to 10 times more contaminants than many of its competitors – plus, this model will retain healthy minerals for both better taste and healthier finished water. In addition, preserving these minerals, while also removing more acidic compounds, means that the Clean Water Machine improves the water’s alkalinity and overall pH level.

The Clean Water Machine features a slim physical profile, so it won’t take up much counter space in your kitchen; in addition, the accompanying pitcher can fit easily inside your refrigerator door. One Clean Water Machine filter has eight times the capacity of the leading gravity-based filter and is guaranteed to last three months or 320 gallons, whichever comes first. It also comes with a one-year system warranty.

Consumers report that this system works well and provides great-tasting finished water. They say that it’s also easy to clean, though some were less than impressed with what they describe as a slow pour. Many users report that this is the most user-friendly and effective water filter pitcher they’ve ever used.

 

5. Aquasana Countertop Water Filter System

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This countertop water filter can near-instantly turn existing tap water into healthier, better-tasting water, all without any installation or permanent fixtures within your home. It is designed to reduce heavy metals like mercury and lead, along with organic chemicals and pharmaceutical residuals, including pesticides, herbicides and volatile organic compounds.

This model features National Safety Federation-certified Claryum filtration technology and has been independently tested to show that it removes more than 97 percent of both chlorine and chloramines. In addition, it is shown to remove 10 times more water contaminants than its gravity filter counterparts. However, this version also retains beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium.

With no installation required, you can easily screw on the faucet attachment and immediately start getting filtered water right out of your kitchen tap. The small, slim counter unit is designed to sit unobtrusively next to your sink, leaving you plenty of counter space in the kitchen. And with 11 times the filtering capacity of the average water filtration pitcher, you’ll replace fewer filters over the life of the system.

Designed thoughtfully with the good of the environment in mind, this model reduces overall waste by minimizing the number of disposable and/or plastic parts associated with the system. It’s likely you’ll need to replace the filter only every six months or so, depending on your level of use.

Reviewers love the ease and simplicity of this countertop water filter. Most report that it’s very easy to set up and is highly effective, though many underscore the need to regularly change the filter for best results. A few reported slight leaking of units, but also report that they received a high level of customer service support when reporting issues.

 

6. Aquasana Deluxe Shower Water Filter System with Adjustable Showerhead

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This unit is designed specifically to make sure the water you shower with is as healthy and supportive as possible for healthy skin and hair, mainly by removing up to 91 percent of the chlorine usually added to municipal water. High levels of chlorine and other chemicals can be harsh and have detrimental effects on skin and hair.

This unit’s coconut shell carbon filter media can remove harsh chemicals, including chlorine, pesticides, hydrogen sulfide, lead and other volatile organic compounds, and KDF 55 filter media made from both copper and zinc can further reduce the chemical content while enhancing the water’s pH.

This filter system is extremely easy to install as no tools are necessary. Adding to this, maintenance and filter replacement are also quick and simple. Its filter typically lasts for around six months, or approximately 10,000 gallons of filtered water. You can choose from a standard massaging shower head or a premium massaging handheld wand that comes with multiple massage settings.

According to first-hand users, this unit almost sets itself up, installation is so easy. Many advise that you need to let the water run a bit before showering; you’ll want to wait until the water runs through the filter and comes out clear. The first bit may appear black as it cycles out the carbon. Some reviewers express dismay at the price of replacement filters, but overall users seemed pleased with the product quality and reported seeing a measurable difference in the health of skin and hair after using the product over time.

 

More About Aquasana

Aquasana’s core business mission is to provide the best filtration products possible so every home can have water that tastes great and is healthy. In fact, the company has publicly committed to the mindset that water that is free from contaminants, combined with a healthy environment, are two of the most important facets to good health and well-being.

The company boasts leading-edge filtering technology throughout its entire product line – technology designed to remove as many dangerous water contaminants as possible, while also leaving behind beneficial minerals, including calcium, potassium and magnesium. The result of this process and intent is great-tasting water that can provide optimum hydration and other health benefits for the members of your household.

All Aquasana drinking water filters are National Safety Federation certified to remove at least 77 common water contaminants – this includes more than 96 percent of chlorine and chloramines, plus more than 99 percent of lead, turbidity, asbestos and volatile organic compounds. Because of Aquasana’s commitment to remaining at the forefront of water filtration technology, customers benefit from high-performance, affordable water filters that also are environmentally friendly.

In fact, the environment remains top-of-mind as Aquasana develops new products – for example, all water filter components are specifically designed to produce as little waste as possible; their outer filter casings and filter cartridges are reusable and manufactured from recyclable parts and compostable materials. And if you pair an Aquasana water filtration product with an Aquasana reusable glass water bottle, that’s a double-whammy for reducing plastic water bottle waste in landfills across the world.

With its broad and deep product portfolio including water filtration products for at-home and on-the-go, Aquasana is considered a key player and fast-growing company within the U.S. water filtration and treatment market.

Its parent company, A.O. Smith, is a publicly held, 140-year-old corporation considered one of the world’s leading producers of both commercial and residential water heating equipment, plus manufacturing water treatment products.

 

Aquasana Water Filter Buyer’s Guide

There are always several key points to consider when looking for just the right product to meet your household’s water filtration needs. The market has a plethora of different filter types that vary in sophistication, features, competency and price. You’ll need to do your research.

To give you a head start, we’ve outlined a few of the most major considerations below for easy reference.

1. What’s in your water? – Because water filters often vary widely on how effective they are against specific contaminants, the best place to start is by knowing what exactly is in your tap water and what needs to be filtered out. You can have a sample of tap water tested to give you the specific breakdown of contaminants that are present.
2. What type of filter do you need? – Once you know what your filter needs to remove, you can think about the best type of filter for the job. If your key issues are grit, dirt, sediment, rust or other physical particles, you may be fine with a simple screening filter that acts as a physical sieve. In some cases, these models also can filter out small organisms like bacteria or cysts. If your water tastes, smells or looks unappetizing, you should consider a filter that includes activated carbon – these can often attach to your faucet, and they remove several classes of contaminants, including pesticides, chlorine, herbicides, trihalomethanes, inorganic chemicals and radon. Plus they polish the taste of your water, which can help remedy any taste or odor issues. However, if you need to remove inorganic chemicals like metals, minerals, salts and nitrates, you may need a reverse-osmosis filter – most connect directly to your plumbing mechanisms and fit beneath your sink.
3. Capacity – Give some thought to whether you’d like to filter only your drinking water or all of your household water. You may also want to monitor how much water your household uses, which can inform whether you need a small, countertop unit or a major version such as a whole-house water filter or water softener that could be a major investment.
4. Personal preference – Once you’ve done your research (which hopefully includes reading through the Aquasana reviews above), you can choose the model that fits your needs and your preference for things like installation, ease of use and appearance.