Working in a non-profit environmental protection organization for many years, I have witnessed several cases of lead poisoning from environmental pollution and its severe impacts on multiple body systems, especially to children.
They absorb 4-5 times as much ingested lead as adults, according to WHO! Therefore, preventing and removing the lead from your life is necessary. Though there’s no specific level of lead approach measured to be safe, you can avoid it in many ways.
In households, the most accessible lead source is in drinking water. It is releasable to the water from the pipes or pipes joined with lead solder. To be safest, you should only buy and use regulated water filters.
In this article, we will provide you with the seven best water filters for lead removal that are not only safe but also most convenient products for you.
6 Best Water Filters For Lead Removal
1. Home Master TMAFC-ERP Artesian Water Filter System – Best Reverse Osmosis Filter For Lead Removal
If you find all your old water filters are wasteful of time and investment, you won’t want to miss this reverse osmosis product.
The first attribute making it on our list is the efficiency in supplying highly pure water. Not only does it remove 98% of contaminants like lead or chloramine but it also brings a better flavor to water for you.
It will require about 3-4 hours to install, but it’s not complicated. Even when you are a beginner, you won’t have any trouble doing this.
There is also a variety of instructions on the internet that will help you handle your obstacles.
Besides the excellent water filtration, the flow of your water system will not have any change caused by the product.
After filtering 2,000 gallons of water, you will have to change a new one – enough for your family to use in at least ten months!
More than that, with an innovative design, it is outstanding over other reverse osmosis filters in the industry which still have some drawbacks.
In return, it is a bit costly. So if you want a product on a budget, it’s just not suitable for you.
Overall, the Home Master filter is among the best-in-class that you can rely on thanks to the dominant capability and other features a water filter demands. You’ll get what you pay for if you choose this one.
Pros
- Produce highly pure water
- Easy in installation
- Quick flow
- 5-year guarantee
Cons
- Expensive
2. Aquagear Water Filter Pitcher – Best Value For Money
Aquagear products are widely popular including their water filter pitcher offer.
What makes this product so favorable?
The answer is its environment-friendly and specialized engineering. The Aquagear uses approved food-grade materials that are recyclable.
Not only is their product durable but they also allow you to replace a new one as soon as your pitcher has problems with the lifetime guarantee.
Even more, it can lower the level of contaminants in your water like lead, chlorine, fluoride while retaining vigorous minerals like calcium and magnesium.
It is the most significant difference in the product compared to other ones in the market.
And if you don’t know yet, after six months of using the pitcher, you will receive their ship labels to return your pitcher for recycling.
The Aquagear filter pitcher is worthy, but it also has disadvantages. The combination of slow filling time and a limited amount of water filled might make users feel inconvenienced.
Even though the product has some drawbacks in filtering speed, it is always on our top list thanks to the best quality it offers. You might feel the pitcher is a bit expensive, but I can say that it’s well worth the investment.
Pros
- Effective in eliminating contaminants while keeping healthy minerals
- Durable
- Recyclable
- Easy of use
- Lifetime guarantee
Cons
- Slow to filter water
- Limited capacity
- Pricey
3. Woder 10K-Gen3 Water Filtration System
Useful and time-saving are a few of the adjectives that we could use when describing this water filter.
That is, while you have to spend about 2 hours installing a typical unit, then a few minutes per day to fill water, clean, and replace the filter, this Woder filtration will allow you to enjoy the pure water after 1 hour of installing it.
Yes, it is straightforward to equip and use. Featuring a 3/8″ Direct Connect Hose that fits the valves and faucet stem under your sink directly, there’s no need of doing time-consuming tasks like filling water or cleaning the filter.
Better yet, the Woder unit can remove over 90 percent of heavy metals like lead, mercury, and other contaminants while leaving all essential minerals.
You won’t have to worry about the chlorine smell in your drinking water.
However, the only significant issue of the water filter might make you confused with some reduction in the flow of the cold water tap. It means the product will come with slow water pressure.
Imagine, if you need 45 seconds to fill a bowl, after installing the Woder filtration, that time changes to 60 seconds. So, if the pressure of your home water system is already slow, then the product is not suitable for you.
Overall, it’s a great option for lead removal for those who have problems with their old filter processing tasks and time. Furthermore, the filtration is durable that won’t require you to change it for about three years.
See also: TDS Meters for drinking water
Pros
- Time-saving
- Long-lasting
- Easy to install and use
- Effective in removing lead in water
Cons
- Reduce the flow rate after the installation
4. AquaBliss High Output Universal Shower Filter – The Most Budget Shower Filter
Our reasoning for giving it the title of the most affordable is because it offers standardized water at a price that cannot be cheaper.
If your city has terrible water quality, or if you use hard water or well water, besides the risks of intestinal, digestive, and blood diseases, it can lead to many issues to your skin and hair.
Don’t worry, because this AquaBliss will help solve them for you. Although it is a shower filter, the AquaBliss filtration is flexible, offering all the functions of a drinking water unit.
Using activated carbon, it promises to eliminate the maximum lead and other contaminants in your water naturally and easily.
Now, on to the design of the filter, it is very compact with no tool required, which means that you won’t have any trouble installing it in your shower.
You only need to unscrew your shower head, screw in the AquaBliss filter, and then attach the head back. Simple, right?
Nevertheless, due to the simplicity, the filter allows water to flow through its side, which makes it limited in handling 100% of your source of water.
But you should not worry too much, because as soon as you find any smell in the water, you can contact the manufacturer and you’ll receive your money back.
The AquaBliss did a pretty good job adapting the budget model for lead removal in water. Despite its limitation, it is still a solution for your healthy life. With this product, you can be relaxed and comfortable when coming home after a long and hard-working day.
Pros
- Time-saving
- Long-lasting
- Easy to install and use
- Effective in removing lead in water
Cons
- Reduce the flow rate after the installation
5. Filtrete Maximum Under Sink Water Filtration System – The Most Effective At a Low Price
The next water filter that we have on here comes from Filtrete company – a premium brand offering improvement for users’ home quality.
Hence, it’s undeniable that this filter is one of the top choices for most people. The first attribute that we can see in the product is its reasonable price.
However, it’s instrumental in implementing what a water filter needs to do.
You won’t have to worry if there are any harmful chemicals in your water, and your drinking water will taste as good as the purest bottle you can buy in your city.
Moreover, you will find it valuable that can handle up to 1,000 gallons of water. It means you only need to change to a new one after about six months.
Now on to the installation, you will be stunned by the time you spend – less than 20 minutes.
It is because the filter doesn’t come with a separate faucet for the filtered water, which also allows all the water flowing through it to be clean.
But, the wrong installation can easily lead to a problem with the connectors of this unit, making your house flooded. So, after installing it, you should check it out carefully.
The filter is reasonable and all that we can ask for, so if you still wonder if there’s any defect with the product, we can assure you that you can receive a new one by contacting the manufacturer.
Pros
- Low price
- Highly effective
- Quick installation
Cons
- Need to check after installing
- Doesn’t suit the severely contaminated water source
6. iSpring WGB22B-PB Lead Iron Chloride Reducing Water Filter – Best Whole House System
With all the benefits it brings about for the water system of your house, we assure you won’t be disappointed buying this product.
It is suitable to be at the main water supply so that it can filter all the water branches flowing in your house.
The water will be not only better tasting but also safer. You can say bye to the dry skin which originates from chemicals in water like chlorine.
Besides, you will gradually find many advantageous changes in your clothes, dishes, etc.
Due to its attribute of eliminating lead and iron residue, your household machines will provide cleaner water and be able to last longer.
Unlike most other filters, the flow rate of this product is relatively high, assuring that the water filter is always available when you need it.
However, because it is an activated carbon filter, its capability of removing the lead will be not as effective as the beginning after filtering a certain amount of water.
Hence, you will have to change the filter more frequently compared to other choices in our list.
With a functional design, the iSpring filter is powerful enough to clean all the water in your household, therefore comprehensively protecting the health of your family.
Pros
- Great filtration efficiency
- Good for household machines
- High flow rate
Cons
- Need to be changed frequently
- A bit wasteful of water
How to Test Water for Lead
Since you can?t smell, taste or see it in water, the only way to know whether your drinking water has the chemical or not is to have your water tested.
And there is a variety of ways you can try to test your tap for the lead.
a) Ask The Local Water Supplier
Firstly, you can have your water tested by a local water supplier. Check their number on the website of your region government, then call or email them to ask if they can test the water at your home.
In some cities, the water supplier will come and examine the water for lead for free. If they don’t offer water testing, you can move to the second solution.
b) Use A Lead Testing Kit
You can buy lead testing kits at many large specialized stores or online to collect the testing samples, then send them off to a laboratory for analysis.
If you choose this option, make sure you follow all the directions of the manufacturers carefully. Also, it’s necessary to use only the “first-draw water” of the day that contains the fullest impurities.
You can check the certified labs by States or Environmental Protection Department on the EPA’s website so that your water analysis will be more reliable.
c) And Others
Some other ways include buying an instant home testing kit that will show the results immediately (negative or positive only), having your water tested by a water filtration company, and checking your pipes to see whether they originate from lead or not.
In case you might want to know more thoroughly about what the testing results say, we recommend you the two websites of CDC and NSF which offer information and instructions.
How to Remove Lead from Water
Removing lead from drinking water is hard, but not possible. The most accessible way you can do this so far is to use a certified water filter for lead removal.
But, firstly, you should look for the source of lead pervasion to select the most appropriate ways to eliminate it.
Here are the three most popular filtration methods for lead removal, which are reverse osmosis, activated carbon filtration, and distillation.
a) Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis is the most common and affordable method to lower a significant level of lead by pushing the water under pressure through a semipermeable membrane.
The membrane will allow pure water through and keep back the major of contaminants like bacteria or lead at the same time.
It is highly effective that can eliminate 95 percent of lead from your drinking water.
For households, partial reverse osmosis is very suitable because they are cheap compared to the complete one that is only used by high-end water filtration units.
b) Activated Carbon Filtration
Activated carbon filtration is favorable thanks to its multifunctional nature of organics adsorption and catalyst reduction of residual disinfectants without bringing anything harmful to the treated water.
Manufacturers mostly use materials of nutshells, wood, coal, and petroleum to create activated carbons, that can improve the water taste and reduce health risks from lead.
But still, Not all activated carbon filtration can remove the lead, and this option is not always practical. After processing a certain amount of water, its capability of eliminating lead in water is lower.
Also, you will need to replace the fulfilled filtration cartridges frequently.
c) Distillation
Compared to activated carbon filtration, the distillation doesn’t require you to replace the cartridges after prolonged usage.
Furthermore, its capability to remove lead from water is still active (can remove up to 95 percent of lead) during its lifespan. That’s why distillation is one of the most expensive methods of eliminating lead from water.
Even though the process uses a lot of electricity to work and is time-consuming, it provides almost pure water. Also, the more the amount of water in one single time processing, the cheaper it becomes.
If you’re concerned about lead in your drinking water, don’t wait for the government’s action to fix it for you.
With the best water filters for lead removal that we recommended, hope you can protect your family’s health and the surrounding environment.
All in all, the Home Master product is always our top pick because of being powerful and useful, but don’t just take my word, try them out for yourself. All of the products here will not make you disappointed.
If you need further information, feel free to contact us or visit our website. Don’t hesitate to like and share the guide if it is useful for you. Thank you.
Best Water Distillers – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
References
United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA): Certification of Laboratories for Drinking Water
