Pros and Cons of Types of Water Filtration System

System	Pros	Cons
Quick change filter system	Quick and easy to change filters Usually adequate for drinking water from mains water Will improve taste and smell of water Removes chlorine and chloramine Require water softener to remove hardness	High cost of filters Frequent filter changes Lower quality filtration Not suitable for drinking water from river water, rainwater or bore water Doesn’t remove: heavy metals tannins fluoride PFAS and fertilisers all chemicals hardness from water
Single filter system	Whole house or single tap/outlet Low up-front cost Usually adequate for drinking water from mains water Will improve taste and smell of water Removes chlorine and chloramine Require additional water softener to remove hardness	Usually carbon-filter without sediment filter, so requires filter changes twice as often Lower quality filtration Not suitable for drinking water from river water, mains water or bore water Doesn’t remove: heavy metals tannins fluoride PFAS and fertilisers all chemicals hardness from water
Twin filter system	Whole house or single tap/outlet More accessible price Usually adequate for drinking water from mains water Will improve taste and smell of water Lower upfront installation cost	Require LED filtration also for drinking water from river water, rainwater and bore water Lower quality filtration than reverse osmosis Doesn’t remove: heavy metals tannins fluoride PFAS and fertilisers all chemicals hardness from water
Filtration + UV or LED (for river water, rainwater and bore water)	As for single- or twin filtration, PLUS sterilises water: Removes bacteria, cysts, viruses, algae, microorganisms Whole house or single tap/outlet More accessible price than RO Accommodates higher flow rate than RO Uses less water than RO Requires lower water pressure than RO Require water softener to remove hardness Lower upfront installation cost	Doesn’t remove: heavy metals tannins fluoride PFAS and fertilisers all chemicals hardness from water
Reverse Osmosis	Purest water Removes everything but water molecules from water Removes hardness from water Sterilises water Removes bacteria, cysts, viruses, algae, microorganisms	Need to add back minerals if these are important to you (but this will increase hardness again) Need to add chlorine back after storage in tank Take more space under-bench Uses more water

Refer to our Considerations When Selecting a System to start to think about what is important to you.

To help you understand more about each type of filtration, read our Filtration media types and what they filter summary page.

Refer to our handy Summary Cheat-sheet of Water Filtration Types that summarises everything you need to know.