Pros and Cons of Types of Water Filtration System

SystemProsCons
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.

If you are unsure of the right system for you, just give us a call or contact us online. Freshwater Systems is known for our friendly, no-obligation advice and we are happy to answer your questions.

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