If you are on a well or get water with a high amount of iron, whole-house water filters are designed to filter all the water entering your home. These are best to reduce iron and sediments from reaching our appliances and bodies.
Small filtering systems work for drinking and cooking. But if you’re water has dissolved solids, sediment, rust particles, or smells bad, you need to filter the entire supply.
The good news is that entire home filtering systems are available at reasonable prices and in designs that will fit your unique requirements.
I’ll review many of the best whole-house water filters for iron in this article, models that will mesh with your existing system to provide the best, cleanest, safest water you can get.
Recommended Whole House Water Filters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Springwell CF1 |  EDITOR’S CHOICE |
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Pelican Water GPM Whole House Carbon |  BEST BUDGET |
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Aquasana Whole House Water Filter System |  BEST VALUE |
| View Latest Price |
Best Whole House Water Filter Reviews
Ok, so with everything explained into what you should be looking for. Here are my top picks of current systems on the market today.
My Top Pick: SpringWell CF1 Whole House Water Filter System
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The Springwell CF1 utilizes similar technology to other non-electric whole-house filters with one main difference in design. The Springwell CF1 filters sediment at the final stage of filtration rather than initially.
Four Stage System
Stage One:
A multi-stage system will deliver the best home water filtration results in most applications.
Their unique flex bed design eliminates the common problem with many filters of channeling. Channeling is a process where incoming water carves a path through the filtering media, allowing less filtration, and more untreated water to flow through the filter.
Springwell CF1 eliminates this issue with its flex bed design. It creates a movable media that forces more contact with filtering agents, resulting in a more thorough cleaning of the incoming water.
Stage Two
A copper/zinc allowed in a KDF bed takes the chlorine out of our water at this stage, along with bacteria and many other dissolved pollutants.
Stage Three
A coconut carbon bed provides an excellent line of defense in removing any remaining organic compounds. The activated charcoal filtering is the best available on the market short of a slow, expensive, reverse osmosis complete home system.
Once the water finishes this stage it has only a sediment filter remaining before it passes on to your use.
Stage Four
A five-micron sediment filtration system removes any remaining sand, silt, rust, debris, or even clay from your water. These are commonly found in well water, but this final step creates outstanding flavored water, devoid of any contaminants.
Flow Rate
The water will flow at the same pressure as provided by your municipal supplier, or at the level you’ve established for your home on the pressure tank.
Taste
The taste will be substantially better than well water, since organic compounds, dissolved solids, and heavy metals that can create a bitter taste have been removed. With municipal water, the difference is even greater.
Installation
This Springwell system must be placed in the water supply line after it enters your home, but before it branches out to the many sinks, showers, tubs, and appliances in your home. If you’re good with tools, you can cut the incoming supply line, thread the pipes, and attach the filter with the included adapters.
If not, you should hire a professional to tap your water supply and install this device.
Maintenance
A filtering system is only as good as the filter quality in the system. You should replace the filter every six months to a year, depending on how heavily you use water.
Conclusion
I absolutely love this system. Water is one of the most precious commodities we have. Clean water, that is free of chemicals and that tastes fabulous is just a few minutes away. This is truly one of the best whole-house water filters for iron and well water and my go-to.
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2. Pelican Water GPM Whole House Carbon Water Filtration System
Available in sizes for a large or small home, the Pelican system uses a four-stage filtering system to remove iron from well water, chloramine, and almost all of the common contaminants from your incoming water supply.
The small home device is rated to clean 600,000 gallons of water before the filters need to be replaced. The larger home model is rated to clean an amazing 1,000,000 gallons of water before filter replacements.
The Pelican is one of the top-rated devices in whole-house well water filtration system reviews.
Four Stage System
Stage One
The four-stage system works as follows. Water passes through a five-micron pre-filtering process that removes pesticides, sands, rust, and other large debris from the water.
The expected use of this filter is between six and nine months depending on the levels of large pollutants in your water. This stage is especially effective in private wells that have large amounts of sand suspended in the water.
Stage Two and Three
Stages two and three filter water through a carbon filter made with crushed coconut shells. This stage filters Remove chlorine taste, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, herbicides, solvents, plant poisons, and insecticides from your water.
Activated charcoal is one of the best whole-house carbon water filter agents for home water supplies yet invented. It removes almost all of the microscopic pollutants suspended in your drinking water.
Final stage
An oxidation system, composed of a copper-zinc compound, provides the final stage of filtration. At this stage, any final remnants of chlorine are completely removed from your water.
Flow Rate
The large capacity holding area in the first, sediment removal stage must be charged fully with incoming water, but once that is finished, your water will flow into your home at the same pressure it did before the filtering system was installed.
Water Taste
Pure filtered water, devoid of the bitter metallic taste of chlorine, is how water was meant to taste. It is as clean as water flowing in a mountain stream, completely cleaned from sediment, debris, harmful chemicals, herbicides, drugs, or chloramine. The water not only tastes great but is wonderful for cooking as well.
Installation
You can install this system yourself or hire a professional for quick installing in your existing water supply. It should be placed close to the entry point of the water into your home. That way it can filter water to every faucet in your home.
Maintenance
The system is designed to filter either 600,000 or 1,000,000 gallons of water before filters must be replaced. The replacement media in the stage one filter is easy to remove and then fill with new filtering media.
This is an easy-to-use, effective system, that is quick and requires no electricity to use. It is an effective defense against polluted water, and a positive step in protecting your family from contaminated water.
3. Aquasana – EQ-600 Rhino Whole House Filter
Expandability is the keyword when it comes to the Eq-600 Rhino by Aquasana. The Rhino is a complete water filtering system by itself, but the extra options of a water softener and UV filter make this system a step above anything else available for the whole home market.
The Rhino is an inline system that must be placed in front of all of your home water outlets. It requires a bit of expertise in installation, and extra care should be taken when installing it to ensure you have enough room to add on the additional components in the future should you decide to.
The Rhino is available in two styles for use with municipal water supplies, and a single unit designed for private wells.
The municipal system is available for small homes with a capacity of 600,000 gallons prior to filter replacement. The larger home unit is rated to handle up to 1,000,000 gallons of water per filter.
The private well system is also a 600,000-gallon capacity system but arrives with an included UV filtering system that kills any organism floating in your water.
Multi-stage System:
The Rhino starts the filtering process with a sediment pre-filter designed to capture rust, silt, sand, and any other large solids in your incoming water supply.
Second Stage
An activated carbon filter removes chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, and bacteria down to the one-micron level.
Third Stage
Mineral stones of copper/zinc alloy removed any remaining chemical compounds from your water. This includes any remaining chlorine, plus dangerous pharmaceuticals that are now commonly found in city water supplies.
Add Ons
If you have hard water, this system, with its unique non-salt water softener component, may be perfect for you. The non-salt water softener connects directly to the existing Rhino system for ease of use.
While the private well system comes with a UV filter, neither of the municipal home filters includes it. A UV filter on your city water is a great idea if you live in an area where your water supply can be compromised by weather or other intrusive issues.
The Rhino is designed for easy placement with PEX pipe. It includes the adapters and compression rings you’ll need for a PEX application. If your system is an older copper pipe or cast iron style supply, you’ll either need to be proficient in this style of pipe or hire a professional.
Filters are large, but easy to replace with the Rhino.
Conclusion
Expandability is a nice thing to have in a home filtering system. The Rhino provides a great base unit, with the ability to move to the utmost level if you require it.
4. PRO+AQUA Whole House Filter System For Well Water
If you own a private well, the quality of your water is entirely dependent on you, there is no one else to call if the water tastes bad, has a bad smell, or contains bacteria that is making your family ill. Selecting the best whole house water filter for iron isn’t hard to do.
Private Wells:
The Aqua is a filtering system designed exclusively for the private well owner. Even the installation style is built around the concept of “do-it-yourself.”
This whole house system has adapters that will fit almost any existing water supply line entering your home. You can put the filter in place in front of the pressure tank, directly connected to the water supply entering your home from the well house, or you can place it on the outgoing line from the pressure tank.
Easy Installation
Easy-to-install compression fittings allow the installation of this system with just a couple of adjustable wrenches.
Sediment
The filter works well in removing rust, sand, dissolved solids, pesticides, and the rotten egg smell sometimes associated with wells in high sulfur areas or areas with a high concentration of natural gas.
The unit is composed of stainless steel, along with a wrapped fiberglass exterior designed to handle extreme temperature ranges.
Power Requirements
This system requires a 120V electric outlet for attachment to the included power adapter that provides DC power to the filtering system.
Water is filtered for organics and some sediment, but a pre-filtering sediment filter is suggested for home wells that have a lot of sand, rust, clay, or other heavy dissolved solids floating in them.
This all-in-one system will remove odor, and fluoride, improve taste, enhance clarity, and, most importantly, improve the quality of your well water, making it safe to drink, cook, clean, or bathe with.
The Aqua is unique in that it is not designed for municipal water filtering, it is solely a home well system and as such, may be perfectly suited for the unique demands of a private well.
Private wells don’t have the chlorine issues associated with public systems, but they can contain bacteria, protozoa, and chloramine and are more often infected with giardia and other microbes that can cause illness in people drinking the contaminated water.
The removal of foul-smelling agents is another plus with this system.
Conclusion
It won’t slow the water flow you’ve set on your pressure tank, it will only improve the overall quality of your water.
5. iSpring 3-Stage Whole House Water Filtration System
Highlighted Features
This whole-home water filter is an excellent first line of defense in the fight against hard water. By installing the iSpring system directly into your main water supply, you will see a reduction in contaminants of the water coming to all your appliances.
The carbon block filters are designed to remove common tap water contaminants and the odors that come with them. Meanwhile, the sediment filter does a great removing chloramine, sand, dirt, and silt from your water. Both qualities will help keep your appliances and pipes clean while purifying your water at the same time.
By combing multiple different stages of purification and finishing with a specific lead-reducing filter, it is hard to find a better option for those of you looking for a whole-home system.
The activated carbon filter does a great job of removing the chlorine smell and taste from water. By installing the iSpring filtering system, you are giving yourself peace of mind that all your water is clean and pure.
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6. Express Water 3 Stage Whole House Water Filtration System
Highlighted Features
Easy installation and filter changes are invaluable when it comes to water filter systems, and the Express System checks both of those boxes with ease. The first filter in the unit comes with a clear housing so that you can look at the filter and check to see exactly when it needs changing, no guessing involved.
The filters are clearly marked, and each one is color-coded with an explanation of where they go and what their purpose is. The pressure gauges are a great asset to this system, too. They allow the homeowner to verify that their filters are working at maximum capacity.
We saw an immediate improvement in water quality if installing this system. The smells and odors associated with chlorine and other municipal water supplies were removed right away. The flow rate and water pressure are solid, which is very important when it comes to water filters. The 100,000-gallon filter capacity is awesome and lasts for a year with normal use in many situations.
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7. 3M Aqua-Pure Whole House Water Filter System
Highlighted Features
3M products are always reliable, affordable, and effective. The 3M Aqua-Pure whole-home system checks all those boxes and more. The simple design works well with any water supply, and installation is made easy thanks to the 1-inch connectors that are standard across most water lines.
The flow rates are steady and will not dip below ten gallons per minute, which is more than enough for most home users. You will even see flow rates as high as 20-GPM in some cases!
The Quick-Change filter housing is amazing. It makes filter changes a breeze, and I like the fact that it is completely sanitary.
You will never have to touch the filter media that your water runs through, which is nice because touching and handling the filter media can add unwanted toxins to the water supply. The filter capacity is also top-notch, lasting up to 100,000 gallons before needing to be changed. For most households, this can be a year of regular usage before needing to be changed.
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8. Home Master Whole House 3-Stage Water Filtration System
Highlighted Features
Home Master systems are known for being reliable and durable, and this system is no different. This 3-stage whole house water filter does a great job with water contaminants commonly found within well water systems. The iron, manganese,VOCs, and lead levels were greatly reduced right after installation, according to our water testing.
Filtering out these types of sediment and metal can be tricky for many filtering systems, but the Home Master 3-Stage system was designed with well-water homes in mind.
We were really impressed with the flow rates that came with this whole house water filtering system. This system comes with oversized filters that allow for water to move more freely and quickly from the filtration system.
You will not have your water pressure and flow rates bogged down by calcium buildup and other sediments. These giant filters disperse these impurities, so your filter stays more effective for a longer period. If you are dealing with other heavy metals in your water supply, this will be one of your best options.
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9. Aquasana Whole House Water Filter System
Highlighted Features
The Aquasana whole-home filtration system is one of the most well-designed and unique water filtration systems that we have run into. It was designed to handle your entire home’s water supply, and it does so by using a combination of unique filtering and a dual-tank design. The dual-tank design allows the water flow to maintain steadiness by having water to go up and down through the water filters.
For you guys that like to install things on your own, this system may test your skills, but by no means is it a difficult install. The only thing that differs is the number of connections and tank attachments that you must do. Luckily for us, the Aquasana support is some of the best in the business, and the instructions are clear and concise.
The different-sized water line adapters are a nice touch, too. They allow you to install the system into either ¾” or 1” water piping.
The water testing results speak for themselves. It does a wonderful of removing that pesky chlorine that you are most likely dealing with along with lead, heavy metals, and other elements.
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10. Culligan WH-HD200-C Whole House Water Filtration System
Highlighted Features
Culligan has been a pioneer in the water filtration world for decades. They have consistently provided top-notch products for all areas of your home. The Culligan whole-house filter will maintain your water pressure and help keep your appliances clear of limescale buildup. It meets NSF/ANSI standards 372 and 42, ensuring you receive a quality, tested product.
Installation was a breeze. Everything you need is in the package, and you will not need any prior plumbing experience to access clean, pure water.
The clear housing of the Culligan system is a benefit because it allows you to see the exact status of your filter all the time. Many comparable filters will use cheap plastic fittings for the water lines that tend to warp or break over time. That is not the case with the Culligan water filter; the inlet and outlet valves are reinforced by stainless steel, ensuring they will not bend or break.
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11. Filtersmart Whole House Water Filter System
Highlighted Features
The Filtersmart system is one of the most modern and futuristic systems that we have reviewed thus far. It comes with a higher price tag than some other systems, but the added benefits are well worth it in the end.
You get all the benefits of a whole-house water softener but without the added maintenance of a salt-based system. The built-in bypass valve is easy to use and ensures that even during the rare maintenance periods, water will still be flowing throughout your home.
This was one of the best systems we have reviewed so far at removing chlorine and other contaminants commonly found in municipal water supplies.
The filters are wrapped in coconut shell carbon that adds valuable minerals and helps combat added toxins that may sneak through the filtering process. These features, along with the Filtersmart’s massive filter longevity of 1,000,000 gallons, make it a great product for all water types.
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12. HQUA-OWS-12 Ultraviolet Water Purifier for Whole House
Highlighted Features
If you are looking to take your whole house water supply to the next level, this UV light sterilizer will bring you there. Designed to work best with another water filtration system, this sterilizer will remove anything that finds its way through the filtering process.
There is virtually no additional maintenance with this sterilizer, which provides homeowners with peace of mind. The light comes with a quartz wrap that is there to help disperse the UV light further and make the light beams more powerful. The quartz wrap is tough and durable, too!
Bacteria and microbes are difficult for many water filters to remove, but it is proven that a UV light filter and sterilizer can remove that pesky bacterium.
The power chord is over 3 feet long, making it easy to fit into any space. The smart controller will give the homeowner full visibility of their system status and lets you know with a loud beep when there is a fault. UV light sterilizers are the final step before the water reaches your faucets, if you want peace of mind knowing that your water is getting the best treatment possible, then a UV light is for you.
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13. Aquaboon Big Blue Whole House Well Water Filter System
If you are looking to take your whole house water supply to the next level, this UV light sterilizer will bring you there. Designed to work best with another water filtration system, this sterilizer will remove anything that finds its way through the filtering process.
There is virtually no additional maintenance with this sterilizer, which provides homeowners with peace of mind. The light comes with a quartz wrap that is there to help disperse the UV light further and make the light beams more powerful. The quartz wrap is tough and durable, too!
Bacteria and microbes are difficult for many water filters to remove, but it is proven that a UV light filter and sterilizer can remove that pesky bacterium.
The power chord is over 3 feet long, making it easy to fit into any space. The smart controller will give the homeowner full visibility of their system status and lets you know with a loud beep when there is a fault. UV light sterilizers are the final step before the water reaches your faucets, if you want the peace of mind knowing that your water is getting the best treatment possible, then a UV light is for you.
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