Keep in mind the difference between a filter and a purifier. Your water source will determine which you require.

We keep several Sawyer squeeze filters on hand. They’re portable and good quality. Probably the best pick for most applications. The bags are junk though and you have to put the dirty water in a bag then hang or squeeze. Get a good quality replacement silicone bag or some smart water brand water bottles which share the same threading.

For a group we have a lifestraw community which filters more and uses gravity to do it. It’s expensive though. I don’t think regular lifestraws are that great but the community filter is a solid product.

Don’t discount the value of a bottle of bleach. Make sure it’s the plain, non thickened, no additives bleach and swap it for a new bottle every six months (the old one is still fine for laundry and cleaning). There will be water purification directions on the label.

If you want to be totally prepared or if your water source might be dirty stock some coffee filters to filter out visible particulates to prolong the life of your filter.

Sawyer mini. Best bang for buck. Lifestraw is too expensive and less effective.

Sawyer mini also filters the most Liters. Someone made some calculations somewhere saying, the lifetime for 1 person is 90 years of daily water.

I use a Berkey for everything

I second the Berkey. We cycle gallons through ours daily for our family of 4 and it’s become priceless in our opinion.

• https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-backpacking-water-filter
• https://www.wideners.com/blog/water-filter-tests-for-survival/

Simple answer - Sawyer, gravity system

There’s more to it than this but what’s important to remember is that if viruses are a risk in your water source then you should be using a very fine filter that gets down to that size, of which there aren’t many, or a purification method either alone or in conjunction with a regular filter. Things like boiling or using bleach are most common.

There are other considerations like fertilizer and other chemical runoff contamination where you would need a special filter and boiling wouldn’t help but that’s too involved for this discussion.

I bought this LifeStraw glass 7 cup filter pitcher and am happy with it

I personally invested in a whole house filtration system to include water softener that has I believe either 4 or 5 separate filters connected to one another. Water is definitely hard in my area and because the rivers we use also are used by the wineries and farms in our area, the water is filled with the chemicals from their work.

Definitely no regrets spending 8k on it. Love being able to refill my water bottle from any faucet.

I bought an RO system from Amazon. Brand is APEC and I got the one with 6 stages, the last of which adds back in minerals and makes it alkaline.

It’s ok… probably overkill. Filters aren’t too expensive. I don’t know much, but I drink it regularly.

Not sure how much you need, but check out ZeroWater filtration systems (Amazon works fine). They're just small countertop or carafe sized but produce enough for our coffee makers and drinks. I have a couple and have been very happy.

What are we solving for here?

Do you have like unclean/contaminated well water or similar that’s a health hazard?

Or do you have safe municipal drinking water that you don’t like the taste of?

Are we talking well water or municipal water?

It’s sterile, and I like the taste.

The reviews saying Berkey is junk couldn’t be more wrong. I have one purchased two years ago and quality is top notch. The negative reviews I’ve seen mostly seem to relate to people too incompetent to follow the set up procedures. One guy complained the spigot leaked like crazy. Didn’t put the rubber gasket on the stem before tightening it down. Review the tests that have been done w the filters and you’ll be amazed at everything they take out. And bonus: the stainless just gleams!

We love our Berkey for day to day filtering. But won’t rely on it if SHTF due to lack of certification. Our water tastes better using it and we’ve increased water consumption and decreased spending on flavored beverages since getting it.

Survival answer:

MSR, Guardian.

If you’re actually fucking stuck and it’s the end of modern civilization I’d want to have a pallet of them hidden.

They can literally filter a shit filled river into drinkable, safe, water.

Plus it was designed for safe field cleaning, which oddly some filters just aren’t meant to be cleaned without having running clean water on hand.

Home answer:

The PUR filters have the hugest ratings for filtering toxic chemicals. I prefer to use a brand that has legit certifications and is reviewed by the wirecutter (nyt reviews) or consumer reports.

We’ve been happy with ours. Do wish they made a glass/porcelain filter holder/dispenser. But oh well, what’s a little more plastic in my life.

Don't buy it off Amazon for one. Go directly through a distributer. We got ours about a year ago and I love it. Makes water taste amazing. Requires a little upkeep but it's very minimal. There's a reason folks recommend it.

Short answer: Day to day use? One of those faucet-attached ones or a pitcher will serve you just fine (that's what I use), or one with an in-line filter that attaches to your sink.

Long answer: For emergency, it depends. Depends what you are trying to filter and where. Bacteria only? Virus's? Heavy metals? There's a lot of factors.

I personally steer clear of Berkey mainly because they aren't NSF certified (yet could certainly afford to get it), but then again, many large brand filters aren't. Berkey, however, has the very much 'too good to be true' factor against it. But people say it's good at least, so that's something; not enough for me though.

I'm saving for a ProOne filter; realistic filtration and cost, AND at least has a minor NSF certification.

Those that aren't NSF certified better have a logical claim to what they can filter. Lifestraw is one that can hit bacteria/virus's and is extremely proven/tested (and used by the U.N). Sawyer and Katelyn is good too.

So, in short, depends what type; countertop or portable. For me, a countertop emergency filter would be a Lifestraw family + ProOne filter. For every day use, I just use the faucet-attached ones.

Those filters can easily get mouldy and become a health risk. Please check whether you really need one or whether your water is OK to drink. Where I live, water is safe, and a filter might turn it into a health hazard if not changed frequently.

If you get one, check the cost for the replacement filter and change it religiously, even if it still looks OK.

Zero

I have a small countertop Berkey filter because of local PFAS spills, etc.

I did water filtration for a few years, so I would start with asking exactly what you want and knowing more about your water. Well, city, hardness, drinking?? Lots of questions.

I have a Rhino filter and softener system by Aquasana. Our area has hard water and is pretty heavily chlorinated. Since install I have noticed a bit less scale buildup on fixtures and the taste of the tap water is pretty neutral.

The install was pretty easy, but I would suggest a drain on the filter loop to make it easier to change the pre and post filter units after bypassing. If you plumb it as shown in their diagrams, you have to bleed the pressure off the filter loop by opening a fill bleed on the pre or post filter housing. Several gallons of water will shoot about 5' from the filter housing until that loop is depressurized. If I did it again, I'd plumb in a hose connection drain point so you can easily drain the filter section after bypassing.

Call up a local company that does them. My last place had hard water. We put in a water softener that covered the entire house. I had to put in salt every two months. It was night and day. The old faucets had calcium deposits all over them before I put the system in. If you are talking about just filtered water, a fridge would be cheaper.

I picked up a whole home cartridge-based filtering system from our local big box store. We'd had problems with rust discoloration and hard water build-up, though our local water treatment is fairly good. Shower curtains and such would have to be replaced every six months or so. I installed the system, which is a basic cartridge filter, and we almost immediately noticed a difference in the build-up, as well as clothes washing, our hair feeling less stiff, and dishwasher problems.

The cartridge gets changed every three or four months at a cost of $12 or so. We could have opted for a larger system (ours limits the flow rate a fair amount) for not too much more money but wanted to test this first. I'm pretty happy with it. I used a lot of shark bite fittings, which we pressure tested several times before committing to the process.

We do regret the loss of flow rate but it's only truly noticeable when I'm watering the lawn on top of other wash cycles operating, and that's honestly due to the fact I routed my line incorrectly. I'll be looking into changes going forward, but if you feel remotely handy and have decent access to your incoming line this is definitely a thing you can try.

A Pentair Omnifilter? That's what's on the label anyway. It's not very large, but our water main isn't much to begin with. I use the string filters, they seem to catch the most sediment.

Carbon filter tank

If you need a brand I bought the Aquatru RO tabletop and have zero regrets. I avoided the remineralizer since people have complained about an aftertaste.

In my opinion, there's no single "best" system for everyone because what's in your water, and likewise, what you want to remove from it, is specific to your well/water source. For example, private wells in our area are contaminated with 1,4 Dioxane. That's extremely difficult to remove with no proven residential filtering options. Likely, you don't have to remove it with your well.

As such, I would strongly recommend starting with a home water test (we use MyTapScore, https://mytapscore.com but any certified lab works). That way you understand what's in your water and can work on how to remove what you don't want. If you have municipal water, you can review their reports for free as they are required to do regular testing although a home water test likely tests for more things depending on what tests you purchase.

If you just want a one-and-done system, an RO system is likely the way to go. There's so many options but I've found https://youtu.be/Yp_hCS-N4Xk?si=y6w8n1D7IkDCOAH7 to be extremely helpful (especially their spreadsheet). Personally, we use the APEC RO-Perm w/ "quick dispense - https://www.apecwater.com/products/ro-perm-detail?variant=45008249159933 . Good luck!

Check this thread, got my water filter from their recommendation.

I cannot recommend any brand in particular, they all do the same thing with the exception of the size of the membrane for the RO part. We use a company that changes cartridges every year. I'm not pleased with this companies service so I will not recommend them. There are under the sink systems a plumber can install that you can purchase from Costco or any home improvement store. It will have a number of cartridges to filter water and do the RO part.

Good luck, you'll be glad you did it! - we are slowly being poisoned by our water in many areas of the world.

You want reverse osmosis (RO). You could get 3, 4, or 5 stages.

Reverse Osmosis (with adding back minerals when needed). RO is the only way to (for the most part) eliminate PFAS, and to some degree small plastics (and many other contaminants and impurities)

I have an APEC too. It’s worked great!

I have 2 systems now (different faucets).

RO (3 stage culligan, with a 4th post filter). It’s 20 years old, but works perfectly. I used to buy the actual filters from the local culligan, but it’s easier and cheaper to get highly rated knockoffs online. It takes about 15 minutes to change everything and I take a video of my disassembly and where the connections are so i can put it back together.

Other is a multipure. It was (as of 10 years ago) the highest rated on consumer reports. It’s 1 big filter and I’ve had it tested before and it came out great (IDK what they were, but we used that water for baby formula). It lasts up to 1000 gallons and is like 95 to switch out and takes about 5 minutes.

The ro definitely wastes water (I can hear it), but the tank provides a better flow rate for filling up multiple kids water bottles in the mornings.

That’s a lot to unpack, I got you. I’m available for the next 30 minutes if you would like some advice. My name is Brad the owner of Water Solutions. I’m a water filtration contractor in Los Angeles. I know The Water block talk to block in Los Angeles however I don’t know what your water qualities like. If I can ask you a few questions I can help. Once again, I’m available for the next 30 minutes if you’d like to call me. Advice is free. I’m not trying to make any money here just giving you some good advice. The philosophy, the company is always been trying to help people first and then the money falls in place.

Brad Belnap Pro Water Solutions Inc. 661-373-7597

It's totally dependent on what's in your incoming water. City water? Pond water? Wildly different systems and maintenance

Nobody can answer that with no test results for your water.

Are you on city water or a private well?

Brita

I’ll put as much effort into this as you have. 

Order the appropriate water test kit from MyTapScore and post the results. Without a test, no one has any idea what's in your water and thus what you can/should remove. There is no single "best" system as it all depends on what's actually in your water.

I like the reverse osmosis system by apec water. I install them in every apartment that I live in.

I have an Aarke. It wasn't as cheap as a Brita but it has almost zero plastic - Just the seal on the lid.
The water tastes GREAT...and that's really saying something because I live in London and it's REALLY hard to polish a turd. XD

You change the beads in the filter cannister and they have different types.

I did look at the reverse osmosis kind but I didnt think my housemates would appreciate such a bulky item in the kitchen and my Aarke Jug is portable.

If you live in a first world country, you can trust your local tap water as you can go to the local water treatment facility and ask for the test results. You are not going to live to 120 by swapping from tap water to a whole house RO unit.

Find the right filter based on form factor and cost with the best combination of protection against contaminants in YOUR area via a water test. Once you have a test, you can hedge that against the following standards:

1. NSF Standard 42: Aesthetic Effects
2. NSF Standard 53: Health Effects + PFOA and PFOS
3. NSF Standard 55: Ultraviolet Light
4. NSF Standard 58: Reverse Osmosis + PFOA and PFOS
5. NSF Standard 401: Emerging Compounds/Incidental Contaminants
6. NSF Standard P231: Microbiological Filtration
7. NSF Standard 372: Lead

Notice I didn't say shit about a brand name....yeah, that don't matter, you amend what needs amending and buy the form factor that serves up the correct NSF filters.

After reading article and rating by Consumer Reports (sorry don’t have the article handy) I installed Coral 3 Stage for about $120

Look into Clearly Filtered. They have pitchers and an under sink system that installs very easily and is supposed to be good.

Have owned both a Brita and a ZeroWater pitcher filter system that go right in the fridge

ZeroWater is a great filter. Even comes with a device to test water purity so you know when the filter needs changing

Better than Brita by far

I for the lack of a better word owe my life to a sawyer mini. I hiked up a mountain that was supposed to have water in 2 different locations and as I made my way up there by sundown it turned out that both springs were dry.
I filtered about 5 liters of standing swamp water with a thick algae build up live to tell the tale.

For daily tap water drinking, Zero Water is my go to.

For Emergency use, Survivor Filter Pro has beat everything else I have tested. Getting down to 0.01 microns and removes even viruses.

Ok if you do here's a HUGE tip. The filter has a threaded end meant to connect to the (dirty)water pouch so you can squeeze it to push it through the filter. Well the thread also happens to be the same size(28mm) as the standard soda top. What I personally do is use a Smart water bottle and fill it up at any running water source and cap it. If i ever need water I can simply pop the top of, screw the filter on and drink.

This one from sawyer imo is the best one out there. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Katadyn is an industry leader. Expensive but worth it.