Best Water Filter for Apartment Living 2022

Around 1 in 8 people in the US live in apartments. That means that around 1 in 8 people likely assume that, because of rental terms or building layout, they’re unable to filter their drinking water. 

Luckily, that isn’t true – and the market for water filters for apartment renters and owners is booming. I should know this, having worked as a dedicated water treatment expert for nearly a decade.

Here at WaterFilterGuru.com, I’ve seen how rapidly the industry has evolved. I now share reviews, tips and information with my monthly audience of 75,000 readers to help them stay ahead of the game and make the smartest buying decisions. 

In this best water filters for apartment living guide, I’ve reviewed 6 filters that are suitable for use in an apartment. I ranked these filters based on their most important factors from an apartment owner’s perspective, including portability (or lack of invasive installation), ease of use, maintenance and costs involved, certifications, and, of course, contaminants removed. 

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• Which 6 apartment filters are worth your money in 2022
• Your available water filtration options as an apartment owner
• What to consider when purchasing a water filter for apartment living

🥇 Best Apartment Water Filters

• AquaTru Countertop RO System
• Big Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter
• Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher
• PUR Advanced Faucet Filtration System
• Waterwise 4000 Water Distiller
• LifeStraw Go Water Filter Bottle

⭐️ Apartment Water Filter Reviews 2022

AquaTru Countertop RO System

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If you’re looking for the most thorough contaminant removal possible, then you’re in luck. The AquaTru is a reverse osmosis water filter system for apartment use which means it can get rid of up to 99.9% of all TDS. It’s NSF certified for the removal of 83 contaminants, but will actually take care of thousands more.

The system does not require a plumbing connection, making it perfect for use in apartments and condos where you are limited in modifications you can make to your plumbing. This also makes it easy to move around if space is limited.

The AquaTru has 4 filtration stages: both a mechanical and RO pre-filter, the reverse osmosis membrane itself, and a final activated carbon post filter. When it’s time to change these, you will be shown a helpful alert on the unit’s digital display. However don’t expect to get these notifications all the time – the filters should last from 6 months to 2 years!

Being a reverse osmosis filter, you can expect that wastewater is produced during the process. The AquaTru runs on a 1:4 produced to wasted water ratio, making it more efficient than similar systems of its kind.

👉 Read my full AquaTru review

Big Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter

The Big Berkey is one of the best water filters for no-fuss, thorough filtration, proving exactly why you don’t need a whole house filter to achieve a high level of filtration results. This countertop unit is suitable for families of up to 4 people, with a 2.1-gallon storage capacity.

You can fit up to 4 Black Berkey elements into this filtration system, with an overall lifespan of up to 6 years (or 3, 000). These elements combine 6 different types of filtration media, enabling the system to filter more than 200 contaminants in total.

The Berkey is a drinking water filter that relies solely on gravity to work. Water passes through the system, coming out clean and contaminant-free the other end, without having to connect the system up to your plumbing or a source of electricity. This makes it ideal for using in apartments as a whole house filter without the invasive installation.

Providing results that are nearly as thorough as a reverse osmosis filter, the Berkey removes contaminants including chlorine, lead, arsenic and bacteria. Berkey can even remove fluoride, which most filters struggle to do.

👉 Read my full Big Berkey review

Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher

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Removing an impressive 365+ contaminants, this water filter pitcher is an extremely effective filter for apartment use. It can remove common contaminants such as lead, fluoride, pesticides, PFAS, radiological contaminants, chlorine and more. The pitcher itself is made of 100% BPA free plastic – so no need to worry about chemicals leaching back into your clean water. What’s even more impressive, the company is so confident in their product that they offer a lifetime guarantee to replace it if anything happens.

With a lifespan of four months (or 100 gallons), the Clearly Filtered pitcher filters don’t require a certain water pressure or electricity to work. They’re gravity-based, so when you add unfiltered water to the system, it passes through the filters and into the pitcher at a slow but steady speed.

It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to fill the entire pitcher with clean drinking water, so this system doesn’t provide immediate results. But it’s one of the best budget-friendly options for apartments if you’re looking for water filtration systems with a small footprint that won’t take up too much space.

Replacement filter cartridges for this pitcher can be bought in packs of multiple filters to help you save even more money when using this pitcher in the long run.

PUR Advanced Faucet Filtration System

Most apartment rent terms will let you install a water treatment solution at the very end of your water line: your kitchen sink faucet. The PUR Advanced Faucet Filtration System is one of the best sink filter solutions for filtering water straight from the tap.

With the PUR faucet mounted filtering system, you can use your kitchen faucet as you usually would. The only difference is that, when the filter is in use, you get access to clean water. The filtering cartridge is NSF/WQA certified to reduce or eliminate a range of contaminants from tap water, like lead, chlorine, and certain pesticides.

With its chrome design, this small, discreet faucet mount doesn’t look out of place when installed on the end of your tap. And there’s no requirement to use this water filter system all the time, either, as you can switch it off when you want water for non-drinking purposes. Make sure you only use this faucet mount with cold water, as heat may damage the filtering material.

The PUR comes with everything you require for setup, and it’s easy to install – you just click it into place. Some faucet mounted filtering systems are made from plastic, which makes them susceptible to cracking and splitting, but the PUR’s high-quality chrome design guarantees that it’s made to last.

Waterwise 4000 Water Distiller

You’ve never seen a water distiller as sleek, modern and compact as the Waterwise 4,000. This water treatment solution is designed to take up as little counter space as possible, is easy to set up, and comes with everything you require to make distilled water in less time than usual.

This water distiller doesn’t have to be connected up to your sink in order to work. You just have to place it on some free counter space in your home, near to a power source, and switch it on to get started. In up to 4 hours, the Waterwise produces 1 gallon of steam distilled water, which passes through the system and out of the dispenser into a carafe.

Distillers like the Waterwise 4000 are ideal for using in small apartments with extensive water filtration needs. While they don’t require installation at your water line, they offer the most thorough type of purification processes, alongside reverse osmosis.

Distillation sees water evaporate and condense, leaving the contaminants behind in the boiling chamber. Everything from chlorine and lead to bacteria, nitrates and water hardness minerals are removed by this filtered water solution.

LifeStraw Go Water Filter Bottle

Perhaps the simplest and most budget-friendly apartment filtration option of all is the LifeStraw Go. This water bottle filtering solution uses a basic but effective concept: you fill the bottle with water from your sink, then, when you drink through the straw, the sucking pressure sends water through the filtering cartridge and into your mouth.

You can buy this bottle in more than 15 different colors, and in two different sizes – 22 oz and 1 L. Not only does this bottle filtration system eliminate the likes of chlorine, organic matter and turbidity, but it can also eliminate more than 99.99% of bacteria and other microorganisms. It’s made from BPA-free material, and tested to meet NSF standards for contaminant removal.

With an impressive lifespan of 1, 000 gallons, you can use the LifeStraw Go for roughly 3 years, depending on how often you use the bottle. While this water treatment option is ideal for using in apartments, its portability and impressive contaminant removal means you can take it with you on the go and even use it to treat stream and lake water.