I’ve been using a shower filter for some time. I bought an Aquasana AQ-4105 which I’ve been pretty happy with. I thought I would do some research on what else is out there and whether I could find something better. My current apartment has a shower head which is mounted far too low on the wall which means I need a shower head with a wand for the extra height.
Certifications
There seems to be only 1 certification for shower filters advertise and it is NSF/ANSI Standard 177 which sets a standard for reducing free chlorine. However, the filtration media might meet additional standards.
Filtration
I’ve found a number of shower filters which use KDF 55 which is apparently certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 61 in 1992 and NSF/ANSI Standard 42 in 1997. So that seems like a good thing to get. There’s also something called ERA which is KDF Eagle Redox Alloy which is allegedly just a newer version.
Filters
- Aquasana AQ-4105 – not NSF/ANSI Standard 177 certified, KDF-55 + carbon filter, cartridge lasts about 6 months
- Sprite Filtered Shower Handles – several models, KDF-55 + Sprite’s patented Chlorgon, cartridge lasts about 3 months
- Sprite Royale – model HR5, NSF/ANSI Standard 177, $50
- Sprite Original – model HH, NSF/ANSI Standard 177
- Sprite Shower Falls – model SFH5-CM, NSF/ANSI Standard 177
- Crystal Quest Shower Filters – passes through combo of ERA-6500 and ERA-9500 (KDF-55 and KDF-85) + carbon, cartrdige lasts about 12 months
- WaterChef SF-7C – NSF/ANSI Standard 177
- sold as Best Shower Filter SHOWER100C
Conclusion
I think for now I will stick with the AQ-4105. I bought it as part of a combo deal but now I see that it’s pretty comparable to the best of what’s out there. The filter design is pretty smart and make changing the cartridge an easy task. The replacement cartridges do run about $50 and you’re expected to replace them every 6 months so that’s good to keep in mind when comparison shopping. Though the Sprite filters only last 3 months, you can get 2 (6 months) for $25. However the filters seems much smaller than the heavy duty filter on the AQ-4105.
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