We learned about under sink water filters here. There are many products out there to choose from. In this blog, I will set out to research what the Consumers are saying about the top products. I will assess each of the products based on the key Consumer concerns and overall Consumer product ratings and make a call on the top 6 best under sink water filter system reviews.
Consumer Top 5 Concerns
There is good feedback from forums and reviews that provide insight into what the prominent Consumer issues are with under sink water filter systems. These are the top 5 issues that I discovered:
- Significant reduction in water flow rate ;
Although in general there is an expectation that the flow rate will reduce in a filtered system, some Consumers experienced a less than desirable reduction in water flow rate. The impact of the flow rate was immediate after the installation of the system. I found that sometimes, the water flow rate reduction was not due to the product itself but rather how the system was installed. It is strongly recommended that the product vendor’s installation instructions are followed without improvisation. There were instances where the water flow rate reduces over time which is likely due to clogging which will be discussed in the third issue. - Difficult to replace filters ;
Due to the expected periodic maintenance of the filters, it is important that the task of replacing the filters is simple and effective. There are numerous product reviews reporting difficulties in filter replacement from “it is hard to do” to “we have filter leaks after the change”. - Water filter clogging ; Water flow issues reported over time (1-3 months) were as a result of defective filters or heavy sedimented water reducing the lifespan of the filter. As described here, an under sink water filter system should assume that the water source to the faucet is potable so I will ignore this issue in the evaluation if it is related to heavy sedimented water.
- Poor Customer Support ; Consumers have reported missing parts, filter leaks, issues with installation and other related issues. This issue will reduce the overall product review score when the Consumer could not deal with the issue promptly due to poor Customer support.
- System Leaks after installation ;
A prominent complaint from the Consumer water leaks from the system under the sink. This could have occurred immediately following installation or after some time. Although this could have resulted from improper installation, I believe that the majority of issues reported are due to product defects such as Vendor lack of Quality Assurance testing or the use of cheap quality materials such as plastics for the water supply connections.
Top Products’ Reviews’ Evaluated
There are many products available fulfilling the under sink water filter system requirements. Based on my research of the top products reported, I have reduced the list to the following eight (9) products whose reviews I will evaluate based on the aforementioned five (5) key issues reported by the Consumer.
- iSpring US31 Classic 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filtration System
- RAINFRESH Undersink Drinking Water System UCS2
- Waterdrop TSA 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter, Water Filtration System Under Sink System
- Waterdrop 17UA 3 Years Under Sink Water Filter System
- Waterdrop 15UB-UF 0.01 mu-m Ultra Filtration Under Sink Water Filter System for Bacteria Reduction
- Aquasana AQ-5300+.56 3-Stage Max Flow Under Sink Water Filter
- Aquasana AQ-5200.55 2-Stage Under Counter Water Filter System
- Frizzlife Under Sink Water Filter System-NSF/ANSI 53&42; Certified High Capacity Direct Connect Under Counter Drinking Water Filtration System
- ICEPURE Under Sink Water Filter System
How the Product Reviews’ are Evaluated
The net product review score (NPRS) will be calculated based on the Consumer Product review score minus the deductions due to the presence of any of the five (5) aforementioned prominent Consumer concerns. For every concern present a deduction of .25 stars will be incurred. I believe this to be fair.
Result of the Top Product Reviews’ Assessment
| Under Sink Water Filter System | Consumer Rating (1-5) | Consumer Concern – Reduction in water flow | Consumer Concern – Difficult to Replace Filters | Consumer Concern – Filter Clogging | Consumer Concern – Poor Support | Consumer Concern – Experienced System Leaks | NPRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iSpring US31 Classic 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filtration System | 4.4 | X | 4.15 | ||||
| RAINFRESH Undersink Drinking Water System UCS2 | 4.0 | X | 3.75 | ||||
| Waterdrop TSA 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter, Water Filtration System Under Sink System | 4.5 | X | 4.25 | ||||
| Waterdrop 17UA 3 Years Under Sink Water Filter System | 4.7 | X | 4.55 | ||||
| Waterdrop 15UB-UF 0.01 mu-m Ultra Filtration Under Sink Water Filter System for Bacteria Reduction | 4.6 | X | X | 4.05 | |||
| Aquasana AQ-5300+.56 3-Stage Max Flow Under Sink Water Filter | 3.9 | X | 3.65 | ||||
| Aquasana AQ-5200.55 2-Stage Under Counter Water Filter System | 4.2 | X | 3.95 | ||||
| Frizzlife Under Sink Water Filter System-NSF/ANSI 53&42; Certified High Capacity Direct Connect Under Counter Drinking Water Filtration System | 4.3 | X | X | 3.80 | |||
| ICEPURE Under Sink Water Filter System | 4.6 | X | X | 4.10 |
Best Under Sink Water Filter System Reviews
Based on the key Consumer concerns and overall Consumer product ratings the top 6 best under sink water filter system reviews are associated with the following Products:
#3 – iSpring US31 Classic 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filtration System
#5 – Waterdrop 15UB-UF 0.01 mu-m Ultra Filtration Under Sink Water Filter System for Bacteria Reduction
A side-by-side comparison of the 6 top rated under sink water filters is provided here.