Water Filtration Made Simple
In most cases, The Tribalist recommends a Reverse Osmosis filter for drinking and cooking water usually found at the kitchen sink. These filters may have many filter layers, but having a reverse osmosis membrane to filter particles and a carbon filter to adsorb (versus absorb) dissolved compounds gives you the fullest protection possible.
The key thing to know is to get your water tested. We recommend using the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA will have options to understand your drinking water quality and will let you choose your local water department.
Look for Drinking Water Health-based Violations. If there are any open violations or violations in the last 5 years, consider taking immediate action on your water.
Use this link to check your water quality and navigate to Drinking Water.
You can find your city or county water department and check to see if there are any open violations.
Figure 1: Example from the EPA drinking water quality web tool.
You can also use the Environment Working Group’s (EWG’s) database to assess water purity:
Bear in mind that there are still very harmful emerging contaminants, such as microplastics and PFAS, which have added another layer of complexity. Public health and environmental authorities are still studying these substances, and filtration technology is constantly evolving to address these emerging threats.
Figure 2: Example from the EWG drinking water quality web tool.
Once you have your results (i.e. know if your water needs help, hint: 94% of you will have “YES” as an answer), you can view our recommended water filtration systems.
Our recommendations are focused on filters that have been certified by third-party testing organizations. If you ever see claims like “removes 99% of contaminants” that don’t always specify which contaminants are removed, these are probably not as effective as they hype them to be.
We have selected filters that are tested and vetted to remove a broad range of contaminants and made by companies that have focused more on product development versus marketing.
Note: If your water can’t be looked up in the EWG or EPA databases because it has not been tested by these third-party organizations, or you have well water, you’ll need to test the water yourself (see top of flow chart). If you have well water, you should have your water tested. Even if your water is deemed safe, it’s wise to invest in a whole house filtration system AND have your water tested regularly (annually) to have peace of mind that the quality of your water has not changed. Often, well water can sediment and bacteria.