There are many different kinds of water filters out now in order to combat all of the pollutants, heavy metals and chemicals found in even the most innocent looking and neutral-smelling public water supply. But along with the differences in filtration media, there are also big differences in size and price. Here is an easy portable water filter comparison for home units.

Cartridges

Although there are many water filtration units for the entire home or to attach to your faucet, there aren't very many very small, portable units that can be taken from room to room or used in camping, hiking or in RVs. Many people can only afford a pitcher-type device that uses cartridges filled with different kinds of filtering material. This is where portable water filter comparisons concentrate.

One thing that is the same about these cartridges, no matter what type or brand you look at in a portable water filter comparison, is that they all need to eventually be changed. Of course, in order to save money, you want to find cartridges that need to be changed as little as possible. You also need to pay more attention to how much the cartridges cost than to what the bottle or pitcher costs.

Another thing to look at in making your portable water filter comparison is too look at what the cartridge unit is made out of. Is it made out of ceramic or durable plastic? Although ceramic is a lot more expensive, it also lasts longer and doesn't need to be changed as often as plastic.

Drip, Drip, Drip

When making a portable water filter comparison, you also need to know how fast it can filter the water that you need. This writer used to have a Brita water pitcher in the 1990's. It was a waste of money, in that the water was filtered one drop at a time to fill up a liter pitcher. This could take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour just to get a liter of water. By then, I'd just give up and used the tap.

If you don't have time to wait, but you know for a fact that your tap water is pretty bad, then you need to seriously consider dropping a portable water filter comparison and going for a point of source filter or a whole house water filtration system. You could check with your accountant to see if this water system could be written off on your taxes somehow.