Drinking water filters come with many choices. A large confusing selection in sizes, appearance and yes even colors. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it is the best for your home and family. So what is often missed is the most important feature - what's inside- the drinking water filter.

Your guide when shopping for drinking water filters, is product performance data. In some states, drinking water filter companies are required to provide perfomance data along with their sales brochures. Since this is not a nationwide regulation, some companies may not be able or willing to disclose performance facts.

Don’t even considdr buying any drinking water filter that does not provide product performance data.

Product performance data sheets will allow you to compare the effectiveness of a product (what it leaves in, what it takes out), as well as the cost of use, either in terms of gallons of water filtered or in terms of time. It may be a little difficult to figure out at first, but here’s the simplest formula that we have found.

On the average, each person uses 80-100 gallons of water per day, but most of that goes for flushing toilets and so does not apply to drinking water filters. The effectiveness of a drinking water filter that attaches to the kitchen tap should be based on how many people you have in your family and how much water you expect them to drink from the tap on any given day.

It is difficult to determine how much water a person needs on any given day, according to the Mayo Clinic. Weight, exercise and sex are issues that come into play, along with overall health.

According to the company that provides the #1 rated drinking water filters in America, a healthy adult needs at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water per day. Using that “rule of measure", the countertop drinking water filter will last 6 months. The cartridge should then be replaced.

When comparing drinking water filters, let's assume that 4 in the family drinks on the average about 500 gallons of water in a six month period. Therefore the cost of use for a drinking water filter takes into account the cost of replacement filters over a six month period or per 500 gallons.

Many companies are a little tricky. They charge more for drinking water filters that are supposed to last longer, but the cost per gallon or per day is easier to compare. Let’s refer again to the #1 company we mentioned before. Their drinking water filter cost 9.6 cents per gallon.

They have the least expensive drinking water filter on the market when comparing cost per use. Less effective drinking water filters cost more.

So much of the time we fall into the trap that if we pay more we will get more. That's is not the case when it comes to choosing a drinking water filter. By doing a little research it is easily verified that cost has very little to do with quality especially when it comes to getting the proper drinking water filter.
Shop around and you will see that's very obvious.

Pete C. Nortay is a dedicated advocate of promoting healthy living and meticulous researcher of water purification systems. Visit his site at: http://www.CleanWaterPure.com to discover which water filtration systems Pete recommends after diligent comparisons. This article may be reprinted on a blog or website. Please include this resource box.