A Deep Dive Into UK Water Filters (& what we recommend)

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A Deep Dive Into UK Water Filters (& what we recommend)
Are you using a water filter? In the UK, a large percentage of people do, and research shows it’s often down to a lack of trust in UK water companies and dislike of taste. 42% of households in the UK reported not fully trusting tap water according to a survey, and it’s no surprise… 
 
If you’ve read our previous blog Still Drinking Tap Water?, you’ll know that right now, the UK wants to add more of a known neurotoxin to our tap water: fluoride. Not just a little bit, though - it wants to add more than double what the US Federal Court has ruled causes ‘unreasonable risk’ to children’s brains.
 
As well as controversial topics like fluoride though, there are plenty of other reasons to use a water filter…
 

Why We Recommend A Water Filter

We’re told tap water is safe, but often just by drinking it, you can taste something is perhaps a little "off". Here are 3 science-backed studies and reasons we filter our water:
 
1. A 2020 study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health estimated that over 6,500 bladder cancer cases annually in the EU are associated with trihalomethanes in tap water. The research highlights significant risks in specific countries including the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy. 
 
2. Microplastics are increasingly being found in human blood, and they’ve been detected in UK tap water. A study by the University of Newcastle found 83% of water samples contained plastic particles, raising concerns about chronic exposure to microplastics. While long-term effects are still unknown (which makes this even more concerning), microplastics do pose potential risks to human health, and evidence suggests continual consumption of microplastic-laden water could contribute to gastrointestinal irritation, immune system stress, and accumulation of pollutants in the body’s tissues. Want to know more about how microplastics could be affecting all of us? Check out the Netflix documentary Plastic Detox.
 
3. Nitrates - often from agricultural runoff - can cause health issues like mathaemoglobinaemia (also known as ‘blue baby syndrome’) in infants, and research shows they may contribute to long-term risks of cancer. Public Health England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate both report areas of the UK in which levels of nitrates exceed safe levels.



Our Top Recommended Water Filters 
1.) Jug Filters (£15-100)
The best budget option, or useful for anyone renting a house and unable to install a filter. These small filters can sit on your countertop, improve taste and remove chlorine. They remove a limited amount of heavy metals and microplastics, but don’t remove nitrates or fluoride.
 
Easy to find brands include: 
- Purevis
- Aarke 
- Zerowater
 
2.) Under-Sink Multi-Stage Filters (£80-£200)
The best balance of cost and performance. A multi-stage under-sink filter uses carbon and advanced filtration technology to effectively remove chlorine, sediment, some heavy metals and some bacteria. They don’t remove nitrates, but they do remove more microplastics.
 
UK brands include:
- Water 2
- Aquaphor
- Waterdrop
 
3.) Reverse Osmosis Systems (£200-£600+)
These water filters provide the best performance and offer the most filtration, including removing heavy metals, nitrates, fluoride, chlorine and microplastics. They use a semi-permeable membrane that filters water at a molecular level and are best if you’re looking for something you can install and truly invest in for a longer period of time. An important point to remember here is that reverse osmosis filters remove 92-99% of the minerals from your water alongside the impurities, so you’ll need to re-mineralise your drinking water with celtic sea salt, trace mineral drops, or to make sure you’re consuming a good daily electrolyte supplement and sipping mineral-rich bone broth regularly.
 
Brands include:
- UK Water Filters 
- Osmio
- Finerfilters
 

Why you might want to filter more than you drinking water
You don’t just use water for drinking, right? We also come into contact with water when we shower, bathe, wash fruit and vegetables and clean the dishes, and this water matters too. Chlorine and heavy metals present in tap water - especially hard water areas - can disrupt the skin’s natural barrier, contribute to skin issues like eczema and sensitivities, and dandruff-like problems with the hair and scalp too. This is particularly important to consider when you’re bathing babies and children, whose skin barrier is still developing and who may be more prone to skin problems. For this purpose, check out FlowPure in the UK, who offer filters that screw directly on to your tap, as well as shower head filters and a bath filter that simply hooks on to the tap. 
 

Lifestyle & Diet Matters Too
We know investing in a water filter isn’t always possible for everyone, so as well as seeking out different price points for filters, we also want you to know that simple dietary and lifestyle choices can help protect you against excessive contaminants and microplastics.
 
Choosing whole foods, avoiding plastic use, supporting detoxification through a healthy liver and regular sweating, and consuming a good amount of fibre can all be simple and effective ways to help. Emerging research suggests that fibre can help protect the body against microplastics by binding to them in the gut and promoting their excretion. Consuming nutrient-dense traditional foods like bone broth and beef organs is also a powerful way to provide your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs for healthy detoxification systems and to neutralise harmful substances. 
 
Remember - making small, sustainable steps all add up to support your wellbeing in the long-term, and every little choice we make on a daily basis counts, whether it’s about what you eat, drink, or do.


Have a favourite water filter brand you want to shout about? Let us know!
 
- The APE team