The 10 Best Shower Water Filters
Special Honors
Apex MR-7010 This easy-to-install option helps to lower levels of fluoride and chlorine. With no plumbing required, it fits all modern shower arms and shower head designs. It sets out to help you avoid dry skin, a flaky scalp, and colored hair that fades. Each cartridge lasts from 12 to 18 months. It’s made in the United States, with a carefully monitored manufacturing process. If you’re not completely satisfied, you can receive a replacement or refund with no questions asked. apexwaterfilters.com
Editor's Notes
July 02, 2019:
A shower water filter is designed to protect your skin and hair from harmful chemicals and contaminants like chlorine, rust, hydrogen sulfide, mold, and bacteria. Each choice on our list consists of a reliable filtration system with a durable housing, and some also come with components like shower heads and wands.
Joining the list in this update is the G-Promise Luxury Handheld, which is designed to reduce heavy metals, chlorine, rust, and sediment. It features sturdy materials including a patented, solid brass bracket and a stainless steel hose. The head is made of durable, engineering-grade ABS and offers six adjustable settings, including rainfall, power massage, circular massage, and a water-saving trickle mode. It can be installed in minutes with nothing more than a wrench. What’s more, you can purchase it with confidence, thanks to its lengthy 10-year guarantee.
Remaining in the top spot is the Aquabliss Multi-Stage, which is compatible with any shower head and will attach to it easily. It boasts attractive chrome construction, yet it’s not just a pretty face; its three-stage system will handle harmful metals and chlorine like a champ. Another model that’s worthy of a look – and available from an established name in water treatment – is the Culligan Wall Mounted, which comes with both the filter and a shower head. One cartridge will get you through 10,000 gallons before it needs replacing, and the sturdy rubber muzzle helps to minimize clogs.
Leaving the list today is the Aqua Elegante, due to issues with availability. When making your choice, look for a model with a good flow rate (such as 2 to 2.5 gallons per minute) and one that removes more than just chlorine, since there can be up to 200 contaminants present. Some selections are even said to improve the odor of your water.
Your Shower As A Sanctuary
It follows, then, that we should make that space as effective as possible.
For far too many people, the shower serves as a utilitarian space devoted only to cleaning their bodies on a regular basis. That’s really a shame, because the shower can be so much more than that. How often has a great idea come to you in the shower? It’s a common occurrence across a wide range of cultures. Surely, there must be something special about the time we spend in that space. It follows, then, that we should make that space as effective as possible.
A good shower can give you ideas for the same reason that it can lift your mood and soothe your body. When you take a warm or hot shower, your blood vessels dilate, circulating more oxygen-rich blood with greater efficiency. That process promotes healing while also invigorating the brain. A cold shower, while not as effective for relaxing the muscles or stimulating brain activity, can be a great way to wake your body up, as the cold will activate parts of your sympathetic nervous system that increase alertness and clarity.
However you choose to shower, you want the water under which you do so to be as clean as possible. In one obvious sense, this is important because you’re in there to get clean, not dirty. Few of us have to worry about our shower water adding filth to our bodies, but there are parts of your town or city’s municipal water sanitation process that might not be the best things for your shower.
When you shower, you’re doing more than letting water wash over your body. The human skin is semi-permeable. That means that, even though it does a great job keeping out a large swath of contaminants, it does absorb a whole host of other materials, including some water. While that water doesn’t necessarily enter your system in a hydrating way, certain chemicals therein can pass through your skin when it becomes waterlogged. One of these chemicals, fluoride, is not only used universally in water sanitation, but it has also been linked to a number of health issues.
To keep your body as safe as possible, it’s advisable to install a water filter for your shower. You probably already use a filter for your drinking water, so your shower should be no different. In addition to being generally easy to install, these devices will often provide you with a shower head that’s superior to whatever you currently have hanging. When you upgrade to a good filter, then, you also upgrade your physical experience in the shower.
Which Shower Water Filter Is Right For You?
As we mentioned above, many shower water filters come with their own shower heads. This can either be a blessing or a curse depending on what you currently have installed. If you already have a high-quality shower head that you absolutely love, you’d probably be better off investing in a filter that installs somewhere further down the water line. That way, you can keep your beloved shower head and still reap all the benefits of filtered shower water. Some of the models that come with shower heads also allow you to replace just the head, so if there’s a style you like that comes with a head you don’t want, you can always swap it out with a little extra effort.
The downside is that you’re stuck with whatever patterns they offer, and you can’t add a hose to increase the reach of the water.
If you do plan on using the shower head that comes with a given filter, make sure it sprays in a pattern that appeals to you. Some filters are very yeoman-like in their approach, offering filtered water, but not much comfort in their spray pattern. A head with an adjustable pattern is likely the best option, since you’ll have more choices at your disposal once it’s installed. If no pattern appeals to you, remember, you can often replace these heads.
A few filters actually perform the filtration inside the shower head, however, and these heads cannot be replaced. The benefit of these is that they tend to be the easiest to install and maintain. The downside is that you’re stuck with whatever patterns they offer, and you can’t add a hose to increase the reach of the water.
Filters that don’t come with any kid of head present a comparably easy installation process, and afterward they give you the most flexibility in your head options. They can lower the positioning of your shower head by several inches, however, so these might not be the best option for tall people with showers that run on the small side. You may lose out on that added comfort because you have to bend over to wash your hair. On the other hand, if you carefully engage your core and quads to squat beneath a shortened shower head, you might be able to build some muscle while you get clean.
A Brief History Of The Shower
For the majority of human history, cleanliness was achieved through bathing. People used natural water sources like streams or lakes to get as clean as a stream or a lake could get you. In some instances, people stood beneath waterfalls —essentially, nature’s shower—, though the water pressure was probably a little intense.
By the mid-19th century, indoor plumbing had advanced enough that showers began to appear in the homes of the wealthy.
In 1767, an English stove maker received the first patent for a shower. It operated by a hand pump, as indoor plumbing wasn’t well established enough to provide a shower with any kind of pressure.
By the mid-19th century, indoor plumbing had advanced enough that showers began to appear in the homes of the wealthy. Of course, these showers were still on the frigid side, as the water heater didn’t arrive on the scene until the turn of the 20th century. Today, many smaller homes and economy apartments are eschewing tubs entirely in favor of shower stalls that take up significantly less space.