An ultraviolet water purifier uses light to kill harmful microorganisms in your water using the same UV rays you like to soak up outside. A UV water purifier is one of the most effective ways to get clean water into your home.
Your whole family’s drinking water — and by extension, their health — rests on your shoulders, so no doubt you want to find the best water purifier available.
So, to save you the hassle, I’ve spent four months researching and analyzing the best UV water purifiers on the market.
Here’s what I found.
1. SpringWell UV Water Purification System: 9.62/10
- Best overall UV water purifier
- High water-pressure rating and long UV light life
The SpringWell UV Water Purifier is easily the best UV purifier because it kills 99.99% of all the microbes in your water. This UV filter has a high water-pressure rating, the longest UV light life, and a lifetime warranty on all of its components.
Pros
The SpringWell UV filter has all the features the best UV water filter should have.
It uses a powerful UV dose of 30mj/cm2 to strip tap water of almost all harmful microorganisms, including cryptosporidium, giardia, and E. coli.
It offers a high flow rate of 15 GPM, which is enough for a medium-sized family. Flow rating may not be a big deal if you live alone, but if you live with other people, you’ll thank this system when you’re doing the laundry and someone decides to take a bath. Feel free to turn on as many taps as you like at the same time without worrying about a dip in water pressure.
Certifications are usually the first thing I look for in a UV water filter because it proves the company’s claims. And SpringWell only uses certified components in its products.
What impressed me the most is its future-proof and splash-proof casing that can connect to any other whole-house filter. It has an LED display that uses colors to show if your UV light is due for a replacement or if there are any other issues you might need to address. You can also access all the information on your smartphone using QR codes. How cool is that?
You’ll appreciate SpringWell’s quality. The UV lamp lasts 365 days — the longest of all the models I reviewed — which means it can work continuously for 9,000 hours. And if any of the components malfunction, you can reach out and get it replaced or repaired for free because SpringWell offers an industry-leading lifetime warranty on its unit.
In case you have to buy a new UV lamp, it’ll cost only $109.54.
You can even return the unit within six months of using it if you decide it’s not what you want. This just proves that SpringWell uses only top-tier components in its system, and they’re proud of it.
But the biggest reason this unit takes first place is its accessible price point. You’ll get a high-dose UV lamp, a high pressure rating, a lifetime warranty, and a six-month money-back guarantee for only $1,000.90, with free shipping.
Cons
The only downside of the SpringWell UV filter filter is that you need to buy a separate sediment filter for the UV purifier to function properly. Using a UV purifier without a sediment filter can cause clogs and if you don’t operate it properly, you won’t be able to redeem the warranty.
You can add a SpringWell sediment filter to your cart while buying your UV water purifier. It costs only $80 and comes with a lifetime warranty, so you only need to buy it once.
Overall
The SpringWell UV water filter is the best on the market because it offers a super-strong UV dose and can kill 99.99% of all types of bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that may be lurking in your water. It provides the cleanest and safest water of all the whole-house UV water filters I’ve tested, with unconditional warranties and a money-back guarantee.
If you want to protect your family from disease-causing microbes that can enter your water supply, the SpringWell UV water purifier is the best choice. Get it today at the SpringWell website and say good-bye to microbes.
2. US Water Systems Pulsar UV Disinfection System: 8.55/10
- Easy to install and low maintenance system that delivers clean water
- Slightly more affordable than the Springwell system; good for those on a budget
The UV Water Systems Pulsar takes second place because of its long life, easy installation, and low maintenance. Pulsar can get rid of all the microbial contamination in your water, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t come with any certifications.
Pros
The UV Water Systems Pulsaris a decent alternative to SpringWell since it also offers 9,000 hours of a strong UV dose at 30mj/cm2. It’s perfectly capable of making your water squeaky clean, healthy, and fresh. Like the SpringWell, this unit only needs a lamp replacement once a year.
The Pulsar caught my eye because of its audio alert feature that sounds when the UV light is due for a change or if some underlying issue is hindering the filtration process. Pulsar has a color LED display that shows the real-time situation of the filter. You can also connect it to your smartphone.
The unit tank is made of a robust stainless steel casing that houses the inner UV lamp. The tank’s power supply is properly covered and safe from water splashes and short-circuiting.
US Water Systems provides a 10-year warranty on its stainless steel tank, a three-year warranty on its valves and electronics, and only a one-year warranty on its UV lamp. It also offers a free one-micron sediment filter with its UV purification system.
Cons
First, I was super disappointed to find out that UV Water Systems Pulsar doesn’t have any certifications to prove its UV purifier can banish strong bacteria like cryptosporidium, giardia, and E. coli.
Second, unlike SpringWell, Pulsar offers only limited warranties on its components. And with no certifications to back the unit, there’s no guarantee that it will last as long as it promises.
US Water Systems doesn’t provide a money-back guarantee either, which is a bummer.
Overall
US Water Systems UV purifier provides clean and microbe-free drinking water and uses a sturdy stainless-steel chamber to encase a UV dose of 30mj/cm2 that lasts 365 days.
Although it doesn’t provide a lifetime warranty and offers no money-back guarantee like SpringWell, the Pulsar is still an effective UV filter. It’s an economical and effective alternative if you don’t care much about certifications. Buy the UV Water Systems UV purifier here.
3. Crystal Quest Ultraviolet Water Sterilizer System: 7.50/10
- Best budget UV water purifier
- Not quite as effective as other models and a lower flow rate, but worth it if other options are out of your price range.
Crystal Quest impressed me with its super-accessible price point and effectivness, but it’s low flow rate and limited warranty options make it a less attractive option than others on the list.
Pros
Crystal Quest’s UV sterilizer is an excellent addition to any whole-house water filtration system. The filter effectively eliminates all microbial contamination from your water without introducing any harmful chemicals. Like most standard UV filters, this will also last one year before expiring and the replacement will cost you $99.99.
It has a lamp failure alarm installed and also displays the remaining life of the UV lamp through an LED display screen.
If you’re a little handy, this unit should be a breeze to install. You can also find detailed installation instructions. However, installing it yourself can void the warranty.
Cons
Crystal Quest provides a limited one-year warranty on its unit, and you can lose that if you don’t let a licensed plumber install it, as well as keeping all its other myriad conditions in mind. This means you’d need to spare extra $100–$300 for the plumber.
A big downside to this system is that it has no certifications to prove its cleaning efficiency. For a brand with so many conditions to its warranty, you’d hope it would at least come with certifications.
Overall
If you’re working with a tight budget but still want effective filtration, the Crystal Quest UV sterilizer presents a reasonable option for households with two to three bathrooms. It cleans 99.9% of bacteria and viruses in your water for over a year, and the replacements are also quite affordable. You can check it out here.
4. Acuva ArrowMAX 2.0 UV Purification System
If you’re looking for an under-sink UV purification filter for your home, RV, cottage, or boat, this option is for you. The ArrowMax 2.0 offers LED UV disinfection that can make your drinking water safe by killing microorganisms and also removing chlorine, lead, VOCs, and other odor-causing pollutants from your water using an advanced pre-filter.
The package also includes an optional smart faucet. This under-sink filter is supposed to last seven years, providing 120,000 liters of fresh, microbe-free water. But the customers I contacted during my research complained that their Arrowmax filter lasted for only a little more than a year, and for some, only a few months.
This system is NSF/ANSI 55 Class B certified, which means it is suitable for water that has already been treated either in municipal treatment plants or through another water purification system.
Class B classified systems are not suitable for well water and untreated water straight out of lakes or rivers, even though the manufacturer, Acuva, claims it can treat any kind of contaminated water. This is a classic example of false advertisement.
The ArrowMax 2.0 is on this list because it’s easy to install, compact, and sleek, comes with an optional faucet, and costs only $599. Still, its cleaning efficiency may falter with time because it doesn’t have any solid certifications to guarantee its performance.
5. Aquasana Rhino Well Water Filter with UV
If you’re on a well system and you don’t have a UV purification system already installed in your home, the Aquasana Rhino UV filter may be what you’re looking for. This whole-house filter with UV will remove dirt, debris, bacteria, viruses, chlorine, and other contaminants from well water quite effectively.
The major reason why I included this UV purification system on my list is its reasonable price of $1,399. Considering it’s a whole-house system with an activated carbon filter, a pre-filter, and a post-filter, in addition to the UV filter, it’s really for pennies on the dollar.
This system will clean 500,000 gallons of water, which means you’ll need to replace the activated carbon filter after almost five years. But, keep in mind that you need to replace its UV lamp once a year, which costs $119.
Very few brands are confident enough to have an unconditional refund policy, and Aquasana is one of them. You’ll get a 5-year warranty on its unit and a 90-day money-back guarantee. However, the warranty is void if you install it yourself.
I couldn’t bump it up any higher than this spot because, although it mentions a flow rate of 12 GPM, you can’t use more than two taps at the same time, or you’ll face a sudden drop in your water pressure.
Plus, this system leaks a lot! And if you call them for questions, don’t expect a quick response. Many people I contacted mentioned Aquasana’s lousy customer service and to confirm this, I too sent them a message only to find a full voicemail.
6. iSpring Whole-House UV Filter
The iSpring UV whole-house filtration system offers a 12 GPM flow rate and a lamp that, according to the manufacturers, lasts up to 9,000 hours. But this system has an unreliable UV lamp that malfunctions a lot.
Although iSpring has great customer service, one shouldn’t need to call them for help so often. Not three months after installing this unit, the UV light stopped working and sounded an alarm. If a UV light malfunctions a lot, it can’t treat your water with the same efficiency, and you might consume harmful contaminants.
The iSpring UV purifier costs $307, excluding the price you’ll have to pay to get an extended warranty — $184, $307, and $461 for 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively.
I suggest you go for a reliable unit that actually lasts for 9,000 hours, like the SpringWell, and doesn’t trouble its user every two or three months.
7. HQUA-TWS-12 UV Sterilizer
The HQUA UV sterilizer is one affordable option if you don’t have thousands of bucks to spare. This unit will cost you $265 and is good for 2-3 bathrooms. You’ll get a decent 12 GPM flow rate and it works effectively against bacterial contamination in water.
I like that you will also get a 1 free UV lamp with this filter. Considering the price point, that’s a very considerate addition.
However, there are a few downsides to this unit.
First, the installation instructions are not very clear and detailed.
Second, you could encounter problems with leakage after a few weeks of using it. This could be quite bothersome, especially if you’re not a fan of regularly maintaining your filters.
Bottom Line
After sixteen weeks of researching and reviewing, I can confidently say that the SpringWell UV filter ticks all the right boxes for the best UV water purifier.
This unit is guaranteed to remove all kinds of disease-causing bacteria and viruses from your tap water, either from a private well or municipal supply. The Sringwell UV lamp will provide uninterrupted clean water for 9,000 hours before it’s due for a replacement.
With a high flow rate of 15 GPM, you can turn on multiple faucets and experience no dip in the water pressure around the house. SpringWell only uses certified components in its system, which is why they so confidently boast a lifetime warranty on the unit.
At only $1,000.90, you’ll get a UV purifier that lasts a year, needs minimal maintenance, has certified components, and offers an industry-leading flow rate, a lifetime warranty, and a six-month money-back guarantee. This unit is worth every penny.
Methodology
You must wonder how I came up with my list of the best UV water purifiers on the market while hundreds of brands claim they are the best.
Here’s how I did it:
Step 1: A big list of the most popular UV water purifiers available on the market
I began my adventure by compiling a list of the most popular UV purifiers with the most sales on the market. This was easy as I just had to search google and dig deeper into online marketplaces like Amazon, Home Depot, and Walmart.
I also dropped a voice message in my WhatsApp family group and got a few suggestions. By the end of this step, I had a compilation of 15 UV purifiers. I called it a day and took Cookie (that’s my dog) out for a walk.
Step 2: Online reviews of UV systems
The next step was to read what verified customers were saying about the filters after using them. This was a bit tedious, but I got to learn a lot about the filters on my list and their shortcomings.
I noted every detail carefully but didn’t strike off any filter yet since online reviews can be fake. Some brands pay the customers to write good things about their products, or bad things about others, so I always take online reviews with a grain of salt.
Step 3: Product/service analysis
In the next step, I made a list of the features that defined the best UV light water purifier. Reading the product descriptions and online reviews helped me gain a deeper insight into what factor should be given importance while choosing a UV purifier. I asked myself the following questions:
- What’s the UV dosage of this filter?
- Can this dose kill the disease-causing bacteria and viruses such cryptosporidium, giardia, and E. coli?
- Is the product NSF/ANSI certified for class A or class B?
- Is this filter good enough for private wells?
- How long does the UV light last?
- Does the lamp indicate the life of the UV light?
- Is the flow rating enough for my family?
Step 4: Interviews with real customers
I picked up my phone and started contacting customers one by one. This was a fun experience. I know it seems unlikely, but I love talking to people about important home appliances like UV systems. (What can I say? I’m an odd duck.) Some people were kind enough to even invite me to their homes to taste and test the filtered water. Of course I said yes!
Step 5: Test drives
I spent one whole weekend traveling and testing the UV filtration systems, which helped me cross off three filters from the list. I bought an at-home test kit specifically for this research and tested the UV-filtered water from each filter for microbial contamination. I removed the filters that couldn’t kill more than 95% of the total microbial contamination.
Now my list had 12 filters that were efficient enough to banish 99.99% of all kinds of bacteria, viruses, and protozoa in water.
Step 6: Interviews with the companies
To judge the customer services of the brands on my list, I contacted the companies and talked about their products’ shortcomings and how they planned to improve. Some companies were willing to set up a video call with me to discuss all my concerns thoroughly while others haven’t responded to this day.
The customer representatives of SpringWell and US Water Systems were knowledgeable and friendly, while my message to Aquasana met a full mailbox.
Step 7: Final ranking
Now was the time to give the final ranking to my shortlisted filters. I removed the units that couldn’t score higher than 6.5/10.
Here are the factors that I considered while scoring each filter:
- UV dosage
- The efficiency of killing microorganisms
- Taste and appearance of filtered water
- Flow rate
- Water capacity
- Certifications
- Cost of water filter (including installation and maintenance)
- Ease of installation
- Warranties
- Durability
The Best UV Water Purifier
The SpringWell UV system effortlessly takes the first spot on my list of the best UV water purifiers. It offers a high dose of 30mj/cm2 UV rays that kill almost 99.99% of all microbial contamination — making your water fresh and healthy to consume.
This unit offers a 15 GPM flow rate, which is perfect for medium to large households.
The sturdy UV chamber has an LED display that shows the exact life of the UV lamp and when it should be replaced. It also warns the user of any issues with the UV dosage or if you need to troubleshoot the filter. You can even connect it to your phone and get real-time information. SpringWell UV lamps are guaranteed to last for 9,000 hours.
On top of that, SpringWell uses only certified components and provides a lifetime warranty and a six-month money-back guarantee that no other brand currently offers.
If you want UV water purification that provides a great flow rate, cleans your water efficiently, lasts for a year with minimal maintenance, offers a huge warranty, and only costs $1,000.90 with no hidden charges, get yourself a SpringWell UV filter today.
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