For today’s review, I have selected the most sought-after water filtration brand that has just the right solution for any residential, commercial, or industrial water filtration application: Pentair (formerly known as Pelican).
My review will focus on filtration efficiency, filter performance, filtering technology for different applications, filter life, and durability. I’ll analyze and break down Pentair’s most popular water filtration systems in each of the following categories:
- Whole-house filters
- Water softeners
- Countertop filters
- Under-sink filters
- UV water filters
- Shower filters
Let’s dive in.
Whole-House Water Filters
Whole-house filters, installed at the main water supply entry point, purify and enhance the quality of water flowing through every faucet and appliance in your home.
Pentair Whole House Water Filtration System + UV
Pentair’s whole-house system, combined with a strong UV filter, is designed specifically for city water contaminated with chlorine and its harmful by-products, producing fresh water without any dip in water pressure.
Pros
This compact yet effective filter features four stages of filtration to strip your tap water of all the impurities that become a part of it through dirty water lines and the chlorination process.
The first stage is a pre-filter that traps dirt, silt, gravel and sand particles in a 5-micron membrane with pores 20 times thinner than a human hair! Not only does it make your water clean but also protects your plumbing line and appliances from clogging over time. The pre-filter can last six to nine months, double the life of an average whole-house pre-filter.
The second stage, a catalytic granulated activated carbon (GAC) filter, is a powerhouse of eliminating chlorine, chloramines, and other toxic by-products, leaving your tap water smelling fresh and clean. This filter is rated to last five years.
The next stage is a copper and zinc oxidation media responsible for converting any leftover chlorine and by-products into harmless chloride. This also improves the life of the GAC filter.
The final stage is Pentair’s top-quality UV lamp that uses UV radiation to zap disease-causing microbes, including bacteria, viruses, and cysts. A good thing about this low-voltage UV lamp is it doesn’t affect the taste, color, or odor of your water. You might need to periodically clean the lamp sleeves, but it’s nothing that requires a lot of effort. The UV lamp lasts a year at most.
Pentair offers two models with strong flow rates of 8 GPM and 12 GPM, respectively, to cater to the needs of medium to large households. This whole-house water system can easily take on your laundry machine, dishwasher, and several showers at the same time.
What you might love the most about this sturdy unit is that it requires minimal overall cleaning.
On top of that, this model is certified by IAPMO against NSF 42 standards for the removal of chlorine smell and odor.
Cons
You might need to call a professional plumber to install this system and replace the filter cartridges if you’re not an expert yourself.
Iron & Manganese Filter and Pelican Water Softener Alternative Combo System
If you’re looking for a permanent solution to remove iron and manganese and reduce the effect of scale in your plumbing system and fixtures, Pentair’s combo system is just the right system.
Note that this is a salt-free softener. Salt-free water softeners are really water conditioners, which alter the structure of hard mineral ions and reduce their ability to form scale deposits.
Pros
Pentair’s iron & manganese filter and water softener alternative system combines six stages of filtration to capture iron and manganese in both dissolved and undissolved states and neutralize the scale-producing elements that clog and damage appliances in the long run.
Stage 1 is a 5-micron filter that is responsible for trapping dirt, silt, and sediment greater than 5 microns. This filter also improves the life of the rest of the filters in this system.
Stage 2 features a chemical injector pump and a mixing chamber where chlorine is pushed into the water to kill all the microorganisms so you can have healthy and safe water in all the taps around your house.
Stage 3 is where the iron and manganese oxidize into insoluble compounds and are trapped in a filter media which is periodically flushed through backwashing.
This filter features a high-quality electronic head that controls the backwashing cycles. It can either be programmed to backwash as many times as you want or you can let it do its job automatically.
Stage 4 is a strong carbon filter that makes sure no chlorine or its by-products passes through. Water coming out of this filter is free of the off-putting chlorine smell and taste.
And the last stage is a water conditioner responsible for reducing the scale build-up in pipes and fixtures. This conditioner works without consuming electricity and wasting water, cutting both electricity and water bills. The best part is it’s DVDW-9191 certified to prevent 99.6% of scale formation.
This system is perfect for well water but you can also use it for city water if the water quality in your area is terrible.
You can choose either 10 GPM or 15 GPM based on the size of your family and daily water consumption.
The system is certified against NSF 61 standards for material safety.
Cons
Although it requires minimal maintenance, once every three to five years, you will need to call a plumber to get your filters replaced.
Another knock against this filter is it has no certifications to prove that it removes harmful contaminants in water. While other popular brands are transparent about their tests and certifications, Pentair doesn’t show any solid proof on its website.
And lastly, Pentair’s whole-house filtration combo is more expensive than its competitors.
Water Softener System
The importance of a water softener lies in its ability to prevent mineral buildup, prolong the lifespan of plumbing fixtures, and ensure the delight of silky-smooth water for a truly refined daily experience.
Pentair Whole-House PAC Series
What’s better than a combination of a powerful water filter and a water softener packed in one sturdy system? Pentair’s PAC series whole-house system makes your dirty, hard water clean, soft, and fresh.
Pros
Pentair’s PAC series targets common pollutants in municipal water along with hard minerals like calcium and magnesium, giving you the peace of mind of enjoying fresh water through every tap in your home.
As with all of Pentair’s whole-house filter models, this whole-house water softener uses a 5-micron pre-filter that takes out dirt, sediment, and silt in city water.
The water then passes through an activated-carbon media, which reduces chlorine into harmless compounds through a chemical reaction. The carbon media needs regular backwashing and reactivation. Water coming out of this stage is already fresh and devoid of chlorine smell and taste.
The next step features the softening process. Through the ion exchange process taking place in resin media, calcium and magnesium are displaced by sodium ions in the mineral tank. The media retains hard minerals until it is backwashed and regenerated with sodium in the next steps.
The system is equipped with an electronic head that controls backwashing and regeneration cycles. It’s super easy to operate and program and saves a lot of water that otherwise goes to waste in automated backwash cycles.
One of the calling cards of the Pentair water softener system is that you can pair it up with Pentair’s salt-level sensor, which tells you exactly what you need to refill the brine tank.
The water softener is certified by the Water Quality Association (WQA) against NSF 44 standards and the carbon filter is tested against NSF 61 and 372 for material safety.
Cons
Its carbon filter is certified against NSF standards for material safety and lead-free compliance, but I couldn’t find any certification that proves it can clean out chlorine and its toxic by-products efficiently.
Under-Sink and Countertop Filters
Under-sink and countertop filters are primarily used for drinking water. They effectively remove impurities and contaminants from tap water, ensuring the health and well-being of everyone in the family.
FreshPoint GRO-350 Under Counter Reverse Osmosis System
The Pentair Freshpoint RO system uses a stout technology to produce crystal clear water free of chlorine, heavy metals, and cysts right from your kitchen tap. One of the significant benefits of this is it can produce 50 gallons of fresh water daily.
Pros
Pentair uses its patented Diamond flow technology — a combination of carbon block and poly-spun shell wrapped around a carbon filter — to effectively remove dirt, sediment, chlorine, and chlorine by-products in the city water supply.
This filtered water then passes through Pentair’s reverse osmosis membrane, which removes 96.90% of total dissolved solids, lead, arsenic, giardia, and cryptosporidium.
What makes this under-sink filter different from its competitors is that it uses Pentair’s patented green RO membrane, which reduces water wastage.
The RO-filtered water finally passes through a granulated activated-carbon filter that further clears the water of any leftover contaminants.
What I love most about this effective filter is that you only need to change the pre- and post-filters once a year, and its RO membrane lasts well over 18 months.
This filter is certified against NSF 42, 58 and CSA B483 for the reduction of contaminants.
Cons
According to the website, this filter cannot remove volatile organic compounds, atrazine, and lindane from water.
Another small issue is its 3.2-gallon storage tank that goes under the sink. It’s large and makes this system suitable only for large spaces.
Countertop Drinking System
Don’t have enough space but want a powerful filter? This countertop filter is the best option.
Pros
Pentair’s countertop filter is NSF and IAPMO certified to reduce over 60+ contaminants, including pesky chlorine and lead in water.
I like its compact and sleek design that takes up minimal space on the counter and enhances the look of your kitchen.
The best part is it doesn’t require power to operate. If you experience frequent power outages, this filter is your best bet.
This countertop filter easily lasts six months or 450 gallons, whichever comes first. But what makes it stand out is the LED indicator that lets you know when it’s due for a replacement.
You can also count on this filter to remove microbial contamination from your tap. It is NSF 42, 53, and P473 certified to remove PFOS, chloramine, VOCs, and cysts.
Cons
The only problem with this filter is that it leaks a lot. Many customers also reported the same issue.
Showerhead Filter
Using a shower filter helps remove chlorine, chemicals, and impurities from the water, preventing skin dryness, irritation, and promoting overall healthier hair and skin.
Pentair Premium Shower Filter
This showerhead filter can effectively remove chlorine and chlorine by-products in shower water improving your showering experience a hundredfold.
Pros
Imagine getting a spa-like experience at your home. Pentair’s premium showerhead features a five-foot hand-held massage wand with nine-jet adjustable massage settings. You can change the water flow from gentle to forceful spray during showering.
The filter comprises a copper-zinc blend and activated carbon, which oxidizes chlorine compounds and effectively captures them. It also includes an ocean water scent bar to soothe your senses during the shower.
It also features a Far Infrared-emitting volcanic media that infuses negative ions into the water for better hydration and cleansing. This particular step changes the surface tension of water, making it feel gentler on your skin and hair.
This shower filter lasts for almost 2,000 ten-minute showers.
It’s super easy and quick to install. Plus the convenient snap-in replacement filters make the maintenance almost negligible.
Cons
I wasn’t very delighted with the quality of the plastic used in this filter. It felt cheap and flimsy and also started to leak after some time.
UV Water Filter
Premium UV Disinfection System
Typical UV disinfection lamps last over one year, but Pentair’s premium UV system uses an advanced amalgam UV lamp that lasts up to two years.
Pros
Bid farewell to disease-causing bacteria, viruses, pathogens and cysts in your well or city water supply. Pentair’s amalgam UV lamp kills 99.99% of E.coli, giardia, cryptosporidium, and other stubborn organisms.
This system is not your average UV system. It features a UV intensity monitor, a UV sensor, and an LCD. The UV sensor tracks real-time performance while the UV intensity monitor shows any changes in the UV radiations. When the radiation intensity falls below 75%, this system stops the water flow so you don’t consume untreated water.
In order to prevent the system from heating up, it uses a cool touch kit to regulate the temperature and improve the life of your system without wasting water. It’s perfect if you don’t want an increase in your water bill.
I like that this filter indicates when the UV lamp is due for a change. It starts sounding an alarm when only 30 days remain till its expiration. The filters last two years, which is one whole year longer than typical UV filters on the market.
Pentair offers four models in this unit, each with varying flow rates to suit the size of your household.
Lastly, this UV lamp is NSF certified against the NSF/ANSI 55 standard for disinfection.
Cons
You need to buy a 5-micron sediment filter separately to install before this system to trap all the dirt, debris, and silt in your water.
The Bottom Line
Since its inception, Pentair has manufactured several filtration technologies that easily take the lead against the average filters on the market. It has bagged quite a few patents, awards, and certifications for its top-of-the-line filtration units. All of its products are tested by trusted organizations such as NSF and IAPMO.
No matter the size of your family or the quality of the water in your region, Pentair has a solution for you. If you can’t decide for yourself, you can discuss your requirements with their team and they will select the best water filtration unit to suit your needs.
To buy Pentair filters, you have a few options. Visit the official Pentair website or trusted online retailers, such as Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Walmart. Remember to research the specific model, compare prices, and verify compatibility before making a purchase.
You can also use the Pentair website’s dealer locator tool, which allows you to find authorized Pentair dealers and distributors in your vicinity.
For more information on Pentair’s whole-house units, water softeners, under-sink filters, and countertop filters, check out the website.
What Is Pentair?
Originally intended as a company to make high-altitude balloons, Pentair slowly transitioned to top-tier water filtration systems for a wide range of applications. From residential applications to industrial water management and everything in between, Pentair has garnered awards, patents, and certifications for treating different contaminants in water.
Pentair started its journey in the water industry in 2007, and since then it has spread across 150 countries with 11,250 employees striving toward a single mission: to provide the world’s most sustainable water solutions.
Pentair has established several programs to cut down its carbon footprint. By sticking to a sustainable regime in all of its operations, Pentair aims to achieve 100% carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition to this, Pentair is aiming for a 30% reduction in water usage, and is redesigning its products for environmental sustainability.
Pentair offers huge warranties and a money-back guarantee on its water filter systems. On top of it, all of its units are NSF certified. Pentair appliances may be costlier than similar models from other brands, but you get what you pay for with Pentair.
Methodology
To keep my review completely impartial, I consulted professional plumbers, contractors, and customers and incorporated their experiences and knowledge into this article.
Step 1: A list of Pelican water filters
My research started with a list of filtration systems that Pentair offered. I browsed online stores and Pentair’s website to select the most popular filters in its catalog under each category of water filters.
Step 2: Product analysis
The next step was to learn about Pentair’s filtration technologies and how they stacked up against the most popular filtration brands on the market. To understand what made a filter best on the market, I asked myself the following questions:
- Which filtration technology works best against stubborn pollutants like VOCs, PFOS, lead, fluoride, microbes, and chloramines?
- How effective is that particular technology at cleaning both well and city water supply?
- How are Pentair’s water softeners and water conditioners better than the rest on the market?
- What should be the optimum flow rate for a whole-house water filter?
- Does Pentair use certified components in its products?
- What certifications should one look for in water filters?
Step 3: Online reviews
Next, I read reviews left by verified customers on online platforms like Consumer Reports, Angie’s List, Test Freaks, and Google reviews. This took me a whole week, but I was able to pinpoint major flaws in some of the units. I carefully noted them down and moved on to the next phase of my research.
Step 4: Interviews with real customers
To get a better idea of the performance of Pentair filters, I contacted customers and asked them about their experiences. Some were kind enough to send me their water reports and a few invited me to their homes to test the water quality myself.
The process was tedious — I had to travel miles to get to customers’ homes, but it helped me gain a deeper understanding of how the Pelican systems worked.
Step 5: Interview with Pentair
I had a lot of questions that only Pentair’s customer service could answer, for example, the authenticity of their test results and the lack of certain certifications. This step helped me analyze their customer service and judge their competence.
Step 6: Test drives
I needed firsthand experience with the water filters, so I rented a few and bought others to run tests on them. I used the filters for five weeks and tested the water quality through my testing kits. To measure the concentration of contaminants like chloramine, PFOS, and atrazine that are not detected by simple testing kits, I sent the samples to an accredited laboratory.
During my tests, I also analyzed the ease of installation, ease of maintenance, and the build quality of each unit.
Testing also included showering, drinking, cooking, and watering my plants with samples of water.
Step 7: Ratings
Now that I had enough information on each unit on my list, I decided to select one or two from each filter category based on the following factors.
- The test results
- Performance
- Durability
- Filter design
- Filter cost
- Ease of maintenance
- Ease of installation
- Flow rate
- Customer reviews
- Certifications
Final Thoughts
Pentair water filtration systems are strong and long-lasting. They may be a bit too expensive for some users, but considering they are tested and certified by authentic organizations, they feature powerful patented filtration technologies, and their filters are made of long-lasting materials, I think they are worth it.
You’ll get a decent warranty and a money-back guarantee with each unit. Their customer care service is quite accommodating and fields all your questions regarding the filtration in your home.
For more information or to purchase a unit, head to the website.
If you’re in search of water filter appraisals that go beyond the Pelican water filtration system, you’re in the right place. Our extensive reservoir of water filter analyses encompasses a wide range of brands and models presently available. Rely on our in-depth reviews for valuable information.
Here, we showcase a variety of water filter brands and models that we’ve thoroughly scrutinized.
