If you’ve decided to quit alkaline bottled water and switch to alkaline water pitchers, you deserve a round of applause. There’s really no excuse to use single-use water bottles with any sort of regularity.
Alkaline water pitchers are tricky to find because many brands use the term “alkaline” as a marketing gimmick to attract customers.
But don’t worry. I’ve researched and analyzed the most popular alkaline filter pitchers that actually add healthy minerals while filtering your tap water.
Here’s what I found.
1. Waterdrop Alkaline Chubby 10-Cup Water Filter Pitcher: 9.36/10
- Most effective alkaline water filter pitcher at a very modest price point
- Extra filtration stages provides crystal clear alkaline water all the time
The Waterdrop Alkaline filter pitcher removes 99% of contaminants in tap water while adding beneficial minerals like potassium, sodium, magnesium, and zinc, as well as raising pH up to as high as 9.5. It is NSF 42 and 372 certified to remove chlorine in water.
Pros
Waterdrop’s alkaline filter features six stages of filtration combining activated-carbon filters, meshes, and an alkaline material that releases minerals. Water passing through these filters is stripped of chlorine, fluoride, and heavy metals like lead, mercury, and zinc. The last stage adds beneficial minerals into your water, giving it the final punch of freshness.
This filter can turn 200 gallons of tap water into fresh and tasty drinking water. It lasts around three months if your water has mild contamination and less than a month if it’s full of dirt and other sediment. The replacement filters will cost you about $11.33, which is pretty reasonable.
I really like the design of this 10-cup filter. Apart from the automatic water inlet and a dustproof spout, this filter is equipped with a smart LED filter-life indicator that shines blue and red, indicating the condition of filtered water. I’m a sucker for a filter life indicator. Plus, the wooden handle is quite comfortable to hold and gives it a stylish look.
I appreciate that Waterdrop offers a 30-day warranty on all of its water-filter pitchers.
Cons
All the Waterdrop Alkaline filter pitcher filters are third-party tested against NSF standards. However, I couldn’t find more information on the type of certification its “alkaline filter” has.
And it’s true that you may have to replace the filters often if your water is exceptionally dirty. If you’re a grouch about even easy maintenance, you may not love that. But the filters are cheap and they take about 15 seconds to install.
Overall
The Waterdrop alkaline filter pitcher works perfectly against common contaminants like chlorine, lead, mercury, and VOCs while improving the pH levels. The filters cost only $28.99, and the replacements run around $11.33. If you want a long-lasting alkaline filter from a reliable American company that offers a decent warranty, buy the Waterdrop pitcher here.
2. Seychelle Gen 2 Dual pH2O Pure Water Pitcher: 8.20/10
- Raises pH to 9.5, giving you some of the most alkaline water you can get
- Slightly more expensive than other options
The Seychelle pH2O water pitcher effectively targets all the organic and inorganic chemicals in tap water while increasing the pH to 9.5. However, it has a bulky design and a small water holding capacity.
Pros
The Seychelle Dual pH2O uses a proprietary Ionic Adsorption Micro Filtration that banishes chlorine, trihalomethanes, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PFOA/PFOS, lead, mercury, 90% of fluoride, and some radiological contaminants.
The most appealing feature is its ability to increase the pH of your water up to 9.5, making average tap water taste fresh like spring water.
The Seychelle water pitcher is manufactured in the US, which I love. It is third-party tested against the standards NSF/ANSI 42 and 53 for removing any foul smell, taste, and cloudiness and trapping any pollutant that is bad for your health. Many brands claim to remove lead and fluoride but only Seychelle guarantees it.
While other filters, like the Invigorated models, typically clean 100 gallons or less, the Seychelle pitcher filter cleans about 150 gallons of water and lasts around three months for a medium-sized family.
Syechelle’s replacement filters will cost you $52.16 and if you’re looking to save a few dollars, you can subscribe to its monthly packages and get 20% off with free shipping on subsequent purchases.
And lastly, Seychelle provides a 90-day limited warranty on its filter pitchers, which you can’t find anywhere else.
Cons
Seychelles offers a long lifespan, but they come with a price tag that is twice as high as Waterdrop. The replacement parts for Seychelles are also relatively costly, though the filters do last longer.
I was disappointed to find out that Seychelle’s refund policy applies to only “unused” pitchers. You can return it if you receive a damaged product but if the pitcher is not meeting your water filtering expectations, sorry — you’ll have to keep it.
Another major con of the Seychelle filter pitcher is its bulky design with a small holding capacity. The top reservoir leaks when you pour, so you’ll have to wait until all the water passes down to the lower compartment to fill your cup.
Overall
The filtration quality of Seychelle’s filter pitcher is top tier and backed by solid NSF certifications.
It cleans out every contaminant, including tricky pollutants like lead, fluoride, and radioactive matter in your tap water and increases the pH up to 9.5. The filter lasts 25% longer than the rest of the competition, making it suitable for medium-sized families.
If you’re okay with its bulky design and sus refund policy, you can buy it here.
3. Invigorated pH Restore Alkaline Water Pitcher: 7.55/10
- Made of glass, making it a stylish, eco-friendly option but also slightly more fragile
- More expensive than the top options.
The Invigorated Restore glass water-filter pitcher is perfect for those who want clean, alklaline water while also limiting environmental impact by reducing the use of plastic.
Pros
The main highlight of the Invigorated Restore is its food-grade borosilicate glass body with a bamboo lid and a big holding capacity of 3.5 liters (0.9 gallons). It’s hard to call any plastic item eco-friendly, so if that’s your priority, this is the pitcher for you.
The Invigorated pH Restore uses a proprietary filter blend of coconut-activated carbon, ion-exchange resin, Maifan, zeolite, and mineral stones that banish chlorine, lead, mercury, and fluoride in water while adding minerals like sodium, zinc, calcium, and selenium.
Another unique feature I like about this filter blend is that it reduces the negative oxidation reduction potential of water, producing highly antioxidant water that is beneficial for your stomach.
If your water quality is terrible, you can also attach another invigorated filter with an ultrafiltration membrane to remove colloidal particles.
An Invigorated filter can clean 96 gallons of water—roughly equivalent to 700 standard water bottles—and last around two months. The replacement filter media costs only $16. If you wish to add ultrafiltration to this pitcher, you’d need to buy the filter separately, which costs $25.99.
I love that Invigorated donates a fraction of its revenue to a nonprofit organization called Charity: Water, which delivers clean water to underprivileged people. In addition, Invigorated is a Climate Neutral-certified brand, which means it periodically calculates its carbon footprint and takes measurable actions to offset it.
Cons
The Invigorated Restore glass water-filter pitcher is very well-built except for the quality of the rubber ring seal around the bamboo lid. The rubber of my filter caught algae after a few months, and washing didn’t help at all. So while I love that this pitcher isn’t plastic, its durability just doesn’t match up to the Seychelle.
Another major knock against this filter is that it has no certifications to prove that it removes heavy metals and fluoride from water. I couldn’t find any water-test reports on the website either.
Its 98-gallon filtering capacity is less than both Waterdrop and Seychelle, so the Invigorated is not the right choice for medium to large families.
And lastly, you’ll have to spend more money to add ultrafiltration to your filter. You don’t need to do that with Waterdrop or Seychelle.
Overall
Invigorated’s glass filter pitcher does a splendid job elevating pH levels and making your water taste clean and fresh. It’s easy to maintain and clean and provides decent filtering capacity.
If you’re not bothered by the lack of authentic certifications and you think you can manage keeping the rubber seal clean, this alkaline pitcher is for you. Learn more about it here.
4. Santevia MINA Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher
The Santevia filter pitcher filters water through two stages. The first stage is a combination of granular-activated carbon and ion exchange that knocks out chlorine, lead, mercury, and chromium. The second stage consists of a mineral blend and ceramic balls that mix healthy minerals in the water, elevating the pH to 9.
This powerful combination of filtration media produces the freshest water, free of tricky pollutants.
The filter is made in North America and is tested by a third-party lab against NSF/ANSI drinking water standards, but I couldn’t find the name of the certifications, which seems like they are hiding something.
This filter pitcher costs $49.99 and the filter replacement will set you back $18. You could save 15% by subscribing to Santevia’s monthly offers. It hasn’t mentioned how many gallons its filter can clean, but the brand claims it lasts about two months. Again, it could be hiding something from us.
The pitcher doesn’t have a filter-life counter or LED display on it, but you can sign up to a filter reminder program called “Filter Ease” to receive text, emails, or notifications on your phone about the remaining filter life. Very smart and innovative for those who aren’t already sick of all the alerts and notifications coming from their phones.
However, I genuinely value Sentevia’s commitment to supplying clean water to underprivileged communities, providing 100 days’ worth of clean water for every product sold. Plus, Santevia filters can be easily recycled.
Although it elevates pH of tap water, Santevia is not very transparent about its features, unlike the top contender Waterdrop.
5. Invigorated pH Vitality Water Pitcher
Here’s another efficient alkaline filter pitcher by Invigorated with a stylish, food-grade stainless-steel jug and a wooden handle. You can get it in silver, gold, and black.
The pitcher uses dechlorination balls, ceramic balls, Maifan stones, zeolite, and activated alumina packed in a tea-bag-like pouch. It can clean 100 gallons of water, which is 50 gallons less than the cleaning capacity of Seychelle’s pitcher.
Dechlorination balls remove chlorine and improve the taste of drinking water. Ceramic and Maifan stones are responsible for adding essential minerals, such as zinc, potassium, calcium, iron, sodium, and strontium in water. The activated alumina removes fluoride and targets heavy metals in water.
I couldn’t find any certifications proving it makes your water free of common water pollutants, which is a bit suspicious. However, my pH tests showed that it does increase the pH to 8.5–9.
It’s priced at $59.99, and the replacement pouches (three packs) will cost you only $28.
I suggest you only use this filter for water that doesn’t have hazardous pollutants like microbes, arsenic, and lead in excessive quantities. And if you want these pollutants filtered out, I recommend going with Waterdrop’s and Seychelle’s certified water pitchers.
Invigorated provides a 60-day money-back guarantee to its customers.
6. Hskyhan Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher
Priced at $29.74, Hskyhan Water Filter Pitcher is equipped with seven layers of filtration that include sub-micron membranes, activated carbon, and ion-exchange resin.
One of the seven layers in this filter is responsible for elevating the pH up to 9. The filter claims to also remove chlorine, lead, dirt, heavy metals, lead, and mercury, as well as any objectionable taste and smell. There are no certifications on this unit to prove this, though.
It has a holding capacity of 10 cups and a filtration capacity of 40 gallons that lasts around one month. The replacement filters cost around $7.
Thanks to the filter’s oval shape, it can easily fit into small spaces in your fridge. I like that it comes with a 60-day filter-life counter. But I don’t like the cheap and flimsy plastic used for its body. It’s very delicate and can break on the slightest impact.
Some customers also reported that the filter cartridge doesn’t sit properly, and you might have to fiddle with it a little during assembling to get the placement right.
Seven layers in a filter is impressive, but if I can’t get it to attach to the pitcher properly, it does me no good.
7. EHM Ultra Premium Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher
EHM alkaline filter — priced at $41.97 — uses micro-screen, activated carbon, and ion-exchange resin to remove foul chlorine smell, dirt, and other pollutants in tap water. The filtered water has an elevated pH of 8.5–9.5.
This alkaline filter ionizes water and reduces it to micro-clusters that absorb faster in the body, providing greater benefits.
Made of BPA-free material, this pitcher can hold 3.5 liters of water and is easy to assemble and maintain. The filter cartridge lasts about six to eight weeks (40 gallons) and costs about $9.99.
You should know that this pitcher has no certifications to back its claims of removing heavy metals. Plus, I couldn’t find any warranty or money-back guarantee on this unit.
Although this filter makes your water taste fresh and clean, you can find better alkaline pitchers like Waterdrop with longer life, certifications, and warranties at this price point.
8. Wamery Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher
The Wamery 10-cup Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher — priced at $29.99 — removes foul-smelling pollutants in tap water along with heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury. The filter increases water pH to 8–9.
The filter also cleans 42 gallons of water and can last one to two months. One good thing about Wamery’s filter cartridge is it also fits Brita’s pitchers. So if you already have a Brita filter and want alkaline water, just get yourself Wamery filter cartridges costing around $11.
The Wamery pitcher has an easy-pour spout and features a filter-life counter that you can reset as you attach a new filter.
Wamery says its filters are up to the standards of NSF, but there are no solid certifications to prove this claim. They could just be lying, for all I know.
Wamery filter produces fresh-tasting alkaline water, but there’s no proof that it removes lead and mercury from water.
9. OXA Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher
OXA alkaline water pitcher uses seven stages of filtration comprising activated carbon, ion-exchange resin, ceramic balls, far infrared balls, and polypropylene pads that remove a number of pollutants, like chlorine and heavy metals, while adding healthy minerals.
I like that OXA also reduces limescale in water, but, like the others, I couldn’t find any solid certifications on this filter.
Still, I like the pitcher design. It’s comfortable to hold and easy to pour water from. The pitcher is also equipped with a filter-life indicator on top. However, its 1.5 liters of filtered-water holding capacity is good for no more than two people.
The filter costs $34 and comes with two cartridges lasting 60 days each.
Although it produces highly alkaline water, it doesn’t come with the bells and whistles of the Seychelle and Waterdrop pitchers.
10. Lake Industries Alkaline Water Pitcher
The Lake Industries alkaline water filter uses ion exchange, activated carbon, mineral balls, and tourmaline to remove the off-putting bleach smell while improving pH. The brand says this filter can remove 90% of zinc, lead, and mercury — a bold claim when it doesn’t even have any certifications.
The filter can clean 40 gallons of water and last about 1.5 months if your water is not too murky. The replacement will cost you $9.74.
The filter has a spill-free design and easy-pour spout. It can hold 3.5 liters of water and fit refrigerators easily because of its sleek body. It is also equipped with a filter-life indicator.
I was quite disappointed by the overall filter quality. It started leaking after a few weeks and lost the filtering efficiency. I started tasting chlorine again after exactly two weeks of using it.
Although it increases alkalinity, Waterdrop is by far a better unit than this.
Bottom Line
Out of dozens of alkaline water-filter pitchers, Waterdrop takes the lead because of its authentic certifications, high efficiency, and ability to produce 200 gallons of thirst-quenching water.
Its six filtration stages remove dozens of contaminants, including chlorine, trihalomethanes, VOCs, PFOS, fluoride, and heavy metals. Moreover, it raises the water’s pH to about 9.5.
The filter holds certifications for NSF/ANSI 42 and 372 standards of removing chlorine smell, taste, and other harmful contaminants that damage the body. No brand in this category has authentic certifications.
So if you’re looking for a reasonably priced, durable pitcher that gives your water the alkalinity you desire, get yourself a Waterdrop pitcher filter today.
Methodology
After reading my article, you must be thinking how I ranked these filters and on what basis. This section is a summary of my research process.
Keep reading.
Step 1: A big list of alkaline water-filter pitchers
To begin my research, I created a big list of popular alkaline water filters with the highest sales on online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Target. To refine my list, I visited a couple of local stores and asked my friends to suggest their favorite alkaline pitchers.
By the end of this step, I had a rough list of 20 filter pitchers.
Step 2: Product analysis
Before I could start evaluating the pitchers, I decided to learn more about what makes an alkaline filter the best and what factors one should consider while buying a water-filter pitcher.
After a few keystrokes and skimming through informative articles, I made a list of questions I needed answers to.
- What technology does the filter use to increase the pH level of water?
- Can it remove the most common pollutants in tap water?
- Is the filter tested and certified by an authentic lab?
- Does the pitcher have a filter-life indicator?
- What is the holding capacity of this pitcher?
- How much will it cost me annually?
- What’s the life of the filter?
Step 3: Online reviews
Now that I knew enough about alkaline filters, I jumped to the next phase of reading online reviews by customers who bought and used the filters on my list. This helped me gain a deeper insight into what problems people faced and what they liked the most about the filters.
I gave less importance to reviews on the brand’s website, instead focusing on verified feedback on trusted websites like TestFreak, Angie’s List, Google, and TrustPilot.
Step 4: Interviews with real customers
I needed more evidence before I could strike filters off my list. I contacted customers and asked them about their experience with the filters.
Some were kind enough to give me their detailed analysis, while others hung up on me straightaway. By the end, I had ample evidence to cut seven filters from my list.
Step 5: Interviews with brands
To form my opinion on each brand’s customer service, I decided to send each of them an email asking a few questions about the authentication of certifications, filtering efficiency, warranty, and refund policies. A few brands emailed back within an hour and followed up after a few weeks while others did not respond at all.
I removed the brands that didn’t message me back within 72 hours.
Step 6: Test drives
And here’s my favorite part of the research: testing filters.
I bought all the alkaline water pitchers left on my list along with a pH testing kit. I tested the pH of filtered water and ranked the filters against factors like ease of assembling, size and shape, filtering speed, maintenance, and filter life.
Testing also included measuring chlorine levels, heavy metals, and other pollutants before and after filtering.
Step 7: Ratings
The final stage was to rank the 10 filters on my list. I had a lot of information on each filter, so it was a piece of cake. I plugged in the details in a spreadsheet and gave each filter a score out of five against the following factors:
- Filtration technology
- Certifications
- Filter life
- Pitcher design
- Water-holding capacity
- Customer reviews
- Test results
- Ease of maintenance
- Overall cost
- Warranties and guarantees
Now I typed a quick addition formula in Excel, hit enter, and formed a neat list of filters ranked from numbers 1 through 10.
The Best Alkaline Water Pitcher Filter
Finding an alkaline water filter that cleans water and improves the pH is hard. But my three months of research prove that the Waterdrop model ticks all the boxes for the best alkaline water filter.
Here’s a summary of its key features:
- Removes chlorine, chlorine by-products, organic compounds, lead, mercury, and fluoride
- Raises the pH to about 9.5
- Adds beneficial alkaline minerals
- Filters 200 gallons of water
- Is certified for NSF/ANSI 42 and 372 standards
- Comes with a 30-day warranty
So, if you want a water pitcher that actually raises the pH while cleaning your contaminated tap water, get yourself a Waterdrop filter pitcher and sip on the refreshing, mineralized water all the time.
