@@lk8596 The design score is made up of two factors, component quality and materials safety certification. Clearly Filtered is certified for materials safety, LARQ is not. This is why it received a lower design score. waterfilterguru.com/how-we-test-water-filters/
Thanks for the test! I use the larq bottle and was wondering how well the pitcher did. From what I've seen, activated carbon filters tend to breed bacteria, so a pitcher that takes care of that with uvc seems like a nice idea. I guess some people don't want flouride removed, so not too surprising there. On their FAQ though they say flouride removal might be a 'future development.'
@@waterfilterguruI've been using zerowater for 6 months and my tap water is between 144 and 220 so I go through a lot of filters I was wondering what you think of bluevua..... I bought the $400 model and thought wow it's got four filters but I've heard they lost the longest what do you think? Thank you
Thanks for your videos! I am still trying to boil down what water pitcher or gravity filtration system to buy... On another note, I just purchased a Crystal Quest Shower filter. They claim to remove many toxic contaminants such as heavy metals and has a reputation of being one of the best on the market (along with their popular bath water filter). Would be awesome to see you test this brand or other bath/shower filter systems!
Great suggestion! I appreciate it. Have you had your water tested? Do you know what contaminants and concentrations are present that need to be addressed?
@@waterfilterguru Yes. These are the main big issues: Bromodichloromethane (13.9 PPB), Chloroform (54.4 PPB), Total THMs (72.46 PPB), Dibromochloromethane (4.16 PPB), Lead (0.00454 PPM) and fluoride (0.507 PPM).
This is helpful, thanks for all your videos! If this model has the UV-C light it would also be interesting to see how well it actually disinfects itself.
1.1 ppm is nowhere near the 1.5 ppm limit of municipak water systems so I wouldn’t be too concerned. Unless you live somewhere that exceeds such limits which would be an outlier.
Fluoride is considered truly harmful at levels over 4ppm so 1.1 is well within limits. Even then municipal water treatment generally sets 1.5 ppm as the limit. Larq most likely doesn’t remove fluoride due to dental health benefits.
It's good to note that the federal MCL of 4 ppm for fluoride is established to balance public health with treatment costs borne by water utilities. It's not strictly focused on health. The most conservative, human health protective benchmarks in the industry suggest a maximum of 0.8 ppm for fluoride.
Thank you for your videos! Have you heard of the Melissani m1? It seems to be a newer RO option. Seems similar to the rkin u1? just throwing in a review request bc it seems like an option but not sure on its effectiveness & trust your opinion 🙏🏼
They claim it can reduce PFOA/PFOS (two of the most common PFAs 'forever chemicals') on their website imp.i263265.net/Kj7kk9 however I don't have any firsthand data confirmation of this since PFAs chemicals were not included in our testing.
The Tap Score Advanced City Water Test we used for this project unfortunately does not analyze for microplastics or phthalates. However Tap Score do offer specialized testing for both of those contaminants: Microplastics specific test tinyurl.com/yc8jm2fc SVOC specific test (includes phthalates) tinyurl.com/ypduf93a
I love that your putting all thse claims and products to the test. Reading reviews online feels so faked and deceptive. This is definitely the stuff i needed to see to feel confident before i ever buy a filter. As a parting question do you consider the stainless steel RO water filters like berkey worth it for someone looking for a reliable machine. Money is kinda tight in this day and age and im looking for some secuirth that doesnt cause an anmrm and a leg
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad the video was helpful. Just to clarify, the large stainless steel countertop systems like Berkey are NOT reverse osmosis (RO) systems - the are gravity-fed systems just like water filter pitchers. That said, it all depends on what contaminants are present in the source water to be treated, and which system you are considering. We've tested a few of the stainless steel systems, and some performed better than others: Berkey test 1 ua-cam.com/video/AVZmZwTxnMc/v-deo.html Berkey test 2 ua-cam.com/video/1QL3McV20YM/v-deo.html Alexapure ua-cam.com/video/LUwzp-7qV6c/v-deo.html Waterdrop King Tank ua-cam.com/video/idld7-KnNf4/v-deo.html ProOne ua-cam.com/video/5h87z2rA6Og/v-deo.html You mentioned reverse osmosis which is a different, more thorough treatment process. RO will provide more broad contaminant reduction than any gravity-fed system.
@waterfilterguru awsome thanks for the info I was wondering what your opinion on zero water jugs are as I've seen a review online and they are quite effecte as far as TDS reduction but I never saw any actual chemical testing to see how effective it was in other aspects.
@@dylancoates5391 great question, check out these two videos: ZeroWater test ua-cam.com/video/Ud45hxCFQyM/v-deo.html ZeroWater review ua-cam.com/video/Kw5no7NIr-s/v-deo.html
@@waterfilterguru do you have details on how small the particles can be to be detected with your testing? It looks like nanoparticle titanium dioxide is often used in water filtration. I appreciate your response. I’ve been using this water for my 4 year old. I’ve avoided nanoparticles in sunscreen and now I’m wondering if I should be worried about exposure here as well.
There are studies showing a number of potential adverse health effects. Many folks would prefer the choice of using fluoride topically for dental health rather than ingesting it in their tap water
🔥 Check out the LARQ PureVis here ➡ geni.us/Fr8CeSS
the aesthetic is incredible, I would buy this filter based off the appearance over other filters.
Definitely the most aesthetically pleasing pitcher we've tested to date, that's for sure
@@waterfilterguruso why is the design score on your website substantially lower than your favorite clearly filtered’s one?
@@lk8596 The design score is made up of two factors, component quality and materials safety certification. Clearly Filtered is certified for materials safety, LARQ is not. This is why it received a lower design score. waterfilterguru.com/how-we-test-water-filters/
Thanks for the test! I use the larq bottle and was wondering how well the pitcher did. From what I've seen, activated carbon filters tend to breed bacteria, so a pitcher that takes care of that with uvc seems like a nice idea. I guess some people don't want flouride removed, so not too surprising there. On their FAQ though they say flouride removal might be a 'future development.'
Thanks for watching! The UV aspect is cool. A great idea to test that functionality for a followup project
@@waterfilterguruI've been using zerowater for 6 months and my tap water is between 144 and 220 so I go through a lot of filters I was wondering what you think of bluevua..... I bought the $400 model and thought wow it's got four filters but I've heard they lost the longest what do you think? Thank you
Thanks for your videos! I am still trying to boil down what water pitcher or gravity filtration system to buy...
On another note, I just purchased a Crystal Quest Shower filter. They claim to remove many toxic contaminants such as heavy metals and has a reputation of being one of the best on the market (along with their popular bath water filter). Would be awesome to see you test this brand or other bath/shower filter systems!
Great suggestion! I appreciate it.
Have you had your water tested? Do you know what contaminants and concentrations are present that need to be addressed?
@@waterfilterguru Yes.
These are the main big issues: Bromodichloromethane (13.9 PPB), Chloroform (54.4 PPB), Total THMs (72.46 PPB), Dibromochloromethane (4.16 PPB), Lead (0.00454 PPM) and fluoride (0.507 PPM).
@@Metalgal80 I'd recommend the Clearly Filtered pitcher which will be effective against those DBPs and fluoride bit.ly/3XEksYj
Can you lab test the NU Aqua 4-Stage Countertop Reverse Osmosis System please
I'll put it on the list for the next time we test countertop ROs - thanks for the request!
This is helpful, thanks for all your videos! If this model has the UV-C light it would also be interesting to see how well it actually disinfects itself.
Great suggestion for a follow-up project - use it without washing or 2 months like they say you can, and give it a test 🤓
As someone who already owns the Larq, is there potentially a second filtration step I could take to remove fluoride ?
Yes, the ZeroWater geni.us/g7NtSZ and Clearly Filtered geni.us/VsUZHW1 pitchers both eliminated fluoride in our testing
What’s the best filter to remove fluoride?
Both Clearly Filtered bit.ly/3XEksYj and ZeroWater tinyurl.com/y2wrs7xn completely eliminate fluoride in our testing
1.1 ppm is nowhere near the 1.5 ppm limit of municipak water systems so I wouldn’t be too concerned. Unless you live somewhere that exceeds such limits which would be an outlier.
Fluoride is considered truly harmful at levels over 4ppm so 1.1 is well within limits. Even then municipal water treatment generally sets 1.5 ppm as the limit. Larq most likely doesn’t remove fluoride due to dental health benefits.
I should note that municipal water systems normally cap fluoride at less than 1.5 ppm
It's good to note that the federal MCL of 4 ppm for fluoride is established to balance public health with treatment costs borne by water utilities. It's not strictly focused on health.
The most conservative, human health protective benchmarks in the industry suggest a maximum of 0.8 ppm for fluoride.
Please do the Boroux water filter! It’s from someone who worked for Berkey for 25 years and they say it’s better. I’d love to see how it tests
Got it on the list!
Is the UV light safe to be around?
It's a small light within the pitcher vessel itself
Can you run the same tests on LARQ’s filtered water bottle and their PureVis UV bottle as well
Yep, we've got it on the list to test when we do a filtered water bottles project. Thanks for the request
Could you do a similar test with the Brita Elite filter?
Already did, check it out here ua-cam.com/video/OH8Gan35bVI/v-deo.html
Have you tested General Ecology filters?
We have not yet
What would cause the sulfate increase?
It's hard to draw definitive conclusions from just one isolated test, but one hypothesis is that it's coming from the media in the filter itself.
Thank you for your videos! Have you heard of the Melissani m1? It seems to be a newer RO option. Seems similar to the rkin u1? just throwing in a review request bc it seems like an option but not sure on its effectiveness & trust your opinion 🙏🏼
Thanks for the additional request for the Melissani M1 - we've had a few already and it's on our list for next time we test countertop ROs!
Where to get the testing stripes
@@cupidok2768 We used Tap Score lab testing for this project bit.ly/3HJrxAw
Personally I recommend reading "Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy" before going with RO.
Will this remove all forever chemicals?
They claim it can reduce PFOA/PFOS (two of the most common PFAs 'forever chemicals') on their website imp.i263265.net/Kj7kk9 however I don't have any firsthand data confirmation of this since PFAs chemicals were not included in our testing.
Does tap score also check for plastic phthalates? Or at least micro plastic levels ?
The Tap Score Advanced City Water Test we used for this project unfortunately does not analyze for microplastics or phthalates. However Tap Score do offer specialized testing for both of those contaminants:
Microplastics specific test tinyurl.com/yc8jm2fc
SVOC specific test (includes phthalates) tinyurl.com/ypduf93a
I love that your putting all thse claims and products to the test. Reading reviews online feels so faked and deceptive. This is definitely the stuff i needed to see to feel confident before i ever buy a filter. As a parting question do you consider the stainless steel RO water filters like berkey worth it for someone looking for a reliable machine. Money is kinda tight in this day and age and im looking for some secuirth that doesnt cause an anmrm and a leg
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad the video was helpful.
Just to clarify, the large stainless steel countertop systems like Berkey are NOT reverse osmosis (RO) systems - the are gravity-fed systems just like water filter pitchers.
That said, it all depends on what contaminants are present in the source water to be treated, and which system you are considering. We've tested a few of the stainless steel systems, and some performed better than others:
Berkey test 1 ua-cam.com/video/AVZmZwTxnMc/v-deo.html
Berkey test 2 ua-cam.com/video/1QL3McV20YM/v-deo.html
Alexapure ua-cam.com/video/LUwzp-7qV6c/v-deo.html
Waterdrop King Tank ua-cam.com/video/idld7-KnNf4/v-deo.html
ProOne ua-cam.com/video/5h87z2rA6Og/v-deo.html
You mentioned reverse osmosis which is a different, more thorough treatment process. RO will provide more broad contaminant reduction than any gravity-fed system.
@waterfilterguru awsome thanks for the info I was wondering what your opinion on zero water jugs are as I've seen a review online and they are quite effecte as far as TDS reduction but I never saw any actual chemical testing to see how effective it was in other aspects.
@@dylancoates5391 great question, check out these two videos:
ZeroWater test ua-cam.com/video/Ud45hxCFQyM/v-deo.html
ZeroWater review ua-cam.com/video/Kw5no7NIr-s/v-deo.html
Do the strawlife please!
Got it on the list for next time we test more pitchers! Thanks for the request
link to lab results???
Unfiltered gosimplelab.com/YV8L3G
LARQ gosimplelab.com/2WVY7D
Does this text show if titanium dioxide is released into the water at all? Larq informed me it was used in the filter.
It did test for titanium, which I assume includes all forms of titanium compounds. Our test did not detect any titanium post-filtration
@@waterfilterguru do you have details on how small the particles can be to be detected with your testing? It looks like nanoparticle titanium dioxide is often used in water filtration. I appreciate your response. I’ve been using this water for my 4 year old. I’ve avoided nanoparticles in sunscreen and now I’m wondering if I should be worried about exposure here as well.
Whats the issue with flouride?
There are studies showing a number of potential adverse health effects. Many folks would prefer the choice of using fluoride topically for dental health rather than ingesting it in their tap water
@@waterfilterguru
Thank you for your informations.
Surely the dosage would have to be very high to have any meaningful effect?