Lead is a hazardous heavy metal that can get into drinking water and harm human health. According to the CDC, lead is harmful even at low concentrations, endangering the health of children, pregnant women, and workers, and should be removed from drinking water. Under sink water filters may provide the ideal solution for many homes.
Under sink water filters with activated carbon media or ion exchange resins can effectively remove lead from water. Activated carbon can remove more than 99% of lead, while ion exchange is up to 90% effective. Clearly Filtered, Epic Water and Crystal Quest under sink filters can effectively remove lead.
This article will explain what lead is, its health impacts, how under sink filters remove Lead, and provide a list of the top under-sink filters for removing lead from water.
What is lead, and why should we remove it from water?
Lead is naturally present in the earth’s crust in trace amounts. Despite having some useful applications, it can be hazardous to people. The maximum contaminant level for lead is zero by Environment Protection Agency (EPA). This means that our water should technically have NO lead in it, especially if we are to drink it.
This is because lead is bioaccumulative (builds up in our body) and is toxic to human health even at low concentrations.
Lead can enter our drinking water through the corrosion of household plumbing or service lines. The entry of lead through corrosion of pipes and fixtures can be exceptionally high when water is highly acidic or has low mineral content, as this helps release more lead into the water.
Homes constructed before 1986 tend to have more lead in solders, pipes, and fixtures.
For this reason, point-of-use systems, such as under-sink filters, are preferable to whole house systems that remove contaminants and store the filtered water before use. The removal of chlorine and other ions from the water can make the water more acidic and promote bacterial growth, which in turn corrodes the pipes within the home and can release more lead into the water.
Health Impacts of Lead
Using under sink water filters (or other POU devices) to remove lead can help us avoid the following nasty health effects of heavy metal exposure.
According to the EPA, lead exposure in adults can cause:
- Increase in blood pressure
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular ailments
- Decreased kidney function
- Reproductive system problems
According to the CDC, exposure to lead in children can result in:
- Damage to the nervous system
- Speech and hearing problems
- Learning problems
- Behavioral problems
- Slow growth
How Under Sink Water Filters Remove Lead
Under sink, water filtration systems use activated carbon filters or a combination of activated carbon and ion exchange resins to efficiently remove lead from water.
Activated Carbon
According to Cornell University, activated carbon is one of the most convenient and effective ways of reducing lead in water. The EPA confirms this and advises when used properly, activated carbon can effectively remove lead from water by adsorption.
In fact, activated carbon can remove more than 99% of the lead in water.
The adsorption process involves the lead molecules sticking to the surface of the activated carbon that serves as a solid filtration substrate. The vast surface area of activated carbon makes it similar to a sponge that can adsorb impurities from water, including lead, giving you clean and purified water.
Ion Exchange
Ion exchange can also reduce lead in water. However, the ion exchange system is usually combined with a carbon filtration system to remove lead (and other heavy metals) from water more effectively.
An ion exchange column is designed to remove only ions, and can remove up to 90% of the lead ions in water.
However, it might not be the best technology to remove lead overall. The truth is that lead pollutants in wastewater are frequently not in an ionic state and may interact with the resin differently, which is why the are commonly paired with activated carbon filtration media.
NSF Certification for Removal of Lead from Water
There are no legal requirements for the testing or third-party certification of Point-of-Use (POU) drinking water filters under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
However, customers can look for NSF/ANSI Standards 42 and 53 to boost their level of confidence in products when purchasing the under sink water filters. Filters that are certified by a third-party testing organization for lead reduction and Class-I particle reduction (NSF 42 and 53) are ideal.
The joint committee that supervises NSF/ANSI 53 has also recently reduced the maximum permitted lead level in filtered water from 10 ppb to 5 ppb. This means the water filters with satisfy the NSF-53 standard can effectively reduce lead levels down to 5ppb or less, and are a great investment for your home.
Also keep a look out for water filters that are NSF/ANSI 372 certified. The NSF/ANSI 372 standard ensures that the water filter and other plumbing components are lead-free.
Top 10 Under Sink Water Filters that can Remove Lead
Here’s a list of the best under sink water filters that can remove Lead from water. You can click on each to check the availability and latest prices on amazon or the product’s original website.
1. Clearly Filtered 3-Stage Under the Sink Filtration System
The Clearly Filtered 3-stage under sink filtration system is one of the most effective water filters against lead, with a capability of removing 98.9% of Lead from water.
2. EPIC Smart Shield Under Sink Filter
The Epic smart shield under sink filter can efficiently remove 99.94% of Lead from water. With a solid carbon block design, this filter can remove 99.99% of more than 70 tap water contaminants.
3. Crystal Quest Lead Under Sink Water Filter System
The Crystal Quest Lead under sink water filter system can remove lead, chlorine, and other heavy metals from water. Water is passed through a triple cartridge with a Lead water filter, smart water filter, and a carbon block filter. The lead-specific filter uses granular activated carbon and ion exchange resin to effectively remove almost 100% of the lead from your water.
4. Frizzlife Direct Connect Under Sink Water Filter System
The Frizzlife SW10 under sink filter features a multi-stage filtration technology with a sediment filter and a coconut carbon block filter combined into a composite filter with 0.5-micron filter efficiency for removing 99.9% of lead.
5. APEC Under sink Water Filtration System
The APEC under-sink water filtration system (Amazon link) can remove more than 90% of Lead from water.
6. Filtrete Maximum Under Sink Water Filtration System
The Filtrete maximum under sink water filtration system can remove 99% of lead and all other contaminants with a size of up to 5 microns from water.
7. Hansing Under Sink Water Filter
The Hansing under sink water filter system (Amazon link) features a 3-in-1 composite filter element for removing 99.9% of lead along with many other contaminants from water.
8. Aquasana 2-Stage Under Sink Water Filter System
The Aquasana’s Claryum two-stage under-sink water filter (Amazon link) can remove 99% of Lead.
9. Woder Under Sink Water
The Woder under sink water filter can remove 99.9% of Lead, heavy metals, chlorine, chromium, VOCs, and other contaminants while leaving all essential minerals in the water.
10. Wingsol Under Sink Water Filter
The Wings under sink water filter can remove 99.99% of lead and other contaminants from water. With an advanced 0.2-micron filtration efficiency, this 5-in-1 filtration system reduces heavy metals, improves taste, increases water alkalinity, and retains essential minerals.
