Installed an under sink water filter this weekend. Easier than I expected.
Been meaning to do this for months. Our tap water tastes fine but I got tired of buying bottled water for the fridge and filling up Brita pitchers constantly. Plus the plastic waste was starting to annoy me. Im not a plumber. I've changed a shower head once and fixed a leaky tap with YouTube help that's about it.
The whole install took me maybe an hour and a half. Most of that time was just figuring out which adapter fit my cold water line. Once I had that sorted, the rest was pretty straightforward. Push some tubes in, tighten a few fittings, turn the water back on and check for leaks.
No leaks first try which honestly surprised me.
I went with a basic carbon filter for now. Didn't feel like dealing with reverse osmosis and the extra waste water. For drinking water and coffee, carbon seems fine. The water tastes noticeably cleaner. No more chlorine hint.
I was looking at sink filters online for a while before picking one. The main things I learned: check what thread size your faucet has before buying, and get one with standard replacement cartridges so you're not locked into one brand forever.
One thing I didn't think about beforehand – the filter takes up a fair bit of space under the sink. If your cabinet is already full of cleaning stuff and random junk, you'll need to clear some room.
For anyone thinking about doing this themselves, it's genuinely not hard. Way easier than installing a garbage disposal or something like that.
Has anyone else installed one of these? Did you go with carbon or RO? How often are you changing the filters- I ve heard every 6 months but also heard people push it to a year.
Also – anyone had one leak on them after a few months? That's my only real worry long term.