# Aquasana Water Filters Review # Aquasana Water Filters Review: Whole House Ambition, Selective Excellence **strong** Five records, four classes, and one chemistry sold at every scale. The headline is the Claryum under sink system, and Aquasana states *em*, with *em* and the reduction figures written out for each one. The catch runs the other way: this media is built to leave your minerals where they are, so it won't touch *em*, and the cartridge lands near **strong** on its rated 800 gallons and closer to **strong** once the 6 month clock is applied. [Aquasana Water Filters Lineup](#specs) [Aquasana Water Filters Scorecard](#score) [Aquasana Water Filters Fit](#who) [Aquasana Water Filters Trade-offs](#proscons) [Aquasana Water Filters Cost per Gallon](#cost) [Aquasana Water Filters Compared](#compare) [Aquasana Water Filters FAQ](#faq) [Aquasana Water Filters: Where It Lands](#verdict) **strong** This article contains affiliate links. **strong** at *em*. **strong** retail prices move daily, so we quote ranges and send you to the live figure on the listing. **strong** *em* Every number on this page traces to manufacturer documentation, a WQA certification statement, or our own catalog records, held against the claims on the box. No free products, no paid placements, no manufacturer relationships. Scoring rules are public on our [methodology page](/methodology). [](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGZMTRH?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ## Aquasana Water Filters Lineup: 5 Records Across 4 Classes **strong** Two are under sink systems, one is a faucet mount, one is a whole house tank, and the fifth is the cartridge the 2 under sink bodies run on. Nothing here is a pitcher, which already puts this badge in a different part of the aisle from most of the brands on this site. It also means the range is less a family than a catalog, and the parts don't swap between the ends. **strong** Catalytic carbon handles the chlorine and the taste, ion exchange resin pulls the lead and the mercury, and there's no membrane anywhere in the line. That's why the calcium and magnesium stay in the glass instead of going down the drain with the contaminants. One recipe, then, on the $225 body and on the $1,085 tank alike. **strong** - Certification: WQA certified to NSF/ANSI 42, 53 and 401 on the headline record, with a 78 line reduction list and a percentage beside each name. P473 sits inside the 53 listing, which is how PFOA and PFOS get named at all. - Four classes: under sink, faucet mount, whole house and replacement, all sold under one badge out of one catalog. - Rated capacity: 800 gallons on the drinking water cartridge, 784 gallons at the spout, and 600,000 gallons on the whole house record. One of the 2 under sink bodies prints no figure at all. - Published flow: 0.72 gpm on the Max Flow body, about a gallon in under 90 seconds, and the line says it's 44 percent faster than the standard 3 stage. - Money, in bands: $225 to $230 for either under sink body, $125 to $130 at the spout, $1,080 to $1,090 for the house wide unit, and $90 to $95 for the replacement part. - Not published anywhere: a listing number a reader can key into a registry, or a precise micron rating for the Claryum blocks. One under sink body also leaves its capacity blank. **strong** *em* The short version **strong** The cheap end of this line is a $125 faucet filter. The dear end is a $1,090 tank that treats 600,000 gallons before it is done. *em* Upfront band for each Aquasana record Bars showing the upfront band for 5 Aquasana records: the whole house record sits near $1,085, the Max Flow under sink body and the newer under sink body sit near $227 each, the faucet filter near $127, and the replacement cartridge near $92. Upfront band, in dollars Four classes, and the money tracks the scope of the job - 0 300 600 900 1200 whole house tank Max Flow body newer under sink faucet filter replacement part about $1,085 $225 to $230 $225 to $230 $125 to $130 $90 to $95 Bands from our catalog: the dear end is a whole house tank, the cheap end a single cartridge. Figure 1. Five records, 4 classes, and about 12 times between the cheapest purchase and the dearest. The navy bar is the dear end of the line, the one record the phrase whole house ambition actually describes. See the Headline System on Amazon ## Aquasana Water Filters Review: 4 of 7 for the Headline System Every product in this index is rated 1 to 7 across seven verifiable criteria. One point per criterion. No partial credit. The table below is the whole scoring rule in one place, and a record scores on what it publishes rather than on branding or design language. A brand page carries its strongest record's scorecard rather than an average. Here that record is the Claryum under sink body. Its 3 zeros are the trade the whole line makes, and 2 of them are arithmetic rather than water. The full argument sits on that page, and the table below is copied from it. CriterionPointsEvidence Certified removal scope1 pointNSF/ANSI 42 and 401 plus 53 covering P473, with 78 contaminants named and a reduction figure beside each claim Certification and test transparency0 pointsWQA mark, standards, data sheet and contaminant list published, but no certificate number to look up and no precise micron rating for the Claryum blocks Filter life and rated capacity1 point800 gallons and 6 months, both published, which covers about 2.2 years of drinking water at 365 gallons a year Cost per gallon0 pointsAbout a dozen cents a gallon, the highest figure in our under sink records, see the math below Flow rate and pressure drop1 point0.72 gpm in the current specification table, and the Max Flow line is 44 percent faster than the standard three stage Install and footprint0 points4.25 by 12 by 12.85 inches needing 15.85 inches of space, plus a dedicated faucet that wants its own opening in the counter Maintenance burden1 pointTwo cartridge changes a year, a quarter turn each, no hoses to disconnect and an alert when the interval lands One line sits at zero on documentation, and it's the line every record here carries. The standards, the 78 names and the capacity are all published. Then the record stops short of a number a reader can key into a registry. The maker's own cartridge page takes the same hit, and scoring 2 products by different standards would make both scores worthless. The other 2 zeros are the price of that sheet. The rated figure lands near 12 cents, the highest across the under sink category, and the install wants a counter opening plus about 16 inches of cabinet height. This system doesn't lose points for the water it makes. It loses them for what the documents add to the bill. See the Newer Under Sink Body ## Who the Aquasana Water Filters Fit, and Who They Don't The question is never which filter is best. It's which one matches your tap and the contaminant you named before you started shopping. This line answers the certification question well and the budget question badly. Pick your side, then read the running cost. The container is the number to shop on, because the recipe doesn't change with the size. 784 gallons at the spout, 800 under the sink, and 600,000 at the main line. Four records, 3 different jobs, and one of them leaves the capacity blank. The whole house roundup is where the tank earns its keep, and the under sink roundup is where the pair is judged. The PFAS household: PFOA and PFOS appear by name, carrying a percentage each, inside a certification rather than a slogan. - The lead and old plumbing household: lead is certified at 99.6 percent, and the ion exchange stage is doing that work rather than the carbon. - The mineral keeper: calcium, potassium and magnesium stay in the glass, so the water keeps its body instead of tasting like nothing. - The whole house buyer: the point of entry unit treats the shower, the laundry and every faucet from one decision, and the whole house filter rankings hold it against the rest of that class. - The two tap kitchen: filtered water arrives from its own faucet on the Claryum system, so the main tap keeps full pressure for washing up. #### This Is Not Your Lineup If - You want the cheapest gallon in the house. A direct connect carbon system does that job for about a quarter of a cent and a fifth of the upfront money. - You want a low TDS reading. The selective media leaves dissolved solids alone by design, so that purchase is reverse osmosis and a different page. - You will not change a cartridge on a calendar. The 6 month tag retires an under sink part at about 182 gallons, well short of its rating. - You want a listing number you can type into a registry. The WQA mark and the data sheet are published, and the number is not. - You are filtering for one tap only. A point of entry tank bills every tap in the house, and most of that water never reaches a glass. Think of it this way **strong** It pulls lead, mercury and PFOA out of the line and waves the calcium and magnesium straight through. That's why the kettle still scales and the water still tastes like water. *em* Cents a gallon for the Aquasana cartridge, rated against the clock Bars showing 2 per gallon figures for the Aquasana under sink cartridge: about 12 cents on the rated 800 gallons, against about 50 cents once the clock turns over. Cents a gallon, rated against the clock One cartridge, 2 very different figures - 0 20 40 60 on the rated 800 gallons on the 6 month tag about 12 cents about 50 cents The rated figure divides the cartridge by 800 gallons. The clock figure divides it by the 182 gallons 6 months delivers. Figure 2. The same cartridge, priced 2 ways. On the rated capacity it reads near a dozen cents on the gallon. Once the 6 month window hands over about 182 gallons, the same part bills near 50 cents. The navy bar is the figure a household actually pays. Check the Faucet Filter on Amazon ## What the Aquasana Water Filters Get Right The strength of this line is the certification record and the selective media, and the weakness is the documentation and the calendar. Every record wears the same badge and runs the same recipe. What changes is how much water you drink and how much you will pay for the sheet that backs it. There are 4 classes in the line, and 2 of the records are still waiting on a page. #### What You Get The widest certification in the under sink records we hold: 42, 53 with P473 folded inside, and 401 on one record. - A reduction list 78 names long: lead, cysts, PFOA and PFOS, each with a percentage, which is the itemised version most listings skip. - Minerals kept, not stripped: the ion exchange stage is selective, so the water keeps its calcium and magnesium. - Four classes from one badge: a spout filter, an under sink pair, a replacement part and a tank for the whole house. - A dedicated faucet on the under sink kit: filtered water has its own tap, so the main spout keeps full pressure. #### What It Costs You - About a dozen cents on the rated gallon: the highest figure across the under sink records we hold, and near 50 cents on the calendar. - A 6 month tag: it retires an 800 gallon part at roughly 182 gallons, so about three quarters of the rating goes unspent. - A documentation gap: no listing number and no micron rating, which costs the record a point on the scorecard. - A counter opening: the under sink kit wants its own faucet hole and about 16 inches of cabinet height. - An empty capacity cell: one of the pair names its standards and prints no gallon figure at all. [See the Whole House Unit on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FYHBLSK3?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ## What Aquasana Water Filters Cost per Gallon **strong** The only honest way to compare these parts is *em*, and this is the record that makes that division sting. A cartridge that costs $88 to $95 looks modest next to a $225 body. Divided by the gallons it actually delivers, it isn't. - The under sink cartridge: $88 to $95 against a rated 800 gallons, which is about 11 to 12 cents on the gallon. - The same part on the clock: 2 cartridges a year at that band is about $176 to $190, which lands near 50 cents a gallon at a household pace. Roughly 4 times the rated figure. - The faucet filter: $125 to $130 for the body, drawing 784 gallons on the cartridge that ships with it. - The house wide unit: About $1,085 treating 600,000 gallons works out to about a fifth of a cent a gallon, the cheapest gallon in the line by a wide margin. - The annual reality: a gallon a day is 365 gallons a year, which is about 2 cartridges on the 6 month clock, or roughly $176 behind a body that cost $225. *em* **strong** That gap isn't a rounding error, and it isn't a trick either. *em* Put another way **strong** The point of entry tank treats 600,000 gallons of showers, laundry and flushes. The cartridge treats 800 gallons you actually drink. *em* [See What a Cartridge Costs on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LB0L6MS?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) The replacement part is where the running cost lives, and the band moves with it. ## Aquasana Water Filters Review: The 5 Records Side by Side **strong** *em* The points column carries each part's own page score where one exists, and the rest are honest blanks. RecordClassStandard namedRated lifeUpfront bandPoints **strong**Under sink**strong****strong****strong****strong** Aquasana AQ-6300M-BN, 3 stageUnder sink42, 53, 401no figure$225 to $230no page yet Aquasana Claryum Direct Connect, AQ-MF-1Faucet mountnone printed784 gal$125 to $130not scored Aquasana Rhino WH-1000Whole houseNSF certified600,000 gal$1,080 to $1,090no score yet Aquasana AQ-5300+R replacementReplacement42, 53, 401800 gal$90 to $95see the review **strong** The standards travel down the line and the capacity doesn't. A buyer reads the same 3 digits on a $90 part and on a $1,090 tank. The [Culligan lineup](/culligan-review) answers a similar question with 2 chemistries rather than one, and the [APEC reverse osmosis line](/apec-review) is where the total dissolved solids argument lives instead. It's also worth reading this list beside a [ZeroWater lineup](/zerowater-review), which is the mirror image. There the capacity shrinks and the removal widens. [iSpring](/ispring-review) covers both ends of the house the way this line does, and it prints a capacity on 3 of its 7 records. **strong** [Check the Price on the AQ-5300+](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGZMTRH?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) The record that carries this lineup's scorecard, and the one that sets the 12 cent figure. ## Aquasana Water Filters Review FAQ **strong** Certified, and the difference is written down. The headline record carries *em*, with the reduction figures written out for the 78. What's missing is the listing number, and that absent document is what costs the record a point. **strong** Neither, and the design is the reason. Claryum is carbon plus ion exchange, so it pulls lead and mercury while leaving the dissolved minerals in the glass. A low TDS reading is a reverse osmosis purchase, and that's a different machine entirely. **strong** Aquasana states 800 gallons or 6 months, and the clock arrives first for most households. At 30 gallons a month you use about 182 gallons in 6 months, under a quarter of the rating, and the instruction is still to swap the part. Budget 2 a year. **strong** Yes, the Rhino WH-1000, and it's a different machine from the drinking water line. It's a carbon tank rated 600,000 gallons at the main line, priced near $1,085, and it treats the shower and the laundry as well as the tap. The [whole house roundup](/best-whole-house-filters) holds it against that class. **strong** It depends on the job, and the line splits cleanly. A household chasing lead or PFAS at one tap wants the under sink system and its 78 name list. A renter or a small kitchen wants the faucet filter at $125 to $130. A house chasing scale and chlorine everywhere wants the tank. ## Aquasana Water Filters Review: Where the Lineup Lands **strong** The same selective media sits in a spout filter, an under sink body and a house wide unit. *em* Every record here leaves the minerals in, and every record here prices the gallon by its own clock. The pick is the [Max Flow system](/aquasana-aq-5300-review). It carries the widest certification here, the 78 name list, and the fastest published flow in the line. It also carries the highest per gallon figure. That's the trade a household makes for a list it can check. **strong** *em* If you want every tap at once, the tank does that for about 0.2 cents a gallon. **strong** [See the Headline System on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGZMTRH?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ### Where It Lands: The Certificate Is on the Box, the Number Isn't The standards are named, 78 contaminants carry a percentage, and the listing number is the one document that never shows up. Whichever record you pick, the running cost tracks the calendar rather than your thirst. The widest removal this line sells carries its steepest gallon. *em* [See the Official Replacement on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LB0L6MS?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ## Every Standard the Aquasana Water Filters Name **strong** The aesthetic effects standard, covering *em*. A filter with 42 alone changes how water tastes. It does nothing about the health list. **strong** The health effects standard, *em*, covering lead, chromium, mercury and named compounds. This is where the 78 name list lives. PFOA and PFOS sit inside it. **strong** Emerging compounds, a separate listing from the health standard, covering certain pharmaceuticals and flame retardants. *em* **strong** The PFAS protocol, folded inside standard 53 rather than run as a standalone listing. It's why PFOA and PFOS can be named at all. **strong** The maker's own name for the selective media: catalytic carbon plus ion exchange resin. It pulls the heavy metals and leaves the minerals behind. That's the whole difference between this and a membrane. **strong** A resin that swaps unwanted ions in your water for ones it would rather release. It's why this line can take lead without stripping everything else. **strong** Everything dissolved in water that is not water: *em*. The selective media here barely moves it. That's the point of the design. **strong** The volume a cartridge filters before performance is no longer certified, in **strong**. Here it runs 784 to 800 on the drinking water records. The whole house tank runs 600,000 at the entry point. ## Keep Reading: More Aquasana Water Filters - Aquasana AQ-5300+ Water Filter Review: the record this page carries, row for row, and the full reduction list. - Aquasana AQ-5300+R Replacement Filter Review: the cartridge behind the scorecard, and the 6 month interval in detail. - Best Under Sink Water Filters: the parent roundup, every system in that class scored the same way. - Best Water Filters: the pillar, 136 records across 12 classes and one scoring rule.