Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter System Review

Aquasana is a well-established name in the home water filtration industry. We have tested some of the best under the sink, countertop, and even whole house filtration systems from this company. So for the under-the-sink category, Aquasana has come up with the 3-stage water filter, and it offers some great features and a completely different USP. So we got the filter to test it and see if it is the right choice for you and your family. We tested it for a couple of weeks, finding all the pros and cons. So here is the review for the Aquasana Claryum 3-stage under sink water filter.

What Do You Get In The Box?

Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter System
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Don’t get us wrong, the filtration for the size and price is great, but it could have been better. Or here’s a better way to put it. There are many other filters in the market that might be a bit bulkier or a tad bit expensive, but they offer greater filtration than the Claryum. Not a big factor, since most of the water that comes to the houses is free of many contaminants.

Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter System User Review

The filtration system came in a decently packed way. The box was strong, and the company packed the content very well. You get the three filter cartridges in the box. There are a few nuts and a wall mounting bracket as well. This filter comes with a dedicated faucet as well, and it is something new and great at this price range. Hoses for the filter are also included. All the basics for water filtration are present. But now, let’s come to the installation part.

Ease of Installation

The installation part was not that easy, although we cannot say that it was difficult either. It is a small and easy to handle under sink water filter, with minimal parts. There is no reverse osmosis unit or any complicated electrical parts. So, where does the complication come from?

The filters, the wall mount, and the nuts are all very easy to fit. All you need is a wrench, and you are good to go. You don’t need a plumber or any of the complicated tools to get it installed. The problem starts when you have to fit the dedicated faucet onto the sink. That requires a little bit of drilling, and it could be difficult for some people to get it done properly. The filter comes with an instruction manual, and there are tutorials on Aquasana’s website for the installation. But it can get a bit tricky and a bit messy with all the drilling.

Filtration

Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter System Review

It is a very complicated part of the review, and we are puzzled about this one. On one side, we are impressed with the filtration it provides. But, on the other hand, we think that it could have been more powerful and improved to remove more contaminants. But let us put the entire thing on the table, and you be the judge.

The Claryum 3-Stage filter offers great filtration. The company claims that it can remove 77% of the common and dangerous contaminants found in the water by up to 99%. While the efficiency with which it can remove the contaminants is brilliant, we have a problem with the “77 contaminants” only. But more on that later.

key features of Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Under Sink Water Filter System

This filter can easily remove most dissolved chemicals such as chlorine, chloramine, THM, PFOA, benzene, chlorobenzene, herbicides, pesticides, fumigants (which is a really big issue in most of the American water supply). The filter also excels in removing heavy and toxic metals, such as lead and mercury, along with solid contaminants, namely asbestos and other particulates. While it is not a great parasite and microorganisms remover, it can remove Giardia which causes diarrhea.

While removing the metals prevents the removal of healthy minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Here are some of the key features of the filtration system used:

  • Uses 20-micron pre-filter for better filtration
  • Filter change alert system
  • The filter is certified to NSF/ANSI standards 42, 53, and 401, which means it has been extensively tested for proper filtration.
  • Since the filtration is done using membranes, nothing extra is added to water, preserving the original taste.

It is what the company offers. But how does it perform in day-to-day usage, and how well can it filter very contaminated water? So we put it to the test.

The Filtration Test

To test how efficient and well the water filtration ability of the Claryum is, we used a water sample that we deliberately contaminated with most of the common pollutants and chemicals. It was done to see if it could handle high concentrations of contaminants. But, of course, in real life, the filter will never have to clean this kind of water unless you live in a swamp that’s also an industrial dump.

The sample we chose was specifically spiked with lead, mercury, chlorine, DEET, and larger particulate matter, like sand and silt. The filtration process is passive, which means it does not use any form of electricity.

The first filter out of the three is a pre-sediment filter, a 20-micron filter. This filter removes the larger sedimentary contaminants like sand and silt.

Aquasana Claryum Filtration Test

The second filter comes with an activated carbon filter used to remove all the dissolved chemical contaminants PFAs and VOCs along with chlorine. Unfortunately, this also prevents the removal of some important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

The third filter is a catalytic carbon filter designed to filter toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and asbestos.

After the filtration test was done, we were glad to see that the filter did not fail. It delivered just as they had promised. The water was free of all the lead in it. However, there were trace amounts of mercury left due to the excess presence in it (and the filter can remove 95% of the mercury in water). We also could not detect any smell of chlorine or the strong smell of DEET, which is a toxic insecticide. The filter also cleans the water of most of the VOCs, which can be very dangerous for your lungs as these compounds vaporize and mix with the air.

The bottom line of our test is that there was no compromise in terms of filtration. It delivers on whatever it promises. The filtration is efficient, powerful, and can easily satisfy the requirements of cleaning most of the water supply in the States.

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What We Liked About The Product?

Pros
  • Price
  • Dedicated Faucet
  • Compactness
  • Eco-friendly and Safe
Cons
  • Low Filtration Capacity
  • Faucet Hassle
  • Filtration

There were a lot of things that we loved about this filter. Here are the pros of the Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage water filter.

#1. Price

We really loved the pricing of this filter. The entire three filtration units and a high-quality faucet come at just $225. That’s it! It makes Claryum one of the most value-for-money options in the market. When we recommend a product for the price, we don’t just recommend it by looking at the numbers. How many features you get per dollar is what we calculate, and the ratio for this filter is great.

#2. Dedicated Faucet

Not a lot of under sink water filters come with a dedicated faucet at such low prices. It also leads to other benefits such as longer filter life. How? Since there are two faucets, you can use one (filtered) to drink and cook, while the other one (unfiltered) for cleaning purposes. It prevents the wastage of filtered water and increases filter life.

#3. Compactness

The other great thing about this filter is how compact the entire unit is. For the people who do not want a giant mess under their sink, this is the one for you. The dimensions are system dimensions of just 4.25″ x 12″ x 9″ (L x W x H). So place it under any sink, and it would fit perfectly. This compactness is also one of the reasons why the Claryum cannot filter water as well as some other under sink water filters.

#4. Eco-friendly and Safe

All the materials used in this filter are eco-friendly and safe for humans. The plastics are all approved by NSF and are BPA-free. In addition, the filter cartridges are disposable and do not pollute the environment.

Cons of Aquasana Claryum

Not all was great about this water filter, and there were some glaring flaws that could lead to many potential buyers back out. Let’s take a look at all the negative things that we found with the Claryum filter.

#1. Low Filtration Capacity

The compromise that you get with a compact filter is that the capacity of the filters is very low. A set of filter units (3 filters) can only filter out 800 gallons of water. It would roughly translate to about 6-months of usage for a family of 3-4. It is clearly not a great number, especially if you factor in the price of replacement filters. A set of filters (3 units) cost $80. So spending $80 dollars every 5-6 months seems like a big loss to us.

#2. Faucet Hassle

Not a big con, but it definitely could be an issue for many to install the faucet by themselves, even if they have professional tools. While having the faucet is a great benefit, installing it takes down the DIY factor by a little.

#3. Filtration

Don’t get us wrong, the filtration for the size and price is great, but it could have been better. Or here’s a better way to put it. There are many other filters in the market that might be a bit bulkier or a tad bit expensive, but they offer greater filtration than the Claryum. Not a big factor, since most of the water that comes to the houses is free of many contaminants.

Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Filter System

Aquasana Claryum is small and compact in size yet very efficient and affective in terms of filtration, it's quite easy to install and claims on removing more than 99% of all sort of containments and harmful germs.
 

Conclusion

The Aquasana Claryum is a great filter that comes with powerful filtration features at this size and price. It makes it a great option for smaller families or single people. However, it fits well under any sink and comes with a dedicated faucet which makes it one of the biggest USPs of this product. So we do recommend this product if you have a smaller family and do not require high-grade filtration. But if filtration and filtration capacity is what you are looking for, then this is not the one.

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