AquaRain Water Filters | Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.

Introduction
I discussed Berkey water filters and Katadyn water filters in the following article on my website:
Katadyn Water Filters.

In this article I will briefly discuss the AquaRain water filters.

It should be mentioned that AquaRain products are still made in the USA as of September 11, 2024.

Discussion
I purchased a Model 400 AquaRain Water Filter System in the year 2002 and I was very pleased with the stainless steel water tank and with the water filters. Therefore I recommended the AquaRain filters on my website.

Replacement Water Filter

An AquaRain 0.3 micron water filter (picture on right) contains silver and carbon. It will remove bacteria, viruses, cysts, chlorine, lead, mercury, and many other undesirable contaminants. The silver has a self-cleaning impact on pathogens because the filter traps the pathogens in the filter and then the silver kills the pathogens. The filters improve the purity and taste of water and the filters reduce any bad odor the water may have. The filters are certified by the USEPA, and they are certified by the NSF, and they are accredited by the EPA.

Tank Capacity: A "Big Berkey" stainless steel water tank contains 2.25 gallons of water. An AquaRain stainless steel water tank contains 3 gallons of water. An Aettechgd stainless steel water tank contains 2.9 gallons of water. A bigger tank means you do not have to refill the tank as often as a smaller tank.

Filter Capacity: Berkey water filters are current;y advertised to process 6,000 gallons of water. AquaRain water filers are advertised to process 10,000 gallons of water. Katadyn water filters are advertised to process 13,000 gallons of water. More gallons per filter usually means a lower cost per gallon of water processed.

Processing Speed: Some people purchase a Berkey water filter because it can filter one gallon of water in 20 minutes, or three gallons per hour. This means that the water passes through the Berkey filter rather quickly. For comparison purposes a Katadyn filter will only filter about 1/3 gallon of water per hour. In other words, a Berkey filter is nine times faster than a Katadyn filter. This implies that the actual pore size of a Katadyn filter is much smaller than a Berkey filter. Therefore, in this type of situation, slower is better. An AquaRain filter will filter about 1/4 gallon of water per hour and this implies an even smaller pore size which is very desirable.

I have strongly recommended the AquaRain water filter system since the year 2002 and I still strongly recommend the AquaRain system on September 11, 2024. AquaRain water filter systems are made in the USA but Amazon does not have any in stock on September 11, 2024. However, you can still purchase the Model 303 system directly from AquaRain. It has a stainless steel 3 gallon water tank and 3 filters. Each filter contains both silver and activated carbon and each filter will process 10,000 gallons of water. The activated carbon will remove chlorine and improve the taste of the water. If your water contains chlorine or lead then the AquaRain filter is a better choice than the Katadyn filters. Each AquaRain filter will process between 6 to 7 gallons of water per day and this implies that the pore size is a little smaller than the Katadyn filters. The Model 303 system can be purchased for about $360 at the following website. Some other websites also sell the Model 303 System but they only include two filters with the system.
AquaRain Model 303 Water Filter System.

Replacement AquaRain filters, with all the necessary mounting hardware, can be purchased for about $60 each (or three for $170) at the following website:
AquaRain Ceramic Filters.

Another option would be to purchase three AquaRain water filters and the Aettechgd stainless steel water tank system at the link below. This Aettechgd system is described in the Katadyn link at the beginning of this article. The total cost of this self-assembled system (Aettechgd stainless steel water tank and 3 AquaRain filters) would be about $293 on September 11, 2024 and this is less than the cost of $360 for a 100% AquaRain system.
Aettechgd Ultra-Filtration Gravity Water Filtration System

One of the disadvantages of the AquaRain filters is that they are currently only available from the parent company and through a few vendors that have been selected by the parent company. The filters are no longer available on Amazon. No reason is provided for this decision but I suspect it was because a lot of different companies began selling replacement filters that were supposed to be "just like" the AquaRain filters but those filters were very poor quality imitations and the people who bought those "fake" filters were very disappointed with those cheap imitations. And since they were told that the imitation filters were "just like" the AquaRain filters they falsely believed that the "real" AquaRain filters were of the same quality as the imitations. Since AquaRain has no control over the types of filters sold on Amazon, or the claims made for those imitation filters, I suspect that AquaRain decided to address this problem by selling directly to their customers, and through a few very carefully selected distributors.

It should also be mentioned that the lower stainless steel water tank made by AquaRain may have had some type of manufacturing defect during the years from 2011 to 2013. The lower tank would arrive in good condition and it would work flawlessly for about one or two years. But after about one or two years of use some of the lower tanks would show one, two, or three cracks in the top rim of the tank where the upper water tank was inserted into the lower water tank. The cracks prevented the upper tank from fitting into the lower tank. I was not able to find any additional information about this issue so there is a chance that this problem may have been corrected by AquaRain. In fairness, it should also be mentioned that several customers have stated that they have used their AquaRain stainless steel water tank for 3, 10, 14, and 20 years and it has worked perfectly as long as they replaced the water filter elements when it became necessary (using the AquaRain C-gauge on the outside diameter of a filter). Even if the AquaRain stainless steel water tank does last 20 years or more, I personally do not recommend the purchase of an AquaRain stainless steel water tank for the following reasons.

The AquaRain stainless steel water tank, the Berkey stainless steel water tank, and the Katadyn plastic water tank are all designed to rest flat on the bottom surface of the bottom half of their water tanks. This means that the water tank must be positioned close to the edge of the top of a table or counter so that the water spigot can dispense water into a cup or glass. None of the water tanks have a water level indicator above the spigot that indicates the level of the water inside the lower tank. Therefore I do not recommend any of these water tanks. Instead I recommend the Aettechgd stainless steel water tank at the above link. I purchased one of the Aettechgd tanks in February of 2024 and it appeared to be well constructed. It has a water level indicator and it has a support stand that elevates the water tank high enough to put a cup under the spigot.

The AquaRain website has a nice appearance and it is easy to find the AquaRain items that you are interested in on their website. It is easy to add the items you desire into your shopping cart. However, their checkout procedure has not been updated in many, many years and it does not have all the features of most modern checkouts. However, the AquaRain checkout does work. They will send you an email and an order number that will verify that you checked out correctly. And you will be told that you will receive another email when your items are shipped. However, I did not receive a shipping email from AquaRain. I placed an order for 3 Katadyn filter elements on September 4, 2024 and the filters were delivered seven days later on September 11, 2024. The 3 filters were carefully packed in a large cardboard box and they arrived undamaged in excellent condition with 3 food-grade black rubber o-ring washers, 3 black plastic wing nuts, a dark green scouring pad, and a 43mm C-gauge. I did not receive an email letting me know that the filters had been shipped, or when they were scheduled to be delivered. The filters simply arrived without any advance notice. I mention this so that you will not be shocked at they way AquaRain does business. AquaRain makes high quality water filters in the USA but their customer service department is not up to the average standard of website companies in the year 2024. However, AquaRain's manufacturing facility, their finished goods warehouse, and their shipping department are all very dependable operations. On the other hand, Berkey has an amazing advertising and marketing department but the quality of the Berkey products leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Finally, it is difficult to find a lot of current customer reviews for the AquaRain products because AquaRain no longer sells their products on Amazon. There are a few customer reviews on the websites of the AquaRain distributors that sell AquaRain products but very little current customer feedback is available. In my opinion, this is a disadvantage of the AquaRain products in the year 2024.

Conclusion
If you are filtering municipal water that contains chlorine then an AquaRain water filter would be a good choice.

If you are filtering the water from a water well that has not been treated with chlorine then an Katadyn water filter would be a good choice.

If you would like a good stainless steel water tank, with a water level indicator above the spigot, and with a support stand that elevates the spigot above the top of a table, then I recommend the Aettechgd 2.9 gallon stainless steel water tank system at the link in the above article.

I personally do not recommend the Berkey filters due to the actual historical poor performance of the Berkey water filters.

Respectfully,
Grandpappy.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com