Best Whole House Water Filter for Chlorine (and Chloramine Removal)

People call and ask me, "What is the best single way to remove chlorine from the water?" I tell them a carbon filter: our 2.5 cubic foot non-backwashing carbon tank, the one in the photo. It sits on the main water line, so every faucet, shower and appliance in the house gets filtered water.

The next question is why not a pitcher or a faucet filter. When your water has a lot of chlorine and chlorine byproducts, you want to filter every faucet and every fixture in the house, not one glass at a time. I'm on city water myself, and my house has a large carbon tank and then a softener, the same equipment we sell.

The Best Whole House Water Filter for Chlorine Removal

For chlorine on city water, the best whole house filter is a non-backwashing carbon tank, sized by the number of people in the house. For 2 to 4 people, get the 1.5 cubic foot tank. For 4 people or more, get the 2.5 cubic foot tank. I size the carbon tank by the number of people in the house.

Prices include shipping to the lower 48 states. The non-backwashing tank needs no drain and no electricity, and the 2.5 gives you plenty of capacity and high flow rates. That's why it's what we sell most and what I recommend most.

We also sell backwashing carbon tanks on a Fleck 2510SXT valve ($1,895 and $2,495). Those need a drain and an outlet, and they're for a well with sediment, not for city water. A backwash does not make carbon last longer; it only rinses dirt out. The full answer is on backwashing or non-backwashing carbon filter.

In this two-minute video I answer the questions city water callers ask about chlorine, one after another: the type of carbon, chloramine, sizing, what a media change costs, and what renters can do.

Does your city use chlorine or chloramine?

Most carbon takes out chlorine, but chloramine needs a catalytic carbon. Both of our carbon tanks use Centaur, a catalytic carbon that Calgon Carbon makes from bituminous coal, so they take out both chlorine and chloramine. Calgon lists chloramine removal from drinking water as one of Centaur's uses.

Chloramine is chlorine with ammonia added. Water companies use it because it keeps disinfecting longer as the water moves through the pipes, and the EPA says more than one in five Americans drinks water treated with it.

The kind of carbon matters. A trade article on chloramine puts it plainly: coconut and lignite carbons have very little catalytic activity, and coal-based carbons have more. Centaur is a coal-based carbon made to be catalytic. For the longer version, see chloramine vs chlorine.

How to find out which one your city uses: look at your water company's yearly water quality report, which the EPA requires them to send by July 1 each year, or call them and ask. If it says "chloramine" or "monochloramine," you want catalytic carbon. You can also test for chloramine at the tap. How to read your water quality report walks through it, and if you are wondering whether the chlorine itself is a health problem, see is chlorine in water bad for you.

Whole house filter vs reverse osmosis vs pitcher

A whole house carbon tank treats every tap, reverse osmosis treats one faucet, and a pitcher treats one pitcher. Pick by what you want treated, not by which one sounds strongest.

If you want fluoride out, carbon is not a fluoride treatment; reverse osmosis is. The American Dental Association says most carbon filters do not remove fluoride, and that almost all reverse osmosis systems remove most of it. So the setup that covers both is the carbon tank on the main line for the chlorine, and an under-sink RO at the kitchen faucet for drinking water. See carbon or reverse osmosis and fluoride in drinking water for the details.

Do you also need a water softener?

Only if your city water is hard. At 7 grains per gallon or more, put in both; under 7, the carbon tank alone is enough. A carbon tank does not soften water, and a softener does not take out chlorine.

On city water the order is fixed:

1. Carbon tank first, so the chlorine is out before the water reaches the softener. Chlorine shortens the life of the softener's resin.
2. Softener second, for the hardness.

My own house is set up this way. Our two city packages pair them: the Clack 1.5 and a Fleck 48,000 grain softener for 1 to 4 people ($3,195), and the Clack 2.5 and a Fleck 64,000 grain for 5 or 6 people ($3,795). When a caller in Miami with a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house asked what to get on city water, the bigger package is what I told him, and for city water it's pretty much all that's necessary. The full answer on pairing them is carbon filter and water softener, and every pair is on the carbon and softener packages page.

No hardness number yet? Check your water company's yearly report for one, or our hardness test gives you one.

City water, not sure which size

Text Aidan your house size

Send how many people live there and your hardness number if you have it. Aidan will text back which tank or package fits.

Text Aidan443-277-2204 Call800-460-5810Aidan

8 AM to 5 PM Eastern, seven days a week. A real person, not a call center.

What comes in the box

Every tank ships empty, with the carbon packed separately to pour in at install. A full tank is too heavy to ship.

• What ships: the Vortech tank, the Clack head with a bypass valve, the Centaur carbon in bags, and a fill funnel.
• Not in the box: the pipe, fittings and adapters. The non-backwashing tank needs no drain line and no outlet.
• Little or no install guidance: the makers expect a plumber or a water treatment dealer to put it in. One buyer called me after it arrived: "We received it, but there's no instructions or anything." It goes in the same way as our upflow acid neutralizer, with different media, so how to install an acid neutralizer covers it.

Who installs the carbon tank

We recommend having a plumber install it. There is no drain line and no electricity, just an inlet and an outlet on the main line, so it is about an hour or two of a plumber's time. I support your plumber by phone at 800-460-5810. If you have done some plumbing and would rather do it yourself, text me at 443-277-2204 with any questions.

One thing to tell whoever puts it in: cover the center distributor tube with tape or painter's tape before you pour the carbon in. If carbon gets into that tube, it's really hard to get back out.

A carbon tank and softener package is a bigger job: two tanks in a set order, carbon first, and the softener adds a 1/2 inch drain line with an air gap, an outlet and the brine line. Plan on about 3 to 4 hours for a plumber.

How long the carbon lasts

With a family of 4 or 5, the carbon lasts 4 to 5 years, and replacing it usually costs about $800. Carbon prices go up about 7% a year, so budget a little more the further out your change is.

Between changes there is nothing to do: no cartridge, no settings, no salt. To tell when the carbon is getting used up, test your tap water for chlorine; how to test for chlorine in tap water shows how. Changing it is the head off, the old carbon out into trash bags, and new carbon poured in with the funnel. The tank stays.

What renters can do about chlorine

If you're renting a house on chlorinated water and can't install a tank, use a shower head filter, a pitcher filter or a single faucet filter. They're the best option you have, though they're not whole house treatment.

They treat one shower or one glass at a time, they do nothing for the laundry, the dishwasher or the other taps, and the cartridges need changing often. The CDC says pitcher and fridge filters mainly improve taste and smell. We don't sell any of them, so buy them locally and keep the carbon tank in mind for when you own the plumbing.

What buyers wrote

These are verified purchases of our carbon tanks and packages, newest first.

Frequently asked questions