GE water filters come in many styles, all of which get good reviews in various online consumer reporting venues. If you want good water quality in your home or office shop around, and include the GE water filter family (counter-top, under-sink, whole house, faucet-mount) in your research. Clean water is a healthy and worthy goal.
General Electric Appliance Corp. makes a full spectrum of SmartWater(TM) brand water filters, softeners, and dispensers for household use. While there is nothing unique or revolutionary about GE water filter technology, the company's well-known reputation for quality products and customer service make GE water filters worth considering.
GE's top-of-the-line reverse osmosis drinking water filters have capacities of 10 to 15 gallons of pure drinking water per day. All models come with carbon filters which must be replaced after producing 600 gallons of drinking water, so annual maintenance costs rise as daily water production increases. Surprisingly, the 15 gallon/day model has a smaller reservoir capacity than the 10 gallon/day model; 2.4 vs. 4.0 gallons, respectively.
Two-stage GE drinking water filters pass water through two carbon filters in series. Premium models remove VOCs (volatile organic compounds) as well as lead, arsenic, mercury, atrazine, lindane, cysts, asbestos, turbidity (cloudiness), chlorine taste and odor, sediment, and rust. Their filtration capacity is 0.6 gallons per minute. The lower-priced Performance Plus models remove the same contaminants except for VOCs and produce 0.75 gallons per minute.
The faucet-mounted GE water filter removes lead, cysts, lindane, atrazine, sediment, rust, and chlorine taste and odor. It filters 0.6 gallons per minute and its replaceable filter has a 200-gallon lifespan.
GE SmartWater<(TM) water softeners come in seven capacities, ranging from 18,000 to 45,000 grains per regeneration cycle. ("Grain" is a unit of weight used to measure the amount of contaminants removed per regeneration cycle. One pound equals 7,000 grains.) All SmartWater<(TM) systems come with GE's patented SmartSoft electronic control system, which learns a household's water usage patterns and generates softened water on demand. A bypass valve allows water to bypass the softener unit to wash cars, water lawns, and for other uses that do not require softened water. The mid-range capacity models include "Deluxe" monitoring of remaining salt levels and an estimate of the number of days remaining before salt must be added. The high-capacity models' "Advanced" systems display this information plus weekly consumption patterns.
GE whole-house water filters treat water at its main entrance to the home, providing filtered water to all plumbing and appliances as well as faucets and showers. Pipes and appliances do suffer mineral and rust buildup nearly as quickly, prolong their lives and reducing maintenance costs. Models are available in 4 to 20 gallon per minute capacities, with 3/4" to 1" pipe couplings. All include a remote filter replacement reminder lamp, and some have three-way bypass valves enabling filter changing without shutting off water to the house.
Finally, GE offers a refrigerator drinking water and ice-maker water filter that can be installed on any side-by-side or freezer-on-top refrigerator. (It does not make ice, it merely filters water used by an ice-maker.)
Some GE water filters (and replacement filter cartridges) are sold at Home Depot stores, while others are available only through building contractors. GE offers nationwide installation service through independent contractors.
GE water filters receive very good to excellent consumer ratings on ePionions.com, Amazon.com, and several other consumer review sites. The undersink reverse osmosis models have been named "editor's picks" by Consumer Research and Good Housekeeping magazine. Overall, GE water filters are reliable and worthwhile investments.
