The best shower filters in Australia

Shower filters attract a lot of health marketing. We are going to ignore all of it and talk about what can be shown: they reduce chlorine, and in some cases chloramine, in shower water. If that is what you want, here is how to choose.

Three kinds of media

KDF is a copper-zinc alloy that converts chlorine to chloride through a redox reaction. It works in hot water, which matters in a shower, and it is the media behind most reputable shower filters, including the Philips unit. Activated carbon works in cold water but loses effectiveness as water gets hot, so carbon-only shower filters are weak. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) neutralises both chlorine and chloramine instantly and is unaffected by temperature; the trade-off is that the cartridge is used up as it works and needs replacing more often. Multi-stage filters with “15 stages” or “20 stages” are mostly padding: look for KDF or vitamin C and ignore the count.

Chlorine or chloramine

Some Australian utilities, including parts of south-east Queensland and some regional supplies, disinfect with chloramine rather than chlorine. Chloramine is more stable and much harder for KDF and carbon to remove. If your water utility uses chloramine, a vitamin C filter such as the Quoss is the one that will actually do the job.

Fitting

Both picks screw onto the shower arm between the wall and your existing shower head, on the standard half-inch thread used across Australia. Filtering costs a little flow; on a low-pressure system you will notice it.

The picks

The Philips 3-stage is our pick for chlorinated supplies, the majority of the country. The Quoss universal chlorine filter costs more but is the right choice on chloramine, and Bunnings stocks the cartridges.