Whole House vs Under-Sink Water Filters: Which Is Right for You?

Both whole house and under-sink filters improve your water quality — but they solve different problems and suit different situations. Here’s a plain comparison.

See our Whole House Water Filters Guide and our Under Sink Water Filters Guide.

Coverage

Whole house filter: filters every tap in the home — showers, laundry, kitchen, and bathrooms. Every point of use gets filtered water.

Under-sink filter: filters water at a single point — your kitchen tap (or a dedicated filtered water tap). Shower and laundry water are unfiltered.

Filtration Level

Whole house filter: typically removes sediment and chlorine. Designed for high flow rate across the whole house — not optimised for the fine filtration needed for drinking water.

Under-sink filter: can achieve finer filtration at lower flow rates — including reverse osmosis for fluoride and heavy metal removal. Better for drinking water quality.

Installation

Whole house filter: installs at the mains entry point. Licensed plumber required in most Australian states.

Under-sink filter: installs under the kitchen sink. Plumber recommended but a competent DIYer can manage it.

Cost

Whole house filter: higher upfront cost (system + plumber installation) but covers the whole house.

Under-sink filter: lower upfront cost, covers drinking and cooking water only.

Which Is Right for You?

Choose a whole house filter if: you’re on bore or tank water, have high sediment in your supply, want filtered water in the shower and laundry, or have older plumbing with heavy metal concerns throughout the house.

Choose an under-sink filter if: your primary concern is drinking and cooking water quality, you’re on town water, or budget is a consideration. Add a shower filter separately for bathing water.

Frequently Asked Questions