Review: Waterdrop Instant Hot and Cold Countertop Water Filter Dispenser CT01
Isn’t it about high time we had space-saving on-demand convenience for fetching filtered hot or cold water at home with a touch of a button? Hadn’t thought of it? Probably not top of mind given the existing options in the water category. Refrigerators come with spouts for cold water, and electric kettles boil water in under a minute with a push of a button, so there’s no shortage of gadgets that attach to your faucet for filtration. But, indeed, the time has come for a standalone all-in-one countertop unit to continue to narrow that convenience gap.
Let’s consider today’s candidate from Waterdrop, well regarded for their filtration systems, who now offers the CT01 Instant Hot & Cold Countertop Water Filter System. It weighs about 15 lbs, stands 14.44″ × 10.61″ × 13.43 with a detachable 1.32 gallon tank to forego plumbing installation and just plugs into any outlet of your choice. (We’re no strangers to countertop filtration systems or Waterdrop, see our 2025 review of their reverse osmosis filter dispenser.)
The device applies an “Advanced 6-Stage Filtration System” that “reduces chlorine, rust, and other impurities while retaining beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium.” You get hot or cold water “in seconds” with just a touch of various buttons offering personalized control and customization of temperature and volume. The 1.32-gallon container holds the equivalent of “28 × 6 oz cups” or in more relatable everyday metrics, about 6 to 10 commonly sized refillable water bottles.
One can’t consider convenience without considering setup and maintenance, and, especially when it comes to “smart” things, how immune they are to user error. On balance, you only need to plug this into the wall to operate; it does not require plumbing to attach to your faucet or pipes. Which means the water supply is wholly dependent on you filling it up. It’s a decent trade off in my mind.
The “touch-button” proposition is a bit more nuanced. Yes, you just have to press a couple of shiny little icons to fill your cup. But those shiny little icons need introductions about what they do and more critically, what you should not do. As a re-emerging luddite that admits knobs and dials are increasingly more appealing, trying to decipher how to manage the cute little figures in the proper order took embarrassingly longer than I care to admit. I was nervous a careless swipe would lead to water all over the floor or a malfunction. I took time to read the manual, and when I still didn’t trust myself, I checked the website to reach customer support. I was happy to see they had a Chat option, and was disappointed when no chat person or bot was home. I switched to old fashioned email to customer service. Unfortunately I am still waiting for a response, but with some steady pacing and careful repeat studying of the manual, I managed to figure out what the various icons were and what it means when one of them flashes or disappears.
Post-testing inertia has left this temporary unit somewhat semi-permanently situated on our countertop. Increasingly our household has become spoiled with shaving minutes/seconds of the day to access instant hot or cold water. I knew I was a convert when I went to turn on our electric kettle and thought: Wait, there is already hot water just a few feet away, right now. I placed a mug with a tea bag under the dispenser and touched a few little pictures and walked away while the process completed.
The long and short of it is that the product delivers on its promises. Water is clean tasting (an oxymoronic assessment, I know), and the convenience is all there. And it’s all packaged in a very sleek contraption to boot (think Eve from Wall-E). The filter lasts through 300 gallons before replacement is needed, though note that both the side and lower tanks are recommended to be emptied every few days. That is a chore I can definitely handle.
A- / $220 [BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON]
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