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Is What You Own Good Enough?

The honest answer, brand by brand and filter by filter.

Filtered water poured from a pitcher

Most people arrive here already owning a filter and wanting to know whether it does the thing they are worried about. Frequently the answer is yes for one contaminant and no for another, and it can change depending on which cartridge is in the same pitcher.

Certification is per filter, not per brand. That single fact explains almost every disappointment in this category: Brita sells two pitcher filters that fit the same pitcher, and only one of them is certified for lead. Buying "a Brita" does not tell you which one you got.

So these pages answer the specific question rather than rating the brand. Does this filter remove lead? Does it remove PFAS? Does it remove fluoride? Each answer names the standard, the certification status and the date we checked it — and where the answer is no, it says which product does the job instead.

If you have not yet chosen a filter, start with the tier guide rather than a brand. The tier decides far more than the badge does.

By brand

The specific questions

Answered in the first forty-five words, with the certification named and dated.