PUR, Filter By Filter

The only thing you really need to know

PUR sells two pitcher filters. They fit the same pitchers and dispensers, sit next to each other on the shelf, and share a single performance data sheet — which is where the similarity ends. The sheet has two columns, one per filter, and most of the rows in the basic column are blank.

If you bought a PUR pitcher because you were worried about lead and the cartridge in it is the basic PUR filter, you do not have a lead filter. The same sheet that lists lead at 99.9% for the PLUS filter lists nothing at all for the basic one — not a lower number, no number. The fix costs a few dollars and takes ten seconds, which is why this page exists.

Why the pitcher you own does not matter

The data sheet names a dozen pitcher and dispenser models — the 7-cup and 11-cup pitchers, the 30-cup dispensers and several more — and then two replacement filters. Every one of those pitchers takes either cartridge. That means three things in practice.

• The certification belongs to the cartridge. A PUR PLUS pitcher is a PUR pitcher with the PLUS filter in the box. Put a basic filter in it next time and you own a basic pitcher. This is the same trap Brita sets with its Standard and Elite filters, and it is the single most common mismatch in home water filtration.
• You can upgrade for the price of a filter. If you already own a PUR pitcher or dispenser of any size, the PLUS cartridge gives it the lead, PFAS and microplastics figures on the sheet. There is no reason to buy a new pitcher.
• Bigger tanks do not change the arithmetic. The PLUS filter is rated for 40 gallons whatever it sits in. In an 11-cup pitcher that is about 58 fills; in the 30-cup dispenser it is about 21. The dispenser roundup runs those numbers against Brita and ZeroWater.

A small decoding aid, because PUR's model numbers are less friendly than Brita's colors: the last letter of a PUR model number is the color code, so PPT111W, PPT111B and PPT111M are the same 11-cup PLUS pitcher in three colors. The digits are what matter.

What changed in 2026: PFAS

For years the honest summary of PUR was "lead yes, PFAS no." That was true of the sheets PUR published, and it is what this site said until this page went up. It is no longer true, and the change is worth understanding precisely rather than as a headline.

PUR's current pitcher sheet lists Total PFAS at 99.75% for the PLUS filter, against a challenge concentration of 0.00216 mg/L, and it footnotes exactly what "total" means: a test mixture of PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHpA, PFBS and PFDA. That is seven compounds — the ones NSF/ANSI 53 now tests as a group — not the thousands in the PFAS family. The sheet's own footnote says the systems are certified by IAPMO R&T for the claims on it, which is the wording that separates a certification from a test report.

Three consequences follow. First, the PLUS filter now belongs in the PFAS roundup alongside ZeroWater, as the second certified pitcher cartridge rather than a footnote. Second, the Brita comparison has tilted: the Brita Elite is not certified for PFOA or PFOS per its January 2026 sheet, so on PFAS the two supermarket brands have split for the first time. Third — and this is the part to hold onto — a pitcher with a 40-gallon cartridge is still a 40-gallon cartridge. If PFAS is your reason for filtering and your household drinks several gallons a day, under-sink reverse osmosis reaches the same certification at a fraction of the cost per gallon.

The faucet filters: more data, weaker wording

PUR's faucet mounts run on two cartridges, the RF-9999 (PUR PLUS) and the RF-3375, and both appear on a single sheet dated October 2025 — with one column of figures between them, so the sheet does not tell you which figures belong to which cartridge. The column itself is the longest in the faucet-mount category: chlorine at 98.71%, lead at 99.70% and 99.60% at the two test pH values, total PFAS at 99.92%, a chloroform-surrogate VOC list of roughly fifty compounds, and a fifteen-row NSF/ANSI 401 table that includes microplastics at 99.65%. Capacity is 100 gallons; the rated service flow is 0.52 gallons per minute.

The wording is the catch. The pitcher sheet says certified by IAPMO R&T. The faucet sheet says the systems have been tested according to NSF/ANSI 42, 53 and 401, and names no certifying body — while PUR's product page for the same unit says it is NSF and WQA certified and "certified to reduce 70 contaminants." We quote the sheet, because the sheet is the document with the numbers on it, and we would rather under-claim a good product than repeat marketing. The mercury row is also the weakest on the sheet at 78.59% and 81.58% — inside the standard's limit, but well below the lead figures. The faucet-mount roundup puts the PFM400H against the Brita and Culligan mounts on exactly this question.

One physical limit matters more than any of it: a faucet mount does not fit a pull-out or pull-down sprayer faucet, and no adapter fixes that. If your kitchen has one, the pitcher filter is the PUR product for you.

Is Brita or PUR better?

On the thing most people buy either for — lead — they tie: the Brita Elite and the PUR PLUS filter are both certified to NSF/ANSI 53. From there the two brands trade blows.

• Filter life: Brita. The Elite is rated for 120 gallons, the PUR PLUS for 40. At two gallons a day that is roughly six cartridges a year against eighteen, and unless PUR's price per filter is under a third of Brita's on the day, the Elite is cheaper to run.
• PFAS: PUR. The PLUS filter now carries a certified total PFAS figure; the Elite is not certified for PFOA or PFOS.
• Microplastics: a tie on the sheet. PUR PLUS at 99.8%, Brita Elite at 99.6%, both under the NSF/ANSI 401 microplastics claim, which is tested with particles between 0.5 and 1 micron.
• Availability: a tie. Both are in every supermarket, and whichever is in stock and on promotion is a legitimate reason to choose it.

The short version: if PFAS is on your list, PUR; if it is not, Brita is cheaper per gallon for the same lead certification. The full Brita vs PUR comparison runs the cost math.

What PUR is genuinely good at

• Breadth on the sheet. The PLUS pitcher filter publishes figures for about two dozen substances, including cadmium, copper, benzene and a nine-row NSF/ANSI 401 list. Most pitcher cartridges publish a fraction of that.
• A named certifying body. IAPMO R&T appears on the pitcher sheet by name, which is more than several premium "tested to" pitchers can say.
• Dispenser capacity. The 30-cup PLUS dispenser is the largest mainstream tank you can put a lead-and-PFAS cartridge in, and it pours while filtering.
• Availability. Filters are in supermarkets and pharmacies, which matters more than enthusiasts admit — a filter you can buy on the way home is a filter that gets changed.

What PUR does not do

Fluoride. No claim on either sheet, and no PUR product on this site claims it. The fluoride roundup covers what does.

Microbes. Both sheets say it in as many words: PUR does not filter microbes. A PUR pitcher changes nothing during a boil-water notice.

Hardness, sulfur, iron. Standard limits of the pitcher tier, not PUR-specific.

Long filter life. 40 gallons in the pitcher, 100 at the faucet. Both are at the short end of this site, and a filter left in past its rating is a filter doing less than the sheet says.