Half of American homes have PFAS in their water. A filtered pitcher can help

The heavy metal is better absorbed in the form of music. You don’t want it in your water. If you’re a renter or can’t afford expensive whole-house or under-the-sink filters, your best and most practical line of defense against PFAS Forever chemicals or lead may be finding the best water filter pitcher to fit your refrigerator door.

It’s not just Brita anymore. A new generation of water filtration companies are now promising clean, healthy water to a newly wary American public, and rightly so. PFAS “forever chemicals” leadOr microplastics in their water. But health and filter claims can be difficult to sort through. Not all filter companies have certified their claims with international testing organizations. And not all third-party tests are created equal.

If your biggest concern is removing the most contaminants from your water, especially PFAS, the pitcher you want is probably the Culligan ZeroWater Pitcher ($40). But note that this pitcher also removes useful and tasty minerals like calcium and magnesium. Clearly Filtered ($100) is an excellent, although more expensive, filtered water pitcher for removing PFAS and other chemicals without reducing mineral content.

For this buying guide, I have favored filters effective against PFAS and PFOA associated with cancer, the “forever chemicals”, because approximately half of Americans could currently be exposed to these chemicals in their water supply, in the middle of relaxation of federal surveillance. But if you’re in the half of the country without PFAS exposure, the best-designed pitcher is the Brita Everyday Elite ($42)which makes little for PFAS or fluoride, but is otherwise certified to eliminate perhaps the greatest number of potential health risks.

But be aware that most of these refrigerated pitchers, including the best certified ones, contain plastic. If you want to avoid this, I suggest looking at my stainless steel head-to-head tests instead. gravity fed water filters for your countertop. For more guides to living contaminant-free, check out WIRED’s coverage of Best Shower Water Filters, Best Backpacking Water Filters, Best Air PurifiersAnd Best indoor air quality monitors.

Best Water Pitcher Filter for Overall Performance: Culligan ZeroWater

The Culligan uses ZeroWater exclusive reverse osmosis system, which among all these pitchers is best tested and certified to NSF standards to remove the most troublesome contaminants from your water, including the “forever chemicals” PFAS and PFOA, lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium. The chlorine disappears. The particles disappear. A useful and accurate electronic counter is attached to the pitcher and will detect the total dissolved solids in the filtered water. When the number goes above zero, it’s time to replace the filter.

This array of certifications and testing, especially when it comes to everlasting chemicals, puts the Culligan at the top of my list as the water filter I will trust the most. Effectiveness in removing PFAS and PFOA has also been documented by the nonprofit public health group, the Environmental Working Group. The ZeroWater filter also removed total chlorine levels to completely undetectable amounts in my own home tests, which also checked total dissolved solids (TDS) results from Culligan’s connected meter.

The filter is more affordable than other high-performance pitchers. And it comes in a variety of sizes to best fit your refrigerator. But that doesn’t mean the water pitcher is the most practical. This is not the case. Filtering takes 7-10 minutes for a 5-cup top tank, which is about halfway there as far as speed goes. And you cannot pour from the filtered tank while the upper tank still contains water, lest unfiltered water leak out the top.

Alas, that TDS meter reading of zero also means that the useful and tasty calcium and magnesium also disappear when filtered through the ZeroWater filter. Your water will taste very clinical and less pleasant unless you also use remineralizing drops like those from Trace ($38). If you like coffee, I might recommend using remineralizing sticks from Water of the Third Wave, ($18)which adapts its calcium and magnesium content to your preferred roasting style. Remineralizing sticks and drops add additional costs to owning a ZeroWater. But your taste buds will thank you.

Best Water Pitcher Filter for Taste: Clearly Filtered

Clearly Filtered is one of the most expensive water pitchers I’ve tested. It’s also the one that best preserves the taste and mineral content of my water, while showing near-total reduction of PFAS and PFOA in reliable independent tests, including by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

The Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher works differently than a reverse osmosis system like ZeroWater. It instead uses a carbon filter and other media to remove free chlorine, PFAS and PFOA, and other heavy metals, without removing dissolved mineral content or other dissolved ions. You will need to prime the filter and run water through it several times before the water is completely clear, as some activated carbon will escape into the filtered water first. Clearly, it’s also a pretty slow filter: it takes 20 minutes or more to fully filter the top reservoir on a 10-cup pitcher.

The upside, however, is that the filter is certified to NSF standards to reduce PFAS and chlorine to almost undetectable levels. My own home tests also showed that it removed the vast majority of chloramines. Independent testing by IAPMO Laboratories also displays the filtering of hundreds of other contaminants, not all of which are associated with international standards. Clearly Filtered is, quite simply, the most extravagant filter that always leaves my water tasting great.

Best Designed Water Filter Pitcher: Brita Everyday Elite

The Brita Everyday Elite Pitcher is economical. It’s well designed. It is BPA free. It is also certified to NSF standards by the Water Quality Association to filter a wide variety of known health hazards, pharmaceutical byproducts, and substances like chlorine that change the taste of water. These include lead, cadmium, mercury, benzene, asbestos, microplastics and a number of drugs ranging from ibuprofen to naproxen. However, the filtered substances do not contain PFAS or PFOA, as tested by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. The Elite filter also does not filter fluoride, which may please some public health advocates but bothers others.

This still places the Elite among the best-certified filters on the market, a status backed by Brita’s long-standing authority in the water pitcher business. Brita’s extensive experience has also led to a sleek, well-designed pitcher that filters quickly, in less than five minutes. A somewhat ingenious filter light indicator pulses in different colors depending on how many times the pitcher has been filled. The snap-on design on the top tank ensures that nothing enters or leaves the top water tank unless you want it to. It is strange that this quality is so rare among water pitchers. But it is. If PFAS is not a problem in your water supply, this Brita is one of the most verified and certified water filters on the market, when it comes to other contaminants.

Best Against Germs: Lifestraw Home Pitcher

Lifestraw does not market its majestic Erlenmeyer flask-shaped water pitcher as suitable for treating dirty, disease-filled water from your local mud puddle. But if I were concerned about bacteria or protozoa, Lifestraw is nonetheless the water pitcher I would have. In addition to an NSF-certified activated carbon filter to remove chlorine, lead and mercury, Lifestraw also uses a membrane filter demonstrated to remove a wide range of bacteria and parasites, as well as particles including microplastics and asbestos, based on testing data from what is now the only IAPMO accredited laboratory in India.

This does not constitute antimicrobial certification, hence Lifestraw’s caution in marketing the device for anything other than municipal water. But if my main concern was bacteria or mold known to potentially build up in other water filters and pitchers, I would definitely go with this Lifestraw. The same data from IAPMO India lab also shows good removal of the “forever chemicals” PFAS and PFOA, but not quite to the levels of my best filters.

This does not mean that the filter is perfect. The Home’s large two-stage filter, including both a membrane filter and a replaceable activated carbon filter, makes the 10-cup Lifestraw quite tall for a refrigerator pitcher: about 13 inches tall. It only fits in my fridge as I had already removed a shelf to allow for the larger bottles and meal boxes.

The Lifestraw filter is also among the slowest I’ve tested, requiring over 20 minutes to filter through the 10-cup pitcher. And while it removes free chlorine, it doesn’t remove chloramine, a more stable disinfectant found in about half of municipal water systems. And so if your city uses chloramine to treat its water and you are sensitive to the aroma, be warned.

For those who are particularly concerned about plastic, even after filtering out microplastics, Lifestraw offers also a glass version of its 7-cup water pitcher. But note that the filter housing is plastic, so this does not make for a completely plastic-free water pitcher.

Other water filters tested

Lucid Waterdrop 10-Cup Water Filter Pitcher for $21: Waterdrop is a decade-old California company best known for its innovative countertop reverse osmosis water filters. This hands-free water filter pitcher from Waterdrop is a much more economical option than most filters; in fact, it’s the cheapest filter I’ve tested. It also sports a strangely friendly design, with a small hinged lid that will drop almost frictionlessly to accept even a trickle of water into its reservoir before closing again. The water filter is also the fastest I’ve tested, flowing through a full tank in less than two minutes, and it’s certified to meet NSF standards for lead-free manufacturing and chlorine removal. Its manufacturers also claim to have tested filtration according to NSF standards on 372 other substances. So far, so good. But the lab’s results are not publicly released, nor is the identity of the third-party lab. My own tests have shown that the filter is less successful in filtering chloramine, the substance used to disinfect municipal water in half of American cities. The filter removed about 75 percent of the chloramine, much worse performance than my top-rated filters.

Aarke Water Pitcher for $165: The Aarke Water Filter Pitcher is quite simply the prettiest water filter pitcher on this list: a sleek, majestic affair comprised of a glass and stainless steel filter housing. This may be the only water filter pitcher I’ve tested and would love in my life based on looks alone. And Aarke claims the filter will remove the vast majority of lead, chlorine, limescale, and copper from your water. Although it is essentially plastic-free, it does not claim to eliminate microplastics. That said, the device also didn’t claim to remove chloramine, but it actually removed chloramine to undetectable levels according to my own home tests. Aarke does not appear to have certified its filter for the removal of any contaminants, nor does the company publicly share lab results on its site.