# Best Water Filters for Lead Removal # Best Water Filters for Lead Removal: 53 Covers the Water, 372 Covers the Brass **strong** Lead doesn't arrive from the reservoir. It climbs in over the last few feet before the spout. *em* [Water Filters for Lead Removal Specs](#specs) [Water Filters for Lead Removal Scorecard](#score) [Water Filters for Lead Removal by Setup](#who) [Water Filters for Lead Removal Trade Offs](#proscons) [Water Filters for Lead Removal Running Cost](#cost) [Water Filters for Lead Removal Side by Side](#compare) [Water Filters for Lead Removal Questions](#faq) [Water Filters for Lead Removal Verdict](#verdict) **strong** This article contains affiliate links. **strong** at *em*. **strong** retail prices move daily, so we quote ranges and send you to the live figure on the listing. **strong** *em* Every number on this page traces to manufacturer documentation or a certification record, held against the claims on the box. No free products, no paid placements, no manufacturer relationships. Scoring rules are public on our [methodology page](/methodology). [](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3BM3Z94?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ## Best Water Filters for Lead Removal: What the 6 Records File **strong** Lead is the one contaminant here with a sheet of its own. *em* is the health effects standard, and lead reduction lives inside it. Five of them file that number. *em* It argues from its copy instead, and its copy carries a meter rather than a standard. That's the whole split on this shelf, and it's a split in the documents rather than in the water. **strong** 99 percent is on the Brita jug. 99 percent of 78 contaminants sits on the Aquasana cabinet. 99.99 percent turns up beside a 386 count on the Clearly Filtered box. *em* That's the figure a reader could hold up against the federal line for tap water, and no listing here offers it. - The line for lead: 53, filed on 5 listings here, from the cheapest jug to the dearest tank. - The number it gets mixed up with: 372, filed on 1 record, and it covers lead free materials rather than lead leaving the water. - The capacity: 3 records print a gallon figure, 120 on the Brita jug, 100 on the PUR fixture and 800 on the Aquasana cabinet. - The concentration: nothing to report, because none of these 6 prints one. Think of it this way **strong** A 50 foot run of service line holds a little over a gallon, and it holds it for as long as the tap stays shut. Water sits against the brass and the solder, and the longer it sits the more it takes up. *em* Which Standard Each Record Files Bars showing how many records file each standard: 5 file 42 for taste and odor, 5 file 53 for health effects including lead, 4 file 401, 1 files 372 for lead free materials and 1 files 58 for a reverse osmosis membrane. Which Standard Each Record Files Records naming each standard, out of 6 - 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 42, taste and odor 53, the lead line 401, emerging 372, lead free parts 58, the membrane 5 records 5 records 4 records 1 record 1 record Read off each record's own certificate field. 53 covers lead reduction and 372 covers lead free parts. Which standards the 6 records name, counted off their own fields. The 53 line covers lead and 372 covers the fixture. What that adds up to at the glass: a claim with a standard number behind it can be looked up by anyone with a browser, and 5 records here hand you one. The record without a filing is the one leaning hardest on a meter instead. See the Certified Jug ## Best Water Filters for Lead Removal: 5 of 7 for the Top Pick The pick is the Everyday Elite from Brita, the cheapest jug on this shelf with 53 on its sheet, and the card below is copied from its own page. It files 3 standards and names lead first among them. It takes 5/7. Both zeros are paperwork and speed rather than the water. CriterionPointsEvidence Certified removal scope1 point42, 53 and 401 in our records, with lead, cadmium, mercury, asbestos, benzene and class I particulates named as reductions Certification and test transparency0 pointsThe data sheet names all three standards and three certifying bodies, and still prints no certificate or listing number Filter life and rated capacity1 point120 gallons and 6 months, both published, the longest rated life in Brita's pitcher range Cost per gallon1 pointAbout 13 to 17 cents, a fraction of the ZeroWater figure and near the bottom of the pitcher class Flow rate and pressure drop0 pointsNo flow rate published for the filter or the body, while ZeroWater publishes 6.5 ounces a minute for its pitcher Install and footprint1 point10 cups, no plumbing, no tools, one fridge door shelf, and the cartridge drops in without a presoak Maintenance burden1 pointTwo cartridges a year with a SmartLight reminder on the lid, and hard water shortens the interval The 2 dropped lines are a flow figure and a listing number. No jug here prints a pour rate. Nobody in the index prints a number a reader can key into a certifier's database. The Brita Everyday Elite scorecard reads the same way on its own page, which is where this card comes from. See the Cabinet Body ## Water Filters for Lead Removal: 4 Places to Put One Four setups cover this shelf, and the split is where the body sits rather than what it promises. A jug on a fridge shelf, a fixture on the spout, a box under the cabinet, or a tank on the counter. Lead is a plumbing problem. Every one of the 4 treats the water at the point you draw it. The cheapest route into the 53 line is a jug. The Brita Everyday Elite and the Clearly Filtered 10 Cup are both pitchers, and the pitcher class runs from under $35 to over $200 across 18 bodies. A rental that forbids a hole in the counter can still hold a certified lead claim on the door shelf. The fastest route is a fixture that screws onto the aerator thread. The PUR PFM350V hangs off the spout and files 53. It travels in a coat pocket on moving day. If the counter and the pipes belong to somebody else, the faucet mount shelf answers a lead question with a tool free twist. The heaviest route lives in the cabinet. The Aquasana AQ-5300+ wants 15.85 inches of clearance and a second faucet, and it files the widest set here. The AquaTru Classic skips the plumbing altogether. It puts a membrane on the counter instead, which makes it the 1 record here asking for an outlet rather than a wrench. All 4 end at the same standard number. #### This Is Not Your Shelf If You want the fastest pour: a gravity jug is the slowest body here, and no pitcher on the shelf publishes a pour rate. - Your cabinet is shallow: 15.85 inches is the tallest install here, and the countertop tank still wants a square foot of surface. - You want the count the copy promises: 386 contaminants is a listing claim, and the field behind it files 372, which is about the product's own parts. [See the Spout Fixture](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DDXJDVX?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ## Water Filters for Lead Removal: What You Get and What It Costs You **strong** One standard covers it, and 5 of them file that sheet. That makes this a better filed shelf than the [PFAS shelf](/best-pfas-removal-filters), where 3 of 5 listings carry a number at all. *em* **strong** A removal percentage is a division of whatever water the test used. So 99 percent out of a dirty glass can leave more lead behind than 95 percent out of a clean one. Only the standard fixes the water being tested, and *em* prints the concentration it was held to. #### What You Get - A named contaminant with a standard that covers it, filed on 5 of these 6. - Three bodies that need no plumber: 2 jugs and a fixture with an aerator thread. - Three records carrying a score from their own page, so the comparisons hold still. #### What It Costs You - An upfront band running from under $35 to over $500. - A percentage you can't check, printed on 3 records, with no concentration beside it. - A standard number that means something else, filed on 1 record right next to the word lead. Put another way **strong** A bottle can be free of BPA while the water inside it isn't clean. The 372 line works the same way, because it's a claim about the brass in the fixture body. The sentence you want is about the water leaving the spout, and that sentence carries the number 53. The [Nerd Stamp™ method](/methodology) is the same 7 lines on every record in the [main water filter index](/best-water-filters), so a score travels with the body it belongs to. [See the Countertop Tank](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9C7G3VD?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) ## Water Filters for Lead Removal Cost: 11 to 17 Cents on 3 Records **strong** The cabinet body reads about 11 to 12 cents a gallon. The spout fixture reads about 13 to 15. The pick reads 13 to 17. *em* - The pick: a 120 gallon cartridge at about 13 to 17 cents, with 2 changes a year on the 6 month clock and roughly 182 gallons actually drawn. - The spout fixture: 100 gallons at about 13 to 15 cents, retired every 3 months, so 4 cartridges a year at a gallon a day. - The cabinet: 800 gallons at about 11 to 12 cents, the cheapest glass here and the longest interval at 6 months. - The other 3: no gallon figure in the field, so the front price is the only number a reader gets. *em* the cheapest box here is the PUR fixture at *em*, and the cheapest gallon belongs to a cabinet *em*. A jug keeps the front price low and the rate in the teens. That's 1 more reason a fridge door owns the cheap end of a lead shortlist. [See the Premium Jug](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFC22BHT?tag=waterfilternerd-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1) The 3 records with a printed rate are the pick, the spout fixture and the cabinet. ## Best Water Filters for Lead Removal Compared **strong** The pick's 5/7 is the card written above. Two more rows carry the score from their own page, and 3 read *em*. RecordBodyStandard filedCapacity filedClaim in the copyUpfront bandPoints **strong**Pitcher**strong****strong****strong****strong****strong** PUR Plus Faucet Mount (B07DDXJDVX)Spout3 standards, 53 first100 gal70 substancesunder $354/7 Aquasana AQ-5300+ (B06XGZMTRH)Under sink53 among 3 on the sheet800 gal78 contaminants$200 to $2404/7 AquaTru Classic (B0F9C7G3VD)Countertop RO42 and 53 with 401 and 58not published84 contaminants$520 to $560not scored Clearly Filtered 10 Cup (B0DFC22BHT)Pitcher42 and 372 named, 53 also filed100 gal in the copy386 contaminantsunder $115not scored Culligan ZeroWater 22 Cup (B0BTFXPZK4)Dispensernothing filedno figurelead on a meterunder $50not scored The Lead Numbers the Shelf Doesn't Print Bars showing 3 lead figures in milligrams per liter: the 0.15 mg/L water a certification test starts with, the 0.015 mg/L federal action level for tap water, and the 0.005 mg/L product water limit a 53 data sheet prints. None of these records publishes any of the three. The Lead Numbers the Shelf Doesn't Print Lead in milligrams per liter - 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.15 mg/L 0.015 mg/L 0.005 mg/L the water a test starts with the federal action level the limit a 53 sheet prints The challenge and the product water limit come off a lead 53 data sheet. None of these records prints any of the three. The 3 lead figures a claim is measured against, and none of them appears here. The copy carries a percentage instead. The 6 rows fall into a tidy order once the field is the sort key. The 3 records with a capacity printed are also the 3 a reader can price by the gallon. The 3 without one carry a count instead. The count is the louder number and the weaker document. The way I see it A removal percentage is a slice with no loaf behind it. 99 percent sounds like a measurement until you ask 99 percent of what, and the answer decides whether the glass ends up cleaner than the tap. A standard number swaps that question for a fixed glass and a fixed ceiling. That's the trade 5 records make and 1 doesn't. Compare the 22 Cup Dispenser ## Water Filters for Lead Removal: FAQ Which water filters actually remove lead The ones that file NSF/ANSI 53. Five of these listings carry it, from the Brita jug at the cheap end to the AquaTru tank at the dear end. A count and a percentage with no standard number behind them can't answer this one. Is NSF 42 or NSF 53 the standard for lead 53. 42 covers taste and odor, which is chlorine rather than metal, and 372 covers lead free materials inside the fixture itself. So 53 is the line to ask for, and 5 of the 6 records here file it. Does NSF 372 mean a filter removes lead No. 372 certifies the wetted parts of the product, so it's a statement about the fixture's own brass and plastic rather than about the water leaving it. One record here files 372 beside a lead claim, and the standard covering the water is 53. Do you need reverse osmosis to remove lead No. Carbon and ion exchange carry the 53 line on the Brita jug, the PUR fixture and the Aquasana cabinet, and each of the 3 files it. The AquaTru is the only membrane here, and it's certified to 53 alongside 58 for the membrane itself. Does the first glass of the morning carry more lead It can. Water sitting in a pipe for hours keeps picking up metal from the solder and the brass around it. The usual advice from a water system is to run the tap until it turns cold before drinking or filling a jug. A filter on the spout then treats whatever you draw after that flush. ## Best Water Filters for Lead Removal: Where the Shelf Lands The pick is Brita's Elite jug: under $50, a 120 gallon cartridge, and 53 on the sheet with lead named first inside it. It's the cheapest lead certified jug here. It's also the only 1 of the 3 pitchers that files a capacity. For a fridge door and a small bill, that's the whole argument. For a spout, the PUR fixture is cheaper again at under $35 and asks for 4 cartridges a year. For a cabinet, the AQ-5300+ files 3 standards over 800 gallons, at the cheap end of the published rates. For a tank and no plumbing, the reverse osmosis shelf is where the AquaTru sits. The Brita lineup and the Clearly Filtered lineup are where the 2 jugs come from. Six records, 5 filings of standard 53, 3 capacities in the field and 0 concentrations in the copy. The baby formula shelf and the well water shelf both lean on this page for the same reason. A metal is the part a germ step can't touch. Open the Lead Pick ### A Standard Number Is the One Figure a Reader Can Check This shelf prints a percentage on 3 records and a contaminant count on 4, and files the same standard number on 5. Pick the body that fits your kitchen, then look for 53 on the sheet before you look at the box. A number a certifier issued is worth more than a number a seller counted. Check the 53 Record ## Water Filters for Lead Removal: Every Standard Named Here NSF/ANSI 53: the health effects standard, and the line covering lead reduction. Five listings here file it, which is what makes this shelf checkable. - NSF/ANSI 42: the taste and odor standard, which is mostly chlorine. Every record here that files anything files 42, and it says nothing about lead. - NSF/ANSI 372: the lead free materials standard. It certifies the product's own wetted parts, so 1 record files it beside a lead claim while 53 does the work on the water. - NSF/ANSI 401: the emerging contaminants standard, filed on 4 records here. It sits alongside 53 and covers a list of unregulated compounds rather than lead. - NSF/ANSI 58: the reverse osmosis standard, filed by the 1 membrane record here. It covers the membrane itself rather than the metals list. - Lead service line: the pipe running from the main under the street to the wall of a building, and on older streets it can be lead. Water sitting in it overnight is why a first draw reads higher than a glass poured later. - Listing number: the identifier a certifier gives a certified product, and the figure a reader keys into a database to check a claim. Not 1 record here prints one. ## Keep Reading About Water Filters for Lead Removal - The Main Water Filter Index: all 136 records ranked by what they publish rather than by what they promise. - Best Water Filters for PFAS Removal: the other contaminant shelf, and the one built on a certificate test. - Brita Everyday Elite Pitcher Review: the pick's own page, and the scorecard copied above. - The Nerd Stamp Methodology: how every product in this index is rated 1 to 7 across the same seven criteria.