What contaminants does Clearly Filtered actually remove? Per third-party listing vs per the brand's 365+ contaminant marketing?

Clearly Filtered's contaminant-reduction story splits cleanly into two evidence tiers, and the honest answer depends on which tier you ask about. Per third-party LISTING (NSF DWTU directory under the Clearly Filtered name): one contaminant claim — chlorine taste-and-odor reduction on the Filtered Water Pitcher (NSF/ANSI 42), plus the lead-free plumbing-material conformance under NSF/ANSI/CAN 372. That's the entire cert-LISTED scope. Per IAPMO New Jersey (formerly QFT) ISO 17025 LAB TESTING documented in the brand's Pitcher Performance Data PDF: ~122 contaminants across the Affinity® Filtration Technology umbrella, with brand-published reduction percentages — Lead 99.34% (152 ppb influent), PFOA >99.00% (0.5 ppb), PFOS >99.50% (1 ppb), Fluoride >99.54% (2.18 ppm), Chromium-6 >99.86-99.97%, Arsenic 99.99%, Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) >99.98%, Nitrate >99.96%, Sulfate 99.88%, Ammonia >99.99%, plus mercury, cadmium, uranium, radium 226/228, cysts (Cryptosporidium, Giardia), microplastics, BPA, ibuprofen, atrazine, glyphosate, VOCs (benzene, MTBE, toluene), trihalomethanes (THMs), and more. The brand's marketing umbrella aggregates these to the headline '365+ contaminants' claim by including individual subcategories (each individual haloacetic acid, each individual VOC, each PFAS variant) as separate contaminants. Independent third-party hands-on testing by WaterFilterGuru (waterfilterguru.com) documented 100% real-world reduction of fluoride (1.1 ppm → 0 ppm) and 100% reduction of uranium (0.014 ppm → 0 ppm) in Colorado treated groundwater — confirming the brand's reduction claims hold up in real-world conditions for these specific contaminants. The reviewer also flagged one anomaly: 0.0054 ppm of cobalt detected in the filtered water that wasn't detected in unfiltered (an unexplained inversion despite the brand's >98.31% cobalt claim). For deeper context on certified lead reduction options across all brands, see our lead in tap water guide; for filters certified for PFAS specifically, see the dedicated PFAS contaminant page.

Clearly Filtered vs Brita vs Berkey vs Aquasana — what's the difference?

Each brand sits at a different evidence-tier and format-tier combination, and the right pick depends on what you specifically prioritize. Brita Elite (OB06) pitcher carries NSF International LISTING under NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 (lead) + 401 (BPA, atenolol, ibuprofen, microplastics) — narrower contaminant scope (~30 contaminants) but every claim is third-party LISTED at the cheapest entry tier ($30-$45 pitcher, ~$36-$48/yr filter cost). Clearly Filtered pitcher carries NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 LISTING (chlorine + plumbing material) + IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing on the broader 365+ contaminant umbrella — broader brand-claimed scope including PFAS + fluoride + chromium-6 + uranium, narrower cert-LISTING tier ($90-$140 pitcher, ~$165-$210/yr filter cost). Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey elements carry ZERO third-party cert LISTINGS on the brand element AND are under active EPA FIFRA enforcement (SSURO since May 2023 over the silver content in the Black Berkey element); the brand substitutes ISO 17025 lab reports (CVR Labs + RAYNU Analytical Labs in India per the Phoenix datasheet) for cert LISTING ($400-$500 stainless gravity canister, standalone replacement filters not currently sold). Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage Under-Sink (AQ-5300) carries WQA LISTING under NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 covering 78 contaminants including PFOA/PFOS — broader cert-LISTING scope than Brita Elite, narrower contaminant umbrella than Clearly Filtered, broader cert tier than Clearly Filtered, more SKU-permanent than a pitcher ($170-$260 under-sink system, ~$120-$160/yr filter cost). The honest decision framework: if you want CERT-LISTED lead reduction at the lowest cost, choose Brita Elite OB06; if you want CERT-LISTED PFAS + cert-listed broader scope at the under-sink format, choose Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage; if you want BROADER (lab-tested) scope including fluoride + uranium at the pitcher format and accept brand-published IAPMO NJ testing in place of cert LISTING, choose Clearly Filtered; if you want gravity stainless steel for off-grid use and accept zero cert listings plus EPA enforcement context, choose Berkey (or look at the cert-listed gravity alternatives Doulton British Berkefeld or ProOne G3.0). Before any of these decisions, check what's actually in your water first. For per-contaminant detail, see the lead in tap water guide and the PFAS contaminant page.

How long does the Clearly Filtered pitcher cartridge last, and how often do I replace it?

The Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher uses a 100-gallon-rated replacement cartridge — the longest pitcher-cartridge service interval in the consumer pitcher market (Brita Elite OB06 runs 120 gallons but at significantly narrower contaminant scope; Brita Standard OB03 runs 40 gallons; ZeroWater ZR-001/ZF-201 typically saturates at 20-40 gallons on hard water). At family-of-4 usage of approximately 25-30 gallons per month, expect ~3-4 month replacement intervals on the Affinity cartridge. The brand sells single replacement cartridges at $55-$70 each, with autoship 6-pack bundles in the $200-$280 range bringing the per-cartridge cost down ~$33-$47. Annual filter cost for a family of 4: approximately $165-$210 single-purchase, $130-$190 on autoship. The 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter and Universal Inline Fridge Filter use different cartridge form-factors with their own replacement intervals (~6 months and ~12 months respectively, depending on usage and influent water hardness). The brand offers a subscription-based autoship program with free shipping that the Reddit community generally rates as a positive convenience feature. Filter slowdown is documented by the brand as a normal end-of-life signal: 'a slower filtration speed or loss of flow doesn't mean the filter is defective, but rather that it's doing its job in capturing materials.' Hard or highly contaminated source water can shorten the service interval below the 100-gallon rating — check your water quality by ZIP code if you suspect locally elevated contaminant loads.

Who owns Clearly Filtered and where is it manufactured?

Clearly Filtered, Inc. is the legal corporate entity — a privately-held US consumer-water-filter brand founded in 2011 and headquartered at 23121 Antonio Parkway, Suite 130, Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688 (Orange County). The company is privately held with no publicly disclosed parent company, no SEC filings, no announced M&A activity, and no institutional ownership disclosure. Manufacturing facility is located in Sturgis, Michigan USA per the NSF certifier-record entry for the Filtered Water Pitcher (NSF DWTU directory under 'Clearly Filtered'). The brand's marketing copy describes products as 'built in the USA' and 'tested by EPA-accredited labs,' consistent with the Sturgis MI facility designation. Customer service phone 877-876-2740. 'Affinity® Filtration Technology' is the brand's proprietary filter media trademark (denoted ® on the home page) — NOT a separate corporate entity. NSF DWTU directory searches for 'Affinity Filtration' return 'No Matching Products Found,' confirming the trademark-not-entity status. The brand's home page banner reads 'INTRODUCING AFFINITY® FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY'; the corporate copyright footer reads 'Copyright © 2026 Clearly Filtered, Inc. All Rights Reserved.' Component-level country-of-origin for the activated carbon, catalytic carbon, ion-exchange resin, and Tritan plastic housing components is not publicly disclosed by the brand on its consumer-facing pages.

Is the '99.9% removal of 365+ contaminants' claim third-party certified?

This is the most important question about Clearly Filtered, and the honest answer requires distinguishing two distinct evidence tiers underneath the headline claim. The '365+ contaminants' marketing umbrella aggregates approximately 122 brand-published reduction-percentage rows on the Pitcher Performance Data Sheet (plus equivalent under-sink, fridge filter, and bottle PDS) — every row attributed to IAPMO New Jersey (formerly QFT) ISO 17025 lab testing under NSF/ANSI protocols. IAPMO NJ is a recognized ISO 17025-accredited testing laboratory in the IAPMO family; the testing is real, the lab is reputable, and ISO 17025 is a legitimate quality-management standard for testing laboratories. But ISO 17025 accredits the LAB, not the PRODUCT — it is one accreditation tier below the NSF/IAPMO/WQA third-party certification LISTING under a specific NSF/ANSI performance standard. As of 2026-05-23, the public NSF DWTU directory carries ONE third-party LISTING under the Clearly Filtered name: the Filtered Water Pitcher + Replacement Pitcher Filter at NSF/ANSI 42 (chlorine taste-and-odor reduction) + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (lead-free plumbing material). Independent third-party assessment by WaterFilterGuru (waterfilterguru.com, accessed 2026-05-23) quantified the gap explicitly: 'Performance Certification: Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims.' One NSF-certified claim out of ~122 brand-marketed contaminant categories on the pitcher PDS. So: is the '99.9% removal of 365+ contaminants' claim third-party CERTIFIED? No — the certified claim is chlorine taste-and-odor reduction. Is it third-party TESTED? Yes — every reduction percentage in the brand's PDS is sourced from IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing. Is the testing reliable? Real-world performance evidence is genuinely strong: WaterFilterGuru's hands-on Colorado test documented 100% fluoride + 100% uranium reduction (matching or exceeding the brand's marketed claims for those specific contaminants). The C4 (99% / 365+ contaminants claim audit) confusion pattern is the structural gap: broad lab-tested claim umbrella, narrow third-party-certified listing footprint. Before relying on the marketing umbrella, check your water quality by ZIP code to see what's actually in your local feed water. For deeper detail on certified lead reduction options across all brands, see our lead in tap water guide. To compare with cert-LISTED PFAS alternatives, see filters certified for PFAS.

Clearly Filtered Water Filters

Clearly Filtered is a US premium pitcher brand marketing '99.9% of 365+ contaminants,' but its only NSF listing is NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 (taste/odor + lead-free); the broader claims rest on IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 lab testing, not certification.

Best for

Households wanting an NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 listed pitcher with strong evidence — IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing documents 99%+ lead and PFAS
Buyers needing fluoride or uranium reduction in a pitcher — WaterFilterGuru's independent test found 100% fluoride and uranium removal
Households on lead-line or PFAS-impacted water who can absorb the premium price and prefer brand-published lab evidence to zero-cert systems
Premium-pitcher buyers wanting broader tested scope than Brita Elite OB06 — accepting it is brand-published testing, not 53-listed

Not recommended for

Buyers requiring an NSF/ANSI 53 LISTING on lead/PFAS/chromium-6 — the pitcher carries 42 + 372 only; that evidence is ISO 17025 lab-tested
Cost-conscious buyers — the pitcher plus refills run ~$165-$210/yr for a family of 4, far above Brita Elite and PUR Plus
Buyers seeking a whole-house or RO system — Clearly Filtered's lineup is entirely point-of-use (pitcher, bottle, fridge, under-sink)
Risk-averse buyers wanting every marketing claim third-party LISTED — only the chlorine taste-and-odor claim carries an NSF listing

Premium tier — typically $500+

Certs:NSF/ANSI 42, 372
1 SKU
$58–$550
Parent:None — Clearly Filtered, Inc.

Certification Reality: What's Actually Tested

This table shows the NSF/IAPMO/WQA-listed certifications for each Clearly Filtered SKU we tracked, alongside the contaminants the brand markets but which do not appear on the third-party listing. Green chips are third-party verified; amber chips are marketing claims without a corresponding listing. Every row links to the live certifier database so you can verify the listed claim set yourself.

SKU / Model	Standards held	What’s certified	Brand claims but NOT certified	NSF listing
CF-PITCHER-80oz Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz / 10-cup, with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's flagship and only NSF-listed SKU; the C4 confusion-pattern centerpiece	NSF/ANSI 42, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372	Chlorine (Taste and Odor)	Lead (brand-marketed at 99.34% reduction per IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing at 152 ppb influent; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified) PFOA (brand-marketed at >99.00% reduction per IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing at 0.5 ppb influent; NOT NSF P473 certified) PFOS (brand-marketed at >99.50% reduction at 1 ppb influent; NOT NSF P473 certified) Total PFAS suite (brand-marketed reduction across PFBS, PFHpA, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHxA; NOT NSF P473 certified) Fluoride (brand-marketed at >99.54% reduction per IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing at 2.18 ppm influent; NOT NSF/ANSI 58 certified) Chromium-6 / Hexavalent Chromium (brand-marketed at 99.97% / >99.86% reduction; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified) Arsenic (brand-marketed at 99.99% reduction; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified) Mercury (brand-marketed reduction per IAPMO NJ testing; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified) Cadmium Uranium (brand-marketed reduction; independently confirmed at 100% reduction in WaterFilterGuru Colorado real-world test) Radium 226/228 Cysts (Cryptosporidium, Giardia) Microplastics BPA (Bisphenol A) Pharmaceuticals (Ibuprofen, Atenolol, Carbamazepine, Naproxen) Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) (brand-marketed at >99.98% reduction per IAPMO NJ testing; NOT NSF/ANSI 401 certified) Trihalomethanes (THMs) Nitrate / Nitrite (brand-marketed at >99.96% / >99.93% reduction) Atrazine (Pesticide) Glyphosate (Herbicide) Ammonia (brand-marketed at >99.99% reduction) Sulfate (brand-marketed at 99.88% reduction) VOCs (Benzene, MTBE, Toluene) The Filtered Water Pitcher is the canonical SKU for the C4 (99% / 365+ contaminants claim audit) confusion pattern in the Clearly Filtered lineup, with the C8 (lab-report-as-cert) and C10 ('reduces' vs 'removes') patterns also active on the same SKU. The brand's marketing claim is '99.9% reduction of 365+ contaminants' under the Affinity® Filtration Technology umbrella; the public NSF DWTU directory listing carries ONE certified claim (chlorine taste-and-odor reduction under NSF/ANSI 42). WaterFilterGuru's independent third-party review quantifies the gap as 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' — the cert-to-claim ratio in numerical form. The honest read on the evidence stack: the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing is real, performed by a recognized ISO 17025-accredited lab in the IAPMO family (formerly QFT, the same lab that has tested filters for multiple major brands), against NSF/ANSI protocols. ISO 17025 accredits the LAB's quality-management practices — it does NOT accredit the PRODUCT under a specific performance standard. Buyers searching the NSF directory for 'is Clearly Filtered NSF certified for lead removal' will see the NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 listing (chlorine + plumbing-material) but NO NSF/ANSI 53 listing for lead under the brand name — the lead reduction claim lives in the IAPMO NJ test report, not the NSF cert listing. Real-world performance is genuinely strong (WaterFilterGuru documented 100% fluoride + uranium reduction on Colorado groundwater), so the evidence quality is meaningfully better than zero-cert brands like Berkey, but materially narrower than buyers reading '365+ contaminants' marketing copy may assume. C10 framing also applies: the per-contaminant reduction percentages are single-pass laboratory measurements at the test-protocol influent concentrations (152 ppb lead, 0.5 ppb PFOA, 2.18 ppm fluoride, etc.) — not guarantees of equivalent reduction at arbitrary real-world contaminant loads.	View NSF listing
CF-UNDERSINK-3STAGE 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's premium endpoint; the C4 pattern at the under-sink format	No active certifications		Lead PFOA PFOS Total PFAS Fluoride Chromium-6 (Hexavalent) Arsenic Mercury Cadmium Uranium Radium 226/228 Chlorine (Taste and Odor) Chloramines Cysts (Cryptosporidium, Giardia) Microplastics BPA (Bisphenol A) Pharmaceuticals Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Trihalomethanes (THMs) Nitrate / Nitrite VOCs (Benzene, MTBE, Toluene) The 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter is the brand's premium endpoint and the SKU where the C4 confusion pattern intensifies relative to the pitcher. The pitcher carries the NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 cert LISTING; the under-sink SKU carries the same 365+ contaminant marketing umbrella with ZERO third-party LISTINGS under the Clearly Filtered name on the public NSF/IAPMO/WQA directories — every contaminant claim sits in the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier alone. At the $495-$550 retail price point, this puts the under-sink SKU in direct competition with cert-listed alternatives like the Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage AQ-5300 (WQA-certified to NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401, ~$260) and the iSpring 3-stage RCC7AK under-sink (NSF/ANSI 58 listed, $200-$300) — both of which carry meaningfully narrower contaminant scope on paper but third-party LISTINGS rather than testing on the broader scope. Buyers paying the Clearly Filtered under-sink premium are paying for the broader (lab-tested) contaminant umbrella; buyers prioritizing third-party LISTING on the lead + PFAS + chromium-6 claims should consider the cert-listed alternatives at the lower price point.	Listing TBD
CF-FRIDGE-UNIVERSAL Universal Inline Fridge Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's refrigerator-format SKU	No active certifications		Lead PFOA PFOS Total PFAS Fluoride Chromium-6 (Hexavalent) Arsenic Chlorine (Taste and Odor) Chloramines Cysts Microplastics BPA Pharmaceuticals Nitrate / Nitrite The Universal Inline Fridge Filter at $148.50-$185 sits in the C11 sister-SKU position relative to the Filtered Water Pitcher: same Affinity® Filtration Technology media platform, scaled to inline refrigerator water-line installation rather than gravity pour-through, but the cert-listing footprint is empty (zero NSF/IAPMO/WQA listings under the Clearly Filtered name for this SKU). The brand markets the same 365+ contaminant claim umbrella as the pitcher; the same IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing pattern; the same C4 (cert vs claim audit) gap. The competitive context: OEM refrigerator filters from Whirlpool EveryDrop, Samsung HAF-CIN, and LG LT1000P typically carry NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 listings on the OEM brand (cert-listed on the major contaminant standards) at $40-$60 per filter — Clearly Filtered's fridge filter at $148.50 sits at 2.5-3.7× the OEM price point with a broader brand-claimed contaminant scope but narrower third-party-listing footprint. Buyers prioritizing certification listing on lead + microplastics + pharmaceuticals in the fridge format should consider the OEM filters; buyers prioritizing the broader (lab-tested) Affinity umbrella choose Clearly Filtered.	Listing TBD
CF-BOTTLE-20oz 20oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottle (with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's portable single-SKU format	No active certifications		Lead PFOA PFOS Fluoride Chromium-6 (Hexavalent) Arsenic Chlorine (Taste and Odor) Microplastics BPA VOCs The 20oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottle uses a scaled-down version of the Affinity media stack — the cartridge form-factor is meaningfully smaller than the pitcher's 100-gallon-rated cartridge, so the per-cartridge service life is shorter and the marketing-claim scope is somewhat narrower (the brand's bottle PDS does not always include every contaminant the pitcher PDS does). The cert-listing footprint is empty (no NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 analogous to the pitcher), so buyers cannot directly transfer the pitcher's cert-listing assurance to the bottle. The same C4 evidence-tier gap applies: real-world performance evidence lives in the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier, narrower than the third-party LISTING tier. The 4.4-star average is meaningfully lower than the pitcher (4.7) and the fridge filter (4.9) — the brand's product-review feedback signals more mixed real-world experience on the bottle format, likely correlated with the smaller cartridge's tighter operational tolerances.	Listing TBD
CF-PITCHER-REPLACEMENT Pitcher Replacement Filter ([1] on the NSF directory) — the 100-gallon cartridge listed alongside the pitcher housing	NSF/ANSI 42, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372	Chlorine (Taste and Odor)	Lead PFOA PFOS Fluoride Chromium-6 (Hexavalent) Arsenic Cysts Microplastics BPA Pharmaceuticals HAA5 VOCs The Pitcher Replacement Filter is paired with the Filtered Water Pitcher housing on the same NSF directory entry (model designation [1]) — it carries the same NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 cert scope and the same chlorine-taste-and-odor certified claim. The C4 confusion-pattern story applies identically: the cartridge is the consumable that delivers every contaminant-reduction claim the brand markets, the NSF listing covers ONE claim, the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing covers the rest. The cartridge is the brand's recurring-revenue SKU — at $55-$70 single / ~$200-$280 6-pack, with ~3-4 month replacement intervals on family-of-4 usage, the cartridge is the SKU consumers re-evaluate the cert-vs-claim trade-off on most frequently. Buyers committing to the autoship subscription are committing to a multi-year recurring expense on the C4-pattern evidence tier; that's the editorial framing the brand's own dual-tier disclosure on the Pitcher Performance Data page supports being transparent about.	View NSF listing

CF-PITCHER-80oz

Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz / 10-cup, with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's flagship and only NSF-listed SKU; the C4 confusion-pattern centerpiece

Standards held

NSF/ANSI 42, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372

What’s certified

Chlorine (Taste and Odor)

Brand claims but NOT certified

Lead (brand-marketed at 99.34% reduction per IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing at 152 ppb influent; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified)
PFOA (brand-marketed at >99.00% reduction per IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing at 0.5 ppb influent; NOT NSF P473 certified)
PFOS (brand-marketed at >99.50% reduction at 1 ppb influent; NOT NSF P473 certified)
Total PFAS suite (brand-marketed reduction across PFBS, PFHpA, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHxA; NOT NSF P473 certified)
Fluoride (brand-marketed at >99.54% reduction per IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing at 2.18 ppm influent; NOT NSF/ANSI 58 certified)
Chromium-6 / Hexavalent Chromium (brand-marketed at 99.97% / >99.86% reduction; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified)
Arsenic (brand-marketed at 99.99% reduction; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified)
Mercury (brand-marketed reduction per IAPMO NJ testing; NOT NSF/ANSI 53 certified)
Cadmium
Uranium (brand-marketed reduction; independently confirmed at 100% reduction in WaterFilterGuru Colorado real-world test)
Radium 226/228
Cysts (Cryptosporidium, Giardia)
Microplastics
BPA (Bisphenol A)
Pharmaceuticals (Ibuprofen, Atenolol, Carbamazepine, Naproxen)
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) (brand-marketed at >99.98% reduction per IAPMO NJ testing; NOT NSF/ANSI 401 certified)
Trihalomethanes (THMs)
Nitrate / Nitrite (brand-marketed at >99.96% / >99.93% reduction)
Atrazine (Pesticide)
Glyphosate (Herbicide)
Ammonia (brand-marketed at >99.99% reduction)
Sulfate (brand-marketed at 99.88% reduction)
VOCs (Benzene, MTBE, Toluene)

The Filtered Water Pitcher is the canonical SKU for the C4 (99% / 365+ contaminants claim audit) confusion pattern in the Clearly Filtered lineup, with the C8 (lab-report-as-cert) and C10 ('reduces' vs 'removes') patterns also active on the same SKU. The brand's marketing claim is '99.9% reduction of 365+ contaminants' under the Affinity® Filtration Technology umbrella; the public NSF DWTU directory listing carries ONE certified claim (chlorine taste-and-odor reduction under NSF/ANSI 42). WaterFilterGuru's independent third-party review quantifies the gap as 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' — the cert-to-claim ratio in numerical form. The honest read on the evidence stack: the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing is real, performed by a recognized ISO 17025-accredited lab in the IAPMO family (formerly QFT, the same lab that has tested filters for multiple major brands), against NSF/ANSI protocols. ISO 17025 accredits the LAB's quality-management practices — it does NOT accredit the PRODUCT under a specific performance standard. Buyers searching the NSF directory for 'is Clearly Filtered NSF certified for lead removal' will see the NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 listing (chlorine + plumbing-material) but NO NSF/ANSI 53 listing for lead under the brand name — the lead reduction claim lives in the IAPMO NJ test report, not the NSF cert listing. Real-world performance is genuinely strong (WaterFilterGuru documented 100% fluoride + uranium reduction on Colorado groundwater), so the evidence quality is meaningfully better than zero-cert brands like Berkey, but materially narrower than buyers reading '365+ contaminants' marketing copy may assume. C10 framing also applies: the per-contaminant reduction percentages are single-pass laboratory measurements at the test-protocol influent concentrations (152 ppb lead, 0.5 ppb PFOA, 2.18 ppm fluoride, etc.) — not guarantees of equivalent reduction at arbitrary real-world contaminant loads.

NSF listing

View NSF listing

CF-UNDERSINK-3STAGE

3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's premium endpoint; the C4 pattern at the under-sink format

Standards held

No active certifications

What’s certified

Brand claims but NOT certified

Lead
PFOA
PFOS
Total PFAS
Fluoride
Chromium-6 (Hexavalent)
Arsenic
Mercury
Cadmium
Uranium
Radium 226/228
Chlorine (Taste and Odor)
Chloramines
Cysts (Cryptosporidium, Giardia)
Microplastics
BPA (Bisphenol A)
Pharmaceuticals
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)
Trihalomethanes (THMs)
Nitrate / Nitrite
VOCs (Benzene, MTBE, Toluene)

The 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter is the brand's premium endpoint and the SKU where the C4 confusion pattern intensifies relative to the pitcher. The pitcher carries the NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 cert LISTING; the under-sink SKU carries the same 365+ contaminant marketing umbrella with ZERO third-party LISTINGS under the Clearly Filtered name on the public NSF/IAPMO/WQA directories — every contaminant claim sits in the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier alone. At the $495-$550 retail price point, this puts the under-sink SKU in direct competition with cert-listed alternatives like the Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage AQ-5300 (WQA-certified to NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401, ~$260) and the iSpring 3-stage RCC7AK under-sink (NSF/ANSI 58 listed, $200-$300) — both of which carry meaningfully narrower contaminant scope on paper but third-party LISTINGS rather than testing on the broader scope. Buyers paying the Clearly Filtered under-sink premium are paying for the broader (lab-tested) contaminant umbrella; buyers prioritizing third-party LISTING on the lead + PFAS + chromium-6 claims should consider the cert-listed alternatives at the lower price point.

NSF listing

Listing TBD

CF-FRIDGE-UNIVERSAL

Universal Inline Fridge Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's refrigerator-format SKU

Standards held

No active certifications

What’s certified

Brand claims but NOT certified

Lead
PFOA
PFOS
Total PFAS
Fluoride
Chromium-6 (Hexavalent)
Arsenic
Chlorine (Taste and Odor)
Chloramines
Cysts
Microplastics
BPA
Pharmaceuticals
Nitrate / Nitrite

The Universal Inline Fridge Filter at $148.50-$185 sits in the C11 sister-SKU position relative to the Filtered Water Pitcher: same Affinity® Filtration Technology media platform, scaled to inline refrigerator water-line installation rather than gravity pour-through, but the cert-listing footprint is empty (zero NSF/IAPMO/WQA listings under the Clearly Filtered name for this SKU). The brand markets the same 365+ contaminant claim umbrella as the pitcher; the same IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing pattern; the same C4 (cert vs claim audit) gap. The competitive context: OEM refrigerator filters from Whirlpool EveryDrop, Samsung HAF-CIN, and LG LT1000P typically carry NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 listings on the OEM brand (cert-listed on the major contaminant standards) at $40-$60 per filter — Clearly Filtered's fridge filter at $148.50 sits at 2.5-3.7× the OEM price point with a broader brand-claimed contaminant scope but narrower third-party-listing footprint. Buyers prioritizing certification listing on lead + microplastics + pharmaceuticals in the fridge format should consider the OEM filters; buyers prioritizing the broader (lab-tested) Affinity umbrella choose Clearly Filtered.

NSF listing

Listing TBD

CF-BOTTLE-20oz

20oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottle (with Affinity® Filtration Technology) — the brand's portable single-SKU format

Standards held

No active certifications

What’s certified

Brand claims but NOT certified

Lead
PFOA
PFOS
Fluoride
Chromium-6 (Hexavalent)
Arsenic
Chlorine (Taste and Odor)
Microplastics
BPA
VOCs

The 20oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottle uses a scaled-down version of the Affinity media stack — the cartridge form-factor is meaningfully smaller than the pitcher's 100-gallon-rated cartridge, so the per-cartridge service life is shorter and the marketing-claim scope is somewhat narrower (the brand's bottle PDS does not always include every contaminant the pitcher PDS does). The cert-listing footprint is empty (no NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 analogous to the pitcher), so buyers cannot directly transfer the pitcher's cert-listing assurance to the bottle. The same C4 evidence-tier gap applies: real-world performance evidence lives in the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier, narrower than the third-party LISTING tier. The 4.4-star average is meaningfully lower than the pitcher (4.7) and the fridge filter (4.9) — the brand's product-review feedback signals more mixed real-world experience on the bottle format, likely correlated with the smaller cartridge's tighter operational tolerances.

NSF listing

Listing TBD

CF-PITCHER-REPLACEMENT

Pitcher Replacement Filter ([1] on the NSF directory) — the 100-gallon cartridge listed alongside the pitcher housing

Standards held

NSF/ANSI 42, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372

What’s certified

Chlorine (Taste and Odor)

Brand claims but NOT certified

Lead
PFOA
PFOS
Fluoride
Chromium-6 (Hexavalent)
Arsenic
Cysts
Microplastics
BPA
Pharmaceuticals
HAA5
VOCs

The Pitcher Replacement Filter is paired with the Filtered Water Pitcher housing on the same NSF directory entry (model designation [1]) — it carries the same NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 cert scope and the same chlorine-taste-and-odor certified claim. The C4 confusion-pattern story applies identically: the cartridge is the consumable that delivers every contaminant-reduction claim the brand markets, the NSF listing covers ONE claim, the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing covers the rest. The cartridge is the brand's recurring-revenue SKU — at $55-$70 single / ~$200-$280 6-pack, with ~3-4 month replacement intervals on family-of-4 usage, the cartridge is the SKU consumers re-evaluate the cert-vs-claim trade-off on most frequently. Buyers committing to the autoship subscription are committing to a multi-year recurring expense on the C4-pattern evidence tier; that's the editorial framing the brand's own dual-tier disclosure on the Pitcher Performance Data page supports being transparent about.

NSF listing

View NSF listing

Check Certification for a Clearly Filtered Filter

This widget shows the third-party-listed certifications for Clearly Filtered SKUs only. Type a model number to filter the list below — every result links to the full breakdown. To search across every brand we track, use the global certification tool.

Search Clearly Filtered models

Filtered Water Pitcher
Clearly Filtered
NSF/ANSI 42, 42, 372
View details

Listings as of May 29, 2026.

About Clearly Filtered

Clearly Filtered is a US premium consumer-water-filter brand founded in 2011 and headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California (Orange County). The brand's structural product platform is Affinity® Filtration Technology — a proprietary multi-stage filter cartridge combining activated carbon, catalytic carbon, and proprietary ion-exchange media engineered to target both aesthetic (chlorine, taste, odor) and health-contaminant (lead, fluoride, PFAS, chromium-6, arsenic) reduction. The brand markets the platform as 'proven to protect you from up to 73x more dangers than typical store-bought filters,' with the headline claim of '365+ contaminants' filtered. Format footprint: Filtered Water Pitcher (entry tier, $90-$140), 20oz/24oz/32oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottles, Universal Inline Fridge Filter, and 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter (premium endpoint, $495-$550). The brand does NOT extend to whole-house or reverse-osmosis SKUs. The cert-reality story is uniquely instructive: the public NSF DWTU directory carries ONE listing under 'Clearly Filtered' as of 2026-05-23 — the Filtered Water Pitcher (with the matching Replacement Pitcher Filter) certified to NSF/ANSI 42 (aesthetic chlorine taste-and-odor reduction) and NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (lead-free plumbing material). NSF/ANSI 42 is an aesthetic standard and NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 is a plumbing-material standard — neither carries the per-contaminant health certification scope (NSF/ANSI 53 for lead/PFAS/chromium-6, NSF/ANSI 58 for RO-format contaminants, NSF/ANSI 401 for emerging compounds, NSF P473 for PFAS specifically) the brand's 365+ contaminant marketing implies. Every other contaminant claim the brand markets — lead at 99.34%, PFOA at >99.00%, PFOS at >99.50%, fluoride at >99.54%, chromium-6 at >99.86-99.97%, arsenic at 99.99% — is supported by IAPMO New Jersey (formerly QFT) ISO 17025 lab testing, performed against NSF/ANSI protocols but NOT third-party-certified under those protocols. IAPMO NJ is a recognized ISO 17025 testing lab in the IAPMO family; the testing is real and the lab is reputable, but ISO 17025 accredits the LAB, not the PRODUCT — it is one accreditation tier below the NSF/IAPMO/WQA third-party certification LISTING consumers are searching for when they ask 'is Clearly Filtered NSF certified?' Independent third-party assessment by WaterFilterGuru (waterfilterguru.com, 2026-05-23) awarded the pitcher 8.78/10 overall on hands-on Colorado real-world testing — flagged 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' as the cert-to-claim ratio, documented 100% fluoride and 100% uranium reduction in the reviewer's filtered water (meeting or exceeding the brand's marketed reduction claim for those specific contaminants), and noted one anomaly: 0.0054 ppm of cobalt was detected in filtered water that wasn't detected in unfiltered water. 'Affinity Filtration' is the brand-name proprietary technology trademark — NOT a separate corporate entity. NSF directory searches for 'Affinity Filtration' return 'No Matching Products Found,' and the brand-official copyright footer reads 'Copyright © 2026 Clearly Filtered, Inc. All Rights Reserved.' Clearly Filtered, Inc. is the legal entity.

Founded:2011 (Clearly Filtered, Inc. founded in Rancho Santa Margarita, California; Affinity® Filtration Technology developed internally as the brand's proprietary multi-stage filtration platform)

Headquarters:Clearly Filtered, Inc., 23121 Antonio Parkway, Suite 130, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 USA. Manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Michigan USA (per NSF certifier listing for the Filtered Water Pitcher). Customer service phone 877-876-2740.

Parent company:None — Clearly Filtered, Inc.

Ownership history

2011
Clearly Filtered, Inc. founded as an independent US consumer-water-filter brand headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California (Orange County). Initial product focus: a single Filtered Water Pitcher SKU with a proprietary multi-stage filtration cartridge marketed against the dominant Brita / PUR / ZeroWater pitcher incumbents on the basis of broader contaminant scope (lead + fluoride + chromium-6 + PFAS reduction beyond the chlorine taste-and-odor entry-tier the incumbents covered).
Mid-2010s
Brand expansion to insulated stainless-steel filtered water bottles (20oz, 24oz, 32oz variants) using a scaled-down version of the Affinity media stack — positioned as a single-SKU drinkable-anywhere alternative to home-based pitcher filtration.
Late-2010s
Universal Inline Fridge Filter and 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter introduced as the brand's premium endpoint, expanding the platform from pitcher-only to full point-of-use coverage. The 3-Stage Under-the-Sink at $495-$550 represents the brand's highest-retail SKU; the brand does NOT extend to whole-house or reverse-osmosis systems.
2023-2024
Affinity® Filtration Technology branding formally introduced in marketing — the proprietary filter media stack receives a registered trademark designation (® symbol) and dedicated product-page positioning as the brand's structural differentiator vs the broader pitcher/under-sink market. The brand's marketing copy consolidates around the '365+ contaminants' headline claim with the per-contaminant reduction percentages disclosed in the Pitcher Performance Data PDF.
2025
Brand publishes the Pitcher Performance Data page with the explicit dual-tier evidence framing: 'The Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher and Replacement Pitcher Filter are certified by NSF to NSF/ANSI Standards 42 and 372. Additional testing was performed and results were provided by QFT, a lab now operating as IAPMO New Jersey, a division of IAPMO, an independent ISO 17025 certified laboratory.' This is the brand's most transparent disclosure of the C4 (cert-listing vs lab-testing) split — the framing the consumer-facing 365+ marketing claim does not always lead with.
2026
Brand operating model: 325,000+ customers cited in marketing copy; 15,000+ aggregate product reviews; sole product-level filtration platform remains Affinity® Filtration Technology; corporate entity remains Clearly Filtered, Inc. of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. Privately held; no SEC filings; no announced acquisitions or divestitures.

Filtered Water Pitcher (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

The brand's flagship and only NSF-listed SKU. 80oz / 10-cup capacity (referenced as 'Capacity: 80oz or 10 cups' on the product page); 100-gallon filter life per replacement cartridge (the brand's longest pitcher-cartridge service interval, ~3-4 months on a family-of-4 usage pattern); medical-grade Tritan / BPA-free plastic construction. NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 LISTED for chlorine taste-and-odor reduction + lead-free plumbing material; IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 TESTED for the brand-marketed 365+ contaminant claim (lead at 99.34%, PFOA >99.00%, PFOS >99.50%, fluoride >99.54%, chromium-6 >99.86-99.97%, arsenic 99.99%, HAA5 >99.98% per Pitcher Performance Data PDF). Retail $90 (sale) / ~$112-$140 regular; replacement filter $55-$70; 4.7-star average / 4,615 reviews on the brand product page. The pitcher is the brand's structural cert-vs-claim case study — it is the SKU where the C4 confusion-flag pattern is most clearly enacted.

20oz / 24oz / 32oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottles (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Insulated stainless-steel filtered water bottles using a scaled-down version of the Affinity media stack. Three capacity variants (20oz, 24oz, 32oz); replacement filters sold separately. NOT on the NSF DWTU directory — the brand-published lab evidence for the bottle line is IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing (no NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 cert listing analogous to the pitcher's). 20oz Bottle: $58.50 (sale) / from $74 regular; 4.4-star average / 530 reviews. Positioned as a portable single-SKU alternative to home-based pitcher filtration; the brand markets the same 365+ contaminant claim umbrella with the same IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing-tier evidence pattern as the pitcher.

Universal Inline Fridge Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Inline cartridge filter sized for in-line installation on refrigerator water lines and ice makers. NOT on the NSF DWTU directory under the Clearly Filtered name. Universal compatibility with most refrigerator brands via standard 1/4-inch tubing connections. Retail $148.50 (sale) / from $185 regular; 4.9-star average / 532 reviews — the highest review average across the brand's lineup. IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing pattern; no NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 cert analogous to the pitcher's. Positioned as the brand's response to OEM refrigerator filter lock-in (Whirlpool EveryDrop, Samsung HAF-CIN, LG LT1000P, etc.) at a per-filter price point that competes with the high-end OEM market.

3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

The brand's premium endpoint at the under-sink format. Three-stage cartridge stack (sediment + Affinity media stack 1 + Affinity media stack 2) hard-plumbed under the kitchen sink with a dedicated faucet output. Retail $495 (sale) / $550 regular; 4.8-star average / 447 reviews. NOT on the NSF DWTU directory under the Clearly Filtered name; IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing pattern. The under-sink system targets the same 365+ contaminant umbrella as the pitcher at higher flow rate and longer service interval — positioned as the convenience-upgrade SKU for buyers who want always-on filtered water at the tap and dropping the every-3-month pitcher-cartridge swap.

Replacement Pitcher Filter ([1] on the NSF listing)

100-gallon-rated replacement cartridge for the Filtered Water Pitcher. Listed on the NSF directory as 'Pitcher Replacement Filter' under model designation [1], certified to NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 alongside the pitcher housing it pairs with. Retail $55-$70 single; ~$200-$280 6-pack (the brand's autoship-bundle pricing). This SKU is the brand's recurring revenue engine — at ~3-4 month replacement intervals on family-of-4 usage, a single-pitcher household generates ~3-4 cartridge purchases per year. The cert listing covers the SKU's chlorine taste-and-odor reduction; the broader 365+ contaminant claim shares the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier with the rest of the lineup.

Clearly Filtered, Inc. operates manufacturing in Sturgis, Michigan USA (per NSF certifier-record listing for the Filtered Water Pitcher / Replacement Pitcher Filter). The brand's marketing copy describes products as 'built in the USA' and tested by 'EPA-accredited labs.' Corporate HQ at 23121 Antonio Parkway, Suite 130, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 is the executive / customer-service operations center, separate from the Sturgis manufacturing facility. Component-level country-of-origin for the activated carbon, catalytic carbon, ion-exchange resin, and Tritan plastic housing components is not publicly disclosed by the brand on its consumer-facing pages.

Which Clearly Filtered Filter Is Right for You?

We mapped each Clearly Filtered SKU’s NSF-listed certifications against the 10 contaminants people search for most. Where Clearly Filtered doesn’t have a certified SKU, we say so.

Lead

Not the right choice if Lead is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Lead. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

PFAS

Not the right choice if PFAS is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for PFAS. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Fluoride

Not the right choice if Fluoride is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Fluoride. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Arsenic

Not the right choice if Arsenic is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Arsenic. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Nitrate

Not the right choice if Nitrate is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Nitrate. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Chromium-6

Not the right choice if Chromium-6 is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Chromium-6. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Mercury

Not the right choice if Mercury is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Mercury. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Atrazine

Not the right choice if Atrazine is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Atrazine. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Chloroform

Not the right choice if Chloroform is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Chloroform. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

Cysts

Not the right choice if Cysts is your priority — no certified Clearly Filtered SKU for Cysts. Consider an NSF/ANSI 53-listed filter.

How Clearly Filtered Compares

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology) vs Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Feature	Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)	Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher
Format	Pour-through pitcher with proprietary Affinity multi-stage cartridge (activated carbon + catalytic carbon + ion-exchange resin)	Pour-through pitcher with Brita Longlast+ (OB06) activated-carbon + ion-exchange cartridge
Third-party certifier	NSF International (pitcher + replacement filter at NSF/ANSI 42 + 372) + IAPMO New Jersey ISO 17025 lab testing (everything else)	NSF International (NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 listing under The Brita Products Company)
NSF/ANSI 42 (Chlorine Taste and Odor)	Yes (NSF-listed for the pitcher + replacement filter)	Yes (NSF-listed)
NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (Lead-Free Plumbing Material)	Yes (NSF-listed)	Yes (NSF-listed)
NSF/ANSI 53 (Lead, Cysts, PFAS, Chromium-6)	NOT NSF-listed for any NSF/ANSI 53 contaminant. IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 LAB-TESTED for lead (99.34% at 152 ppb), PFOA (>99.00%), PFOS (>99.50%), chromium-6 (>99.86-99.97%), arsenic (99.99%), cysts — testing record exists, third-party LISTING does not	Yes, NSF-listed for Lead reduction under NSF/ANSI 53 (~99% reduction at certified influent). Brita Elite OB06 specifically — the older Brita Standard OB03 is NOT NSF/ANSI 53 listed for lead
NSF/ANSI 53 (PFOA / PFOS / Total PFAS)	NOT NSF-listed (lab-tested via IAPMO NJ at >99.00% PFOA + >99.50% PFOS); NSF P473 not held	Brita Elite (OB06) does NOT carry PFAS / NSF P473 cert — Brita Hub system is the PFAS-targeted SKU
NSF/ANSI 401 (Emerging Contaminants — BPA, ibuprofen)	NOT NSF-listed (lab-tested via IAPMO NJ for BPA, ibuprofen, atenolol, naproxen, microplastics)	Yes (Brita Elite OB06 NSF-listed for NSF/ANSI 401 including BPA, atenolol, ibuprofen, microplastics)
Fluoride reduction	Yes (brand-marketed at >99.54% reduction via IAPMO NJ testing; WaterFilterGuru documented 100% real-world reduction in Colorado test)	No — Brita activated-carbon cartridges do not target fluoride
Filter life	100 gallons / ~3-4 months on family-of-4 usage (the longest pitcher-cartridge service interval in the consumer pitcher market)	120 gallons / ~6 months on the OB06 Elite cartridge
Pitcher capacity	80oz / 10 cups	10 cups (Brita Elite standard pitcher)
Initial pitcher retail	$90 (sale) / ~$112-$140 regular	$30-$45 (entry-tier pitcher; from $35 typical)
Replacement filter price (single)	$55-$70 per cartridge	$15-$25 per OB06 Elite cartridge
Annual filter cost (family of 4)	~$165-$210 (3-4 cartridge replacements per year at $55-$70 each)	~$36-$48 (2 OB06 cartridges/year at $18-$24 each)

Format

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Pour-through pitcher with proprietary Affinity multi-stage cartridge (activated carbon + catalytic carbon + ion-exchange resin)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Pour-through pitcher with Brita Longlast+ (OB06) activated-carbon + ion-exchange cartridge

Third-party certifier

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NSF International (pitcher + replacement filter at NSF/ANSI 42 + 372) + IAPMO New Jersey ISO 17025 lab testing (everything else)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

NSF International (NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 listing under The Brita Products Company)

NSF/ANSI 42 (Chlorine Taste and Odor)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (NSF-listed for the pitcher + replacement filter)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Yes (NSF-listed)

NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (Lead-Free Plumbing Material)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (NSF-listed)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Yes (NSF-listed)

NSF/ANSI 53 (Lead, Cysts, PFAS, Chromium-6)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NOT NSF-listed for any NSF/ANSI 53 contaminant. IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 LAB-TESTED for lead (99.34% at 152 ppb), PFOA (>99.00%), PFOS (>99.50%), chromium-6 (>99.86-99.97%), arsenic (99.99%), cysts — testing record exists, third-party LISTING does not

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Yes, NSF-listed for Lead reduction under NSF/ANSI 53 (~99% reduction at certified influent). Brita Elite OB06 specifically — the older Brita Standard OB03 is NOT NSF/ANSI 53 listed for lead

NSF/ANSI 53 (PFOA / PFOS / Total PFAS)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NOT NSF-listed (lab-tested via IAPMO NJ at >99.00% PFOA + >99.50% PFOS); NSF P473 not held

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Brita Elite (OB06) does NOT carry PFAS / NSF P473 cert — Brita Hub system is the PFAS-targeted SKU

NSF/ANSI 401 (Emerging Contaminants — BPA, ibuprofen)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NOT NSF-listed (lab-tested via IAPMO NJ for BPA, ibuprofen, atenolol, naproxen, microplastics)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Yes (Brita Elite OB06 NSF-listed for NSF/ANSI 401 including BPA, atenolol, ibuprofen, microplastics)

Fluoride reduction

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (brand-marketed at >99.54% reduction via IAPMO NJ testing; WaterFilterGuru documented 100% real-world reduction in Colorado test)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

No — Brita activated-carbon cartridges do not target fluoride

Filter life

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

100 gallons / ~3-4 months on family-of-4 usage (the longest pitcher-cartridge service interval in the consumer pitcher market)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

120 gallons / ~6 months on the OB06 Elite cartridge

Pitcher capacity

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

80oz / 10 cups

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

10 cups (Brita Elite standard pitcher)

Initial pitcher retail

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

$90 (sale) / ~$112-$140 regular

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

$30-$45 (entry-tier pitcher; from $35 typical)

Replacement filter price (single)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

$55-$70 per cartridge

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

$15-$25 per OB06 Elite cartridge

Annual filter cost (family of 4)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

~$165-$210 (3-4 cartridge replacements per year at $55-$70 each)

Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

~$36-$48 (2 OB06 cartridges/year at $18-$24 each)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher vs Brita Elite OB06 is the most direct head-to-head pitcher comparison in the consumer-water-filter market. Brita Elite OB06 carries the broader NSF cert LISTING footprint: NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 (lead + microplastics) + 401 (BPA, ibuprofen, atenolol, microplastics) — third-party-listed by NSF International across all three. Clearly Filtered's NSF cert footprint is narrower (42 + 372 only — chlorine + lead-free plumbing material) but the brand-published reduction-claim scope is materially broader, covering 365+ contaminants per the brand's marketing including PFAS, fluoride, chromium-6, arsenic, and uranium that Brita Elite does NOT cover. The evidence tier difference is the C4 confusion pattern in its canonical head-to-head form: Brita Elite carries fewer cert-LISTED claims but each is third-party LISTED; Clearly Filtered carries more brand-CLAIMED contaminants but most live in the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier rather than the cert-listing tier. Independent assessment confirms the testing is real: WaterFilterGuru's hands-on Colorado test documented 100% fluoride + 100% uranium reduction (matching the brand's >99.54% fluoride claim) — fluoride and uranium are Clearly Filtered exclusives in this comparison; Brita Elite does not target either. The honest pick framework: households with lead-service-line risk who want NSF/ANSI 53 LISTED lead reduction at the lowest cost choose Brita Elite (~$36-$48/yr filter cost); households with fluoride + PFAS + chromium-6 + arsenic concerns who can absorb the premium price ($165-$210/yr filter cost) and accept brand-published IAPMO NJ testing in place of NSF LISTING choose Clearly Filtered. Buyers who specifically want both broader scope AND third-party LISTING should consider Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage at the under-sink format (WQA-certified to NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 covering 78 contaminants including PFOA/PFOS at ~$260 retail — broader cert scope than Brita Elite, broader cert scope than the entire Clearly Filtered lineup).

Sources for facts in this comparison

NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Clearly+Filtered
Clearly Filtered NSF DWTU directory entry — NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 listing on the Filtered Water Pitcher; one certified claim (chlorine taste-and-odor reduction); 100-gallon service cycle
NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=The+Brita+Products+Company
Brita Elite (OB06) NSF International listing under The Brita Products Company; NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 cert scope on the pitcher line; lack of PFAS coverage on the Elite line
Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/pages/pitcher-performance-data
Clearly Filtered Pitcher Performance Data PDF — IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing for lead (99.34%), PFOA (>99.00%), PFOS (>99.50%), fluoride (>99.54%), chromium-6 (>99.86-99.97%), arsenic (99.99%); per-contaminant influent concentrations; dual-tier evidence framing
Tier-1 journalismaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://waterfilterguru.com/clearly-filtered-water-pitcher-review/
Independent third-party hands-on test of the pitcher: 8.78/10 overall; 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' cert-to-claim ratio; 100% real-world fluoride + uranium reduction in Colorado test

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology) vs Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

Feature	Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)	Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)
Format	Pour-through pitcher (80oz / 10 cups), proprietary Affinity multi-stage cartridge	Stainless-steel gravity canister (2.25 gal), two Black Berkey carbon-block elements
Marketing-claimed contaminant scope	365+ contaminants (Affinity Filtration Technology umbrella)	200+ contaminants (Black Berkey element brand-published lab reports)
Third-party certifier(s)	NSF International (pitcher + replacement filter at NSF/ANSI 42 + 372) + IAPMO New Jersey ISO 17025 lab testing on everything else	ZERO third-party certifications on the Black Berkey element. NSF DWTU directory search for both 'Berkey' and 'New Millennium Concepts' (the manufacturer) returns 'No Matching Products Found.' Brand substitutes ISO 17025 lab reports (CVR Labs + RAYNU Analytical Labs in India per the Phoenix datasheet)
NSF/ANSI 42 (Chlorine T&O)	Yes (NSF-listed)	NOT certified
NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (Lead-Free Plumbing Material)	Yes (NSF-listed)	NOT certified
NSF/ANSI 53 (Lead and other health contaminants)	NOT NSF-listed; IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 LAB-TESTED (real third-party testing, narrower than LISTING)	NOT NSF/ANSI 53 listed; brand-published CVR Labs / RAYNU Analytical Labs reports only
EPA regulatory status	No active EPA enforcement	Active EPA FIFRA Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) Docket FIFRA-08-2023-0038 against Berkey International since May 8, 2023. NMCL v. EPA federal-court litigation pending in the Fifth Circuit; Berkey International v. EPA pending in the First Circuit (oral argument October 27, 2025). Standalone Black Berkey replacement filters have been unavailable as standalone purchases since the SSURO
Filter format service life	100 gallons per pitcher cartridge	~3,000 gallons per Black Berkey element (brand-claimed); two-element default ~6,000 gallons before replacement
Initial system retail	$90 (pitcher sale) / ~$112-$140 regular	~$400-$500 (Big Berkey with two Black Berkey elements pre-installed from pre-SSURO inventory; standalone replacement filters not currently sold)
Real-world contaminant evidence	WaterFilterGuru hands-on Colorado test: 8.78/10 overall, 100% fluoride reduction, 100% uranium reduction; cobalt anomaly flagged (0.0054 ppm detected in filtered water, unexplained)	Tap Score (SimpleLab) editorial documents brand-published lab tests as too short — longest published test ran 200 gallons vs the 6,000-gallon NSF/ANSI 53 protocol requirement

Format

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Pour-through pitcher (80oz / 10 cups), proprietary Affinity multi-stage cartridge

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

Stainless-steel gravity canister (2.25 gal), two Black Berkey carbon-block elements

Marketing-claimed contaminant scope

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

365+ contaminants (Affinity Filtration Technology umbrella)

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

200+ contaminants (Black Berkey element brand-published lab reports)

Third-party certifier(s)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NSF International (pitcher + replacement filter at NSF/ANSI 42 + 372) + IAPMO New Jersey ISO 17025 lab testing on everything else

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

ZERO third-party certifications on the Black Berkey element. NSF DWTU directory search for both 'Berkey' and 'New Millennium Concepts' (the manufacturer) returns 'No Matching Products Found.' Brand substitutes ISO 17025 lab reports (CVR Labs + RAYNU Analytical Labs in India per the Phoenix datasheet)

NSF/ANSI 42 (Chlorine T&O)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (NSF-listed)

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

NOT certified

NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (Lead-Free Plumbing Material)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (NSF-listed)

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

NOT certified

NSF/ANSI 53 (Lead and other health contaminants)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NOT NSF-listed; IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 LAB-TESTED (real third-party testing, narrower than LISTING)

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

NOT NSF/ANSI 53 listed; brand-published CVR Labs / RAYNU Analytical Labs reports only

EPA regulatory status

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

No active EPA enforcement

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

Active EPA FIFRA Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) Docket FIFRA-08-2023-0038 against Berkey International since May 8, 2023. NMCL v. EPA federal-court litigation pending in the Fifth Circuit; Berkey International v. EPA pending in the First Circuit (oral argument October 27, 2025). Standalone Black Berkey replacement filters have been unavailable as standalone purchases since the SSURO

Filter format service life

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

100 gallons per pitcher cartridge

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

~3,000 gallons per Black Berkey element (brand-claimed); two-element default ~6,000 gallons before replacement

Initial system retail

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

$90 (pitcher sale) / ~$112-$140 regular

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

~$400-$500 (Big Berkey with two Black Berkey elements pre-installed from pre-SSURO inventory; standalone replacement filters not currently sold)

Real-world contaminant evidence

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

WaterFilterGuru hands-on Colorado test: 8.78/10 overall, 100% fluoride reduction, 100% uranium reduction; cobalt anomaly flagged (0.0054 ppm detected in filtered water, unexplained)

Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

Tap Score (SimpleLab) editorial documents brand-published lab tests as too short — longest published test ran 200 gallons vs the 6,000-gallon NSF/ANSI 53 protocol requirement

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher vs Berkey Big Berkey is the most consequential head-to-head comparison for buyers entering the consumer-water-filter market because both brands lead with hundreds-of-contaminants marketing claims, both substitute lab-published reports for full third-party LISTING coverage, and both price at the premium tier. The cert-evidence gap differs sharply: Clearly Filtered carries an actual NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 LISTING on the pitcher (real third-party cert, narrow scope) PLUS IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 lab testing on the broader claim (real third-party testing); Berkey carries ZERO third-party cert LISTINGS on the Black Berkey element AND has been under active EPA FIFRA enforcement (SSURO since May 2023) over the silver content in the element. The format difference is equally consequential: Clearly Filtered is a $90 pitcher, Berkey is a $400-$500 gravity stainless canister — different categories of product entirely, comparable only as 'broader-claim-scope consumer pitcher alternatives.' Independent real-world testing favors Clearly Filtered on evidence quality: WaterFilterGuru documented 100% fluoride + uranium reduction in Colorado testing, supporting the brand's IAPMO NJ-tested claims; Tap Score's editorial flags Berkey's brand-published tests as methodologically too short to substitute for NSF/ANSI 53 protocols. If you want a cert-listed pitcher with broader claim scope at the entry tier, choose Clearly Filtered. If you want a stainless-steel gravity canister for off-grid / emergency use with ZERO third-party cert listings but the format-specific advantages (no electricity, dishwasher-safe stainless), choose Berkey with full awareness of the EPA enforcement context and cert-listing gap. The cert-listed gravity alternatives that DO carry NSF/ANSI cert listings — Doulton British Berkefeld and ProOne G3.0 — are the editorial recommendation for buyers who specifically want the gravity format AND third-party certification.

Sources for facts in this comparison

NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Clearly+Filtered
Clearly Filtered pitcher NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 LISTING — real third-party cert, narrow scope, 100-gallon service cycle
NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Berkey
Berkey absence from the NSF DWTU directory under both 'Berkey' and 'New Millennium Concepts' company-name searches — confirming zero third-party LISTINGS on the Black Berkey element
EPAaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/70BF71F4C6BC372C852589AA0000E556/$File/FIFRA-08-2023-0038%20SSURO%20BerkeyInternational%202023.pdf
Active EPA FIFRA SSURO Docket FIFRA-08-2023-0038 against Berkey International, May 8, 2023 — confirms the regulatory enforcement context that distinguishes Berkey from Clearly Filtered on the legal-risk dimension
Tier-1 journalismaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://waterfilterguru.com/clearly-filtered-vs-berkey/
WaterFilterGuru direct head-to-head 'Clearly Filtered vs Berkey' comparison documents the structural cert-evidence + EPA enforcement differential as the primary editorial framing for buyers comparing the two brands

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology) vs ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

Feature	Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)	ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)
Format	Pour-through pitcher, proprietary Affinity multi-stage cartridge	Pour-through pitcher with 5-stage ZR-001 / ZF-201 filter (ion-exchange resin-heavy stack)
Marketing-claimed contaminant scope	365+ contaminants (Affinity Filtration Technology umbrella)	99.9% TDS reduction (the brand's headline claim; in-lid Ready-Read TDS meter included)
Third-party certifier(s)	NSF International (pitcher + replacement filter NSF/ANSI 42 + 372) + IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing on the broader claim	NOT on the NSF DWTU directory under 'Zero Technologies', 'Zero Water', or 'ZeroWater' company-name searches. Third-party certifications live at IAPMO R&T (pld.iapmo.org under Zero Technologies, LLC) — IAPMO NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 on the legacy ZR-001/ZF-201 filter (lead, mercury, PFOA/PFOS, chromium-6)
NSF/ANSI 42 (Chlorine T&O)	Yes (NSF-listed)	Yes (IAPMO-listed under Zero Technologies, LLC)
NSF/ANSI 53 (Lead, Mercury, PFOA/PFOS, Chromium-6)	NOT certified; lab-tested via IAPMO NJ at 99.34% lead, >99.00% PFOA, >99.50% PFOS, >99.97% chromium-6	Yes (IAPMO-certified for Lead, Mercury, PFOA/PFOS, Hexavalent Chromium on the legacy ZR-001/ZF-201 filter)
NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (Lead-Free Plumbing Material)	Yes (NSF-listed)	Not separately listed under this standard on IAPMO PLD; cert scope is 42 + 53
Fluoride reduction	Yes (brand-marketed at >99.54% reduction via IAPMO NJ testing)	Brand-claimed fluoride reduction via ion-exchange resin, but the legacy ZR-001 filter is NOT separately certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for fluoride — only the new 2024 Culligan with ZeroWater Technology filter (ZEROFXX) carries the broader IAPMO NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 cert covering fluoride
TDS / Mineral Retention	Affinity media stack PRESERVES beneficial minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium) — the brand markets 'doesn't target healthy minerals' as a structural differentiator vs ZeroWater	5-stage ion-exchange resin REMOVES 99.9% TDS including beneficial minerals (calcium, magnesium); the brand markets this as 'pure water' but TDS is an aesthetic-taste-and-mineral parameter (NSF/ANSI 42), NOT a health-contaminant indicator. C9 (TDS misframed as health metric) — the canonical ZeroWater confusion pattern
Filter life	100 gallons per Affinity cartridge	~20-40 gallons per ZR-001/ZF-201 filter (significantly shorter; ion-exchange resin saturates faster on high-TDS water)
Initial pitcher retail	$90 (sale) / ~$112-$140 regular	$30-$45 (entry-tier pitcher; ZD-010RP typical)
Annual filter cost (family of 4)	~$165-$210 (3-4 cartridges/year at $55-$70)	~$120-$200 (6-10 ZR-001/ZF-201 cartridges/year at $15-$25 — high replacement frequency on hard water)

Format

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Pour-through pitcher, proprietary Affinity multi-stage cartridge

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

Pour-through pitcher with 5-stage ZR-001 / ZF-201 filter (ion-exchange resin-heavy stack)

Marketing-claimed contaminant scope

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

365+ contaminants (Affinity Filtration Technology umbrella)

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

99.9% TDS reduction (the brand's headline claim; in-lid Ready-Read TDS meter included)

Third-party certifier(s)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NSF International (pitcher + replacement filter NSF/ANSI 42 + 372) + IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing on the broader claim

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

NOT on the NSF DWTU directory under 'Zero Technologies', 'Zero Water', or 'ZeroWater' company-name searches. Third-party certifications live at IAPMO R&T (pld.iapmo.org under Zero Technologies, LLC) — IAPMO NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 on the legacy ZR-001/ZF-201 filter (lead, mercury, PFOA/PFOS, chromium-6)

NSF/ANSI 42 (Chlorine T&O)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (NSF-listed)

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

Yes (IAPMO-listed under Zero Technologies, LLC)

NSF/ANSI 53 (Lead, Mercury, PFOA/PFOS, Chromium-6)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

NOT certified; lab-tested via IAPMO NJ at 99.34% lead, >99.00% PFOA, >99.50% PFOS, >99.97% chromium-6

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

Yes (IAPMO-certified for Lead, Mercury, PFOA/PFOS, Hexavalent Chromium on the legacy ZR-001/ZF-201 filter)

NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (Lead-Free Plumbing Material)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (NSF-listed)

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

Not separately listed under this standard on IAPMO PLD; cert scope is 42 + 53

Fluoride reduction

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Yes (brand-marketed at >99.54% reduction via IAPMO NJ testing)

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

Brand-claimed fluoride reduction via ion-exchange resin, but the legacy ZR-001 filter is NOT separately certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for fluoride — only the new 2024 Culligan with ZeroWater Technology filter (ZEROFXX) carries the broader IAPMO NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 cert covering fluoride

TDS / Mineral Retention

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Affinity media stack PRESERVES beneficial minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium) — the brand markets 'doesn't target healthy minerals' as a structural differentiator vs ZeroWater

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

5-stage ion-exchange resin REMOVES 99.9% TDS including beneficial minerals (calcium, magnesium); the brand markets this as 'pure water' but TDS is an aesthetic-taste-and-mineral parameter (NSF/ANSI 42), NOT a health-contaminant indicator. C9 (TDS misframed as health metric) — the canonical ZeroWater confusion pattern

Filter life

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

100 gallons per Affinity cartridge

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

~20-40 gallons per ZR-001/ZF-201 filter (significantly shorter; ion-exchange resin saturates faster on high-TDS water)

Initial pitcher retail

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

$90 (sale) / ~$112-$140 regular

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

$30-$45 (entry-tier pitcher; ZD-010RP typical)

Annual filter cost (family of 4)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

~$165-$210 (3-4 cartridges/year at $55-$70)

ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

~$120-$200 (6-10 ZR-001/ZF-201 cartridges/year at $15-$25 — high replacement frequency on hard water)

Clearly Filtered vs ZeroWater is a comparison between two premium-claim pitcher brands with very different cert-evidence architectures. ZeroWater carries IAPMO NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 LISTING for lead, mercury, PFOA/PFOS, and hexavalent chromium under Zero Technologies, LLC — those are real third-party LISTINGS by an ANSI-accredited certifier (IAPMO), equivalent in evidentiary standing to NSF International certification under the same standards. Clearly Filtered carries NSF International LISTING for chlorine + lead-free plumbing material (narrower cert scope) PLUS IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing on the broader 365+ contaminant claim umbrella (broader scope, narrower evidence tier). On the cert-LISTING dimension, ZeroWater wins on the lead + PFAS + chromium-6 specifically; on the marketed-scope dimension, Clearly Filtered wins on fluoride + uranium + radium + arsenic + emerging compounds (none of which appear on the ZeroWater legacy filter's IAPMO cert scope). The structural confusion patterns also diverge: ZeroWater's centerpiece is C9 (TDS misframed as health metric — the 99.9% TDS reduction headline drives the brand's marketing but TDS is aesthetic, not a health indicator); Clearly Filtered's centerpiece is C4 (99% / 365+ contaminants claim audit — broad scope, narrow cert-LISTING footprint). The honest pick framework: households on lead-service-line risk who want IAPMO-LISTED lead + PFAS coverage at the entry-tier pitcher price choose ZeroWater (legacy ZR-001 filter); households with fluoride + uranium + radium + arsenic concerns who want broader (lab-tested) scope and can absorb the higher per-cartridge cost choose Clearly Filtered. Households who want both broader scope AND third-party LISTING should consider the new 2024 Culligan with ZeroWater Technology filter (ZEROFXX) at the IAPMO NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 + 401 cert tier covering Total PFAS + Fluoride + Cadmium + Copper + 13 NSF/ANSI 401 emerging compounds, sold via culligan.com.

Sources for facts in this comparison

NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Clearly+Filtered
Clearly Filtered pitcher NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 LISTING — real NSF cert on chlorine + lead-free plumbing material
NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Zero+Technologies
ZeroWater (Zero Technologies, LLC) absence from the NSF DWTU directory — confirming third-party cert lives at IAPMO PLD rather than NSF International
IAPMO listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://pld.iapmo.org/companies/zero-technologies-llc
ZeroWater IAPMO R&T listing under Zero Technologies, LLC — NSF/ANSI 42 + 53 cert for lead, mercury, PFOA/PFOS, hexavalent chromium on the legacy ZR-001/ZF-201 filter
Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/pages/how-our-filters-work
Brand-official Clearly Filtered 'How Our Filters Work' documents the Affinity media stack's mineral-retention design as a deliberate differentiator vs TDS-removal pitchers like ZeroWater; explicit position that TDS is not a health-contaminant indicator

Looking for a broader comparison? See our full pitcher filter roundup.

Explore other brands: APEC Water Systems, AquaBliss, Aquaboon, AquaTru, iSpring, Multipure, LifeStraw, Whirlpool, Solventum, SpringWell Water Filtration Systems, Pentair, Omnipure, Pelican Water, Crystal Quest, Hydroviv, Brondell, Bluevua, Berkey, ZeroWater, Aquasana, Express Water, Frizzlife, Epic Water Filters, Culligan, Waterdrop, PUR, Doulton, Brita, and Propur.

What Reddit Says About Clearly Filtered

These quotes are paraphrased — not verbatim — from public Reddit threads. Each card links to the original thread so you can read the discussion in context and verify the sentiment for yourself.

r/preppersPositive

“An r/preppers thread evaluating Clearly Filtered against the prepper-favorite Berkey gravity systems framed the brand as 'the best water pitcher and best filter on the market' from a community perspective, with the caveat that the comparison is structurally apples-to-oranges (pour-through pitcher vs gravity stainless canister) — confirming Clearly Filtered's standing as a serious cross-format alternative in the prepper community despite the format mismatch.”

View thread

r/waterMixed

“An r/water discussion documented how ChatGPT (and by extension AI-mediated discovery) routinely surfaces Clearly Filtered as the headline 'best water filter' recommendation when users ask about broader-than-Brita contaminant scope — the community response acknowledged the brand's strong real-world chlorine-removal experience while flagging that reverse-osmosis remains the gold-standard PFAS removal architecture for buyers prioritizing certified scope over format convenience.”

View thread

r/waterfiltersMixed

“Community feedback on the r/waterfilters subreddit consistently weighs the Clearly Filtered pitcher's broader contaminant-claim scope against the higher annual filter cost — users with fluoride or PFAS concerns who have specifically tested before-and-after via Tap Score or SimpleLab generally report results matching the brand's marketed reduction claims, while cost-conscious users gravitate toward Brita Elite or PUR Plus despite the narrower contaminant scope.”

View thread

r/HomeImprovementNeutral

“An r/HomeImprovement whole-house filtration recommendation thread surfaced Clearly Filtered as the point-of-use complement to Aquasana / APEC / Pentair whole-house systems — community framing positions the brand as the 'drink-the-water tap-level polish' rather than the load-bearing infrastructure layer, consistent with Clearly Filtered's point-of-use-only product strategy and absence of a whole-house SKU.”

View thread

r/BuyItForLifeNeutral

“An r/BuyItForLife thread comparing Aquasana, Clearly Filtered, and Berkey concluded that the Clearly Filtered pitcher is the cost-effective entry point for users prioritizing contaminant scope at the pour-through tier — with the trade-off that the recurring ~3-4 month replacement cycle means it does not fit a pure 'buy it for life' framing the way a 600,000-gallon Aquasana Rhino whole-house tank does.”

View thread

Quotes verified on 2026-05-23.

Clearly Filtered Customer Reviews Summary

15,000Total Reviews

4.7

Average

What Customers Love

Genuine NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 third-party LISTING on the Filtered Water Pitcher + Replacement Pitcher Filter — the cert is real, listed at info.nsf.org under 'Clearly Filtered' at 23121 Antonio Parkway Suite 130 Rancho Santa Margarita CA, facility Sturgis MI, and independently verifiable
Broader marketed contaminant scope (365+ contaminants per the Affinity Filtration Technology umbrella) than any major pour-through pitcher competitor — includes fluoride, uranium, radium 226/228, PFAS suite, chromium-6, arsenic that Brita Elite OB06, PUR Plus, ZeroWater legacy, and most pitcher competitors do NOT target
Longest pitcher-cartridge service life in the consumer pour-through market at 100 gallons per replacement (vs Brita Elite 120 gal at narrower scope, Brita Standard 40 gal, ZeroWater ZR-001 20-40 gal on hard water) — partially offsets the higher per-cartridge cost on a per-gallon basis
Affinity media stack PRESERVES beneficial dissolved minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium) — the brand explicitly positions this as a differentiator vs ZeroWater's TDS-reduction-everything approach; matters for buyers who taste-test-prefer mineral-retaining filtration
IAPMO NJ ISO 17025-tested reduction claims independently confirmed in real-world testing for fluoride + uranium (WaterFilterGuru Colorado test, 100% reduction on both) — strong evidence that the brand's lab claims hold up under household-conditions use

Common Concerns

Cert-LISTING scope is narrower than the marketing umbrella implies — WaterFilterGuru quantifies the gap as 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' (1 NSF-certified claim out of ~122 marketed contaminant categories on the pitcher PDS). C4 (99% / 365+ contaminants claim audit) is the canonical structural confusion pattern this brand exemplifies
Annual filter cost on the Filtered Water Pitcher (~$165-$210/yr for a family of 4 single-purchase; $130-$190 on autoship) is meaningfully higher than Brita Elite OB06 ($36-$48/yr) and PUR Plus ($60-$80/yr) at the entry pitcher tier — the premium is justified by the broader contaminant umbrella, but the cost-conscious buyer comparison is unfavorable
Slow flow rate is a recurring product-page review complaint — typical filtration time is 5-15+ minutes for a full 80oz pitcher (depending on water hardness + filter age). The brand documents slow flow as a normal cartridge-saturation signal, but real-world usage friction is materially higher than Brita / PUR competitors
0.0054 ppm cobalt anomaly in WaterFilterGuru's filtered-water test — detected in the FILTERED water but not in unfiltered, despite the brand's >98.31% cobalt reduction claim. An unexplained outcome the reviewer flagged as the main hit to the contaminant-reduction sub-score; reduces overall confidence in the per-contaminant claims at the margin
Premium pricing on the entire SKU lineup ($90-$140 pitcher; $148.50-$185 fridge filter; $495-$550 under-sink system) means buyers shopping at the cost-conscious tier or comparing against commodity OEM fridge filters ($40-$60 typical) may struggle to justify the price differential — the brand explicitly targets premium-tier buyers who prioritize broader scope and accept the premium

Clearly Filtered drives 11,766 monthly Ahrefs searches on the head term 'clearly filtered' (CPC ~$0.80, traffic potential 7,000/mo, difficulty 1) — placing the brand in the high-volume tier of consumer water-filter brands behind Brita (29,000/mo), ZeroWater (26,000/mo), Aquasana (20,000/mo), and Berkey (58,000/mo) but ahead of most under-sink and pitcher-only competitors.

Brand-cited '325,000+ people like you trust us' customer-base claim and '15,000+ customer reviews' aggregated across the product catalog; product-page review counts include 4,615 reviews / 4.7 stars on the Filtered Water Pitcher, 532 reviews / 4.9 stars on the Universal Inline Fridge Filter, 530 reviews / 4.4 stars on the 20oz Stainless Steel Bottle, and 447 reviews / 4.8 stars on the 3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter.

Independent third-party hands-on review by WaterFilterGuru (8.78/10 overall on the Filtered Water Pitcher) confirms strong real-world contaminant-reduction performance: 100% fluoride reduction (1.1 ppm → 0 ppm), 100% uranium reduction (0.014 ppm → 0 ppm) on Colorado treated groundwater. The brand's IAPMO NJ ISO 17025-tested reduction claims hold up under independent real-world testing for the headline contaminants.

Sources for Clearly Filtered review data

Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/
Brand-official home page documents '325,000+ people like you trust us' + '15,000+ customer reviews' aggregated across the catalog; product-page review counts; corporate operating model
Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/products/clean-water-pitcher
Brand-official Filtered Water Pitcher product page documents 4.7-star average / 4,615 reviews; 80oz / 10-cup capacity; 100-gallon filter life; retail $90 (sale)
Tier-1 journalismaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://waterfilterguru.com/clearly-filtered-water-pitcher-review/
Independent third-party hands-on review awards 8.78/10 overall; quantifies the cert-to-claim ratio at 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims'; documents 100% real-world fluoride + uranium reduction in Colorado treated groundwater test; flags 0.0054 ppm cobalt anomaly in filtered water
Tier-1 journalismaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://qualitywaterlab.com/pitchers/clearly-filtered-water-filter-pitcher-review/
Independent third-party (Quality Water Lab) review documents the Clearly Filtered pitcher's positioning in the broader-scope pitcher market vs Brita / PUR / ZeroWater incumbents

Review data aggregated from verified Amazon purchases. Individual results may vary.

About Clearly Filtered Marketing Language

Some claims on Clearly Filtered packaging and product pages are frequently confused with what the underlying third-party certifications actually cover. The note below documents one such mismatch with primary-source citations so you can verify the specifics yourself.

Clearly Filtered's headline marketing claim is 'Affinity® Filtration Technology … removes up to 99.9% of 365+ tap water contaminants' — but the public NSF DWTU directory carries ONE certified claim under the Clearly Filtered name: chlorine taste-and-odor reduction (NSF/ANSI 42) plus lead-free plumbing material conformance (NSF/ANSI/CAN 372) on the Filtered Water Pitcher. Independent third-party assessment quantifies the gap as 'Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' — 1 NSF-certified claim out of ~122 marketed contaminant categories on the pitcher Performance Data Sheet. This is the canonical C4 (99% removal claim without per-contaminant cert) confusion pattern, with C8 (lab-report-as-cert) and C10 ('reduces' vs 'removes') compounding on the same SKU.

Three confusion patterns converge on the Clearly Filtered brand page, with C4 (99% / 365+ contaminants claim audit) as the centerpiece. The brand's marketing language is uniquely consistent across the entire SKU lineup — every product (pitcher, water bottles, fridge filter, under-sink) is marketed under the same 'Affinity® Filtration Technology … 365+ contaminants' umbrella claim. But the cert-listing footprint behind that umbrella is sharply narrower than the umbrella implies.

NSF DWTU directory reality check (info.nsf.org, accessed 2026-05-23): a search for company name 'Clearly Filtered' returns exactly ONE matching manufacturer / ONE matching product — the Filtered Water Pitcher with its paired Replacement Pitcher Filter, certified to NSF/ANSI 42 (aesthetic chlorine taste-and-odor reduction) + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (lead-free plumbing material requirement). Listed under 'Clearly Filtered' at 23121 Antonio Parkway Suite 130 Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688, facility Sturgis MI, phone 877-876-2740. Service cycle 100 gallons. The single certified claim row reads: 'Chlorine Reduction / Taste and Odor Reduction.' That's the entire NSF cert footprint of the brand. No NSF/ANSI 53 (lead, PFAS, chromium-6, cysts), no NSF/ANSI 58 (RO-scope contaminants, fluoride), no NSF/ANSI 401 (emerging compounds, BPA, ibuprofen), no NSF P473 (PFAS specifically), no NSF/ANSI 177 (shower-filter chlorine) — none of these cert listings exist under the Clearly Filtered name on the public NSF directory as of 2026-05-23.

What the brand's marketing claims for these contaminants — 99.34% lead at 152 ppb influent, >99.00% PFOA at 0.5 ppb, >99.50% PFOS at 1 ppb, >99.54% fluoride at 2.18 ppm, >99.86-99.97% chromium-6, 99.99% arsenic, >99.98% haloacetic acids, 99.88% sulfate — is supported by IAPMO New Jersey (formerly QFT) ISO 17025 lab testing. IAPMO NJ is a recognized ISO 17025-accredited testing laboratory in the IAPMO family; the brand's Pitcher Performance Data page is explicit about the testing source: 'Additional testing was performed and results were provided by QFT, a lab now operating as IAPMO New Jersey, a division of IAPMO, an independent ISO 17025 certified laboratory that is capable of testing following NSF/ANSI protocols.' That language is honest — the testing is real, the lab is reputable, the protocols are NSF/ANSI-aligned. But there is a structural distinction between (a) ISO 17025 testing performed by a recognized lab and (b) NSF/IAPMO/WQA third-party certification LISTING of the product under a specific performance standard. ISO 17025 accredits the LAB's quality-management practices; it does NOT accredit the PRODUCT under any specific NSF/ANSI standard. A LISTING means an ANSI-accredited certifier (NSF International, WQA, or IAPMO R&T) has independently verified the SKU meets the full standard's contaminant scope under the standard's testing protocols and requires annual recertification. A TESTING RECORD is a one-time measurement by an ISO 17025 lab.

The C4 (99% removal claim without per-contaminant cert) pattern in this brand's case is uniquely well-quantified by independent third-party assessment. WaterFilterGuru's hands-on review of the Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher (waterfilterguru.com, accessed 2026-05-23) awarded the pitcher 8.78/10 overall (8.24 Contaminant Reduction sub-score, 10.00 Filtration Rate sub-score) — meaningfully better than zero-cert brands like Berkey — but flagged the cert-to-claim ratio explicitly: 'Performance Certification: Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims.' One NSF-certified claim out of ~122 marketed contaminant categories on the pitcher PDS. That is the numerical articulation of the C4 confusion pattern: the marketing umbrella covers 365+ contaminants; the cert-LISTING footprint covers one. The IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing tier covers the rest — real third-party evidence, narrower than a third-party LISTING.

C8 (lab-report-as-cert) compounds with C4 on the brand's evidence stack. The brand's substitute for full third-party LISTING coverage is the IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 lab report architecture — published in the Pitcher Performance Data PDF and corresponding under-sink / fridge / bottle performance sheets. Buyers reading 'ISO 17025 certified laboratory' may map that to 'third-party certified product' — they are different things. ISO 17025 is a quality-management standard for testing laboratories (analogous to ISO 9001 for manufacturers); the LAB earns the certification by demonstrating reproducible measurement practices. The PRODUCT does NOT earn an ISO 17025 'certification' by being tested in such a lab — it earns a TESTING RECORD. The distinction matters because buyers comparing 'is this filter NSF certified?' across brands are typically asking about product-level cert LISTING, not lab-level accreditation.

C10 ('reduces' vs 'removes') applies across the lineup on the marketing claim of '99% removal of 365+ contaminants.' The Pitcher Performance Data PDF documents these as 'reduction percentages' at specific influent concentrations: 99.34% lead at 152 ppb influent, >99.00% PFOA at 0.5 ppb influent, >99.54% fluoride at 2.18 ppm influent, >99.96% nitrate at 27 ppm influent. These are single-pass laboratory reductions at the cert-test influent concentrations, NOT guarantees of >99% reduction at arbitrary real-world contaminant loads. A household with lead service lines producing 300+ ppb may see lower-than-99% reduction; a household with fluoride at 4-5 ppm (some Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico utilities run at the upper end of the EPA secondary standard) may see lower-than-99.54% reduction. The brand's marketing copy summarizes to 'removes 365+ contaminants' or 'up to 99.9% reduction' without consistently restating the influent-concentration assumption.

Independent real-world testing supports a nuanced read: WaterFilterGuru's Colorado treated-groundwater test documented 100% reduction of fluoride (1.1 ppm → 0 ppm) and 100% reduction of uranium (0.014 ppm → 0 ppm) — both meeting or exceeding the brand's marketed claims at the test water's specific contaminant load. The brand's reduction claims DO hold up in real-world testing for these contaminants. One anomaly the same review flagged: 0.0054 ppm of cobalt detected in the FILTERED water that wasn't detected in the unfiltered water (despite the brand's >98.31% cobalt reduction claim) — an unexplained inversion that the reviewer scored against the contaminant-reduction sub-score.

Affinity Filtration relationship: 'Affinity Filtration' is the brand-name proprietary technology trademark (denoted ® on the brand's home page), NOT a separate corporate entity. The NSF DWTU directory search for 'Affinity Filtration' returns 'No Matching Products Found' — confirming the trademark-not-entity status. The brand's home page banner reads 'INTRODUCING AFFINITY® FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY'; the corporate copyright footer reads 'Copyright © 2026 Clearly Filtered, Inc. All Rights Reserved.' Clearly Filtered, Inc. is the legal entity at 23121 Antonio Parkway Suite 130 Rancho Santa Margarita CA, with manufacturing at Sturgis MI per the NSF certifier-record entry. The Affinity Filtration Technology is the brand's proprietary filter media platform — owned by Clearly Filtered, Inc., used across the entire SKU lineup (pitcher, water bottles, fridge filter, under-sink).

The honest framing: Clearly Filtered's third-party cert evidence is materially better than zero-cert brands like Berkey (which carries no NSF/IAPMO/WQA listings on any consumer SKU and is under active EPA FIFRA enforcement since May 2023). The IAPMO NJ ISO 17025 testing is real, the NSF/ANSI 42 + 372 listing on the pitcher is real, and independent real-world testing confirms strong contaminant-reduction performance on the headline targets (lead, fluoride, PFAS, uranium). But the cert-LISTING footprint is narrower than the '365+ contaminants' marketing umbrella implies, and buyers comparing 'is Clearly Filtered NSF certified for lead removal' against the cert-listed alternatives (Brita Elite OB06 for lead + microplastics + emerging compounds; Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage for the broader 78-contaminant scope including PFOA/PFOS) need to recognize that 'NSF/ANSI 42 + 372' covers chlorine + lead-free plumbing material — NOT lead reduction performance, NOT PFAS reduction performance, NOT chromium-6 reduction performance.

Sources

NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Clearly+Filtered
Primary-source NSF DWTU directory entry under 'Clearly Filtered' — ONE matching manufacturer / ONE matching product (Filtered Water Pitcher + Replacement Pitcher Filter) under NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372; single certified claim row (Chlorine Reduction / Taste and Odor Reduction); 100-gallon service cycle; manufacturer at 23121 Antonio Parkway Suite 130 Rancho Santa Margarita CA; facility Sturgis MI
NSF listingaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Affinity+Filtration
Primary-source NSF DWTU directory absence under 'Affinity Filtration' — 'No Matching Products Found' confirming Affinity Filtration is a brand-name proprietary technology trademark owned by Clearly Filtered Inc., NOT a separate listed manufacturer
Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/pages/pitcher-performance-data
Brand-official Pitcher Performance Data page documents the dual-tier evidence framing in the brand's own copy: 'certified by NSF to NSF/ANSI Standards 42 and 372' on the pitcher + 'additional testing was performed and results were provided by QFT, a lab now operating as IAPMO New Jersey, a division of IAPMO, an independent ISO 17025 certified laboratory' on everything else — primary-source brand-published disclosure of the C4 cert-vs-claim evidence-tier split
Tier-1 journalismaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://waterfilterguru.com/clearly-filtered-water-pitcher-review/
Independent third-party (WaterFilterGuru) hands-on review awarding 8.78/10 overall; 'Performance Certification: Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' — the cert-to-claim ratio quantified at 1 NSF-certified claim out of ~122 marketed contaminant categories; 100% real-world fluoride + uranium reduction in Colorado test; 0.0054 ppm cobalt anomaly in filtered water flagged
Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/
Brand-official home page documents the 'INTRODUCING AFFINITY® FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY' banner (registered trademark mark); '365+ contaminants' headline claim; '73x more dangers than typical store-bought filters'; corporate copyright footer naming Clearly Filtered, Inc. as the legal entity
Brand officialaccessed: 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/pages/about-us
Brand-official About Us page documents 2011 founding year; Affinity Filtration Technology developed internally as the proprietary filter media platform — confirming the trademark-not-entity status of 'Affinity Filtration'

Verified 2026-05-23.

Frequently Asked Questions About Clearly Filtered Water Filters

Partly. As of 2026-05-23, the public NSF Drinking Water Treatment Units directory (info.nsf.org) returns one matching manufacturer / one matching product under the 'Clearly Filtered' company name: the Filtered Water Pitcher with its paired Replacement Pitcher Filter, certified to NSF/ANSI 42 (aesthetic chlorine taste-and-odor reduction) and NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 (lead-free plumbing material). NSF/ANSI 42 is the aesthetic standard for chlorine + taste + odor; NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 is the standard certifying the product's plumbing material complies with US federal lead-free requirements. Neither is a health-contaminant performance certification: NSF/ANSI 53 (lead, PFOA/PFOS, chromium-6, cysts), NSF/ANSI 58 (RO-format contaminants, fluoride, arsenic), NSF/ANSI 401 (emerging contaminants like BPA, ibuprofen, microplastics), and NSF P473 (PFAS specifically) — none of these cert listings exist under the Clearly Filtered name on the public NSF directory. The brand's other SKUs (3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter, Universal Inline Fridge Filter, Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottle) carry no NSF directory listings under any standard. The brand's evidence for the headline '365+ contaminants' claim is a portfolio of IAPMO New Jersey (formerly QFT) ISO 17025 lab reports — real third-party testing by a recognized ISO 17025-accredited lab in the IAPMO family, performed against NSF/ANSI protocols but NOT third-party certified by NSF, IAPMO, or WQA under those protocols. Before relying on any contaminant-reduction marketing, check your water quality by ZIP code to see what your specific local feed water actually carries. For deeper detail on certified lead reduction options across all brands, see our lead in tap water guide; for filters certified for PFAS specifically, see the dedicated PFAS contaminant page.

Sources: ^[1] ^[2]

How We Researched Clearly Filtered

Our brand assessments follow a four-tier source ladder. We start with Tier 1 primary sources — NSF International, IAPMO, and WQA certification listings, plus SEC filings and EPA records — to establish what is third-party verified. We then layer in brand-official statements (corporate sites, datasheets, support pages) for context, tier-1 journalism for independent reporting, and community signals (Reddit threads, Amazon reviews) for real-world ownership experience. Every claim on this page traces back to one of the citations below.

Reviewed by TapWaterData Editorial.

Last full review: 2026-05-23 · Next scheduled review: 2027-05-23

All sources (13)

NSF listingAccessed 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Clearly+Filtered
Primary-source NSF DWTU directory entry under 'Clearly Filtered' — one matching manufacturer / one matching product (Filtered Water Pitcher + Replacement Pitcher Filter) under NSF/ANSI 42 + NSF/ANSI/CAN 372; single certified claim row 'Chlorine Reduction / Taste and Odor Reduction'; 100-gallon service cycle; manufacturer address 23121 Antonio Parkway Suite 130 Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688; facility Sturgis MI; phone 877-876-2740. The entire third-party NSF cert footprint of the brand under the public directory as of 2026-05-23
NSF listingAccessed 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Affinity+Filtration
Primary-source NSF DWTU directory absence under 'Affinity Filtration' — 'No Matching Products Found' confirms Affinity Filtration is a brand-name proprietary technology trademark owned by Clearly Filtered Inc., NOT a separately listed manufacturer entity. Establishes the trademark-not-entity status of 'Affinity Filtration' for the corporate-structure question
Brand officialAccessed 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/pages/pitcher-performance-data
Brand-official Pitcher Performance Data page documents the dual-tier evidence framing in the brand's own copy: 'The Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher and Replacement Pitcher Filter are certified by NSF to NSF/ANSI Standards 42 and 372. Additional testing was performed and results were provided by QFT, a lab now operating as IAPMO New Jersey, a division of IAPMO, an independent ISO 17025 certified laboratory that is capable of testing following NSF/ANSI protocols.' Primary-source disclosure of the C4 cert-vs-claim evidence-tier split + per-contaminant brand-published reduction percentages
Brand officialAccessed 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/pages/about-us
Brand-official About Us page documents 2011 founding year; Affinity Filtration Technology developed internally as the brand's proprietary filtration platform; brand mission framing for the consumer-water-filter category
Brand officialAccessed 2026-05-23
https://clearlyfiltered.com/
Brand-official home page documents the 'INTRODUCING AFFINITY® FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY' banner (the registered trademark mark on the proprietary tech); '365+ contaminants' headline marketing claim; '73x more dangers than typical store-bought filters' comparative claim; '325,000+ people like you trust us' customer-base claim; corporate copyright footer 'Copyright © 2026 Clearly Filtered, Inc. All Rights Reserved' confirming the legal entity
Tier-1 journalismAccessed 2026-05-23
https://waterfilterguru.com/clearly-filtered-water-pitcher-review/
Independent third-party hands-on review and lab testing of the Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher — 8.78/10 overall score; 8.24 Contaminant Reduction sub-score; 10.00 Filtration Rate sub-score; 'Performance Certification: Certified for 0.82% of reduction claims' cert-to-claim ratio quantification; 100% fluoride and 100% uranium real-world reduction on Colorado treated groundwater test; 0.0054 ppm cobalt anomaly in filtered water flagged
Tier-1 journalismAccessed 2026-05-23
https://waterfilterguru.com/clearly-filtered-vs-berkey/
Independent third-party direct comparison of Clearly Filtered vs Berkey gravity systems — documents the structural cert-evidence + EPA enforcement differential as the primary editorial framing for buyers comparing the two brands
Tier-1 journalismAccessed 2026-05-23
https://qualitywaterlab.com/pitchers/clearly-filtered-water-filter-pitcher-review/
Independent third-party (Quality Water Lab) review documents the Clearly Filtered pitcher's positioning in the broader-scope pitcher market vs Brita / PUR / ZeroWater incumbents; comparative testing data on contaminant reduction at the pour-through tier
NSF listingAccessed 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=The+Brita+Products+Company
Brita Elite (OB06) NSF International listing under The Brita Products Company — the apples-to-apples competitor cert reference for the Clearly Filtered vs Brita Elite head-to-head comparison
NSF listingAccessed 2026-05-23
https://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?CompanyName=Berkey
Berkey NSF DWTU directory absence under both 'Berkey' and 'New Millennium Concepts' company-name searches — confirms zero third-party LISTINGS on the Black Berkey element, the competitor cert reference for the Clearly Filtered vs Berkey comparison
Brand officialAccessed 2026-05-23
https://www.aquasana.com/info/aquasana-certified-products-pd.html
Aquasana brand-official certified products page documents the Claryum 3-Stage WQA-tested-and-certified to NSF/ANSI Standards 42 + 53 + 401 covering 78 contaminants — the competitor cert reference for the Clearly Filtered vs Aquasana under-sink-tier comparison
Reddit threadAccessed 2026-05-23
https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/tvbbnr/any_thoughts_on_clearly_filtered_water_filters/
r/preppers community discussion of Clearly Filtered vs Berkey-style gravity prepper systems — community-level validation of the brand's cross-format positioning
Reddit threadAccessed 2026-05-23
https://www.reddit.com/r/water/comments/1mji5u3/chatgpts_best_water_filter_recommendation_is/
r/water community discussion of Clearly Filtered as a frequently AI-surfaced 'best water filter' recommendation — documents the brand's standing in the AI-mediated discovery context vs RO-architecture alternatives

Clearly Filtered Water Filters

Best for

Not recommended for

Certification Reality: What's Actually Tested

Check Certification for a Clearly Filtered Filter

About Clearly Filtered

Ownership history

Filtered Water Pitcher (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

20oz / 24oz / 32oz Stainless Steel Filtered Water Bottles (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Universal Inline Fridge Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

3-Stage Under-the-Sink Filter (with Affinity® Filtration Technology)

Replacement Pitcher Filter ([1] on the NSF listing)

Which Clearly Filtered Filter Is Right for You?

How Clearly Filtered Compares

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology) vs Brita Elite (OB06) Pour-Through Pitcher

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology) vs Berkey Big Berkey + Black Berkey Elements (Gravity Stainless-Steel)

Clearly Filtered Filtered Water Pitcher (80oz with Affinity® Filtration Technology) vs ZeroWater 10-Cup Pitcher (ZD-010RP with ZR-001 / ZF-201 Filter)

What Reddit Says About Clearly Filtered

Clearly Filtered Customer Reviews Summary

What Customers Love

Common Concerns

About Clearly Filtered Marketing Language

Frequently Asked Questions About Clearly Filtered Water Filters

Is Clearly Filtered NSF certified?

What contaminants does Clearly Filtered actually remove? Per third-party listing vs per the brand's 365+ contaminant marketing?

Clearly Filtered vs Brita vs Berkey vs Aquasana — what's the difference?

How long does the Clearly Filtered pitcher cartridge last, and how often do I replace it?

Who owns Clearly Filtered and where is it manufactured?

Is the '99.9% removal of 365+ contaminants' claim third-party certified?

How We Researched Clearly Filtered

All sources (13)

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