Faucet Filters
Screw-on filters that treat the water as it leaves the tap, with no jug to refill and no waiting.
A faucet-mount filter solves the one thing everybody dislikes about a jug: the waiting, and the refilling. It screws onto the end of the tap, diverts the cold supply through a carbon block, and gives you filtered water on demand at a rate a jug cannot match — which also makes it practical for filling a pot, not just a glass. The catch is not the filtration. It is whether the thing will fit your tap at all.
Will it fit your faucet?
Read this before anything else. The cartridge choice is easy; whether the unit goes on your tap at all is not, and no adapter fixes the ones that do not.
Standard threaded faucet
A plain cylindrical spout whose aerator unscrews. This is what every faucet-mount filter is designed for, and adapters for the common thread sizes are usually in the box.
Pull-out or pull-down sprayer
The spout head detaches and pulls out on a hose. No faucet-mount filter fits these, and no adapter makes them fit — the head is not threaded for it and the hose will not carry the weight.
Wide or square spray head
A flattened or squared-off spout. The filter body needs a round threaded collar to clamp onto and there is nothing here to grip.
Touchless or sensor faucet
The sensor and the solenoid sit where the filter would go, and the added back-pressure upsets the flow control. Treat as incompatible.
Faucet-mount units
Bought once. The cartridge is the thing you buy forever.
PUR PLUS Faucet Mount
The faucet filter with the strongest certification list in the category, and the one most often recommended where lead is the reason for filtering.
PUR PLUS faucet · PUR Basic faucet BritaBrita Complete Faucet System
Brita's faucet unit. Certified for lead, and the cartridge runs 100 gallons against the 40 of a Standard pitcher filter.
Brita faucet PUR PlusPUR Basic Faucet Mount
The same body as the PLUS unit at a lower price. It takes the PLUS cartridge too, so the cheaper unit plus the better cartridge is usually the sensible combination.
PUR Basic faucet · PUR PLUS faucet BritaBrita Basic Faucet System
The stripped-back Brita faucet unit. Same cartridge as the Complete system.
Brita faucet WaterdropWaterdrop Faucet Filter
Stainless body and a notably long-life cartridge, which is the main argument for it over the mass-market pair.
Waterdrop faucet CulliganCulligan FM-15A Faucet Mount
The cheap, long-serving option. Chlorine, taste and odour only — it makes no lead claim, and the price reflects that honestly.
Culligan faucetReplacement cartridges
Ranked by strength of evidence, not by brand.
PUR PLUS Faucet Filter
The blue PUR faucet cartridge, certified against the longest contaminant list in the category.
Certified PUR PlusPUR Basic Faucet Filter
The cheaper PUR faucet cartridge. Taste and odour, without the lead certification.
Certified BritaBrita Faucet Replacement Filter
The cartridge for both Brita faucet systems. Certified for lead, 100 gallons.
Certified CulliganCulligan FM-15RA Faucet Filter
The budget faucet cartridge. Chlorine, taste and odour, certified and nothing more.
Certified WaterdropWaterdrop Faucet Filter Cartridge
A long-life carbon block cartridge for Waterdrop's stainless faucet unit.
Lab tested