Earth Matters Now

Activated Carbon Water Filters for PFAS (Forever Chemicals)

August 2023

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Water filters on the market right now can reduce or remove forever chemicals from your drinking water, and I’m going to help you navigate the confusing array of them. The Environmental Working Group, an independent non-profit organization, tested 10 filters and found four that reduced the PFAS in water by 100% (or close to it). These systems range in cost from 30¢—60¢ per day per person for a pitcher or dispenser type filtering system. I did some research to determine the Pros and Cons as well as estimated costs for each.

I have created a table to organize information about the four filters that EWG recommends to get clean water in our homes easily. To compare costs, the following assumptions were made:

• Initial cost of system includes the dispenser/pitcher plus one filter.
• Usage is taken to be 1 gallon of filtered water per person per day.
• Annual and 5-year calculations are based on 2 people or 2 gallons per day.
• For cost purposes, the quality of water going into filter is assumed to be the same for all filters. This water quality varies greatly by geographic location, so filter life can last much longer or shorter depending on your household water quality.

* Assume 2 gallon/day filtered

Filter capacity and longevity will vary greatly depending on the quality of intake water.