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Two Marks on the Box

Lead is the claim EPA gives the most specific consumer guidance about, which makes it the clearest example of how any of this works.

The takeaway

For lead, EPA points at two marks on the box: NSF/ANSI 53 for lead reduction, which covers dissolved lead, and NSF/ANSI 42 Class 1 for particulate. Its consumer tool covers filters evaluated by an accredited certification body to reduce lead to 5 parts per billion or less.

Source: U.S. EPA, Choose the water filter that’s right for you; U.S. EPA, Consumer Tool for Identifying Point-of-Use and Pitcher Filters Certified to Reduce Lead.

ClearTapCall is a referral service, not a contractor and not a laboratory. We connect homeowners with independent contractors for filtration and treatment installation. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands, and treatment equipment plumbed into a supply is often a permitted alteration — ask to see the permit. We carry out no work, we sell no equipment, we test no water, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything. Nothing here is a statement about the water at any address, and no page recommends a product.

The two certifications

EPA’s consumer guide says to look for NSF/ANSI 53 for lead reduction, which covers lead including dissolved lead, and NSF/ANSI 42 for particulate reduction at Class 1, which removes very small particles that may contain lead.

Two marks rather than one, because lead can travel both ways: dissolved in the water and carried on particles in it. A product addressing one is not addressing the other.

Source: U.S. EPA, Choose the water filter that’s right for you.

The threshold

EPA’s consumer tool covers filters evaluated by an accredited third-party certification body, meeting NSF/ANSI 53 and 42, which reduce lead to 5 parts per billion or less while achieving Class I particulate reduction.

5 parts per billion or lessthe lead reduction performance covered by EPA’s consumer tool for point-of-use and pitcher filters

A number on a published standard, checkable against a box on a shelf. That is a better position than most household decisions start from.

Source: U.S. EPA, Consumer Tool for Identifying Point-of-Use and Pitcher Filters Certified to Reduce Lead.

What it assumes

That the filter is installed as intended, used for the water you actually drink and cook with, and replaced on schedule. A certification is a statement about a device operating within its rated life, not a property the device keeps forever.

The cartridge nobody changes is where most of this comes apart in practice.

What it is not

It is not a statement that your water contains lead, or that it does not. It is not a substitute for finding out. And it says nothing about anybody’s health, which is not a subject this site touches at all.

If you want to know what is actually at your tap, that is a laboratory test, and your water system is the place to start asking about one. Why we stop there.

And the thing worth doing first

Read your report. If the system has exceeded the lead action level, the revised rule requires the report to say so clearly, explain it, set out the steps consumers can take, and describe the corrective actions and their timeframes.

That is a far better basis for a decision than a shelf. How to read it.

Source: U.S. EPA, Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions Comparison fact sheet.

Read your report before you buy anything.It is published about your own system, it costs nothing, and it is the only thing that turns “I want a filter” into a question with an answer. If you do want something installed after that, we will route you to a contractor covering your area, matched on your ZIP code — you are never charged. Filtration is only our subject — every sort of plumbing job can be routed from here.

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