REASONS TO BUY
Good at removing lead
Chlorine
REASONS TO AVOID
Not the best at removing salts
We didn't think it made water taste great
Aquagear Water Filter Pitcher Review
This filter pitcher finished in the middle of the group overall and failed to impress
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
By David Wise ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ March 26, 2019
Contributions From: Austin Palmer
RELATED: The Best Water Filters of 2025
Our Verdict
Delivering an overall mediocre set of results, the Aquagear finished in the middle of the pack and failed to impress us or earn an award. While this model removed 99% of the lead from our sample water, it still left the concentration of lead in the filtered water above EPA-acceptable levels, although there was a considerable amount of lead in the water to begin with. It also did quite well at removing chlorine, but it didn't remove any salt from the water, and we weren't thrilled with the taste of the filtered water. It's not the worst pitcher filter out there, but you could do a lot better.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Aquagear finished just ahead of the Brita SAFF-100 and behind the APEC WFS-1000. The WFS-1000 is an under sink filter that performs far better than the Aquagear in pretty much every test, but it is quite a bit more expensive. The Brita SAFF-100 can't match the Aquagear's filtering performance at removing lead, but we found it to be a bit better at removing chlorine. It also produced slightly better tasting water, according to judges, though the Aquagear's superior lead removal results give it an overall edge.
The water filter pitcher by Aquagear.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
In our tests, the Aquagear did well at removing lead from our contaminated water.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Lead Removal
The Aquagear removed 99.0% of the lead from the supply water; however, it still contained more lead than the EPA deems allowable. However, the contaminated water for this filter was slightly higher in concentration than that of the other filters, so the Aquagear may drop the lead levels below the EPA safe level if it is filtering water with lower lead levels.
The Aquagear ready for testing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Chlorine Removal
The Aquagear performed very well in both tests, reducing the chlorine levels to the point where the lower-level test strip didn't register anything, and only showed a slight hint of something with the torture test.
The Aquagear's results from the chlorine tests.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
You don't need to remove the lid to fill up this model.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Salt Removal
We tested the Aquagear filter's effectiveness by dissolving salt in water, measuring the concentration with a TDS meter, filtering the solution, and then remeasuring. The salt concentration remained essentially unchanged.
This pitcher didn't really change the taste of our already great tasting tap water.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Taste
The Aquagear removed the chlorine taste but left a detectable amount of saltiness. However, it didn't add any unpleasant flavors to clean water, with our judges unable to differentiate the two.
You can quickly fill a glass of water with this model.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Flow
The Aquagear finished out our tests with a middle-of-the-road performance, earning a 5 out of 10. This filter pitcher has one of the highest flow rates at dispensing water — like all pitchers — but once you exhaust its 10-cup capacity, you will have to wait a while for it to filter more water. To account for this, we based our scores on the time it took to filter and pour a quart (4 cups). It took the Aquagear 11 minutes, 40 seconds to accomplish this, putting it roughly in the middle of the group.
Value
The Aquagear isn't a great value, as there are less expensive filter pitchers that outperformed it in our opinion.
Conclusion
While the Aquagear did do quite well in our chlorine tests, it was outperformed by other products when it came to removing salt and lead, which we would recommend over this one for almost anyone.
—David Wise and Austin Palmer
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