2009 Filter Data Analysis:
Multi-Pure Beats the Competition
I compared test data for Multi-Pure's most popular filter against some competitors including pitchers and refrigerator filters. Pitchers and refrigerator filters aren't exact competitors with Multi-Pure countertop and undersink filters, because you can't use the water easily for cooking, and the flow is lower. However, many people like to depend on them.
Most of the refrigerator filters I found had no 3rd-party test data. They may make it sound like they do; one, the xxx xxx WF286, said it had been "designed to meet or exceed NSF standards 42 and 52. This filter has been internally tested to reduce the following:" (99.30 % of lead at pH 6.5, etc. etc.)
This "data" isn't actual third-party test data from NSF or UL, industry-accepted third-party testing organizations. So it's not real data. Buyer, beware!
Let's look at the actual NSF (or UL in the case of Aquasana) data on several filters below. Blank squares indicate no test data published for that test item. Many of these compounds are VOC's, volatile organic compounds, originating in fossil fuels. Testing took place under NSF/ANSI Standards 42 (health effects) and 53 (aesthetic effects). Note that a Multi-Pure filter, the MP880 series, is the only carbon-block filter on the market that is independently certified to reduce arsenic. My conclusion, looking at the data: Multi-Pure beats them all! And the MPAD/MP750 is the least expensive per gallon, too! See my cost calculations.
NSF results |
UL results |
NSF results Brita pitcher |
NSF results GE MSWF Smartwater Refrig Filter |
NSF results Maytag UKF7003 PUR Refrig Filter |
NSF results |
NSF results |
|
| Arsenic V at pH 6.5 | >99.9% | ||||||
| Arsenic V at pH 8.5 | >95.8% | ||||||
| Asbestos | >99.9% | 99.00% | >99.4% | >99.9% | |||
| Chlordane | >99.5% | >99.48% | >99.5% | ||||
| Haloketone-1,1-Dichloro-2-propanone | 99% | 99% | |||||
| Haloketone-1,1,1-Tricholor-2-propanone | 96% | 96% | |||||
| Mercury (pH 6.5) | >99% | >89% | 94.0% | >86% | >99.99% | ||
| Mercury (pH 8.5) | >99% | >93% | 88.4% | >74% | >99.99% | ||
| Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs , Aroclor 1260) | >99.9% | >97% | |||||
| Toxaphene | >92.9% | 92.9% | >99.48% | >92.9% | |||
| Turbidity | >99% | 96.5% | reduced | >98.6% | >99% | ||
| Particulate, Class I particles 0.5 to <1μm | > 99% | 98.46% | 95.5% | 85% | >95% | > 99% | |
| Chlorine taste and odor | 99% | 99.3% | >94% | 97.0% | 75% | >97% | >98.3% |
| Zinc taste and odor | >56% | ||||||
| Lead @ 6.5pH | >99.3% | 98.7% | >96% | 99.3% | reduced | >99.33% | >99.99% |
| Lead @ 8.5pH | >99.3% | 99% | >95.7% | 98.0% | reduced | >99.31% | >99.99% |
| Copper @ 6.5pH | >90% | ||||||
| Copper @ 8.5pH | >74% | ||||||
| Cadmium @ 6.5pH | >93% | ||||||
| Cadmium @ 8.5pH | >84% | ||||||
| Cyst (Cryptosporidium) | 99.95% | 99.987% | 99.99% | 99.95% | >99.998% | >99.99% | |
| Alachlor | >98% | >98% | >97.58% | >98% | |||
| Atrazine | >97% | >97% | 93.9% | >94% | >97% | ||
| Benzene | >99% | >98% | 96.8% | >96.4% | >99% | ||
| Carbofuran | >99% | >99% | 98.7% | >82.6% | >99% | ||
| Carbon Tetrachloride* | >98% | >97% | >96.43% | 98% | |||
| Chlorobenzene | >99% | >98% | >99.85% | >99% | |||
| Chloropicrin | >99% | >98% | 99% | ||||
| 2,4-D | 98% | >98% | 96.0% | >93.53% | 98% | ||
| Dibromochloropropane(DBCP) | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| o-Dichlorobenzene | >99% | >98% | >99.95% | >99% | |||
| p-Dichlorobenzene | >98% | >97% | 99.7% | >98% | |||
| 1,2-Dichloroethane | 95% | >94% | 95% | ||||
| 1,1-Dichloroethylene | >99% | >98% | >99% | ||||
| cis-1,3-Dichloroethylene | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| trans-1,3-Dichloroethylene | >99% | >98% | >99% | ||||
| 1,2-dichloropropane | >99% | >98% | >99% | ||||
| cis-1,3-dichloropropylene | >99% | >98% | >99% | ||||
| Dinoseb | 99% | >99% | 99% | ||||
| Endrin | 99% | >98% | >96.96% | 99% | |||
| Ethylbenzene | >99% | >99% | >99.91% | >99% | |||
| Ethylene Dibromide | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| Haloacetonitriles | 98% | >97% | 98% | ||||
| Heptachlor | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| Heptachlor Epoxide | 98% | >98% | >99.5% | 98% | |||
| Hexachlorobutadiene | >98% | >97% | >98% | ||||
| Hexachlorocyclopentadiene | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| Lindane | >99% | >99% | 99.0% | >86.8% | >99% | ||
| Methoxychlor | >99% | >99% | >97.2% | >99% | |||
| MTBE (Methyl-tert-butyl Ether) | >96.6% | 87% | >64.44% | >96.6% | |||
| Pentachlorophenol | >99% | >98% | >99% | ||||
| Simazine | >97% | >96% | >76.32% | >97% | |||
| Styrene | >99% | >99% | >99.92% | >99% | |||
| 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane | >99% | >98% | >99% | ||||
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | >99% | >98% | >96.81% | >99% | |||
| Toluene | >99% | >98% | >99.92% | >99% | |||
| 2,4,5-TP(Silvex) | 99% | >99% | >99.4% | 99% | |||
| Tribromoacetic acid | >97% | ||||||
| 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| 1,1,1-Trichloroethane | 95% | >94% | 95% | ||||
| 1,1,2-Trichloroethane | >99% | >99% | >99% | ||||
| Trichloroethylene | >99% | >99% | >99.8% | >99% | |||
| Trihalomethanes (TTHM) (Chloroform; Bromoform; Bromodichloromethane; Dibromochloromethane) |
99.8% | >95% | >85.56% | >99.8% | |||
| Xylenes (total) | >99% | >98% | >99% |