Does The Brita Water Filter Pitcher Remove Microplastics?

Quick answer: Standard Brita pitcher filters use granular activated carbon and are designed mainly to reduce chlorine taste and odor. Microplastics reduction is a separate, specific performance claim: a filter either has been independently tested for it or it has not, and you cannot tell from the pitcher itself. Check the certification listing for your exact filter model. If microplastics are your main concern, choose a filter that publishes independent microplastics test results, such as a solid carbon block filter.

Does my Brita remove microplastics?

Brita water filter pitchers use granular activated carbon (GAC) filters to reduce impurities that affect taste and odor, such as chlorine. Loose granular carbon is inexpensive to manufacture and filters quickly, but a bed of loose granules is not specifically designed to trap particles as small as microplastics, and it is not marketed for contaminants like lead in its standard pitcher form.

Single use plastic water bottles are a major source of microplastics

When we originally researched this article, we could not find published microplastics test data for Brita's standard pitcher filter. Product lines and certifications change over time, so the reliable way to answer the question for the filter in your fridge is to look up that specific model in the manufacturer's performance data sheet or an independent certification database, and see whether microplastics reduction is listed. If it is not listed, do not assume it happens.

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size, and researchers classify them all the way down to femto scale: femto-size plastics (0.02–0.2 µm), pico-size (0.2–2 µm), nano-size (2–20 µm), micro-size (20–200 µm), meso-size (200–2000 µm), macro-size (0.2–20 cm), and mega-size (20–200 cm). For perspective, a human hair is about 80 µm in diameter.

Microplastic particles collect in ocean water and enter the water cycle

These particles come from many sources, including plastic bottles, synthetic fabrics, and personal care products, and they have been detected in tap water, bottled water, and the wider environment.

Certification scope: what is your filter actually tested for?

This is the part most filter shoppers never see. Water filters are tested and certified against specific standards, each covering a different scope:

Aesthetic effects (NSF/ANSI 42): chlorine taste and odor. This is the baseline claim for most inexpensive pitcher filters.
Health contaminants (NSF/ANSI 53): substances like lead and cysts, tested contaminant by contaminant.
Emerging contaminants (NSF/ANSI 401): a newer scope that includes a microplastics reduction claim.

A filter is only certified for the specific claims in its listing, not for everything the standard covers. Two pitchers can sit side by side on a shelf and have completely different certification scopes. Before buying any filter, ours included, check the maker's published test results and certification listings for the exact contaminants you care about.

Which filter types can reduce microplastics?

Reverse osmosis filters

Reverse osmosis systems force water through a membrane that blocks very small particles, including microplastics. They work well, but the systems and replacement filters are comparatively expensive, most need to be plumbed in under the sink, and they take up much of the cabinet space there.

Solid carbon block filters

Carbon block filters compress activated carbon into a dense solid block. Water moves through it more slowly than through loose granular carbon, and that added contact time and tighter structure is what allows a carbon block to capture far more contaminants, including microplastics. Carbon blocks cost more to manufacture than GAC, which is why they are rare in entry-level pitchers.

Granular activated carbon compared with solid carbon block filter media

At Epic Water Filters we build our pitchers around American made solid carbon block filters and have all of our filters independently tested for microplastics removal. Our Pure XP filter is independently tested to reduce over 99.9% of microplastics.

Why filter tap water at all?

US municipal tap water is regulated and generally considered safe to drink, but there are still good reasons to filter it. Tap water can pick up contaminants such as lead from aging pipes, pesticides, and microplastics, and chlorine used in treatment leaves a taste and odor many people dislike. It is also worth knowing that annual water quality reports only cover the contaminants utilities are required to test for. Many unregulated contaminants are simply not monitored, so a report can look clean without telling the whole story.

Microplastics have been found in garden soil and the wider environment

Microplastics in cooking water

Cooking water deserves the same attention as drinking water, since anything in the water can end up in the food you prepare. Boiling water does not remove microplastics. Filtering your cooking water helps keep microplastics, heavy metals, and pesticides out of pasta, rice, soups, and coffee, and it also reduces scale buildup in kettles and coffee makers.

Filtering cooking water keeps contaminants out of prepared food

The bottom line

Brita pitchers do what they are designed to do: make tap water taste better at a low price. That is a legitimate product, and if chlorine taste is your only concern, it may be all you need. But taste improvement and microplastics reduction are different jobs, and the certification listing for your specific filter model is the only honest way to know which jobs your filter actually does.

If microplastics are on your list, the Pure XP pitcher is independently tested to reduce lead, PFAS, chlorine, and over 99.9% of microplastics. The same filter technology comes in the larger Pure XP dispenser for families, and a filtered water bottle covers you away from home. You can compare every option in our pitcher collection.

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