Top 5 Best Water Filters That Remove Fluoride • (2024 Reviews)

Last updated Feb 15, 2024

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Welcome to our guide to choosing the best water filters that remove fluoride. Whether you’re a renter, homeowner, or on a tight budget, we’ve got you covered. This month has been fluoride removal month here, and we’re confident that the many hours of research we’ve put in have led us to the best filters that remove fluoride from water.

A lot of people wonder, Do water filters remove fluoride? Yes, they do, and the right filter will remove more than 90% of the fluoride in your tap water.

Instead of listing the top 5 overall filters for fluoride removal, we took a different approach by sharing our top pick from each category. When we say category, we mean each type of filter that removes fluoride since different filter types have the ability to remove it.

To make our guide as user-friendly as possible, we started with the most affordable filter and worked our way up to the most expensive option.

Top 5 Best Water Filters That Remove Fluoride

Filter Type	Highlights
#1 Water Pitcher Filters (Aqua Crest) Check Price at Amazon #ad	Cheapest Filter that Removes Fluoride Aqua Crest water pitcher replacement filters fit most Brita pitcher models The cheapest option for fluoride reduction for people who already own a Brita pitcher or plan to purchase one Contains a mixture of coconut activated carbon and ion-exchange resin Removes chlorine, lead, fluoride, arsenic, VOCs, heavy metals, and other common water contaminants Filter Life: 2 to 3 months
#2 Ion-Exchange Resin (ZeroWater) Check Price at Amazon #ad	Removes up to 99% of Fluoride (According to ZeroWater) The ZeroWater pitcher is somewhat of a controversial product that relies heavily on its special ion-exchange resin to remove fluoride The upfront cost is small, yet replacement filters can get expensive depending on the quality of your tap water Includes a bonus TDS meter to ensure your water is 0 TDS after filtering Removes chlorine, lead, fluoride, chromium 6, arsenic, pharmaceuticals, and other common water contaminants BPA-Free Filter Life: 8 to 40 gallons depending on your tap water TDS
#3 Water Filter Pitcher (Clearly Filtered) Check Price at Amazon #ad	Removes up to 98.2% of Fluoride The Clearly Filtered pitcher is a definite step up from the ZeroWater pitcher, however, it does cost more upfront Depending on your tap water quality, Clearly Filtered replacement filters will cost you less than ZeroWater filters The powerful filter removes a whopping 230 known water contaminants! BPA-Free Ultra-Long Filter Life: 100 gallons or 4 months
#4 Activated Alumina (Countertop & Whole House) Check Current Price #ad	Removes up to 93% of Fluoride The Home Master JR F2 Elite sink top water filter with activated alumina is an excellent option for both renters and homeowners The multi-stage filter contains a powerful blend of activated carbon, KDF 85 media, and activated alumina to remove a wide range of substances including fluoride, lead, chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, VOCs, TTHMs, and more Super easy to install compared to an under-sink water filtration system BPA-Free Filter Life: 500 gallons or 3 months
#5 Reverse Osmosis (APEC) Check Price at Amazon #ad	Removes up to 93.8% of Fluoride APEC manufacturers and sells premium WQA Standard 58 Gold Seal certified systems for very fair prices Reverse osmosis filters last the longest. We calculated that RO replacement filters cost a lot less than ZeroWater filters Reverse osmosis delivers the purest water of all the filter types in our top 5 because of the tiny 0.0001-micron pore size in the reverse osmosis filter aka “RO membrane” The convenience of on-demand water is unbeatable, no waiting around for a pitcher filter to do the job BPA-Free Filter Life: 6 to 12 months (prefilters), 2 to 4 years (RO membrane and final carbon stage)

What did you think of our top 5 water filters that remove fluoride? Have you already chosen the best filter for your home? If you’re still undecided, continue on through our buyer’s guide.

Fluoride Water Filter Buyer’s Guide

In this buyer’s guide, we’ll take a closer look at how each type of filter removes fluoride from your tap water, but before we do that, we recommend completing one initial step.

How to Check Fluoride Content in Your Tap Water

The most important step is to ensure there’s fluoride in your tap water before you invest in a filter (if you haven’t already). Checking if your tap water is fluoridated is easy and 100% free. Here’s how to do it:

Navigate to the CDC online fluoride checker tool (Click Here)
Find your state
Once you search for your state, find your county
After you click on your county, find your local water provider
You’ll see a list of water providers with a “Yes” or “No” in the “Fluoridated” column
If your water provider fluoridates your water, click on your provider to see the exact fluoride concentration in ppm

A handful of states do not participate in the program including California, New Jersey, Ohio, and others. The CDC recommends checking your state’s website for more information.

Now that you know whether your tap water is fluoridated, let’s go over a brief overview of each filtration type.

ZeroWater Ion-Exchange Resin

Water filter pitchers that remove fluoride typically use ion-exchange resin to get the job done. You may have noticed how large the ZeroWater filter is. The filter’s large size is due to the thick layer of ion-exchange resin.

In layman’s terms, ion-exchange resin does exactly what it says in its title. In other words, the charged ions in the resin switch places with similarly charged ions in your tap water including fluoride. The thick layer of resin in the ZeroWater filter increases the contact time between your tap water and the resin.

This allows the resin to do a more thorough job and remove all minerals from your tap water, including essential minerals. It’s the reason why ZeroWater filters become spent so quickly. The more minerals in your tap water (higher TDS) the quicker the ion-exchange resin uses up its already short lifespan.

If you have hard tap water or well water, ZeroWater replacement filters will get expensive in a hurry. You’re better off purchasing any of the other 4 options if you have high TDS water.

Further Reading: Do Zero Water filters remove fluoride?

Clearly Filtered Affinity Media

The overall best fluoride water filter pitcher is Clearly Filtered. They take a different approach than ZeroWater by using a mixture of what they call “affinity media.” Each type of media is designed to attract and trap a different set of substances in your tap water including fluoride.

What we like about Clearly Filtered is they post water quality lab test results on their website, and their filters leave essential minerals intact, unlike ZeroWater. The Clearly Filtered filter sports an impressive 98% fluoride reduction rate.

Activated Alumina Fluoride Removal

Activated alumina water filters are highly effective at removing fluoride. A quality activated alumina filter can remove up to 99% of fluoride. The EPA Secondary Standard limit for fluoride is 2 ppm. An activated alumina filter can reduce the fluoride level from 2 ppm to .1 ppm through the process of fluoride adsorption.

Activated alumina also does a marvelous job of removing arsenic. There are two types of common activated alumina water filters: countertop and whole-house.

Activated Alumina Whole House Filter

Activated Alumina Countertop Filter

For most people, we recommend the countertop version because it’s more convenient and easier to install. Also, you may not require whole-house fluoride removal.

The countertop version is more than adequate to remove fluoride from your drinking water, and you get on-demand filtered water, unlike a water filter pitcher.

Reverse Osmosis for Fluoride Removal

The last of our water filters that remove fluoride is reverse osmosis. How does reverse osmosis remove fluoride? Unlike the other types of filters on this list, reverse osmosis blocks fluoride instead of attracting it. It achieves this feat by forcing water through the semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane.

The 0.0001-micron pore size in the reverse osmosis membrane is too small for most fluoride molecules to pass through. APEC’s reverse osmosis membrane removes 93.8% of fluoride.

The one drawback to reverse osmosis filtration is that the system removes all minerals, similar to the ZeroWater filter. To correct this issue, most water filtration companies have begun selling remineralizing reverse osmosis systems. These systems use an additional inline mineral filter cartridge after the reverse osmosis membrane that contains alkaline minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

The water from this type of system tastes better than plain reverse osmosis water. In fact, a lot of bottled water is reverse osmosis water with added minerals for taste.

Bottom Line

Now you know how to choose the best water filters that remove fluoride for your home. Always remember to check if your local water is fluoridated before investing in a water filter because there’s no point in spending the extra money to filter out something that’s not there.

Of the options we included in our article, our top picks are Clearly Filtered and APEC because they provide water quality test reports on their websites. We prefer to know how a filter performs according to lab test results instead of taking a company’s word for it. We also value company transparency, and overall, APEC is one of the more impressive water filtration companies we’ve come across.