How much do water filters cost per year?

Q: How much do water filters cost per year?

At average US drinking and cooking volumes (about 0.23 gallons per person per day, EPA Exposure Factors Handbook), a family of 7 uses about 587 gallons a year. Lead-certified options then cost about $82 a year (PUR faucet filter), $86 (Brita Elite pitcher), $178 (Waterdrop G3P800 under-sink RO, filters plus running costs) and $425 (Culligan ZeroWater pitcher). Heavy users (0.78 gallons per person per day) pay about 3.4 times more for pitcher and faucet filters and about 1.8 times more for under-sink RO. Prices as read on 21-30 October 2026.

The cheapest lead-certified option costs about $23 a year for 2 people and $82 for 7. The most expensive pitcher costs five times that. Your household size and the gallons per cartridge decide it.

Updated 30 October 2026: we now use the EPA average of about 0.23 gallons of drinking and cooking water per person per day (earlier versions assumed 0.6). What changed

The filter, not the machine, is the cost. What decides it is the gallons a cartridge is listed for, and how much water your household really uses.
7 people, average use (587 gallons a year):
- PUR faucet filter: about $82
- Brita Elite pitcher: about $86
- Under-sink RO: about $178
- ZeroWater pitcher: about $425
Heavy users pay about 3.4 times more for pitcher and faucet filters, and about 1.8 times more for under-sink RO, whose filters are mostly time-limited. See the last column of the table.

Do your own math →

Evidence behind this site: 201 studies and official sources · 47 certification listings read · 26 documented incidents · last checked 30 October 2026 · corrections

Yearly filter cost by household

Filters a year = gallons ÷ listed capacity, or the maker's time limit if that comes first. Average use = 0.23 gal per person per day; heavy use = 0.78 (EPA Exposure Factors Handbook, ch. 3, table 3-1).
Option (certified for lead)	2 people · average (168 gal)	7 people · average (587 gal)	7 people · heavy (1,997 gal)
PUR faucet filter · RF-9999, 100 gal, $14.00	$23	$82	$279
Brita Elite pitcher · OB06, 120 gal, $17.50, 6-month limit	$35	$86	$291
PUR PLUS pitcher · PPF951K, 40 gal, up to $14.99	$63	$220	$748
LifeStraw Home pitcher · 40 gal, up to $16.99	$71	$249	$848
Waterdrop G3P800 under-sink RO · filters + electricity (estimate) + drain water	$176	$178	$315
Culligan ZeroWater pitcher · ZEROFXX1, 20 gal, $14.50	$121	$425	$1,447

Listings: ZeroWater IAPMO R&T W-17155; PUR W-29904; Brita Elite on NSF and WQA; LifeStraw on WQA; Waterdrop G3P800 WC-13976 (lead) and WC-14805 (PFOA/PFOS).
Prices: Target on 27 October 2026 (ZeroWater on 21 October); Waterdrop on waterdropfilter.com on 30 October 2026.
The RO unit itself ($849, list $999) is not in this table. See Is reverse osmosis worth it?

What this means

Gallons per cartridge matter more than the sticker price. A 20-gallon pitcher cartridge costs five times as much a year as a 100-gallon faucet cartridge for the same water.
Small households: time limits start to dominate. Brita, for example, says to replace the Elite filter after six months even if it has gallons left.
Under-sink RO filters are mostly time-limited at average use. So their yearly cost hardly changes between 2 and 7 people.
A cartridge used past its rated gallons can still reduce lead fairly well, but PFAS removal can drop sharply. Change it on time. Our lead and PFAS list shows which models are certified for what.

How much do water filters cost per year?

Yearly filter cost by household

What this means

What to do next

Disclosure