REASONS TO BUY
Great filter performance
Good taste
Affordable
REASONS TO AVOID
Slow filtration
Cartridge lasts for forty gallons
ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher Review
An affordable water filter that does a solid job but is a bit slower than some
Credit: ZeroWater
RELATED: Best Water Filter of 2023
Our Verdict
Delivering a decent performance at a reasonable price, the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher is a solid water pitcher. We were impressed with its chlorine and salt removal, and it did relatively well at removing lead. Our panel of judges agreed that this filter produces some great-tasting water that is on par with the water purified by any other version in our review. The only drawback of the ZeroWater 12-Cup is that it takes longer than we would like to filter everything. That said, this is a great product if you aren't in a hurry to filter your water and don't want to break the bank.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  | |  | ||
| Price | $40 List $34.99 at Amazon | $35 List $34.99 at Amazon | $38 List $37.08 at Amazon | $180 List $139.95 at Amazon | $30 List $30.89 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Great filter performance, good taste, affordable | Fantastic at removing impurities, makes great tasting water, inexpensive | Great contaminant removal, fairly inexpensive | Inexpensive for an under the sink filter, removes tons of lead and chlorine | Inexpensive, removes tons of chlorine |
| Cons | Slow filtration, cartridge lasts for forty gallons | Smaller capacity, takes some time to refill and refilter | Slow flow rate | Filtered water didn't taste amazing, didn't remove minerals well | Didn't do well in our lead or salt removal tests |
| Bottom Line | An affordable water filter that does a solid job but is a bit slower than some | Doing a fantastic job in most of our tests, this filter combines amazing performance with an even better price | This filter jug is for anyone who wants a bit more water on hand than the typical model and also impressed in our impurity removal metrics | If you are set on an under the sink filter and are shopping on a budget, this is the perfect choice | If you are set on a faucet mount filter, then the SAFF-100 is your best bet |
| Rating Categories | ZeroWater 12-Cup Pi... | ZeroWater 10-Cup Pi... | ZeroWater 23-Cup Jug | APEC WFS-1000 | Brita SAFF-100 |
| Lead Removal (25%) | |||||
| Chlorine Removal (25%) | |||||
| Salt Removal (25%) | |||||
| Taste (15%) | |||||
| Flow (10%) | |||||
| Specs | ZeroWater 12-Cup Pi... | ZeroWater 10-Cup Pi... | ZeroWater 23-Cup Jug | APEC WFS-1000 | Brita SAFF-100 |
| Model | ZD-012RP | 10 Cup | Pitcher | WFS-1000 | SAFF-100 |
| Replacement Schedule | 40 Gallons | 18,000 mg of disolved solids; 1-40 gallons | 18,000 mg of disolved solids; 1-40 gallons | Every 12 months | Every 100 gallons or 4 months |
| Replacement Cost | 2 for $33 3 for $46 4 for $55 6 for $80 8 for $100 16 for $200 |
2 for $30 4 for $40 8 for $90 12 for $115 16 for $150 |
2 for $30 4 for $40 8 for $90 12 for $115 16 for $150 |
Stages 1-3 for $40 | 1 for $19 |
| Pure Water to Waste Water Ratio | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Gallons Per Day (GPD) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| NSF/ANSI certified for lead removal | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| NSF/ANSI certified for organic contaminants removal | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
Performance Comparison
The ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher does a great job and won't wreck your bank account.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Lead Removal
To accurately assess how well the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher does at purifying lead-ridden water, we created a concoction of tap water with 2.3 ppm of the toxic substance. The EPA limit for water that is considered safe for human consumption has 0.015 ppm of lead, so this is well beyond the toxicity that anybody would presumably be filtering. After pouring the tainted water through each filter, we sent the samples to our friends at a third-party water-testing laboratory, where they have the proper equipment for analyzing lead content. This section of the review accounts for 25% of the total score.
The filter cartridge on the ZeroWater is located just below the top lid.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher removed 98.7% of the lead from our contaminated sample. This puts the filtered water produced by this model barely outside the EPA limits, but considering that the amount of lead that we added to our supply water was essentially an absurd amount, we think the ZeroWater 12-Cup would do completely fine with any normal tap water.
The ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher includes a total dissolved solids meter so that you will know exactly when you need a new filter.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Chlorine Removal
The next 25% of our total score is dedicated to how well the filters do at removing chlorine. According to the EPA, water with less than 4 ppm of chlorine is deemed safe for human consumption. We mixed a batch of tap water with chlorine to bring the ppm levels of the concoction up to 106. After running our chlorinated water through each filter, we used chemical test strips to measure the resultant levels following filtration.
This model is affordable and does a fantastic job of removing contaminants.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Earning a perfect performance for this metric, the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher removed all of the chlorine from our tainted sample water.
If you want to be sure to remove 100% of the chlorine from your tapwater, the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher is one of the best options.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Salt Removal
Acceptable salt levels in water for human consumption are a bit more ambiguous than chlorine or lead. The general consensus from official healthcare authorities on ppm levels can range from 20 to 250. Those who recommend lower levels tend to consider that we get sodium from many other sources of beverages and food. In comparison, others allow for higher levels because sodium is a critical element of human life.
The ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher had no problem purifying extremely salty water.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Regardless of your take on recommended sodium levels, the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher earned a perfect performance in this metric by reducing our salty test water from 445 ppm to 0. Salt Removal comprises 25% of the overall score.
We were very impressed with the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher during our salt removal experiments.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Taste
To assess taste, we used a panel of judges to offer their thoughts on water that had gone through each filter. In order to ensure that the filters themselves weren't adding any strange flavors, we used purified water for our first set of tests. Next, we filtered our local tap water and used the same panel of judges to see if anything had changed. This section accounts for 15% of the total review score.
The ergonomic handle on this model aids in smooth pouring.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher did exceptionally well during our taste tests. We found that no matter if we used tap water or purified water, the water that came out of this model had a flawless flavor.
Our team of judges found that the filtered water from the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher had a perfect taste.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Flow
Finally, we measured flow rates for the outstanding 10% of our total score. This was the one area where the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher fell short of the pack. While some top water filters can filter a gallon of water in less than a minute, this model takes 36 minutes. Because of this drastic difference in rates, we could only award it a 4 out of 10 for this metric. If you want rapid, on-demand filtered water, the ZeroWater is not the product for you.
The ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher takes a fairly long time to filter water, but once it's done its job, the results are top-notch.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Value
Considering its relatively high performance and very affordable price tag, we think the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher has tremendous value.
Conclusion
The main drawbacks of owning the ZeroWater 12-Cup Pitcher are its slow flow rate and the fact that each internal filter cartridge only lasts 40 gallons. We appreciate that this model includes a TDS meter so that you'll know exactly when it's time to order a new cartridge. Other than that, this version does a great job of removing chemicals, and the resulting filtered water tastes great.
—
Ross Patton and Matt Spencer
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