The Best Filtered Water Bottles

In testing and writing about water filters for Wirecutter since 2016, I’ve spoken with the two main US filter-certification organizations, NSF and the Water Quality Association, to understand how their testing is conducted. I’ve interviewed engineers and product managers at many water filter manufacturers to interrogate their technologies and claims. And I’ve spent years just living with and using multiple types of water filters, since overall durability, ease and cost of maintenance, and user friendliness are important considerations in something you use multiple times a day.

Filtered water bottles create better-tasting water wherever you go. The kind we tested are aimed at commuters, high school and college students, caretakers, and other people who are always on the move. The bottles are sturdy, attractive, and slip easily into a backpack, purse, briefcase, or messenger bag.

The filters usually work by removing the chlorine disinfectants that give lots of tap water an off flavor. But that’s all most of them do. Most do not protect against other contaminants that may be of concern to you, like lead, PFAS, or bacteria.

The filter bottles we tested (with one exception) are not meant for hikers and wilderness adventurers. That’s because they aren’t designed to be as small and light as possible, to be compatible with a variety of bottles and storage containers, or to remove disease-causing pathogens from untreated water.

That means they’re also not meant for emergency filtration, such as during a boil-water order following a flood or other natural disasters.

Finally, our testing showed that they’re not practical for children. Most filter bottles require you to suck the water through the filter, and that takes considerable force. Youngsters will have a far easier time using regular bottles filled with water from a filter pitcher or other filtered source.

Frankly, so will adults. Bear that in mind when deciding if you need a filter bottle at all.

We applied the same criteria for filtered water bottles that we do for filter pitchers and dispensers, faucet-mount filters, and under-sink filters: Any claims that bottles remove heavy metals like lead and mercury, industrial compounds like pesticides, and pathogens like bacteria had to be NSF/ANSI certified or tested to NSF/ANSI or similarly stringent standards by accredited independent labs, with the test results publicly shared.

For filter bottles that claim only to make water taste better—which is by far the most common claim—we didn’t require stringent certification, because that’s an extremely simple thing to do. You just run the water through an activated-carbon filter, which are cheap and widely produced.

We did limit our search to filter bottles from well-known brands that have a history in the filtration sector. Numerous filter bottles are now available from small, little-known companies, and though many of them likely perform just fine, we place a lot of emphasis on accountability and an established record in an area as central to well-being as clean drinking water.

We eliminated bottles with pour-through filters, where you fill an upper reservoir and wait for the water to drip through the filter via gravity. They’re slow, and they take several fillings of the upper reservoir to create a full bottle of water—the opposite of on-the-go convenience.

Our testing focused on livability and usability factors. Is a bottle comfortable to hold? To drink from? To refill and to clean? Because filter bottles are generally tall and narrow, their interiors are hard to wash by hand, so we gave points to dishwasher-safe models.

We also came to prefer bottles whose mouthpiece is covered by a cap when not in use. Some have exposed flip-up mouthpieces, and though they’re convenient, they can also pick up dirt while jostling around inside a bag.

We filled our test bottles and kept them upside-down for several hours, shaking them vigorously every 30 minutes or so, to check for seepage. A spill inside your bag is annoying at best, and quite expensive if it ruins some electronics.

We assessed if replacement filters are easily available and affordable. Filters have finite lifespans; you’ll need a new one every few months if you use your filter bottle daily.

The BPA-free plastic Brita Premium Filtering Water Bottle is our pick among the filter bottles we tested. It’s sturdy, comes in a variety of colors and sizes, and is NSF/ANSI certified to reduce chlorine (PDF), which is the main culprit in bad-tasting tap water. (Note that the plastic versions we recommend are not insulated, although some listings online label them as such. The insulated stainless steel versions keep water cold longer.) Here’s what we liked about the Brita bottle:

It’s relatively easy to drink from. The effort required to suck water through the straw-like filter is lower than with some competitors—though it’s still like drinking a thick milkshake through a straw—and the soft, rubbery mouthpiece is a comfortable size and shape.

It can make tap water taste better. The bottle uses a simple activated-carbon filter. It efficiently captures the chlorine compounds that are commonly used to disinfect water supplies, which, to many people, make the water taste bad.

The flip-top cap allows for one-handed drinking. The cap protects the mouthpiece and keeps it clean when you’re not using it. You just press a button, and the cap pops open to let you take a drink. We preferred its convenience to bottles with twist-off caps, which require two hands and can be dropped or lost. And we preferred both of these designs to bottles with flip-up spouts, which aren’t protected by a cap and can pick up dirt inside a bag or purse.

We didn’t experience any leaks. To test for leaks, we filled all of our contenders then placed them upside down for several hours, giving them a vigorous shake every half hour. The Brita bottle didn’t leak a drop (and neither did any of the other bottles).

The plastic parts are dishwasher safe. Like any reusable bottle, the Brita bottle should be cleaned regularly. To clean yours in the dishwasher, remove the filter from its housing and then place the housing and all other parts on the top rack. (Brita said the stainless versions should be hand-washed.)

Replacement filters are inexpensive. The replacement filters (model BB06) cost less than $3 apiece. They’re rated to last for 40 gallons or two months.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

This is a flaw of the category, not the Brita bottle specifically, but it bears emphasizing: Filter bottles are harder to drink from and fussier to refill than plain reusable bottles. It takes real effort to suck water through the filter. The straws drip when you pull them out to refill the bottle, and they’re just one more thing you have to clean and maintain.

If you have a convenient source of filtered water available—from an office water cooler, say, or a pitcher or under-sink filter at home—you’ll probably be happier with a versatile reusable bottle such as the ones we recommend.

The carry handle on the Brita bottle is attached to the flip-up cap. That puts the weight of the entire bottle on the small plastic latch that keeps the cap closed. Using the handle to pick up the bottle shouldn’t stress the latch too much, but we would not recommend carrying the bottle by the handle, hanging it from a carabiner while walking around, or pulling the bottle out of an overstuffed bag by yanking on it.

If you’d like a filter bottle that both makes treated water taste better (by removing chlorine) and also removes bacteria and protozoa (like Giardia) that can be present in untreated water, we recommend the BPA-free plastic LifeStraw Go Series bottle. It comes in multiple colors and two sizes (22 and 34 ounces), and an insulated stainless steel version is available in 24 and 34 ounces.

All of LifeStraw’s bottles use a dual filter, with an activated carbon element to reduce chlorine and a hollow fiber membrane filter that physically blocks waterborne bacteria, protozoa, and other particles above 0.2 microns in diameter, including microplastics. (It does not capture viruses, which are smaller still.) You can read LifeStraw’s in-house and independent test results here (PDF).

The hollow fiber membrane filter takes more strength to suck water through than the Brita Premium Filtering Water Bottle’s plain carbon filter, and because pathogens are not present at dangerous levels in properly treated tap water, the Go bottle is overkill for most everyday use. However, if you travel frequently to places where unsanitary tap water is a concern, the Go bottles are more convenient (and stylish) than camping-oriented filters or chlorine tablets.

A screw-on cap protects the bottle’s mouthpiece from dirt when it’s not in use, and it prevented any leaks in our testing. However, it requires two hands to use, and while detached, it can be dropped, lost, or separated from its companion in a dish rack or crowded cabinet.

The carry handle is molded right into the lid, and it’s sturdy enough to stand up to moderately rough trail hiking. Commendably, LifeStraw sells replacement carbon filter elements on their own. They need to be switched out far more frequently (every 26 gallons, or about two months) than the hollow fiber filter, which is good for 1,000 gallons.

The Larq Bottle Flip Top effectively reduces lead and some industrial compounds as well as chlorine, which is unusual for a filter bottle. Larq shares the test results (PDF) publicly, as we require. But it has a pop-up mouthpiece that’s always exposed to dirt and other schmutz. And the filter—which is necessarily denser in order to be more capable—takes more strength to suck water through than our top pick from Brita. Replacement filters are also expensive at about $15 to $20 every two months. A regular bottle filled from a filtered water source is a better option if you want extensive purification.

The Phillips GoZero Filtration Bottle is similar to our pick, the Brita Premium Filtering Water Bottle, in form and functionality, but its mouthpiece is shorter and harder to grip between your lips, so it’s more difficult to suck from.

The cleverly designed Grayl 24oz GeoPress Purifier is intended for camping and adventure travel, and we tested it largely to see if it might be a surprise winner for urban and suburban adventures, too. We found that it isn’t: Its plunger action, in which you fill the container and then force the filter through the water, requires a lot of strength and a location where you wouldn’t mind a few splashes. It would be a conversation starter in an office or classroom, but it belongs in the great outdoors.

This article was edited by Harry Sawyers.