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The best water filters for chromium-6

Filters with a hexavalent chromium claim on their certifier listing, ranked by five-year cost, with California's new 10 ppb limit explained.

TapBuffUpdated 4 min read

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The short answer

Five filters TapBuff tracks carry a hexavalent chromium claim on a certifier's listing: three reverse osmosis systems and two ZeroWater pitchers. The APEC RO-90 costs the least over five years. A chromium claim that doesn't name the form, or a trivalent chromium claim alone, doesn't count. There is no federal limit for chromium-6; California's is 10 ppb.

Chromium-6, or hexavalent chromium, is one of the forms chromium takes in water. EPA says chromium gets into water from industry and from natural deposits in the ground. EPA has no separate limit for chromium-6. Its limit of 100 ppb covers all chromium together, and EPA says it is still studying chromium-6 before it decides whether to change that. California didn't wait. Its limit for chromium-6 alone, 10 ppb, took effect on October 1, 2024, and its largest utilities had to meet it by October 1, 2026.

What a filter is certified to reduce is on its listing. Every chromium-6 claim here was read from the certifiers' own listings, WQA and IAPMO, on October 22, 2026. TapBuff has not tested these filters.

The picks at a glance

The picks at a glance
FilterPickCertified forFive years
APEC Ultimate RO-90Lowest five-year costChromium-6, Lead, Copper and 2 more$549
Brondell Capella RC250 Reverse Osmosis SystemAdds PFOA and PFOSChromium-6, Lead, Copper and 7 more$1,950
Aquasana SmartFlow Reverse Osmosis (AQ-SFRO2)Most claimsChromium-6, Lead, Copper and 8 more$2,917
Culligan 10-Cup Pitcher with ZeroWater Technology (ZEROP10)The pitcherChromium-6, Lead, Copper and 8 more$5,103
Five-year cost for a household of 3 at the makers’ list prices, cartridges included. A plus sign means a part due in those five years has no published price.

Which chromium claim counts

Chromium in water is mostly in two forms: chromium-3, or trivalent, and chromium-6, or hexavalent, the one California regulates. Certifiers list them as separate claims, so a filter is certified for chromium-6 only if its listing says hexavalent:

  • Hexavalent chromium, by name. The APEC, Brondell and Aquasana systems carry it under NSF/ANSI 58 on WQA's listings, and the two ZeroWater pitchers under NSF/ANSI 53 on IAPMO's.
  • Trivalent chromium only. WQA lists the Bluevua RO100ROPOT-Lite for trivalent chromium and not hexavalent, so it isn't certified for chromium-6.
  • "Chromium" with no form named. IAPMO lists the AquaTru Classic for "Chromium" under NSF/ANSI 58 without saying which, so TapBuff doesn't count it here.
  • Most other filters. No under-sink carbon filter, faucet, shower or whole-house filter, or other pitcher in the catalog, Brita's and PUR's included, carries a hexavalent chromium claim.

TapBuff's reports show total chromium where a state publishes it. That number includes chromium-6 but doesn't split it out. In California, utilities test for chromium-6 itself under the state's limit, and list it in their annual water quality reports when they find it.

How the picks are ranked

Every pick carries a chromium-6 claim on a certifier's listing, so they are ranked by what each costs over five years at the maker's list prices, with what else its listing covers beside it. The figures are for a household of three using 3 gallons a day for drinking and cooking. Each is the system's list price plus every filter due in five years, with the first filters in the box. Installation is left out.

The picks

APEC Ultimate RO-90

Lowest five-year costUnder-sink reverse osmosis

Best for a certified chromium-6 claim for the least over five years

Strengths

  • Hexavalent and trivalent chromium under NSF/ANSI 58, on WQA's listing, with fluoride, lead, arsenic, barium, copper and radium
  • $264.99, and the lowest five-year cost of any filter here with the claim
  • Pre-filters once a year, and the membrane and carbon post-filter every 3 to 5 years, by APEC's manual

Trade-offs

  • No PFAS claim: the RO-90 has no NSF/ANSI 53 listing
  • A storage tank and a separate faucet under the sink, with a drain connection
  • APEC publishes no gallon ratings or waste ratio

Brondell Capella RC250 Reverse Osmosis System

Adds PFOA and PFOSUnder-sink reverse osmosis

Best for chromium-6 with PFOA and PFOS claims under the sink

Strengths

  • Hexavalent and trivalent chromium under NSF/ANSI 58, on WQA's listing, with fluoride, arsenic, lead and copper
  • PFOA, PFOS, mercury and VOCs under NSF/ANSI 53, and chlorine and chloramine under NSF/ANSI 42
  • A 3.2-gallon tank under the sink

Trade-offs

  • Brondell's own performance data sheet gives a 29.1% efficiency rating, so most of the water it takes in goes down the drain
  • Pre-filters every 6 months, at $79.99 a set

Aquasana SmartFlow Reverse Osmosis (AQ-SFRO2)

Most claimsUnder-sink reverse osmosis

Best for chromium-6 with nitrate, fluoride and PFOA/PFOS claims

Strengths

  • Hexavalent and trivalent chromium under NSF/ANSI 58, on WQA's listing, with nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, lead and copper
  • PFOA, PFOS, mercury and VOCs under NSF/ANSI 53, and chlorine and chloramine under NSF/ANSI 42
  • With a storage tank and its own faucet

Trade-offs

  • Its carbon set every 6 months and membrane every 12, at Aquasana's one-time prices
  • Aquasana's performance data sheet gives a 27.4% efficiency rating

Culligan 10-Cup Pitcher with ZeroWater Technology (ZEROP10)

The pitcherPitcher

Best for a chromium-6 claim with nothing to install

Strengths

  • Hexavalent chromium under NSF/ANSI 53, on IAPMO's listing, with fluoride, nitrate, lead and PFAS
  • $34.99 for the pitcher

Trade-offs

  • Each filter is rated for 20 gallons: at 3 gallons a day, a new one about every week, which makes it the most expensive pick over five years
  • Culligan sells the filters only in packs of two or more
  • Not the older ZeroWater ZP-010, which takes a different filter

The fifth with a chromium-6 claim

The older ZeroWater 10-cup pitcher (ZP-010) carries the claim too, on IAPMO's listing. It costs $7,334 over five years, since its filters are rated for 15 gallons.

The reverse osmosis guide ranks every system against the rest, chromium claim or not, and the pitcher guide does the same for pitchers. For fluoride, which the same reverse osmosis systems cover, the fluoride guide ranks the filters with that claim.

What’s in your water?

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

Questions people ask

Is there a legal limit for chromium-6 in tap water?
Not a federal one. EPA's limit is 100 ppb for total chromium, which it says covers every form, chromium-6 included. EPA is working on a new assessment of hexavalent chromium and says it will then decide whether to revise that limit. California set its own limit for chromium-6 at 10 ppb, effective October 1, 2024.
When do California utilities have to meet the 10 ppb limit?
By size: October 1, 2026 for systems with 10,000 or more connections, October 1, 2027 for 1,000 to 9,999, and October 1, 2028 for smaller ones, the State Water Board says.
Does a Brita or PUR filter remove chromium-6?
Not by their listings. No Brita or PUR filter in TapBuff's catalog carries a hexavalent chromium claim. The two pitchers that do are ZeroWater's: Culligan's pitcher with ZeroWater technology and the older ZeroWater ZP-010.
Does reverse osmosis remove chromium-6?
A system with a hexavalent chromium claim under NSF/ANSI 58 is certified to. Three in TapBuff's catalog have one: the APEC RO-90, the Brondell Capella RC250 and the Aquasana SmartFlow. The Bluevua RO100ROPOT-Lite is listed for trivalent chromium only.
Does my utility's report show chromium-6?
TapBuff's reports show total chromium where a state publishes it, which includes chromium-6 but doesn't separate it. In California, utilities test for chromium-6 itself under the state's limit, and list it in their annual water quality reports when they find it.

Sources

  1. Chromium in Drinking Water (last updated March 4, 2026), U.S. EPA. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  2. Hexavalent Chromium MCL (SWRCB-DDW-21-003; page last updated September 1, 2026), California State Water Resources Control Board. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  3. Contaminant Reduction Claims Guide, NSF. Checked Oct. 4, 2026.
  4. WQA listing for APEC Water Systems, NSF/ANSI 58, Water Quality Association. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  5. WQA listing for Brondell, NSF/ANSI 58, Water Quality Association. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  6. WQA listing for Aquasana, NSF/ANSI 58, Water Quality Association. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  7. WQA listing for Bluevua, NSF/ANSI 58 (trivalent chromium only), Water Quality Association. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  8. IAPMO certificate for Culligan's pitchers and dispensers with ZeroWater technology, NSF/ANSI 53, IAPMO. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  9. IAPMO certificate for ZeroWater, NSF/ANSI 53 (the ZP-010 among them), IAPMO. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  10. IAPMO certificate for AquaTru, NSF/ANSI 58 (a chromium claim with no form named), IAPMO. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.
  11. Ultimate RO-90, APEC Water Systems. Checked Oct. 9, 2026.
  12. Capella reverse osmosis under counter water filter system, Brondell. Checked Oct. 9, 2026.
  13. SmartFlow reverse osmosis, Aquasana. Checked Oct. 9, 2026.
  14. 10-cup pitcher with ZeroWater technology, Culligan. Checked Oct. 13, 2026.

Published · Last reviewed . Where every figure comes from and how it is checked: the methodology.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Write to info@tapbuff.com.

How TapBuff checks this

Limits come from EPA, standards from NSF’s own documents, and certifications from the certifier’s listing, never the box. Every source is dated.

Methodology

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