About this site
What The Refill Report is, and how it makes money
What we do
The Refill Report is an independent verification site for replacement consumables — starting with refrigerator water filters. Marketing claims about certification are checkable: NSF, IAPMO R&T, and WQA all publish their certification listings. We compare the claim on the product listing to the record in the database, exact model by exact model, and publish the full dataset with every study. Our first study covered the 45 best-selling refrigerator filters; the row-level data, including every source URL, is downloadable from the study page under a CC BY 4.0 license.
How verification works
A filter counts as certified only when its exact model number appears in a certification database under a drinking-water filtration scope. Brand-level certification does not transfer to uncertified models. “Meets NSF standards” and “tested to NSF/ANSI 42” are not certifications. Where a certification may exist under a certificate-holder name we could not trace (contract manufacturers, subsidiaries), we say “could not verify” rather than “uncertified.” Findings are dated; databases change.
How the site makes money (disclosure)
Some outbound links on this site are affiliate links: if you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As of August 2026 we participate in the Waterdrop affiliate program, with further programs pending. Three rules govern this, and they are absolute:
- Commissions never influence verdicts. Verification results come from the public databases and are published for every filter we check — including brands that pay us nothing and brands whose claims fail verification.
- We only link to filters whose certification we verified for the exact model sold. No verified certification, no recommendation link — whatever the commission.
- No pay-to-play. We accept no payment for inclusion, ranking, placement, or verdicts, and no free products in exchange for coverage.
Corrections
If you are a manufacturer and hold a certification we could not locate, contact us with the certificate record (certifying body, certificate or file number, and the exact model). We will re-check the database and update the dataset with a dated correction note. We would rather be corrected than wrong.
Editorial authorship: studies are researched and written by the Refill Report Research team. Data capture dates and methodology notes appear on every study; datasets are recomputable — every published number is generated by an analysis script from the raw verification records.