Brand: AquaCrest
Is AquaCrest NSF certified? The brand is. The best-sellers we checked are not.
AquaCrest is NSF certified, but only for five specific models, all of them under NSF/ANSI 42 alone. None of the six best-selling AquaCrest refrigerator filters we checked on 2026-08-07 is one of those five. Five of the six listings claim a certification the public databases do not show for the model being sold, and one of the six is a near-miss variant of a code that is listed. The brand is certified. The AquaCrest filters most people are actually buying are not covered by that certification.
The short version
- AquaCrest’s NSF trade-name record covers exactly 5 models: EFF-6008S1/AQF-FF08, EFF-6032S/AQF-FF32D, EFF-6038S1/AQF-FF38, AQF-FF12 and EFF-6002S/AQF-FF15, all certified to NSF/ANSI 42 only.
- None of the 6 best-selling AquaCrest SKUs in our sample appears on that list, and 5 of the 6 listings claim a certification the databases don’t show for that model.
- All 6 fell into the same bucket, brand certified but model absent, the largest single category in our 45-filter study at 14 SKUs (31%).
- AquaCrest returned no results in WQA’s product finder, and IAPMO R&T could not be queried reliably for this brand in this study’s research pass.
The table below is the row-by-row record for every AquaCrest SKU we checked, with the claim captured and the database response.
| Filter | What the listing claims | What the databases show |
|---|---|---|
| AQUACRESTAQF-DA29-00020B (AQF-00020B)fits Samsung | "Tested and certified by NSF International against NSF/ANSI 42" | Brand certified, not this model |
| AQUACRESTFF46 (AQF-FF46)fits LG | "NSF 42 & 372 Certified" | Brand certified, not this model |
| AQUACRESTFF32 (AQF-FF32)fits LG | Marketed as NSF certified, exact standard not captured | Brand certified, not this model |
| AQUACRESTAQF-4396508fits Whirlpool | Claims NSF 42/372 (brand pattern, not independently confirmed) | Brand certified, not this model |
| AQUACRESTAQF-4396701fits Whirlpool | Claims NSF certification (brand pattern) | Brand certified, not this model |
| AQUACRESTAQF-MWFfits GE | Claims NSF certification (brand pattern) | Brand certified, not this model |
AquaCrest’s NSF certification covers five models, and every one is NSF/ANSI 42 only
The search that resolves this brand is a trade-name search on NSF’s own certification listing, info.nsf.org. Under the name AquaCrest it returns five models, filed under the manufacturer Qingdao Ecopure Filter Co., Ltd.: EFF-6008S1/AQF-FF08, EFF-6032S/AQF-FF32D, EFF-6038S1/AQF-FF38, AQF-FF12 and EFF-6002S/AQF-FF15. All five carry NSF/ANSI 42. None carries 53.
That last detail does more work than it looks like. NSF/ANSI 42 is the aesthetic-effects standard, covering things such as chlorine taste and odour and particulate reduction. Lead reduction is tested under NSF/ANSI 53. A brand whose entire certification footprint is 42-only has never had a lead-removal claim verified for any of its models, even the five it legitimately holds.
Two things about the naming matter for anyone trying to check this at home. The certified entries carry two codes each, an EFF- catalogue number and an AQF- element code, in the same format the retail listings use. The second is that AquaCrest is a trade name, not a manufacturer. The five models are filed under Qingdao Ecopure’s name. That is normal in this category, and it is also why a naive brand search can miss listings entirely.
Each of the six best-selling AquaCrest filters, platform by platform
Samsung-compatible: AQF-DA29-00020B
The listing for AQF-DA29-00020B, also written AQF-00020B, is sold as a replacement for Samsung’s DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP. Its certification line reads, verbatim: “Tested and certified by NSF International against NSF/ANSI 42”. That is the strongest form of claim a filter listing can make, because it names the certifier and the standard together, and both are checkable in about a minute. It does not check out. AQF-DA29-00020B does not appear in AquaCrest’s five-model NSF record, and our dataset records the claim as overstating. Two Samsung models in our fitment index list this filter as a match: RS25J500DSR/AA and RF261BEAESR/AA.
LG-compatible: FF46 (AQF-FF46)
The captured claim is “NSF 42 & 372 Certified”. Neither half holds for this model. AQF-FF46 does not appear anywhere in AquaCrest’s five-row NSF result set. The 372 half is also a different kind of claim from the one buyers tend to assume: NSF/ANSI 372 certifies the lead content of materials and components, not a filter’s ability to remove lead from water. Nine LG models in our fitment index list AQF-FF46 as a compatible replacement, including LMXS28626S and LFXS26973S.
LG-compatible: FF32 (AQF-FF32)
FF32 is the one AquaCrest SKU in our sample recorded as no-claim rather than as overstating, and that is a capture limit, not a clean pass. The listing markets the filter as NSF certified but never names a standard, and our pass did not capture the exact wording, so there was no sentence to check word by word. The model check still ran, and it is the more useful half here. The code that exists in NSF’s database is AQF-FF32D. The exact string AQF-FF32, without the suffix, does not appear as a distinct entry anywhere.
Whirlpool-compatible: AQF-4396508 and AQF-4396701
Both codes appear on AquaCrest’s Whirlpool-compatible collection page, and neither appears in the brand’s five-model NSF listing. There is one recording difference to state plainly: for these two, the certification claim was logged as a brand-pattern claim rather than captured as a verbatim sentence. What is confirmed is the model absence. Six Whirlpool models in our fitment index list both codes against the EDR1RXD1 / W10295370A-class Filter 1 housing: WRS325SDHZ, WRS588FIHZ, WRS321SDHZ, WRS571CIHZ, WRS555SIHZ and WRS315SDHM.
GE-compatible: AQF-MWF
Same pattern, same recording basis. AQF-MWF does not appear in AquaCrest’s NSF listing, and it is the one AquaCrest SKU in our sample that is not cross-listed against any model in the 50-model fitment index.
The near-miss variant code is the whole problem in one line
FF32 is the clearest worked example in our data of how certification coverage breaks down at the model level. AQF-FF32D is a listed element code. AQF-FF32 is the code being sold. One suffix separates a certified model from an uncertified one, and a buyer comparing the brand’s database entry to the product page sees the same letter pattern in both places.
That pattern repeats across the brand. AquaCrest’s certified models carry AQF- element codes (AQF-FF08, AQF-FF32D, AQF-FF38, AQF-FF12, AQF-FF15), and so do the retail SKUs (AQF-DA29-00020B, AQF-FF46, AQF-4396508, AQF-4396701, AQF-MWF). The prefix is shared. The certification is not. Our dataset also records AQF-FF32D as an element under a Waterdrop-branded EFF-6032S listing certified to NSF/ANSI 42 only, which is the same EFF code AquaCrest’s own entry uses. The public databases do not explain the overlap, and we do not either. We report it because it is the reason a strict model match, not a brand match, is the only check that answers the question.
AquaCrest fits the brand-halo pattern, the most common failure in our data
AquaCrest is not an outlier in our 45-SKU sample. It is the largest single contributor to the study’s most common finding. Fourteen of 45 filters (31%) came from brands with real certifications that cover other models than the one sold, and AquaCrest accounts for 6 of those 14. Twenty-two of 45 listings (49%) overstate their certifications once the claims are compared against the databases, rising to 56% of the 39 listings that make a certification claim at all, and AquaCrest supplies 5 of the 22.
- 22 Claims more than the databases show
- 2 Cites a different standard than it holds
- 10 Claim matches the record
- 2 Claims less than it holds
- 6 Makes no certification claim
- 3 Could not be evaluated
The mechanism is worth naming because it is what buyers get wrong. A certification attaches to a filing: a certificate holder, a listed model, a standard, and a certifying body. Marketing attaches to a brand. Once a brand earns real listings for part of its range, the certification language tends to travel across the whole catalogue, and the halo does the persuading. This is not a cheap-brand problem. Samsung’s own OEM filter, the DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP, lands in the same bucket: Samsung holds real certifications, just not for that model. Frigidaire’s WF3CB does too, with Electrolux Home Products holding active listings the WF3CB model does not appear in. The full 45-row picture is in Study 1.
NSF/ANSI 42 does not cover lead, even for the five models that are listed
A buyer reading an NSF/ANSI 42 certification and expecting lead reduction is reading the wrong standard. Among the 45 filters we checked, 5 (11%) were confirmed for both 42 and 53. AquaCrest’s five listed models are not among them. For the six AquaCrest SKUs in our sample the position is weaker still: the certification either does not cover the model, or does not cover the contaminant class.
The independent record behind this is thin, and worth stating precisely. The only substantial independent lab program that tested lead removal in refrigerator-style filters is the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers’ 2018 study, which tested 32 counterfeit filters: all 32 (100%) failed NSF/ANSI lead-removal standards, and some introduced contaminants into the water. It is eight years old, it tested counterfeits rather than the general aftermarket, and nothing has replaced it. The full inventory is in Study 2, and the standard-by-standard version is at do refrigerator filters remove lead.
What we could not determine
- This page covers six AquaCrest SKUs, checked on 2026-08-07. It is not a survey of the whole AquaCrest catalogue, and the catalogue changes.
- IAPMO R&T (
pld.iapmo.org) could not be queried reliably for this brand in this study’s research pass. If AquaCrest holds IAPMO listings, they sit outside this record. WQA’s product finder returned no AquaCrest result in any pass that queried it. - Three of the six claims are recorded as brand-pattern claims rather than verbatim sentences. For those three, the confirmed fact is that the model does not appear in the databases, not that a specific sentence overstates.
- Trade names and certificate-holder names are not the same thing. AquaCrest’s five certified models are filed under Qingdao Ecopure Filter Co., Ltd., and a manufacturer filing can cover cartridges sold under more than one brand name. Our protocol searches both the retail brand and the corporate name, but naming gaps are a known limit of this method, and they are a reason to say “could not verify” rather than “uncertified.”
- Nothing here says an AquaCrest filter is counterfeit. Counterfeit describes a product that breaks trademark or certification law, and for AquaCrest our record shows a certification-coverage gap, which is a different thing. We keep the two apart everywhere, including in Study 1.
- Certification status changes. Re-check any model before relying on this page, and treat the capture date as part of the finding.
The next question after this one
If the useful takeaway is that a brand-level certification means nothing at model level, the natural next step is running the check yourself. How to check a water filter’s NSF certification walks through the database search in order, and certified vs. “meets NSF standards” explains why one of those phrases is checkable and the other is not. For the standards themselves, see NSF 42 vs 53 vs 401. If you already know your fridge model, the fitment index lists 50 models and the filters our dataset matched to each, and the Samsung guide covers the DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP family that AQF-DA29-00020B copies. Our method, including how study rows are classified and how affiliate links are disclosed, is at about.