Which Samsung refrigerator water filter replacements are actually NSF certified?

The short version

• 9 Samsung-compatible SKUs checked against NSF, IAPMO R&T and WQA; 1 (11%) is certified for the exact model sold.
• Waterdrop WD-DA29-00020B holds NSF/ANSI 42, 53 and 401, with two further variants, WDS-DA2900020B and WDP-DA2900020B, listed under the same standards.
• Samsung Co., Ltd. is WQA-certified for NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 372 and 401, but DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP is not among its listed models and appears in none of the three databases.
• 6 of the 9 Samsung rows claim a certification the databases do not show for the model on sale.
• 3 rows remain unresolved after a clean re-check and are recorded as could not verify, which is not the same finding as uncertified.

The strip below shows every Samsung-platform row in the dataset by verification result.

Samsung’s own DA29-00020B is certified at the brand level, not the model level

The DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP is the OEM cartridge for the RS25J500DSR/AA and RF261BEAESR/AA refrigerators in our fitment index. Its retail listing describes it as a genuine Samsung filter and refers to NSF/ANSI testing without naming a standard or a certifying body; our own capture flags that wording as not verbatim. Checked on 2026-08-07 against the three public databases, the exact model does not appear in any of them.

NSF’s database returns zero products attributed to Samsung under either Company=Samsung or TradeName=Samsung. That alone is not conclusive, because Samsung’s certifications sit in the other two databases and under different corporate names:

• WQA: Samsung Co., Ltd. is a WQA-certified manufacturer for NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 372 and 401. The listed models are HAF-HIM-1, HAF-HIM-2, RWP70a15def and RWP90. DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP is not among them.
• IAPMO R&T: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. holds two active files, W-14267 (NSF/ANSI/CAN 61-2023, drinking water system components, health effects) and W-6572 (lead-free plumbing products). Neither is an NSF/ANSI 42 or 53 filtration-performance certification, and neither names this cartridge.

Both facts hold at once. Samsung is a certified manufacturer whose portfolio does not reach the filter model on sale. Our classification for this row is brand-listed, model absent. A separate sequential re-check on 2026-08-07, run in a clean, uncontended single-browser session, reproduced the same result, so it is not an artifact of contaminated search sessions.

The claims-versus-database delta for this row is understates, the only understating row in the Samsung set. Samsung holds real certifications its own vague NSF/ANSI language never mentions, and it makes no NSF/ANSI 42 or 53 performance claim for DA29-00020B at all. That is the reverse of the pattern in the rest of this page.

One DA29-00020B replacement is certified for the exact model sold

Waterdrop’s WD-DA29-00020B is the single Samsung-compatible filter in the sample that clears the bar. NSF’s database lists the exact element code, manufactured by Qingdao Ecopure Filter Co., Ltd., certified to NSF/ANSI 42, 53 and 401. Two variants, WDS-DA2900020B and WDP-DA2900020B, appear under the same standards.

The listing’s own claim reads “...NSF-53 Certified”, naming one of the three standards the record actually shows. The delta for the row is match, not overstate.

Scope is worth being precise about. NSF/ANSI 42 covers aesthetic effects such as chlorine reduction. NSF/ANSI 53 covers health effects including lead. NSF/ANSI 401 covers emerging contaminants. Among the nine Samsung rows, this is the only one holding 53 for the model sold.

Waterdrop’s record elsewhere in the same dataset is not uniform. WD-F38, its Whirlpool-compatible filter, is NSF/ANSI 42 only while its listing cites 42 and 372. Its LG replacement listings cite NSF/ANSI 372, which does not appear for those element codes, and omit the 53 and 401 certifications the same codes do hold. One certified SKU is a fact about that SKU, not a brand-wide clearance. The Waterdrop certification record covers the rest of it.

Six Samsung listings claim certifications the databases do not show

The table below shows every Samsung row: the model sold, the verbatim claim, and what each database returned.

The rows fall into shapes that repeat across the whole 45-filter study, and the shape tells you more than the brand name does.

A genuinely certified brand whose listing extends the certification to a model it does not cover. AQUACREST’s listing for AQF-DA29-00020B, also written AQF-00020B, states the filter is “Tested and certified by NSF International against NSF/ANSI 42”. NSF lists exactly five AquaCrest models, all NSF/ANSI 42 only: EFF-6008S1/AQF-FF08, EFF-6032S/AQF-FF32D, EFF-6038S1/AQF-FF38, AQF-FF12 and EFF-6002S/AQF-FF15. The listed code is not among them. Waterspecialist repeats the shape at smaller scale: two models exist under that trade name, EFF-6008S1/WS608B and EFF-6038S1/WS638B, both 42 only, and WS-DA29-00020B is not on that list. Both rows are brand-listed, model absent, with an overstates delta.

A claim that names a certifier and a standard, where the brand’s record shows other standards instead. GOLDEN ICEPURE’s RWF0700A listing says it is “Certified by NSF and IAPMO against NSF/ANSI 42”. IAPMO associates the trade name Icepure with TOP PURE USA INC, which holds active certifications for NSF/ANSI/CAN 372-2022, NSF/ANSI/CAN 50-2024 and CSA B483.1. There is no NSF/ANSI 42 listing for that entity or for model RWF0700A. This is the row where the certifier named in the marketing is the right certifier, and the standard named is still missing.

A house brand whose certification, where it exists, belongs to a different product category. The Great Value Samsung-compatible SKU carries no clear model number, and the “NSF 42 & 53 Listed” wording in our capture came from a comparable GE-line listing rather than this one. WQA does show certified Great Value products, but they are MAVEA LLC pitcher filters, not refrigerator cartridges. Our status for this row is no listing found, with an overstates delta.

Full pattern detail for the brand-level halo problem sits in certified versus meets NSF standards and in the AquaCrest record.

“Could not verify” is a finding about the public record, not a verdict on the filter

Three Samsung rows, one third of the set, stay unresolved after a clean sequential re-check: ICEPURE RWF1100A, PurePlus DA29-00020B and GOLDEN ICEPURE RWF0700A.

• ICEPURE RWF1100A claims “NSF 42, 372 Certified” for a DA29-00003G-family cartridge. NSF returns no Icepure-branded product of any model. In IAPMO, the RWF1100A model text appears only under unrelated third-party filers, Yunda H&H Tech, Top Pure USA, Beijing Tuoyoujiaxing and Aquazon, for NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 and CSA B483.1. None of those can be attributed to the Icepure brand, and none show NSF/ANSI 42. WQA returns no match for the trade name.
• PurePlus DA29-00020B claims “NSF/ANSI 401, 53 & NSF P473 Certified”. The trade name returns zero results in NSF, is absent from IAPMO, and has no WQA match.
• GOLDEN ICEPURE RWF0700A is unresolved for the NSF/ANSI 42 half of its claim specifically. The corporate entity behind the brand is a real, active IAPMO client for other standards, which is why this row cannot be closed as a simple negative.

Here is the distinction that matters more than any single brand. “Could not verify” means the certification could not be traced from the product in hand to a public record. It does not mean the certification is absent, and it does not mean the filter is uncertified. Certification databases index by certificate-holder name, so a filter certified under a contract manufacturer’s or subsidiary’s name can be missed by a search of the retail brand. That is why our protocol flags these rows separately rather than folding them into the not-found count, and it is why the three unresolved Samsung rows are recorded as unresolved rather than as failures. The same discipline applies in the 45-filter verification study, where 7 of 45 rows sit in this category.

The DA97-17376B and DA29-00003G families repeat the pattern at other model numbers

Samsung’s second major filter family is DA97-17376B / HAF-QIN/EXP, used by eight of the ten Samsung refrigerators in our fitment index. Only one aftermarket SKU for that family appeared in our sample: Crystala Filters DA97-17376B, whose listing says “NSF 42 Compatible”.

We treat “compatible” as fitment language, not a certification assertion, so this row is recorded as no claim rather than as an overstatement. Two separate facts sit underneath it: the listing makes no certification claim for this SKU, and the Crystala trade name in NSF covers 44 products across three manufacturers, all NSF/ANSI 42 only, with no model matching DA97-17376B among them. Brand-listed, model absent, no claim made.

The DA29-00003G family is a third, separate Samsung cartridge line, and the ICEPURE RWF1100A row above is the one claim we checked against it. Certifications do not travel between these families. A 42 certification for a DA29-00020B replacement says nothing about a DA29-00003G replacement or a DA97-17376B replacement, and the model numbers are close enough that buyers conflate them.

Samsung’s refrigerator lineup splits into two filter families, not one

Two Samsung refrigerators in our fitment index take DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP: the RS25J500DSR/AA side-by-side and the RF261BEAESR/AA French door. The other eight take DA97-17376B / HAF-QIN/EXP, including the RF23R6201SR/AA, RF27T5501SR/AA, RF28R7351SG/AA, RF23A9771SR, RF29A9771SR, RS27T5561SR/AA, RF28T5001SR/AA and RF29BB8600QL/AA.

• Samsung RS25J500DSR/AA takes the DA29-00020B
• Samsung RF261BEAESR/AA takes the DA29-00020B
• Samsung RF23R6201SR/AA takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RF27T5501SR/AA,/AC (sibling RF27T5241SR) takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RF28R7351SG/AA takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RF23A9771SR/AA,/AC takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RF29A9771SR/AA,/AC takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RS27T5561SR/AA takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RF28T5001SR/AA takes the DA97-17376B
• Samsung RF29BB8600QL/AA takes the DA97-17376B

Fitment is not certification. Every listing in the fitment index fits a named refrigerator; that is what the index measures. Whether the cartridge in the box is certified for the exact model sold is the separate question this page answers, and for Samsung the two answers diverge sharply. The full index covers 50 refrigerator models across five platforms, and the same split shows up in the LG, Whirlpool and GE guides.

If lead reduction matters, only the NSF/ANSI 53 rows count

On the standard mapping our dataset uses, chlorine reduction sits under NSF/ANSI 42, lead reduction under NSF/ANSI 53, lead content in materials under NSF/ANSI 372, pharmaceuticals under NSF/ANSI 401 and PFAS under NSF P473. Of the nine Samsung-compatible SKUs, one holds NSF/ANSI 53 for the exact model sold: Waterdrop WD-DA29-00020B.

The 372 claim in this set is worth reading carefully, because it is not a lead-removal claim. “NSF 42, 372 Certified”, the wording on ICEPURE’s RWF1100A listing in this set, describes chlorine reduction plus a materials standard for lead content. Even where a 372 listing is accurate, it says nothing about how much lead the cartridge removes from water.

That distinction is the whole of the independent evidence on this point. The one substantial independent lab program that directly tested lead removal in refrigerator-style filters, the 2018 AHAM and Water Quality Research Foundation study, tested 32 known counterfeits, and all 32 failed the NSF/ANSI lead standard at twice rated life. No independent lab lead test of the general population of legitimately sold aftermarket filters was found as of August 2026, as the independent lead-testing record documents, and Consumer Reports’ 2026 refrigerator filter test measured flow rate and lifespan, not contaminant removal.

We do not recommend products. What the record shows is narrower and more useful: eight of nine Samsung-compatible SKUs in this sample carry no NSF/ANSI 53 certification for the model sold, and a 42 or 372 claim is not a substitute for one. The lead-removal guide covers what 53 testing does and does not establish.

What we could not determine

• The OEM DA97-17376B / HAF-QIN/EXP cartridge was not itself one of the nine rows. Our Samsung OEM row covered DA29-00020B / HAF-CIN/EXP only, so we cannot state the certification status of the OEM cartridge for the eight refrigerators that take DA97-17376B. The Crystala row above is the only DA97-17376B evidence in the set, and it is an aftermarket listing.
• The Samsung OEM cartridge for the DA29-00003G family was not checked as an OEM row. The ICEPURE RWF1100A listing is what we tested against that family, and it did not resolve.
• The contract manufacturer behind the Great Value Samsung-compatible SKU could not be identified from the public listing page. Private-label products are typically certified, if at all, under the manufacturer’s corporate name, which the page does not expose.
• IAPMO coverage was uneven in the original pass. A shared-browser session contaminated several queries, which is why 13 of 45 rows initially landed as could not verify. The sequential re-check flipped 8 of 15 re-checked rows, including confirming the Samsung OEM row as a genuine negative. Residual naming gaps remain possible for any row.
• All findings are dated. Certification status was captured 2026-08-07 and fitment 2026-08-09. Both change.

Our method and the affiliate disclosure are at about, and every row in this page traces to a source URL in the published dataset.

Where to go next

If the question is how common this pattern is beyond Samsung, the 45-filter verification study is the broader answer: 15 of 45 filters certified for the exact model sold, and 22 of 45 listings overstating. If the question is how to check a specific listing yourself in the three databases, how to check a water filter’s NSF certification walks through it, and NSF/ANSI 42 versus 53 versus 401 explains what each standard actually covers. If the question is which cartridge fits your refrigerator, the fitment index holds all 50 models.