Quick Answer: Target sells water filters across pitcher, faucet, refrigerator, and boxed reverse-osmosis formats — its own Up&Up house brand (about $9.99 for a 2-pack, NSF/ANSI 42 certified for taste and odor only) alongside Brita, PUR, ZeroWater, and boxed iSpring/Waterdrop RO systems. The standout right now is PUR PLUS, which just became the first pitcher, dispenser, and faucet filter certified to reduce lead, microplastics, and Total PFAS together (announced September 15, 2026). What Target doesn’t sell is any whole-house installation service — there’s no EcoWater-style consultation booking anywhere on its site, unlike Costco, Home Depot, or Lowe’s.
Target shows up in “where should I buy a water filter” searches because it’s a normal, everyday grocery-and-household stop — but its filtration lineup is narrower in one specific way than the other big-box retailers this site has covered.
Target water filters by the numbers
- Up&Up’s 2-pack of Brita-compatible pitcher filters costs about $9.99 — roughly $5 per filter — and is NSF/ANSI 42 certified for chlorine taste and odor, rated for about 40 gallons/2 months per cartridge. It does not carry the NSF/ANSI 53 lead certification that Brita’s own Elite filter has.
- PUR PLUS became the first and only pitcher, dispenser, and faucet-mount filter certified to reduce lead, microplastics, and Total PFAS together, per a September 15, 2026 announcement from Helen of Troy: 99.9% lead, 99.8% microplastics, and 99.75% Total PFAS reduction for the pitcher and dispenser, tested to NSF/ANSI 42, 53, and 401 by IAPMO R&T. It’s sold in store and online at Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
- Target’s boxed reverse-osmosis selection includes iSpring, Waterdrop, and Comfee under-sink systems, typically in the $150-$300 range — a normal self-install purchase, not a bundled installation service.
- Target has no whole-house filtration or softener installation-consultation flow anywhere on its site — a real difference from Costco and Home Depot, which both route those categories into a free in-home visit with EcoWater, a national dealer network this site has flagged for 2.6/5 Yelp and 2.9/5 Trustpilot ratings, and from Lowe’s, which dispatches independent local subcontractors for the same service.
What’s actually for sale at Target
| Product | Type | Price | How you buy it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up&Up pitcher/fridge cartridges | House-brand replacement filters | ~$5-$16 each | Off-the-shelf, self-install |
| PUR PLUS pitcher/dispenser/faucet | Name-brand certified filters | ~$25-$38 | Off-the-shelf, self-install |
| Brita/ZeroWater pitchers & cartridges | Name-brand replacement filters | ~$8-$40 | Off-the-shelf, self-install |
| iSpring, Waterdrop & Comfee boxed RO systems | Under-sink reverse osmosis | ~$150-$300 | Boxed, self-install |
| Whole-house filtration & softeners | Whole-house treatment | Boxed only | No installation service offered anywhere |
No installation booking at all — not even a Walmart-style boxed whole-house aisle
Costco and Home Depot both book a free in-home water test with EcoWater before showing a price. Lowe’s does something similar with independent local installers, as this site’s Lowe’s water softener guide covers in detail. Walmart skips the consultation entirely but still sells boxed whole-house Filtrete systems you check out like any other item, as covered in this site’s Walmart water filter guide. Target’s own listings lean almost entirely toward pitcher, faucet, and under-sink categories — its “whole house” search results surface mostly under-sink and countertop RO systems rather than a dedicated whole-house cartridge housing lineup. If you specifically need a whole-house system, Target isn’t the strongest of the four retailers to shop; Amazon or a dedicated retailer like SpringWell’s own site will have a deeper published-price selection.
Is Up&Up actually worth it?
For everyday taste and odor filtering, yes — a 2-pack of Up&Up pitcher filters runs about $9.99 on Target.com, guaranteed to fit Brita pitcher bodies (except the Stream line), and it’s NSF/ANSI 42 certified specifically for chlorine taste and odor reduction. What it doesn’t carry is the NSF/ANSI 53 lead certification Brita’s own Elite filter has, or Brita Elite’s published 120-gallon filter life (Up&Up is rated for about 40 gallons/2 months per cartridge). If your water report flags lead specifically, the name-brand certified filter — or Target’s own PUR PLUS line, below — is the safer buy.
PUR PLUS just leapfrogged the whole pitcher category
This is the genuinely new development worth knowing before you buy. On September 15, 2026, Helen of Troy (PUR’s parent, through its Kaz USA subsidiary) announced that PUR PLUS became the first and only pitcher, dispenser, and faucet-mount water filter certified to reduce lead, microplastics, and Total PFAS — all three, in one filter, at the same time. The pitcher and dispenser models are certified for 99.9% lead reduction, 99.8% microplastics reduction, and 99.75% Total PFAS reduction; the faucet mount is certified for 99.70% lead, 99.65% microplastics, and 99.92% Total PFAS. IAPMO R&T issued the certifications against NSF/ANSI Standards 42, 53, and 401. This site’s own PUR water filter review already covers PUR’s NSF/ANSI 42/53/401 certification story; this specific combined lead-plus-microplastics-plus-PFAS claim is new as of this announcement, and Target carries the exact same PUR PLUS line as Walmart and Amazon.
1. APEC ROES-50 — Best Value RO, No Store Trip Needed
APEC ROES-50 Reverse Osmosis System
Target's in-store RO selection tops out around $300 for a boxed iSpring or Waterdrop kit. The ROES-50 is the proven budget-value benchmark this site ranks best in the full reverse-osmosis roundup — a 5-stage under-sink tank system, WQA-tested, made in the USA, in the same price range without waiting on store stock.
Check price on Amazon →Replacement filters on time, every time — Prime ships them free in two days. Try it free for 30 days so the next cartridge is already on the way before the current one’s rated gallons run out.
2. PUR PLUS Pitcher — The Most-Certified Filter Target Sells
PUR PLUS 11-Cup Pitcher
The same PUR PLUS line covered in this site's full PUR review, now certified as the first pitcher/dispenser/faucet filter to reduce lead, microplastics, and PFAS together as of September 2026. Sold at Target, Walmart, and directly on Amazon.
Check price on Amazon →Full breakdown of PUR’s pitcher, faucet mount, and dispenser lineup in our PUR water filter review.
3. SpringWell CF1 — Whole-House, Without Waiting on a Consultation
SpringWell CF1 Whole House Water Filter
Since Target doesn't sell a whole-house cartridge housing system or book any installation consultation, this is a direct Amazon alternative with a published price up front — no dealer visit, no waiting to find out what it costs.
Check price on Amazon →How to choose: Target vs. Amazon vs. a dedicated retailer
- Replacing a pitcher cartridge on a budget? Up&Up is a legitimate, cheaper swap for everyday taste and odor — just skip it if you specifically need certified lead reduction.
- Want the most-certified pitcher filter available right now? PUR PLUS’s new combined lead/microplastics/PFAS certification, as of September 2026, is a genuine step up from both Up&Up and standard Brita.
- Need a whole-house system or softener? Target simply isn’t set up for it — no boxed whole-house housing lineup like Walmart’s Filtrete aisle, and no installation-consultation booking like Costco, Home Depot, or Lowe’s. Amazon or a dedicated brand like SpringWell will serve you better here.
- Comparing against Costco, Home Depot, or Lowe’s? All three at least offer a path to a professionally installed whole-house system or softener, even if it means sitting through a sales visit. Target offers neither the boxed whole-house option nor the consultation — pitcher, faucet, and under-sink RO is where its lineup actually competes.
The bottom line
Target’s water-filter aisle is strongest at the pitcher, faucet, and under-sink level — Up&Up undercuts Brita on price for everyday filtering, and PUR PLUS’s new combined lead/microplastics/PFAS certification (announced September 15, 2026) makes it the most-certified pitcher filter on Target’s shelves. Where Target falls short of Costco, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and even Walmart is whole-house filtration and softeners — there’s no dedicated boxed lineup and no installation-consultation service at all. For that category, the SpringWell CF1 and APEC ROES-50 are direct Amazon alternatives with published prices and no waiting on a store visit.