The best water filter jugs in Australia: Brita Marella XL for most homes

A jug is the first filter most Australians buy, and for one job it is the right choice: it takes the chlorine taste out of tap water for under fifty dollars and no plumbing. Everything else about jugs is a compromise, and it pays to know which ones you are accepting.

What does a water filter jug actually remove?

Chlorine, taste and odour, plus some lead and copper in Brita’s case. None of them removes fluoride, dissolved salts or nitrates, and none is a safety filter for tank or untreated water, whatever “purifier” on the box suggests. Whether the box says filter jug, filtration jug or water purifier jug, every jug here uses a granular activated carbon cartridge, some with an ion-exchange resin for limescale and metals, and that short list is what carbon does. If fluoride or tank water is your problem, a jug is the wrong product. Fluoride needs reverse osmosis. Tank water needs testing first, and grit needs a sediment stage like the one in an under-sink filter. Our best water filter guide starts from the problem and points to the right filter.

Does a jug remove chloramine?

Not well, and none of the four makers here claims its jug does. Most Australian water is disinfected with chlorine, which every jug here says it reduces, but Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and Moreton Bay, metropolitan Adelaide and parts of western Melbourne use chloramine instead, and plain carbon works slowly on it (chloramine guide). If you’re on chloramine and the water still tastes of the pool, the fix is catalytic carbon, or reverse osmosis with carbon pre-filters, not a dearer jug. Not sure which you have? Look up your city, or use the city table further down.

How much filtered water does a jug really hold?

About half of what the box says. A “3.5 litre” jug holds about two litres of filtered water below the cartridge and a litre and a half waiting above it. Filtering takes several minutes, so a jug suits a household that tops it up through the day, not one that wants two litres instantly for a pot of pasta.

What do jug cartridges cost a year?

Roughly $100 to $170 a year for the jugs here, which is more than the jug itself costs. Brita Maxtra Pro cartridges were $15.95 single or $61.49 for six at Bunnings when we checked, so about $10 each in a pack, and at a change every four weeks that is roughly $130 a year. Aquaphor’s Maxfor+ cartridges are cheaper, last up to 60 days and fit most Maxtra-style jugs, but in Australia they’re sold on Amazon only. Stefani’s 2 L refills are $8.50 at Bunnings, about $102 a year, and the PureFlow Elite’s are the dearest here at about $169. If you are going to filter for years, an on-tap filter, or an under-sink system that takes standard cartridges, costs less to run each year.

Which jug suits your city’s water?

Chlorine is the easy case and every jug here reduces it. Chloramine and hardness are the two things a jug can’t fix, so check your city before you buy. The figures come from our city guides, which summarise each utility’s own reports.

The picks

The Brita Marella XL wins because of the ecosystem: cartridges in every Woolworths, Coles and Bunnings, a reminder on the lid, and three cartridges in the box so you are covered for about three months. The Aquaphor Compact is the pick if you want a small water filter jug for a tight fridge, or cheaper cartridges. The Stefani PureFlow Elite 3.8 L is one of the biggest jugs at Bunnings and Stefani says it was independently tested for PFAS, but at about $169 a year its cartridges are the dearest here. The Stefani 2 L is the cheapest way to try filtered water at Bunnings.

All 11 jugs we compared

Our four picks and the seven that didn’t make it, side by side. Shop prices were checked on 24 October 2026. Amazon prices change daily, so Amazon rows say where to buy, not a price.

Jugs we didn’t pick and why

Seven of the eleven jugs in the table aren’t picks. The reasons, first checked 18 and 21 October 2026:

• Cuckoo 3.8 L (Amazon Australia): a carbon block cartridge and a big jug, but we found no replacement cartridges on sale in Australia, so it’s a jug you can’t keep running.
• Philips 3.4 L Value Pack ($49.95 at Bunnings): three softening cartridges and a digital timer in the box, but Bunnings doesn’t sell the refills; Officeworks does, $35 for three.
• Kmart 3.3 L jug with filter ($18 at Kmart): the cheapest jug and the cheapest refills we found ($16 for three, rated 160 litres each), but it shows no change interval or certification, only a date dial. If running cost is all that matters, it beats the Stefani 2 L.
• Brita Style Eco 2.4 L ($55.60 on special at Coles, usually $69.50): the same Maxtra Pro cartridges as the Marella XL and a reminder light that tracks time and volume, but it filters only 1.4 litres at a time against about 2 litres in the Marella XL.
• Aquaphor Onyx 4.2 L (Amazon Australia): the big family jug other guides pick, on the same Maxfor+ cartridges as the Aquaphor Compact, but Aquaphor sells it as a table or bench jug and at 27 cm tall it’s unlikely to suit a fridge door. Buy the white one, which Aquaphor sells and ships from Amazon in Australia with three cartridges; the black one is a UK import shipped by Amazon UK.
• ZeroWater (not stocked in Australia): ZeroWater says its five-stage cartridge removes almost all dissolved solids and the jug comes with a meter to show it, but no Australian shop stocks it, nearly every Amazon Australia listing ships from overseas, and refills cost far more than a Brita cartridge and last anywhere from about 30 to 150 litres depending on your water (ZeroWater says to change at a meter reading of 006).
• Brita Aluna XL 3.5 L (Costco, members only: $46.99 delivered, $38.99 on a sale Costco said ends 25 October 2026, checked 24 Oct 2026): the Marella XL in a different shape, with the same 3.5 litres, the same 2 litres filtered and the same Maxtra Pro cartridges. Buy whichever is cheaper on the day; the Marella XL is the shorter of the two (25.8 cm against about 27.5 cm) if your door shelf is tight. Skip the Aluna XL on Amazon, where a third-party seller bundles older Maxtra+ cartridges.

Looking after a jug

Prepare a new cartridge the maker’s way. Brita says to soak it, shake out the air bubbles, then run a litre through twice and tip that water away (your plants can have it). Aquaphor says to soak and shake it for 10 minutes, then filter and tip away two fills. Wash the jug in warm soapy water; Aquaphor says its jugs can go in the dishwasher but the lids can’t. Change the cartridge on the timer, not by taste: Brita says every 4 weeks or 150 litres, and Aquaphor says a spent cartridge keeps filtering at a lower level for a while, so the water can taste fine after its rated life.