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Home Decorating

Water Filter Pitchers

11 years ago

We have a water cooler and heater dispenser that we've had for years that I've loved but that just went on us. The large bottles are hard to manage so instead of replacing, we're thinking of going the cheaper route and buying a Brita pitcher for the fridge and an electric kettle for hot tea.

Is Brita a good brand or have you had luck with any of the others (Pur, Mavea, etc). Thanks in advance!

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Comments (8)

straitlover
11 years ago
My Brita works great! I bought one to use at work. Since it's just me, I got a slimline one from Walmart. If memory serves, it was less than $10.

The filters can get pricy, but I hunt for coupons and wait until they are on sale to use the coupons to get the best deal. Last ones I got at CVS. The 3-pk was on sale for $16.99 plus you got a $5 Extra Bucks coupon, and I had a $2 coupon from the paper, final price was $9.99. One filter lasts me 3 months easily; if you have more people drinking from it and/or you use it for cooking water, they won't last as long.
pammyfay
11 years ago
I have a Brita pitcher (it's probably 9 years old by now).
I like it just fine.

What about the ones that fit on your kitchen faucet -- have you looked at those? Eliminates the need to always keep refilling the pitcher (and unless the new models have ended this problem, you can't refill it all at once -- you have to put about one-third of the water in at a time).

Although the sink filters might cost more than the pitcher filters -- I've never researched that since my faucet's style won't work with a filter.

There are also water-filtration systems that go beneath the sink, too.
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boiling, iodine, household bleach (Sodium hypochlorite), filter or miox. Can CloroxÂ® Regular-Bleach be used to disinfect water? Emergency Disinfection: When boiling water is not practical, water can be made potable by using CloroxÂ® Regular-Bleach. Before the addition of the disinfectant, remove all suspended material by filtration or by allowing it to settle to the bottom. Decant the clarified contaminated water to a clean container and add 8 drops of CloroxÂ® Regular-Bleach to one gallon of water (2 drops to 1 quart). Allow the treated water to stand for 30 minutes. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If not, repeat dosage and allow water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can then be made palatable by pouring it between clean containers for several times. For cloudy water, use 16 drops of CloroxÂ® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water (4 drops to 1 quart). If no chlorine odor is apparent after 30 minutes, repeat dosage and wait an additional 15 minutes. Do not use scented or Splash-less CloroxÂ® Bleaches for this purpose. http://www.clorox.com/solutions_reg_bleach_faq.html bleach is nice to have in an emergency since it can be used to sterilize surfaces of mold & bacteria since they will thrive after such a flood. you can also sterilize your water containers before you fill them, something people overlook when purifying water. this calculator is pretty useless since all it does is multiply # of gallons by 8 drops of bleach and factors condition of water to double dosage. all this is pretty basic. but the information on the page is pretty thorough. i have a filter & the msr miox water purifier. the miox is nice because you can treat large volumes of water. it's about the size of a sharpie marker. it uses batteries & salt to create a water purifying oxidant. pretty neat. it's expensive about $120, but it'll fit in your pocket. Here is a link that might be useful: emergency water purification calculator
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In PA, we have excellent water (the neighborhood where our house is used to be a luxury hotel resort where people came to take the "water cure" and there are still old natural springs around) but we still use a filter b/c I am paranoid about water quality. In FL, our water is soooo horrible. We're on well water and the previous owners of the house put in an excessively expensive system w/ multiple stage filters and a bunch of various treatment things to make the water not smell like sulphur and not taste terrible. We have a company that comes out monthly to service this stupid system and put the "chemicals" in and then we have another filter that filters out the chemicals those people put in after the water has been purified. It is like a science experiment that is very expensive to maintain... and this is all just to get the water to the point where it is OK to wash clothing and take showers in. We still will not drink it and I have a water delivery service that comes monthly and brings 6 3-gallon jugs of 100% spring water. The company provides us w/ a rental thingy that the water jugs sit in and hot and cold come out, just like businesses have. The company offers two options (purified drinking water and spring water) and we opted for spring water. It is the best tasting water ever.
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theroselvr
11 years ago
We've always had the faucet. I think we have Pur now; hub dislikes how quick the filters need to be changed compared to other brands we've had. We also have a filter on the fridge that I never think to use.
User
11 years ago
I know you said about pitchers but I just wanted to mention we have a Pur filter on the faucet and really like it. I think how long they laste depends on your water type. We have well water but it lasts a long time. A family member lives in town and they need to replace theirs more often.

We've only had the Pur filter but I know people who first had Brita, didn't like it (sorry can't remember why), and switched to Pur and are happy now.
ellen624
Original Author
11 years ago
I did end up buying a Brita. My faucet can't get accommodate a filter. Anyway, the water tastes great but a week later and I'm the only one refilling it :-(
Thanks for your replies.
4boys2
11 years ago
ellen624~ I know exactly what you mean.
My kids are perfectly happy with tap water after MY Brita is empty..
I found one like this at a thrift store which slows their roll a little.......
Jamie
11 years ago
I have the ZeroWater filter pitcher and the water is delicious. The lid leaves something to be desired -- it doesn't really fasten, so it falls off if you turn the pitchure upside down. I really like this water and would not put up with the hassle of a filter unless were getting really good, clean water. The Zero comes with a meter, so you know exactly how much stuff is in your glass before and after. But all I ever do is fill and refill the pitcher. I can't wait till my kitchen goes in and I get the permanent RO unit.
sis3
11 years ago
You will love the RO Jamies! We have a dedicated drinking water faucet in the kitchen. Our RO tank is under the sink as usual but the filters are in a box on the exterior of the house. This saves some space under the sink and makes filter changes very easy. RO does waste water but since we use the faucet for drinking only we are not bing terribly wasteful. I drink much more water now than I did before we installed the RO, it tastes so good!

I have just purchased a Brita water filter pitcher for my mother in England as she has been complaining about the quality of her drinking water. They seem expensive here, this one was 18 pounds sterling, about $30 from Costco UK, but it has 4 filters with it. A pack of 6 filters is about $25.

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