No More Limescale And A Cuppa To Be Proud Of! (Morphy Richards 43541)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Morphy Richards 43541
Date:	10/07/09 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Removes many nasties from water.

Disadvantages: Top heavy for pouring so not good for anyone frail and elderly.

We live in Essex and until recently I thought we had some of the hardest water in the United Kingdom. That was until I spoke to a friend of mine who lives near Malmesbury in Wiltshire yesterday and her water is so hard it furs up her kettle on a daily basis.
So I have concluded that some parts of the country have this as a major problem in their homes.

I wouldn't mind too much, but as I have had kidney stones more than once I really think that removing the lime scale is important since my consultant told me that this is a contributing factor, of which there are many more of course.

Looking at my limescale encrusted element in my old stainless steel kettle, which I had been treating with vinegar and lemon juice on many repeated occasions, I decided that enough was enough and I purchased a Morphy Richards kettle with an integral Brita water filter. On offer in my local Co-op for £20 it seemed like a bargain and although they were claiming this was half price you can also pick one of these up on Amazon for £19.99.

This kettle not only filters out limescale but also lead, chlorine and other impurities such as copper and aluminium.

The kettle itself looks very futuristic and is an attractive creamy white with silver grey lid and handle trim. The top has a pull back opening into which the kettle can be filled either with a jug or direct from the tap. The top is rather star-trek in design and is certainly as far away from a traditional kettle which whistles away on a country Aga (though I adore them!)

The side has a clear panel which tells you how much you have filled to and there is a max and min mark similar to that on most kettles.

Inside is the unit housing the water filter which is accessed by pulling on a small handle on the top and this sits nicely in a plastic funnel.

The base of the kettle is cordless and suitable for right or left handed users, this is important for me as one of my daughter is left handed.

On the outside of the kettle is a memo timer which you activate when you replace the cartridge, and this will alert you when the next one is due to be replaced, usually after a period of approximately one month.

The model I purchased came with one cartridge supplied, but is important to realise that there is a running cost associated with using this kettle. I have found that these cartridges called Mantra are cheap from an outlet in Jersey called Day2day Shop which can be found at www.day2dayshop.com. Here they are £12.99 for a box of 4 but you can get more discount using a voucher code from the cash back site Topcashback as well as 3% cash back too. Other offers always seem to be floating around the internet for this company so search first. Amazon stock them but they are a little more expensive but the cash back site Pennymix is as far as I know the only one which gives cash back for click throughs to Amazon. This will then bring the price down to be competitive, not just for the cartridges but for the initial kettle purchase too. www.pennymix.com

So the running cost of this kettle is going to be around the £3 a month mark, so of course in a year will mount up to a lot more than the initial cost of the kettle.

The cartridges work by an ion exchange method in which resin reduces limescale and other heavy metals. There is also an activated carbon filtration system which reduces substances which affect taste and smell such as chlorine, certain pesticides and organic impurities. The latter is very important to me because I try to eat organic food as much as I can, and if this is also reducing pesticide residues then it has to be vital, to me anyway. The cartridge is also fully recyclable which is great for the environment.

To use the kettle for the first time you fill it up with water from the tap, let it drain through and filter, boil and then discard the water as this can have some deposits remaining from the manufacture of the cartridges, so it is important to do this each time you replace the cartridge.

Then you are free to use it and see if you can discern any difference in the taste of your beverages.

My Opinion.
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Some things about this kettle have occurred to me since I have been using it. It is a good idea when you have used it to fill it up again with water so that the filtration takes place before you come home desperate for a cuppa. It doesn't take long, certainly not anywhere as long as the Brita jug I used to own did, but it is better to get into this habit to avoid feeling impatient.

When boiling, the kettle looks really great as it illuminates the clear display with a blue light which is really attractive.

Now here is the main disadvantage in my opinion and that it the weight and difficulty of pouring. It flows out very quickly and it would be about as good as a chocolate tea pot for my mum. This is because, having had a stroke and only having one arm which she can use, this would be far too heavy for her to control as she poured, leading to scalds and accidents.

I also feel this is the case for children when they reach the age where they are allowed to use the kettle, it is an eager pourer and you only need the lightest tilt to see a gush of water coming out. The first time I used this I actually over filled the coffee I was making, spilling it over the entire kitchen surface. There is just something about the design and angles of the lid which you need to have a feel for, and when you do it is fine, but a novice user would be in trouble for the first few uses.


Now to me and all my family the drinks I have made taste absolutely no different at all to those I served up from my old kettle. This is strange because when I make drinks in my house in Scotland they are so much nicer, as the soft water seems to give coffee, in particular, a much fuller flavour, especially Columbian. Even with this filter the drinks taste no different.

However where I have noticed the difference of this is that the element plate is free from all scale after a month, so this is a triumph for me because my lemon juice and vinegar descaling sessions are now redundant!

It boils extremely quickly so I would assume this is using less power and so is saving money and energy, and Brita do claim that the life of the kettle is substantially prolonged because of the limescale removal which does not wreck the element. I would say it boils twice as quickly as my previous basic kettle which was also a Morphy Richards of approximately 5 years of age.

I can't tell you what is happening to my kidney stones as between bouts you are blissfully unaware of their existence, but hopefully this will be helping as the lime scale is certainly eliminated to a point where it is not discernable on inspection.

Summary
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So for me I feel this purchase has been worth it. The major point about this kettle though is the safety. I feel it is not suitable for anyone who is elderly and infirm or for children using a kettle for the first time.

Of course it is also impossible to assess at home whether the pesticide level or level of the other metals, not including limescale, are being removed, but the promise they make that they are is enough for me to favour this kettle over one which has no capacity to do this function.

Summary: A good purchase especially if you have hard water and are worried about pesticides in drinking water

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