* modified* So that's what water tastes like (Brita Water Filter)

Member Name: The Operator

Product:	Brita Water Filter
Date:	10/05/01 (254 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Taste , No more fluffy kettle, Good customer service

Disadvantages: Shouldn't the water companies be doing this?

The water in our area is effectively a chalk and chlorine solution. Leave some in a glass overnight and you'll have to crack the surface to pour it out. Our taps have scale round them, the kettle is full of it,too.
Also, we've just had to have the washing machine repaired because the heater had furred up.

My wife had been pestering me to get a water filter for ages but...you now, they cost loads and mum's got one and it doesn't taste all that good and is it worth it and all that. So she pulled rank and went and got a Brita on special offer in Argos a couple of months ago and I have to admit, I'm now a convert.

Basically the water is filtered through activated charcoal and other micro filters which claim to remove up to 95% of all the filth and chemicals. To remove the flouride and chlorine as well is a moot point as I'm not convinced that these additives are as evil as some people think. I'm pretty certain though that there are plenty of you out there who would be happy to see them gone. However, the end result tastes good and the kettle is clean and there are no more rings around the glasses anymore. The scum has disappeared from the surface of my tea and everything's right with the world.

There is a little ritual you have to go through every time you replace a cartridge, i.e. soak it for a few minutes and then run a couple of jug fulls through to start it off. Also the first couple of jugs may taste a bit of charcaol, don't worry, you'll soon get the hang of it. Our model has a small meter on the lid which gives an indication how long there is left in the cartridge. This is actually only a clock which you reset every time you put a filter cartridge in . As cartridges have a nominal life of about 150 litres, the clock is based on the assumption that this will be good enough for about 4 weeks which I think is a little bit optimistic. If you are a heavy filterer you will have to adjust accordi
ngly.

If you go away and you are really tight, you are meant to remove the wet cartridge and place it in a bag and then freeze it as they should not be left to dry out.
One word of caution though: don't buy your refills in Boots - for some reason they charge £1 per cartridge more than anywhere else.Make sure you get them in 3 packs - it works out much cheaper. Kenwood also do multi-fit filters which are good for 150 litres and are a reasonable price.

Update 27/6/2001:
The inside rim of the lid on our filter started to chip away for some reason, I think we must have got one with a weak spot in. I e-mailed Brita and explained the problem. Within a few hours they had mailed me back and explained that they have a free spares service and that a new lid would be despatched post haste. The lid arrived within 48 hours, no questions asked. Excellent customer service.

Happy drinking!

Summary: