There's nothing more refreshing than a glass of water, or council pop as my mum used to call it when I was a kid! Ha-Ha! Some years ago I remember my mum bought a water filter jug from some home gadget catalogue we had through the door. She believed in all the hype stated in the catalogue, and went on about how it would make the water pure, fresh and taste amazing. I just thought it was a load of tosh, and that water didn't "taste" of anything anyway.

How wrong was I when after a few hours in the fridge, my mum poured me a glass of super cold "filtered" water and a glass from the tap, I was blown away. I noticed the difference in the appearance of the water first, it was crystal clear unlike the tap water glass which looked cloudy, but i never really paid attention to that before. Then came the taste, the water was cold, crisp and tasted so fresh, I didn't want to even take a sip from the tap water glass.

When I moved away from home to live with my boyfriend, the Brita Filter Jug was one of the first things we bought. I love using the water for tea, and in squash, I think it makes all the difference.

The Science:

Brita cartridges contain ion exchange resin and activated carbon, which absorbs chlorine, pesticides and organic pollutants from your tap water, thus in turn improving the taste. It also contains an inhibitor that prevents bacterial growth. The ion exchange resin removes the temporary hardness, which causes limescale; it also significantly reduces levels of metals such as copper and lead.

The Jug:

Is sleek and modern in it's shape and is designed to fit into the door of any fridge. It's capacity is 1.4litres of filtered water, without the filter system the jug can fit over 2 litres. It's clear in colour so you can see the crystal clear water inside. The lid and filter system are white in colour, and are made of durable plastic the same as the jug. The Jug is dishwasher safe, however the lid is not, this is because of the electronic reminder on the top of the lid which lets you know when the filter needs changing, though this is a great little gadget I do have a few issues with this.

My Experience:

I've had the Brita Aluna Water Filter for over a year and a half now, and it's still doing it's job. The look and taste of the filtered water is 100x better than standard tap water. It may seem like a pointless bit of kit, but I'd really recommend it to everyone. The water is always colder than the tap too as it's kept in the fridge constantly.

I only have 1 issue with the filter jug and that is the electronic reminder system. I personally don't think that the electronic reminder is very accurate. I fill the jug up once a day, and the reminder goes off after only a week to say the filter needs changing. Yet there is no connection between the reminder and filter itself, so I think it has a timer of some kind just counting down. It would cost me a fortune to change the filter inside the jug every week so I just ignore the reminder. If I filled it more than once or twice a day I probably would change the filter more, but like I said I fill it up once a day therefore change my filter once a month.

I like to clean the jug itself once a fortnight, when I first bought the jug I made the mistake of leaving it for nearly 2 months and was surprised to see dirt and what looked like mould appearing inside the lid of the jug. Since then I've been quite fussy about keeping it clean.

I bought the filter jug from Asda for around £10, they are currently on sale for £8.80 (according to the Asda Website). You can buy filter cartridges from supermarkets, and Wilkinsons stores. The Brita Aluna XL Filter takes the Maxtra Cartridges, which filter around 150 litres of water before they need changing. A Pack of 2 Maxtra filters cost around £7 from Asda, but if you shop around you may find them cheaper. I just buy a pack every now and then when I'm shopping.

Overall:

I'd recommend everyone have a filter jug of some kind in their home, once you taste the difference you'll never go back. There are so many varieties of Brita filter jugs they also do kettles. The Brita Aluna XL is cheap in price and does the job, the cartridges are a bit pricey but if you're like me a 150litre filter will last you a few weeks at least.