Filter-fantastic (Brita Marella Water Filter)

Member Name: masterchef98

Product:	Brita Marella Water Filter
Date:	05/11/09 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clean, fresh tasting water at minimum cost

Disadvantages: Having to run water through twice with each new cartridge

When my son was about 10 months old I decided to buy a water filter jug as I was fed up of boiling tap water for him to drink but just felt he was too precious to drink it straight from the tap.

I had a look around and was slightly overwhelmed by the choice so decided to get this one from Argos as they had a special offer on and the jug and 6 refill cartridges were both half price, making it about £20 for the lot.

The jug is elegant and contemporary and fits easily in the fridge door to keep the water cool leaving space for a 2pint and a 1pint bottle of milk. The jug holds 1.4 litres of filtered water, or if you remove the filtration system it will hold 2.4 litres of liquid. There is a flip top hole in the lid which you just pour the water through from the tap without having to remove the lid and there is also a flip-top on the spout to stop any nasties falling in your lovely clean, filtered water. Its best to wait for the water to filter through before trying to pour it to stop it spilling from around the lid but this only takes a couple of minutes.

The filter cartridges come individually sealed and you have to run water through the jug twice and discard it before you drink it. There is an indicator on the lid which you set when you put a new filter in and it counts down 4 weeks until you're supposed to replace the cartridge, although I usually leave it about 6 and don't notice a problem with the taste. The cartridges cost £20 for 6 in Argos, so even if you change them every 4 weeks as suggested that's £20 for nearly 6 months worth of water.

The water tastes very clean and fresh and definitely different from water straight from the tap, you can tell that there is something 'missing' from it. There's no way I'd be willing to pay the price for bottled water for us to drink but I think this filter is a good compromise.

Summary: A good compromise if you don't want tap water but can't afford bottled

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