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Then I discovered the Breville Aquafountain. I discovered it in one of those catalogues that regularly drops through the letter box and placed my order straight away; sadly, they were out of stock with no likelihood of getting new product soon. Then I discovered that John Lewis were ... Read review
Advantages: Simple, Cost Effective, Easy to Maintain, No Plumbing Disadvantages: Doesn't Cool Water, Noisy
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Then I discovered the Breville Aquafountain. I discovered it in one of those catalogues that regularly drops through the letter box and placed my order straight away; sadly, they were out of stock with no likelihood of getting new product soon. Then I discovered that John Lewis were one of their major high street retailers, but a similar story was to be had there. Searches on Google and other engines produced limited results and I was beginning ... .../>
Mathematically, the Breville unit is more expensive a purchase initially than competitive filter units. but overtime it is very cost effective. A filter lasts six months or 600 litres of water, whichever comes first, rather than the four weeks stipulated by my existing filter manufacturer, and at £10.00 for a replacement filter every six months it's significantly better value than the £15.00 (approx.) every three months I would be shelling ... more
I hate water. Tap water that is. To drink. I just find it bland and, well, nothing.
Water, of course, is a giver of life. When we water the gardens the flowers grow again, when it rains our reservoirs are refilled and the crops are revived. More than half of the human body is made up of water and, of course, we need to drink the stuff to keep ourselves hydrated.
The trouble is it's bland enough on its own and it's even worse if you live in an area where your water is hard. Kettles become scaled, water marks are left on glasses and an awful taste is left in your mouth when you've drunk it. Then there's the appearance: there is nothing worse than handing a guest a slightly cloudy glass of water straight from the tap and trying to convince them that the water is fresh.
So for years I've had a Britta water filter to help better the taste and appearance of our drinking water and keep the scale in the kettle down. The trouble is I always forgot to replace the filter, even when the lid-mounted indicator told me it needed doing, and the filter would be in there often up to eight weeks rather than the prescribed four.
Then I discovered the Breville Aquafountain. I discovered it in one of those catalogues that regularly drops through the letter box and placed my order straight away; sadly, they were out of stock with no likelihood of getting new product soon. Then I discovered that John Lewis were one of their major high street retailers, but a similar story was to be had there. Searches on Google and other engines produced limited results and I was beginning to think that maybe I ought to just put my hand in my pocket and buy a damned replacement filter for my Britta - the other one, naturally, having been in there sometime - when I stumbled across one of these units in John Lewis of Milton Keynes. The item was a returned one from their website and they were selling it off at half price, without a filter.
Brand new, the item costs around £40 (including filter) and replacement filters around £10-£12. Picking up this unit and examining it I would be saving around a tenner, including the filter, and I brought it without hesitation.
Mathematically, the Breville unit is more expensive a purchase initially than competitive filter units. but overtime it is very cost effective. A filter lasts six months or 600 litres of water, whichever comes first, rather than the four weeks stipulated by my existing filter manufacturer, and at £10.00 for a replacement filter every six months it's significantly better value than the £15.00 (approx.) every three months I would be shelling out on filters for my existing unit, if I remembered to replace them on time. The initial savings of the device would soon be realised.
Getting it out of the box the next 'saving' was quickly spotted. Unlike hand-held filter units such as my existing one, the water jug was not taken up by the location of the filter itself, therefore meaning that I got a full 2.75litre water capacity to fill up; no longer would I need to run to the tap to replace the water as soon as I'd poured a couple of glasses or filled the kettle.
No longer, either, would I have to wait for the water to drip through the filter before I could use it. The AquaFountain is incredibly easy to set up: simply remove from the box, clip the filter into the slot in the back of the main unit, find a space on your work top and plug it into the wall. Then, fill the reservoir to the top and pop it onto the unit's tray; the tray is specifically shaped to ensure you get the reservoir into the right place so that the gate at the bottom of the jug and the connecting pipe for the pump slot together neatly. Occasionally this gate and pipe can become clogged and it just needs a wipe out with a cloth to free everything up again and start the water flowing smoothly. Once the reservoir's in place, you're good to go.
The Breville has three main buttons - on the top, autoflow and cancel, on the front, hold&dispense. If you're just wanting a glass of water simply hold the glass up to the small tap and push back against the dispense button - water will pour into your glass quickly and cleanly and when you're ready simply pull the glass away and it will stop. If you're looking to fill a kettle or large jug then place that on the surface beneath the tap and press the autoflow button - water will begin pouring into your container until you push the cancel button. If the reservoir runs empty while you are filling your glass or kettle the AquaFountain has a safety cut off and will stop attempting to pour water until the jug is replenished.
Alongside the two buttons on the unit's top is a red warning lamp and a reset button. The unit automatically measures the water going through the filter and also knows when the filter was last replaced; if it spots that the filter is no longer becoming effective (if more than 600 litres of water has been filtered through it) or that more than six months has past, the red lamp flashes to let you know that the filter needs replacing; simply unclip the old filter and clip in the new one then press the reset button to start the process all over again.
No plumbing is required for this unit as it is a countertop water supply operated by its own reservoir, but the electric pump is quite noisy while it's pouring water.
If I were to have any gripe about this product it is that it doesn't cool the water. The device is plugged into the mains permanently and therefore could easily have been built to keep water cool; instead, I've removed the filter component from my old Britta filter and now use the jug simply to hold water filtered through my AquaFountain; that jug then sits in the door of my fridge and keeps a nice supply of cold water on hand for when we desire some.
Should you buy it? I highly recommend this product to anybody who either uses a handheld filter or is thinking of buying one: it looks funky on your counter and is a talking point for visitors; almost everybody who has visited has asked where I got it from and wanted to know more and I believe these days they are in better supply.
The thing is, I still hate drinking water and I'm still going to have to remember to replace the filter even when the red light comes on!
Advantages: Clean, simple easy to set-up and use Disadvantages: Filters have to be changed
...I first came across the Breville Aqua Fountain because my friend has one. She said that days of carting litres of bottled water home in the supermarket trolley had gone. I was intrigued…..
---------Why not just out a tap?------------
To be honest I always used to drink tap water, and still think in theory there's nothing wrong with that. But once you've started to drink bottled water, you do kind of notice the taste of chlorine in tap water more. ... ...------OK, so how does the Breville Aqua Fountain Work?-------
Right, the actually chiller is Breville, however it uses Brita Maxtra Filters. These filters are claimed to have the ability for removal of chlorine, lime scale, organic impurities and some metals such as lead and copper.
It was extremely easy to set-up and the instructions were clear. It's ready to just 'plug in and go'. No fiddly plumbing-in or anything. The aqua fountain has two 'chamber' ...
sazy 30.10.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Breville Aqua Fountain
Advantages: simple to use, looks good Disadvantages: not easy to find replacement filters
...John Lewis I discovered the Breville Aqua Fountain and I have never looked back! It is white and about the size of an average coffee maker but a little taller and no more expensive (between £30-£40). The buttons are clearly marked so it is easy to use and the jug is very easy to fill and to clean. As it is electric you can fill a glass or large bottle very quickly which is a bonus. You can press the green button much like coke machines you have at ... ...the front while on top you have buttons to press to continuosly fill a jug/bottle without constantly having to hold the button and a cancel buton to press if your jug/bottle is full before the water jug is empty. Simple! It also has a light to show when the filter needs replacing - we use ours constantly and had to replace after almost a year. The only downside to this is that we could only find replacement filters in John Lewis but were pleasantly ...
Mildew 26.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Breville Aqua Fountain
Advantages: On-Tap filtered water, bottled water quality! Disadvantages: Was hard to locate a seller (at the time)
...electric water filter - the Breville Aqua Fountain. This item is an absolute godsend! The machine delivers fresh filtered water at the touch of a button (providing the 2.75 litre jug has some water in it!). Simply fill up the jug at your tap, place the jug back on the filter and press the button. Hey presto, an instant glass of filtered, clear water, which tastes equally as good as bottled water (I find it's best chilled still, so just fill some ... ...cartridge lasts for approx 75 gallons and will notify you when it needs changing. I've used mine daily for months and it's still on the original cartridge.
The machine is about as tall as a standard jug kettle, but a bit wider. Heavyish, but it's not meant to be portable :) The entire design is sleek and white, and should blend in proudly and easily with even the most designer of kitchens! And the big turquoise button is hard to miss!
This is an ...
gemziz69 08.10.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Breville Aqua Fountain
Advantages: Filtered water, cheap, encourages kids to drink more water Disadvantages: Works hard to chill in summer months
Bought as a last minute xmas present I honestly expected this to be a gadget something used for a month or so then put in a dustly cupboard, but I was very wrong.
It wont change your lifestyle but this is a very handy and handsome machine which earns its space on our minimalised worktop in the kitchen.
Our kids enjoyed it very much as it meant they could get a glass of water even though they could not reach the facet at the sink, and I can certainly ... ...bonus of the water having being chilled and filtered is very nice as well.
Our water supply would not taste the best at times and although the children dont seem to be as sensitive to this the adults in the house do appreciate the filtered water.
Some friends saw our machine and liked it so much they went out and bought one themselves. Its also has a attractive blue light which looks well in a darkened kitchen.
One drawbeack and its the only one ...
lightheart 17.10.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Breville Aqua Fountain
Advantages: looks great, work great (when it working) Disadvantages: product quality is poor, several breakdowns
...now owned two of these Breville water filters both have developed the same fault, namely they stop dispensing water!
Initially the product was excellent, chilled water perfectly and looked great. After around 6 months the chiller appeared to be on constantly. It wasn't particularly hot at the time so no outside environmental reason seemed to be causing the issue.
It was a little concerning as having the cooler running continuously would use more ... ...was the fountain stopped dispensing water. It would appear that there is somehow and airlock, and this is preventing the water from flowing freely. You do usually get a trickle through but sometimes it dries up completely.
I wonder whether airlocks are causing the thermostat to stop reading the temp correctly?
So I took that first unit back to John Lewis for an exchange. 6 months on I'm getting deja-vu as the replacement units is following the ...
rich_m 15.05.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Breville Aqua Fountain
