Water has a cycle, no not the two wheeled type but a cycle of use. Confused don’t be, let me explain. Water falls from the sky as rain or snow, it is then absorbed into the ground and into the water table deep beneath the surface. When next seen it is as a spring probably high on a mountain or hillside. The spring will feed a stream which then fed by other sources becomes a river winding its way to the sea. The water warms and vapour forms and rises into the sky and the cycle is complete. But is it.

Of course nature works wonders, as the water passes through the ground it is filtered by the very ground it passes through, and it can take up to sixty years before it see’s the light of day again so its unlikely your going to get your own back if you pardon the pun.

What can we do to improve it, I’ll tell you buy a water filter, for a few pounds and see and taste the difference straight away. It’s true at least in my case you can see the difference. We used to have an oily scum floating on the top of cups of tea and coffee. I used to think it was a fatty residue from the milk, but no, make the drink with filtered water and its gone, disappeared and the taste is different to.

The filter in question is the Fjord manufactured by Brita. I bought it from Argos and the list price was £17.75 and I added to that four filter cartridges listed at £13.99 giving a total of £31.74. However at the moment Argos have an offer on where if you buy the filter and the cartridges together you save £3.00 so I paid £28.74. There is no need to buy the replacement filters at the same time as the filter does come supplied with one to get you started.

Before use the parts, which consist of a funnel, jug and lid, should be washed in warm soapy water as you would with any other appliance before use. The jug and funnel are dishwasher safe but the lid is not, please take note. After washing of the components the filter cartridge now has to be removed from it’s packaging and immersed in cold water and shaken so as to rid it of any air bubbles and carbon particles. Next inserted the cartridge into the funnel, which is then put back into the jug.

Now the test, try a glass and see for your self. In my case gone was the taste and smell of fluoride; the water tasted cleaner and less metallic, perhaps even drier to the taste, that sounds daft I know but its how it tastes to me. Now we have a jug of water on the table with meals, which is something we never had before, as it was a waste of time putting it out, as nobody would touch it.

As with all food products treat it with respect, do not allow the Brita filter to stand in direct sunlight, wash everything at least every time the cartridge is changed and if the water is not consumed within two days then tip it away and add new water. In our house it’s not lasting 2 hours let alone two days. The capacity is 1.6 litre of filtered water and 2.6 litre total capacity with the funnel full.