I am a freelance writer specialising in health and fitness. For more details of my articles, news an...
I am a freelance writer specialising in health and fitness. For more details of my articles, news and features please visit my website at http://www.healthwriter.co.uk. I also dabble in a bit of web site design; check out http://www.featuredesigns.com.
Member since:10.10.2003
Reviews:15
Members who trust:2
The water that comes out of my tap is clear, but it smells and tastes mildly of chlorine. Nice. If I filter it with the Brita filter the chlorine taste and smell completely goes and the water just tastes much, much nicer. For the first few filters with a new cartridge the water tastes like mineral water with a slightly sweet taste, but as the cartridge is used more and more the sweet taste disappears. Even when the cartridge has been used for longer than the recommended four weeks the water still tastes much better, and I can easily tell if the water has been filtered or if it is straight out of the tap just by the odour.
It is a jug that holds 1.6L of filtered water and has a total capacity of 2.6L. It consists of 4 parts: a clear plastic jug, a white holder for the cartridge which slips into the jug, a lid and of course a cartridge. The lid has a 'memo-thingy' - a phrase coined by that really irritating advert with the woman who gets turned on by her
water filter and suggests to her partner that they should go and work on being the average sized family. The memo-thingy is a digital timer that tells you when you should change your cartridge and is, in my opinion a bit of a waste of time (see later for why).
What it does:
It improves the cleanliness and clarity of the water that comes out of your tap by reducing chlorine and metals such as aluminium, copper and lead. It also reduces pesticides and other impurities. The result is great tasting water to drink and cook with. The filter also reduces limescale, so you don't get that horrible scum on the surface of your hot drinks. Domestic appliances (such as kettles) have less scale build up.
Well you pop a cartridge in the white holder (it just slips in then you give it a little push to make sure it's in properly), then you fill up with water, wait for it to filter through - about 30 seconds, and pour. You also set the memo-thingy by holding down the start button until you can see 4 bars appear. Then the little dot in the corner flashes and week by week the bars disappear. When the bars have all gone you need to, allegedly, change your cartridge. I find that after a few weeks of use the speed at which the water filters through slows down considerably and this tells me I should think about replacing the cartridge.
The cartridges:
These come individually wrapped for freshness, and are steam sterilised to fulfil the highest food grade quality standards. Each cartridge is a small plastic unit inside of which lies a 4-step filtration system:
1- Top Mesh: Pre-filtration 2- Ion exchange resin: reduces limescale (temporary hardness) and heavy metals 3- Activated carbon: reduces chlorine and organic impurities 4- Bottom Mesh: retains particle mixture
When you replace the cartridge you have to soak it in water first for 20 minutes. I don't really know why this is but it obviously prepares it in some way. Then you slot it in to the holder and filter the water through twice. On the third filter it is ready to drink. I have forgotten to do this in the past and I am still here, but if you don't forget I've heard the first 2 filters are good for watering the plants. You can recycle the old cartridges which I have never done (slap wrist) by putting them in an envelope and sending them to a freepost address:
BRITA RECYCLING, FREEPOST TK1917, SUNBURY ON THAMES, TW16 5BR
The memo-thingy:
How often you need to change your filter cartridge depends on how much you use it and the quality of the water in your area, that's why Brita suggest you use it for an average of 4 weeks. The memo-thingy counts down 4 weeks, but it doesn't tell you how much water you've filtered, just roughly when to change it. You might have hardly used it and the 'memo-thingy' would still tell you to throw your cartridge away. We change ours every 5-6 weeks and there are 2 of us in the household so really it is at your own discretion.
Caring for your water filter:
The jug itself does have to be kept clean, I just wash mine in soapy water and rinse it well in between cartridge changes. The whole unit is dishwasher safe except for the lid - it's that memo thingy again.
Cost:
The jug currently retails at £18.95 on the Brita website, or £17.75 from Argos (where you get a free cartridge). You can buy the cartridges individually for £3.95 and I have seen many shops that give you money off for buying several at a time. It is worth shopping around I think. It is also worth noting that you can get spare parts from the Brita website (www.brita.co.uk) and plenty more useful information.
Additional info:
There are other water filters available to buy, including the Brita Atlantis. This is the same as the Brita Fjord but it has a total capacity of 3.3L and therefore does not easily fit in the fridge. The Fjord sits comfortably in the fridge door so bear that in mind if you like your water cold. You can even get kettles now which come with a water filter cartridge.
When I last went on holiday I had only recently replaced the cartridge so I took it out, wrapped it in cling film and put it in the fridge. It was weird because when I came back the water seemed to taste better than it had before, or perhaps I am just going mad. Anyway it seemed to still be fresh. It's important to remember that water is a foodstuff and should not be left for more than 3 days. If you do find you've left it for longer then pour it away, water the plants and filter some more.
I have always lived in hard water areas, and currently live in West Sussex, another, I think, hard water area. I would not be without my water filter. The Brita Fjord is the one that I have always used - well I'm on my second, the first of which lasted 4 years. I got a new one because the plastic went all murky and made the water look dirty, but it had been well used!
Thames water inform me that the water with which they supply me is safe and of a high quality. I believe them, it just tastes horrible.
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