I love stuff... stuff to watch, read, drink, play on, eat, use, throw at the neighbours... I just lo...
I love stuff... stuff to watch, read, drink, play on, eat, use, throw at the neighbours... I just love STUFF! And now I have a place to write about my stuff.
Member since:01.02.2007
Reviews:20
Members who trust:6
I live in Leicester, a city plagued by what is referred to as 'hard water'. When you turn on a tap in Leicester, the same clear fluid falls out that you would expect to find falling out of any tap in the civilised world. But the water here is different and ominous, it holds secret, deadly properties that can cost you a fortune if you're not careful. When you heat Leicester water, say in a kettle or iron, it magically turns into a solid mass of whitish concrete, resulting in the total destruction of whatever appliance you heated it in. Thus, the average lifespan of a kettle, iron or dishwasher in this city is about three days, at which point you need to chuck them away and start again with new ones - very expensive indeed! The range of things you can make from Leicester water is also somewhat limited - a simple cup of tea, for example, turns into a muddy brown substance with large chunks of unappetizing lime-scale floating about in it like titanic-sinking icebergs, coffee does the same thing. The result of this phenomenon is that everybody in Leicester weighs, on average, three times as much as other citizens as a result of the vast slabs of white stuff that are clogging-up their internal organs.
Enter
the Brita Fjord water filter, the only thing standing between Leicester and the most chronic case of dandruff / petrification in the known world.
Description:
The filter is divided into four parts; these being the jug, funnel, lid and filter cartridge. The jug has a total capacity of 2.6 litres, meaning that it can easily handle enough water to cater for an entire tea party without the need for refilling. The funnel fits inside the jug and holds the nasty, dirty hard water, feeding it gradually through the filter cartridge whereupon it falls into the jug and is ready for use. The lid simply keeps the dust out and includes a useful LCD display which reminds you when it is time to replace your cartridge, which lasts four weeks normally (although, I make mine last five weeks because I do not live in a very large household). The filter cartridge is the magic bit, passing the water through the following four-stage process in order to turn horrible tap water into the kind of drink that even Volvic would be proud of. First, the water flows through a fine mesh layer, removing all of the larger slabs of detritus; after that, a layer of ion exchange resin reduces the hardness of the water while also removing aluminium and hard metals like lead and copper. The third layer of the filter contains activated carbon, which eradicates chemicals that effect the taste of your drinking water like chlorine, pesticides and organic impurities. The final layer is another mesh to completely clean and purify the water. After all that is done, your water is ready for drinking. The entire thing is a fairly unassuming bit of kit; the jug is made of clear plastic so that you can see how much water is in there while the funnel, lid and filter unit are white. The handle and base have a non-slip coating to prevent spillages when condensation collects on the outer surfaces.
Maintenance:
A lot of stuff you buy for the kitchen requires an abortive amount of stripping down, cleaning, sharpening and general tomfoolery. The Brita filter is really very easy to look after; once every four weeks you pull the old filter cartridge out and discard it (I'm not sure if there is a way of recycling these but it is something I'm researching and will update this review at a later time). Once the old filter is out, the unit can simply be taken to bits and washed (every bit except the lid is dishwasher safe), which takes me about two minutes. The new filter cartridge can then be removed from its foil bag and plunged briefly into a bowl of water to activate it before being simply dropped into the newly-washed jug. It really is that easy! The whole process takes less time than scraping just one day's worth of lime-scale off the kettle - and you only need to change the filter once a month!
Storage:
The unit is designed to fit neatly into a normal fridge door. This keeps the water nice and cool if you like to drink chilled water but it works just as well out of the fridge if, like me, you live on coffee.
Costs:
My Brita came from Argos and set me back a meagre 17.99 including one filter cartridge. I can't see how it could possibly break or die (unless I do something REALLY stupid with it) so I imagine that I can expect many years of service from that initial investment. Argos are currently selling replacement cartridges for my model for 19.99 per pack of six, meaning that Brita filtered water costs just under four pence per litre under normal usage.
Environment:
I like to do my bit to reduce climate change; I wouldn't refer to myself as an eco-warrior, but I do believe that we should all do whatever we can to give mother nature a helping hand. The Brita filter turns ordinary tap water into a much purer, more pleasant beverage, thus reducing the quantities of mineral and spring water needed by those of us in hard water areas. This means fewer plastic bottles to dispose of and, most importantly, fewer lorries transporting the stuff to Sainbury's.
Other stuff:
Because I am a geek, I thought I'd carry out an experiment to see how quickly the Brita actually produces drinking water. I poured one litre of Leicester's hideous tap water into the funnel and timed it - forty-three seconds later, the last drip fell into the jug, which means that the Brita can filter an entire kettle-full of lovely tea water in about the same length of time it takes to open a packet of digestives - how convenient!
Conclusion:
If you are happy with the fact that your local tap water may contain more calories than a Mars bar, tastes like an Arab's armpit and smells of bleach then please, don't bother buying a Brita filter. If you are happy with tea that cannot technically be classified as a fluid and enjoy the weekly shop for a new kettle, iron and dishwasher then no, you shouldn't buy a Brita filter. If you are happy paying 50 pence for a bottle of water that has been in a warehouse for a couple of years then please, don't let me deter you.
If, on the other hand, you have a single iota of intelligence then yes, you should go out and buy a Brita immediately.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Water level indicators Memo electronic cartridge exchange indicator reminds you when to ... more
change the cartridge Takes Maxtra cartridge for optimum removal of chlorine, limescale and impurities Integral spout cover that protects from dust & taste taints Di...
This BRITA fridge water filter has an automatic pour-through lid for easy, single handed ... more
filling. Also featured is a soft grip handle and round shaped non-slip rubber base. This filter is dishwasher safe and has a large 1.5L filtered water capacity.
Postage & Packaging: from £4.85 Availability: refer to website
exceptional by (11%):
very helpful by (89%):
