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Dear Brita, it’s over between us.
By Kristen | November 30, 2007
I hate my Brita water pitcher so much I would rather destroy the planet with bottled water.
There, I said it.
A little background info: before we moved to New York, when we still lived in the suburbs and had access to a Costco, we bought a bulk pack of Brita filters. Twenty filters, in fact.
Let me do the math for you: 20 filters, being used at a rate of one every other month, means we bought over three years worth of filters.
Three years of cramming the pitcher into a sink to fill it, waiting for the water to filter through, cleaning the pitcher, dealing with the little carbon bits… and now that I have just put the very last new filter into it, I can finally say no more! I’ve had enough!
Some time between now and the end of January (when this filter will need to be replaced), I need to find a better water filter.
EDIT: Right now, I’m leaning towards this Aquasana model:
They’ve been the Consumer Digest Best Buy for water filters for the last four years in a row, and it appears to be the cheapest per gallon as well.
Topics: Green is Gezellig, Questions |
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November 30th, 2007 at 12:40 am
Weird. I love my Brita pitcher. I only get the carbon-y bits on the first pitcher or two that we’re instructed to throw out or use to water plants. I was feeling too much guilt for all the bottled water and Brita has been the perfect solution. Doesn’t NYC have fab tap water? Do you really need a filter? (Asks the woman who probably doesn’t need a filter either.)
November 30th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Unless things have changed, NYC has the best tap water in the country. Of course, things may have changed, but you may want to check that. Great water direct from high in the Catskills.
I have a Brita filter on-tap filtration system, and it works well for me. Some of the reviewers at the link have had problems, apparently, but I’ve never had a single problem. Great little system.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:57 am
NYC does actually have really great tap water. The problem is, the buildings are all so old (or, most are, mine included) that at least some of the pipes are probably still lead.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:59 am
Right, lead. But I thought I read somewhere that so long as you let the water run for a second when you turn on the tap (to get rid of the standing water in the pipes that might have lead leached into it), the water flowing through the pipe isn’t dangerous.
Or my brain might be riddled with lead and I might be completely wrong! : o )
November 30th, 2007 at 10:01 am
LeisureGuy: It’s true; NYC does have exceptional tap water. I have a pretty small sink (that gets filled with dishes easily) — does the on-tap system ever get in the way?
Beth: I’ve heard that too, that you can just let the tap run and it’s fine, but having a small kid with still developing brain around here, I’d feel safer filtering it.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
The Brita on-tap filter projects up instead of down and thus stays out of the way. But ask the super about the building pipes before buying a filter. Lead pipes nowadays are pretty rare (because of the obvious health hazard), and the super will know about how the building’s plumbed. If you don’t have to get the filter, money saved.