Thirsty?
Written: Oct 10 '03 (Updated Jul 07 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, cold, and abundance of water is nice
Cons: Can be a bit heavy, will crack when dropped, filters are not cheap.
The Bottom Line: Cheaper and cleaner than bottled water.
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| dandino's Full Review: Brita Deluxe Water Filter Pitcher 35611 |
Especially when living in an apartment building, you never know how the pipes are. We picked up this particular Brita because of its size. I had an older one, but it seemed like I had to fill it up after nearly every glass of water. So this one was a large improvement in capacity. If you fill up both the top and bottom, it’s about a gallon. But if you try and pour with the top full, you’re going to wet yourself.
Construction
This is made of two different plastics, as all Brita’s are that I know about. Unfortunately, as I found out, the clear plastic is not very strong at all. The first one I had accidentally fell out of the fridge, only 2-3 feet onto carpet. The handle cracked. It’s not exactly the strongest construction. This larger size is the same plastic. It will break of impacted, especially with water in it. It’s the type of plastic that breaks like glass with fissures and cracks down the side instead of being flexible. The handle of this model has a rubber hand grip on one side. This is a nice little feature. With the pitcher full, it can be fairly heavy and the rubber handle just gives you a better grip. There is a little flap that goes over the pouring spout. I have no idea where this is. It was there when I bought it, but gone now. It was supposed to simply cover the pour spout when not in use, but easy is pushed out of the way by the water when pouring.
Use
If you can turn on your water, you can use this filter. There is a lid on the top, lift it… place under your faucet… run the water... wait a few minutes … drink water. Installing the filter is simple as breathing. Fill a pint glass with water, place a new filter in for thirty minutes, then put it into the top compartment. A child the age of 5 can do this.
Filters
The filters are supposed to last about two months, and they are a few dollars each. The prices vary wildly, depending on where you buy them and how many you buy at a time. I’ve seen rebates here and there, coupons are always nice and they are usually for a few dollars. It’s obviously cheaper than buying bottled water. This model comes with a little sticker on the side to remind you when to replace your filter, if you follow the 2 month rule. I suggest that if you buy any sort of filter like this, every two months take apart and clean the entire thing and replace the filter. If you let it sit there, it defeats the whole point of filtering water. One thing to keep in mind is that occasionally you will have a filter that will leave carbon deposits. This will make the water taste a little funky. Just let it filter through a couple times and rinse out the container. I could be wrong, but I think this would be more of a problem if the package was jostled around alot.
Size
Like I said, it can fit about a gallon if you fill both top and bottom, which you should not do. Typically, the most I’ll have in it is a half gallon or so. When it gets below the level of the filter, I re-fill it. You should not let the filter get dry. The shape of it is designed to fit into your fridge door. The size might be a problem as youngsters will want to assert their independence and try to pour themselves. It’s heavy when full, and cracks when dropped. Something to think about.
Drinking filtered water makes you sleep one or two winks better at night, I’d say 90% of the benefit is all in my head, assuming I don’t have massively corroded pipes. It’s also nice to always have cold water. It’s also nice to drink water without having to wait for the chlorine to bubble out from the tap.
I think I paid somewhere between 15 and 20 bucks and it came with 1 filter.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dandino
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Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
I like tools and electronic gizmos.
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