Water filter pitchers - what do you recommend?

[jeffp]

I trust fuckcombustion general consumer reviews more than consumerreports so here's my query. I have and have enjoyed my PUR water filter pitchers for years and I prefer it to Brita but the pitchers break easy and tend to leak through the seams after a while, at least in my experience. So I think it's time to move on to a new brand. Here's my wish list and i hope it exists:
*good clean water filtration
*relatively inexpensive filters
*durable pitchers

What about the other brands such as Culligan, Mavea and Zerowater?

thanks in advance FCers...

 

[Purple-Days]

My best solution probably won't work for you. Those Kiosks that dispense water, are usually reverse Osmosis, carbon filter, UV treated blah, blah, blah... like 7 steps and 25 cents a gallon. A 5 gallon jug is about $10 for the jug and $1.25 to fill each time. But you gotta tote it (or two or three)...

 

[lwien]

I've had my PUR for over 5 years, jeff, and never had a leak or a break. I too like it better than Brita. Heard good things about Zerowater. Kind of expensive though. Never heard of Mavea but Culligan has been around forever.

 

[StickyShisha2]

I like the water from the PUR better than from the Brita. i would get something that fits their filters.

 

[biojuggernaut]

both me and my friend use pur brand.

 

[jeffp]

If you look at Amazon reviews you'll read from many who have had leaking problems with their PUR pitchers. I have two; one leaks, the other doesn't. It seems to be hit and miss.
What I'll probably end up doing is continuing to use both PUR pitchers as I drink alot of water and so do people who linger in my apartment so two are necessary and refilling the leaking pitcher in the sink - the leaking eventually stops when the reservoir is filled.

 

[jeffp]

I like the water from the PUR better than from the Brita. i would get something that fits their filters.

Sticky, that would be great but it's highly unlikely that a competitor's product fits a PUR filter...

 

[StickyShisha2]

i don't know, DuPont filters fit both PUR and Britta pitchers so perhaps a PUR filter would fit another pitcher.
http://www2.dupont.com/Water_Filtration/en_US/products/pitcher.html

 

[lepstadder]

Go RO for sure

You can get a home installed system for under 400$

They are great even if you rent, you can just disconnect it and take it with you

 

[wake n blake]

Brita just did a redesign of their filters... mine's been working great for a few months... my friends who turned me onto brita filters have had theirs forever and no leaks or anything.

 

[Frickr]

Go RO for sure

You can get a home installed system for under 400$

They are great even if you rent, you can just disconnect it and take it with you

while for great tasting and nearly pure water RO is great. but the down side is they waste water. i know its differant for every brand but the system at work uses 2 gallons to make 1 gallon, so one gallon will go through the membrane and one gallon will go down the drain with the bad stuff. so if saving water is your concern i would use something else.

there are quite a few differant filters that will fit under your sink. carbon filters (the main filter material in pur and brita filters) will remove the taste and oder from the water, and theres a few differant micron filters available, to remove the rust dirt and sediment. While carbon and micron filters will remove nearly all harmful stuff, it still allows fluorine through, ro or distilled water is the only way around this if this is a concern for you and your family. if you dont know about the dangers of fluoride, then i suggest you do some research.

 

[aesthyrian]

Brita just did a redesign of their filters... mine's been working great for a few months... my friends who turned me onto brita filters have had theirs forever and no leaks or anything.

I have used my Brita (the large type that takes up half the fridge ) for years and with regular filter replacement it has done its job great. I do use a PUR when I go over to a buddies place. And honestly they both taste nice a crisp to me. Mine is probably a bit better tasting since I know I change my filter regularly and he definitely does not. And I have never had any leaking problems at all. That sounds ridiculous.

At the end of the day I think proper maintenance/filter replacement is key.

 

[bcleez]

I use the one on my sink. You just flip a switch on the side an out comes filtered water. I like this more than a pitcher. Its just easier - I can instantly fill up my ice cube trays or fill a cup.

I like to keep fluids that I drink in glass pitchers not plastic due to the contaminates in plastics.

 

[Clever User name]

I like the Zero Water Pitcher, it comes with a water meter tester, pretty cool going to different restaurants with that.

 

[Nycdeisel]

I have Zerowater and I like it a lot.

 

[crawdad]

i have a in home 5 stage RO system i installed for less than 400 and i have one at work. i know it wastes water but that is the cost (money wise) to get extremely clean water on top 24/7 with no refilling or trips. i dont think its truly wasted since it does go back to water company to be processed and released.

edit, woops...forgot to chime in on those pitchers. i got a brita one a while ago and it worked well, removed taste to the point it was hard to notice even when the water was left out and got warm, however its not just the taste i want to deal with so i opted for an RO "little spigot on sink" solution.