Let's see how the big name Brita in the water filter can compete with the upstart ZeroWater.
Depending on your local water supply, completely pure drinking water may be elusive. Filtered water tanks are a simple and relatively affordable way to scrub the tap water to make it cleaner, even if it does not contain all impurities. For decades, a company called Brita has dominated this field. However, over time, many competitors have entered the ring.
The boldest newcomer is ZeroWater. ZeroWater puts forward the lofty claim that its dumping filter can remove most of the impurities in any filtered water tank on the market. The company even includes a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter in its products. So consumers can test their filtering results themselves.
In order to understand whether ZeroWater has fulfilled its promise and how it compares with Brita, I personally tested the pitchers of each company. This is the process of all this.
The way I choose each filter tank is not complicated. I went to the local Target and chose the cheapest pitcher I could find from the two brands. I also make sure that every pitcher has a filter in his box. I chose the $25 ZeroWater 8-cup pitcher and the $35 Brita Grand 10-cup pitcher.
This 8-cup model from ZeroWater uses what the company calls five-stage water filtration. You can also get a TDS meter bundled with the product. The lid even has a convenient container for the sampling instrument. I also appreciate the extra flap on the back of the lid, which makes it easier to refill the faucet.
You pay a little more for Brita Grand, but it has a slightly larger capacity (10 cups). Although the pitcher is not equipped with a TDS meter, there is an electronic filter indicator on the lid. You can set it to alert you when a new Brita water filter needs to be replaced.
Waiting for the water to flow through the filter is a drag, especially when you feel dry. This is why an important factor to consider is the filtering time. To measure this, I poured 16 ounces of tap water into each pitcher. Then I calculated how long it takes for this volume of liquid to drain from the filter chamber to the filtered water area.
The Brita here is faster, but not fast. It took 1 minute and 56 seconds to complete the task. ZeroWater took longer. It takes 2 minutes and 14 seconds to filter the same amount of water.
The TDS meter of my tap water reads 187 ppm.
The main purpose of any filter tank is to remove as much garbage as possible from the tap water. Although it does take longer to treat the water, the filtration capabilities of the ZeroWater 8-cup pitcher are impressive. I measured the TDS level of unfiltered tap water to get a baseline figure. Its price that day was 187 parts per million.
After filtering through Brita, the TDS meter of my tap water read 147 ppm.
After a while, I passed tap water from the same faucet through each filter tank, and then tested their ppm. The TDS of water from Brita is 147 ppm. This is a modest reduction of 21.4%. In contrast, the filtered water I tested from the ZeroWater 8 Cup surprised me. The TDS I recorded is 0, which is basically a 100% reduction in TDS. Please remember that I am using my own Orapxi water quality tester, not the provided ZeroWater TDS meter.
The TDS meter reading for ZeroWater filtered water is an astonishing 0 ppm.
In terms of the service life of each filter and its cost, things get a little messy. Two pieces of ZeroWater filters are available for $30 and each sells for $15. Brita's Longlast filters are slightly more expensive, at $17 each. In other words, the estimated service life of the ZeroWater filter is 20 gallons. Brita evaluated the filter life of its Longlast filter as 120 gallons. Therefore, although ZeroWater pitchers are cheaper, their filters are also cheaper, because you need to buy ZeroWater filters more frequently, and you will end up spending more on ZeroWater's system.
The Brita pitcher seems to be the clear winner in terms of speed and total cost of ownership. But it did remove less material from my tap water. This fact trumps all other facts and makes ZeroWater the best in my book.
I know that my local water quality in Louisville, Kentucky is actually very good. My only complaint is that scale deposits may occur over time. The ZeroWater 8 cup reduces these impurities to zero. This means that I no longer have to descale my coffee machine, which is priceless to me.