I used to think it was stupid. Then I moved to an area with bad tasting water. It was so bad I was tempted to buy bottled water. Instead I got a Brita & saved all those plastic bottles. It also helped my house plants. Is my tap water safe? Yes! Do I still use a water filter? YES!
You realise that just because the water tastes ok it does not mean it's safe right? Cadmium, lead literally any toxin is not detectable by taste. The US has the worst water quality nationally of any developed nation. Please check as it really is dependant on area. Erin Brockavich movie is literally on water poisoning
Similar thing happen to me, I used to drink water from the tap and then I moved to flat in old building were tap water taste bad. I have something like Brita and filter for shower. If my water would be better I would drink from tap.
I used to think it was silly. Then, my area got higher levels of Geosmine and MIB in the water. The council has told us to just add citrus, which doesn't do anything. Their reasoning is that because the compounds don't make you sick. Instead, they just make the water smell and taste worse. It isn't worth fixing.
We live in an area with horrible tasting water. When I became pregnant, I went from being able to tolerate it to it causing my nausea to get way worse. Been using a filter and it's so much better.
Hard water for bathing can also increase problems with skin, hair, and nails especially if your skin is sensitive / has a condition, first hand experience on the difference after getting a filter (not brita related, but still)
It really depends on where you live. In our town in NJ they told us last year that it was discovered that lots of kids had increased levels of lead. They tested water and it turns out for over a year water was not fit to consume this whole time. And we only learned a year later! We only drank filtered water. And will continue to do so. Because I don’t trust the city government. And I have a kid now. So, unless we live in a Switzerland, I’m not drinking from the tap.
Per a quick google search, NJ has 115 active Superfund sites, and 35 other sites have been remediated. I use Brita pitchers for taste as much as health, because my tap water has strong chemical tastes and odors, and neighborhood water mains replacements in recent years have repeatedly inundated the pipes with muddy sediments that heavily fouls and discolors the water. (When that construction work is in progress, the utility hangs a warning notice on every residence's front doorknob.)
@@Belinda-bs8qbwhat are those blue filters? I live in a smaller older city in Quebec & suspect there is lead in our water because the infrastructure is morr than a century old. I've used the standard brita filter for 2 years 😮
I don't use a filter to make it "safer" I use it to soften the water and get less limescale build up on my appliances. After learning how much chlorine is in our tap water I started drinking RO water from the water fill stations now I understand it doesn't get rid of 100% of things but it is far better than just the tap water treated by the local water utility, too many people throwing hazards down the drains and flushed down the toilet.
Apparently heaps of drugs and steroids cannot be filtered by current systems so kids are drinking antibiotics, pesticides and pharmaceutical estrogen. No wonder the age of pubescence is so early now.
You can get rid of the chlorine just by letting the water sit for a few hours, open to the air (say, in a bottle with the lid off). The chlorine will evaporate off.
You do realize that the whole point of drinking treatment plants is to remove contaminants from the water right? Water that goes down a drains and toilets goes into a wastewater treatment plant that makes it safe to discharge to the environment, and then even if the drinking water source is surface water, it is filtered again to make sure if is safe to drink. These processes are quite rigorous and highly regulated to ensure safety. There may be off taste from Chlorine there to keep it free of bacteria, but it is safe to drink by all known science. Bottled water has far less rigorous regulations surrounding it and most of it is just "filtered" tap water. Reverse osmosis is a great technology to get the purist water, but it is super energy intensive and impractical at large scale.
Don’t agree with the point that Britas aren’t replacing water bottles but tap water. My family used to buy water bottles to drink at home and would make incredible amounts of trash bottles by the end of the month. Since I ibtroduced them to a Brita they bought each a metal bottle and refill it with water from the Brita
I completely agree. I grew up drinking tap water and never had an issue with it, but when I moved to a bigger city for college I noticed that the tap water definitely tasted much worse, but I would still drink it. When I met my husband though, he would absolutely refuse to drink tap water. He hates the taste, and he also needs his water to be frigidly ice cold. We used to buy multiple cases of bottled water when we would go grocery shopping, and I just couldn't stand the way the bottles would build up in our bin, and that was just from 2 people drinking water! We switched to metal bottles and one of those dispenser water filters that we keep in the fridge years ago and we've probably saved hundreds of water bottles from the trash in that time.
Interesting, I think you might be in the minority of people who drink bottled water at home? Maybe that's not true though I don't know. Glad the brita has helped though!
@@FutureProofTV In the part of California where I've lived, everyone either uses bottled water, or brings their large bottles to water filling places, either independent ones or at a wholefoods type place. Drinking tap water is unheard of. I have always been a tap water drinker (coming from the more northern parts of the states) but then switched to Brita, which doesn't really help either, it is full of bacteria that make you sick.
I’ve had a similar experience in California. My father always bought cases upon cases of bottles of water as I was growing up. Interestingly enough we eventually installed a replaceable filter into the underside of the sink and my father still refuses to drink from it. No matter how much we complained you can’t remove distrust of a state that easily
I believe I mentioned this on the Future Proof Health video as well: The reason my father drinks filtered water is not one of taste (although it helps), but one of health: Once upon a time, he had well water (not city water) due to where he lives, but as time went on, they eventually hooked him up over time to the city's lines, however, the water in the area contains an excessive amount of calcium compared to other water in other areas of the Midwest. If he doesn't filter the water, he gets massive kidney stones. By filtering the water, he cuts down on that risk. Has worked for him for years. I've moved place to place (state to state) with our Brita pitcher as a back up in case the water is gross since we rent everywhere we go. So far, we've lucked out with the taste of tap water. In most instances, most places had a filter installed already on their faucet or within the fridge unit, so it wasn't an issue. And yes, I am signed up with Terracycle to recycle our filters as I use them, although I don't go through them nearly as fast as perhaps an average user would since I use the pitcher as a backup.
Yeah back in the day, my dad used to take 16 gallon jugs to my grandma’s house every week and get her city water because we had a well and the doctor told him that since we had a water softener, the salt in it would be bad for his high blood pressure.
@@ginglebret Ha ha, unfortunately for us, we move due to my spouse's job. It's every few years, though. It's a stable income, just has to occur at the expense of pulling up our roots every few years. I don't think I have any interest in doing van life or being a digital nomad (or anything like that). Just trying to stay afloat until we can find a small patch of land in retirement where we can maybe homestead and build a modest home (hopefully with decent water, too).
I live in Belgium, which have one of the best drinking tap water in the European Union, it is to the point that using tap water for baby milk powder is 100% safe, but I still use Britta to filter out some of the limescale that is rather larger in quanity (20-30 mg/l) in my region. There are no risks due to the limescale, at all. But it does make the cleaning of my coffee machine, kettles, ... all so easier if there is less of it. And I really dislike using the citric acide to clean my appliances, it leaves that highly tart taste for a least a couple of full runs after each cleaning.
I only just found out by watching this video and reading the comments that there are people who use the filters for other things than reducing limescale buildup.
@@sethpolevoi4027 Yes and no, I use a dishwasher which also have mineral salt and other cleaning agents that help against the limescale build up. And in most households (at least in Belgium) we towel dry the dishes so they don't take up that much space near the sink. Most houses are a lot smaller in Europe compared to the US.
In the Philippines, we don't exactly have drinkable tap water, but we do have a massive industry of water companies that sell 5 gallons of water (not sure why we use gallons since we're a metric country). The containers are reusable and washable. It comes in 2 configurations: round, and square. They're commercially filtered by reverse osmosis. Much better to buy from them rather than using your own filters because it's still cheaper to buy from them than the cost of a residential filter.
I don't drink water, not even filtered water. I drink tea. However I have found that filtering the water I use in my electric tea kettle leaves less hard water mineral build up on the kettle. My daughter uses filtered water to reduce mineral build up in her coffee maker. Since neither she nor I have the overall need for a full house water softener, this is an easy fix for the few appliances that consistently has otherwise hard water run through it.
joke about the first sentence aside, i can attest this is an actual thing. on tangent, i also have read the mineral, well for bathing water, will affect how your soap lathers more easily or not.
When I lived in Texas I didn't care much for my tap water's taste though it was okay. But because of the heat it rarely got very cold & constantly making/using ice cubes was a pain. Ended up with one of those big Brita pitchers that sits on the shelf with a little spigot. As long as I top it off before bed I always have nearly ice cold good tasting water on tap in the fridge. Tap water tastes good where I live now but I still like having my extra cold water from the fridge
@@FutureProofTV In summer I usually fill from my fridge and in winter I just get it from the tap directly. The smell and flavor of the water treatments is a bit too much in summer. Thoughts on fridge filters (Instead of 3-6 month change I'm more of a 3-6 years) or in-line filters like Culligans options
@@ThomasSorensen1 I have the same setup as you. I have one single gallon jug that I refill with tap water and keep in the fridge. When my Brita gets low, I pour the chilled water into it. This ensures I have the coldest water no matter the time I refill.
With the mass deregulation of ground water protections, (which I ask, who is that supposed to benefit? It’s not the U.S. citizens) AND the further deregulation of penalties for oil companies that engage in fracking, which has been shown to contaminate water sources, you can never know if another situation like Flint, Michigan will happen to another metro city.
Consumers benefit from deregulation. Regulations don't protect us from anything and add unnecessary costs for the consumers. And fracking doesn't effect ground water, that's just a fake crisis pushed by environmentalists so they have something to protect us against.
Spot on. The mantra "America has the best _______" and "America is the greatest country in the world" breeds complacency and compliant citizens. Too many Americans believe it is as good as it gets, so can't ask for better.
Cracking companies kept trying to convince Oklahoma and zoo were suffering from Earthquakes for years that the fracking wasn't causing the Earthquakes when it only started happening in Oklahoma once they started fracking and then stopped happening once they stopped fracking. Literally large a** lawsuits of them even bringing in scientists that they've paid 42 state that fracting couldn't possibly cause the earthquakes or hurt the groundwater literally the earthquakes caused by the fracking ended up splitting a well that was providing water to an eagle rehabilitation center and ended up killing eagles on mass because the groundwater had become contaminated
The short version is that if you're in doubt about the quality of your water due to the taste, there's an uncomfortably high chance that your city has serious water quality issues that haven't been reported yet. My stance is that I'm better safe than sorry. I can definitely taste the difference between tap water and filtered water, so I'm going to keep filtering my water. For me, I live in an apartment where maintenance replaces the fridge filter every few months, which means it's easy and more environmentally friendly than pitchers. But it's good to know that there are under-the-sink options for when I eventually become responsible for my own water supply. I'm not a big fan of how difficult some of those pitchers are to clean.
The Flint, Michigan case is an extremely unique case of negligence of the people in charge managing the water treatment system and has nothing to do with fracking or groundwater contamination. They changed the water source to a more corrosive source (Flint River). The water leaving the treatment plant was safe to drink, but they did not think carefully about how the distribution system would be affected by the more corrosive water. This lead to distribution pipes corroding which caused old lead pipes and other contaminants to leech into the water after the treatment plant. Flint was a failure on all the people in charge to both identify this would be problematic from an engineering level and to communicate this to the public as soon as they were aware.
Two useful things about filtering jugs: 1 - If the timer on your Brita jug runs out of battery or stops working for whatever reason, you don't need to replace the whole jug - Brita sends those timers for free to anyone, just call your local infoline and give them your address, they will mail a new timer to you. 2 - I can recommend looking online for cheaper alternatives that are not made by Brita, as they do have a price markup for being the most recognizable brand and other brands can be even few times cheaper. If you already have a jug, some companies make filters that also fit into Brita jugs, especially the older ones, as Brita does implement some modifications in design to prevent this. Best to read the description of the filter, they tend to provide instruction on what to look for to tell if their filter will fit your jug or not.
I highly recommend Clear Genius as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative. Their filters just let you replace the filter pod and not all the plastic.
Sry, but locking the explanation behind why Future Proof health was closed behind a paywall on Patreon is a rly weird decision. As someone who likes both channels, a simple "hey this is whats going on" instead of having to pay 5 bucks for it, would have been nice.
yeah its really a poor decision but i guess thats how they think they'll make money. im curious about what happened but im not 5 bucks curious. some people might think 5 bucks is a small price to pay but it makes a difference when you live in a 3rd world country
I tested my water with my Uncle who is an expert. The result was: my tap water was healthier than most of the mineral bottled waters we tested. Most of them even contained chlorine and some plastic particles.
How did you test the water? Are there kits a person can purchase, and are some more reliable than others? I'm very interested in having pure drinking water too.
Chlorine in trace amounts is pretty natural in trace amounts and even neccesary for health (used for stomach acid and nerve function). Tap water companies usually elevate the levels pretty how for anti-microbial reasons and that can form pretty nasty compounds though... Plastic particlse are pretty typical, those get *everywhere*. Interesting that your tap water is safer though
I don't see your tap water being safer then bottled water as bottled water have very high checks to what goes in the there water as it is all removed with reverse osmosis then they add in the metals and chlorine as all drinking water has chlorine to stop anything growing like fungus or algae. And for the plastic it is in everything and i mean everything very small but has gotten in every thing we eat and drink there is no avoiding micro plastics now.
@@elemenopi55 - I just decided to leave tap water for washing clothes and bathing. I bought a three gallon bottle and fill it at WalMart for $1.20. They have a machine there that filters the water through osmosis. I use the bottled water for drinking and cooking. It lasts about a week. Not an optimal solution but good enough
The tap water in our area is particularly clean and I use it for everyday drinking and cooking. But when it comes to heating water in a kettle, particularly for brewing coffee, I always use filtered water. Not only does my coffee taste better with filtered water, it significantly reduces the limescale buildup in my kettle. I find a brita style filter system is the most practical for my needs. Edit: we have since moved to using Zero Water, seems to do a better job in mitigating the scale issue in the bottom of our kettle than Brita.
the issue for example in nyc is that even though the tap water is clean, the decades old pipes inside the building is the major problem. This is not an issue for for buildings but most buildings were built before the 80s when lead pipes were phased out.
@chefgav1 we used several water quality testers, for suspended particles, trace minerals / metals, etc. They are fairly easy to use and it is recommended you test your water on a regular basis.
These points have been touched upon, but (1) we mainly use filtered water because when we moved to the Washington, DC area we were shocked at how funky the tap water tasted, even though we didn’t seriously doubt its safety, (2) we’ve found that filtering the water also reduces the rate that lime scale develops in our kettle, which is a bonus, (3) now that we own our home, we have a dedicated under sink filter system that’s nice because it filters in real time and has an alert when it’s time to change the filters (with the capacity for larger, rechargeable, and/or replaceable batteries or other power supply to make sure it actually functions), but that wasn’t really a convenient option when we were renting, so we used britta pitchers, and (4) not to mix FutureProof videos, but filtered water + a hydro flask bottle has replaced plastic bottled water on innumerable occasions.
I recommend zero water over Brita as Brita removes so little amount and is only good for removing small amount for limescale on things that's it they are useless for the cost.
DC water, which we use for cooking, is largely processed sewer water, ironically since DC gets a steady 3-4" a month rainfall year round, very stable, but not enough for the 6-8M or so people in the greater DC area who want to take a daily shower and have other such First World concerns. Also some DC area pipes are old and have Pb in them, which you cannot really taste (it tastes sweet actually from what I've read). Enjoy your drink!
I’m also in DC and was similarly shocked at how awful the water here tastes. It’s musty, or for the 6 weeks a year when they triple the treatment chemicals, like pool water. Honestly, the Brita filter only really works when it’s brand new. After a week it starts to taste nasty again. I unfortunately buy almost all my drinking water now.
In my experience, most people are a) using Brita filters instead of bottled water, and yes, lots of people drink bottled water at home because b) safe water is not necessarily delicious water. For me, that's why I used one, because our water smelled strongly of chlorine and using a filter removed that smell making it much more enjoyable. Also, using a pitcher is good if you want your water refrigerated, rather than running your tap for 5 minutes to get a merely lukewarm glass. (Now we live in the Netherlands and have the most delicious tap water I've ever tasted).
Buy PUR filters instead! The Brita Pitcher is useless since it is not air tight. PUR filters attach directly on the tap and don't take anywhere near that long to fill a glass.
There's a lot of nuance that needs to be kept in mind. Some people with sensory issues like myself (ex. Autism) will have a hard time drinking water if it doesnt taste a specific way. It's also important to remember people in rural areas with well water! We did in fact replace bottled water with our pitcher water. For me, its worth it, and I can tell the difference in taste when the filter is on its last leg.
Yes! I Don’t have Autism, but I have a sensory disorder and it makes a HUGE difference. I also really need to have my preferred drinking vessel or I’m pretty much automatically going to end up dehydrated by default!
This was helpful. Thank you! For what it's worth: We have well water at our home because we live in a rural area. We can taste the difference between straight well water from the tap and the Brita filtered water. We're glad to have our Brita pitcher. But investing in an under-the-sink option may be better.
For me the question is not the safeness of the water but simply the taste. I live in Ireland, and while our tap water alike is safe to drink and supposedly really good, it does have a slight chlorine flavour from the sanitiser in the treatment plants (like in a lot of places in America too). For me, this spoils the taste of my tea. I used to buy bottled water, but when I got a Brita filter it got rid of the chlorine flavour entirely. This saves me a lot of money!
What I relized, and what I think most folks don't think about is, it's not that the water is filtered, but its that it's COLD that makes it so much better. The filter on my brita died after a couple months, but I continued refilling it every day for months until it froze and cracked after sitting too long in the winter. And I realized that really, I just want to drink cold water, so I just thrifted a nice glass galon jug to use instead, or just cycle two big metal mugs in the fridge!
I use the Brita to filter out the chlorine taste and smell. The water was beautiful before they started chlorinating it. But the boil water notices were occurring more and more frequently and they couldn't seem to sequester the town well system. (E-coli, I think.)
Florida gets their water from the "Florida Aquifer"... The short version of this story is that our water is generally pretty hard, and often comes with unwanted tastes. I absolutely agree that the idea that "tap water is dangerous" is a sham. I know from experience that the MAJORITY of people who buy Brita filters aren't doing it because they think it'll make their water safer. We buy it because tap waste taste bad. We have one on our faucet, and I have a brita water bottle. We went with Brita because we rent; And it's not exactly easy to install a true water filtration system in an apartment. And I absolutely disagree with the idea that Brita filters don't curb the use of single-use water bottles. Ever since I got my Brita bottle, I have almost exclusively used it as my source of water. I've stopped buying water bottles all together.
"Tap water is dangerous is a sham" Yeah man fluoride being supplied to 3/4 of Americans is good cause its good for your teeth! Thats why they put it in your toothpaste :^)
I can attest to curbing single-use bottles getting replaced after acquiring a Brita jug. I didn't feel too good drinking from the tap because of the taste but felt even worse drinking from plastic bottles so Brita seemed like the logical solution and it sure did the trick.
@@abdulkhan-iq1if this… this right here…. I’ve always been sensitive about how my water tastes. But I couldn’t *stand* tap water, so before I had my britas, I would drink single-use bottles of water.
Its really a shame, I have lived in Florida since 1972, when I was a kid the water tasted SO much better than it does now, because the aquifer was still pretty pristine back then. Now not so much, cattle ranching, septic tanks etc. have fouled the system. I have a Britta and am sticking with it for that reason.
I use an under the sink filter. I used to almost NEVER drink water. Everywhere I lived the water made me feel slightly nauseous to drink. And the place I live now has hard water that tastes nasty and metallic. I drank so much soda. 1-3 liters a day, sometimes more. Sometimes juice. But soda, soda, soda. Finally I got sick of the expense and what it was doing to my teeth, and got a water filter. Within a week I was drinking half the soda I had been, and these days soda is a rare treat. Having a water filter changed my life.
Hey :), considering you have a few videos that touch on PFAS I thought you may want to know that filtering does reduce PFOA levels. This is very helpful if you live in an area with higher than usual levels and especially if you’re pregnant or giving it to children who are more vulnerable to PFAS. You wouldn’t necessarily be sick straight away but we don’t know the long term effects of higher PFOA levels. You don’t need a Brita specifically but carbon filtration is actually very effective. EPA actually lists carbon filters as an effective way of reducing chemical contamination.
Some older buildings still have lead pipes! I've lived in a large city with water that is condsidered safe, but in old apartment bulidings (70+ years old) for a long time. It's always been recommended to me to use a water filter that can filter out lead because at the moment lead pipes don't have to be disclosed (but lead paint has to be!). Soo many landlords will be sneaky about admitting there is lead in the pipes because they don't want to repalce the plumbing in the builiding. So even if the water is safe, a buliding's pipes might not be.
Very true. Brita's Elite (blue) filter does filter out lead and is changed every 6 months. You can check your pipes to see if they're lead by using a magnet I believe too, if you choose to google it.
I don’t worry about the safety of my water, but considering how much of it I drink, I need it to not taste like it came out of a swimming pool. The fridge filter works fine for that, but I did use a Brita pitcher when I lived in apartments and houses that didn’t have fridge filters and weren’t on a well.
I… need to change my filter. thanks for the reminder! We've been using a Brita pitcher for a decade at least, but we don't change the filter often. Why we use it - better tasting water, no buildup/residue in the kettle, and sometimes even a difference in color. We never buy bottled water, but we do drink a ton of filtered tap water. We use it for drinking, filling the kettle, and making ice. For general cooking we just use tap water. I'm fine with buying brita filters once a year. I was worried you were going to say they were owned by Nestlé lol
I have used Brita for about 5 years now & will never go back to drinking tap water or bottled water. I also have a portable brita water bottle with a filter for on the go
I think perspective is a big thing to point out as well. For most of North America our water is vastly cleaner and safer than the rest of the world. In many other countries, it's common for people to buy a water subscription for water they will use to cook and drink with. They can't even trust the water if they boil it due to containments present. Sometimes, you might be a brief boil advisory from your local water municipality due to maintenance work or changes in the system. These are normally resolved within a day and used as a precautionary measure. I do use(mainly for the piping since I rent) an under sink filter from a company called Hydroviv. They custom make filters based on available testing data from your local water company or regional watershed. Their filters last about 6 months and are a great option. Installation is also renter friendly unlike many other options.
The only reason that I personally use a Britta filter is because I want the water to be cold and my city water has a chlorinated taste. I have no impression that the filter makes it any safer.
@@FutureProofTV Gonna assume he means that he keeps it in the fridge. I do the same thing with a no-name tap container, no matter how long the sink is left on, it doesn't get as cold as it would in the fridge after a couple hours. I love my water ice cold and the filter has nothing to do with it, haven't replaced it in years And an edit after continuing the video, I've also come to the realization that maybe I should just toss the filter after years of crud buildup lol oops
The EPA has been underfunded for years, they dont have great oversight at this point. I'd rather not be in a Flint, MI situation, considering I live near MANY old iron and coal mines. Theres too many stories of things being "perfectly safe" until years later. The water tastes better, is easier on my kettle and makes myt coffee taste less metallic. (Update Edit) Was recently notified by my local municipality that I have lead in my water lines, so once again glad I have been using a filter that removes lead, especially for my cats.
I grew up in the midwest. My liquid intake was coffee, sweet tea, and pop(soda). It wasn't till I purchased a water filter till I started drinking just water. Sure most filters out there don't do much, but it gave me a healthier lifestyle. To me that is absolutely worth it.
While I respect the attempt, the video felt empty. For one, I do in fact replace bottles with filtered water. I was raised on bottled water (which is SUPER wasteful) and can't stand the taste of plain tap water (in my area). I use a Kirkland filter but it's essentially the same thing as Brita if we're being honest. Many are in my situation too! I also find that I drank less tap water due to taste (but again, I was spoiled, raised on bottled water). It also helps with my powder drink mixes since the water itself tastes more like nothing. Now when it comes to my cat? I have to keep the toilet lid closed because of her, so she doesn't care. I'm also willing to bed it's totally safe for her! Where I'm curious are the claims such as if a water filter can help prolong the lifespan of equipment (such as Keurig or Nespresso devices) as some will state, or if that's a bunch of BS. There are about 50 other topics that branch off this one and I get that this was meant to be a short form video, but it felt like you addressed a topic too broad that came down to "do your own research." Great, but... I ended the video feeling like I just got out of a meeting that should've been a two liner email. I think there's a lot of potential topics to branch off of this one, but I don't know if this quite made the mark. Then again, how do you in 15mins? I definitely understand the struggle with the constraints in place.
I know this is probably meant as a joke but those frogs changed their sex in response to chemicals in the water. Where did the chemicals come from? Fertilizer runoff. Unintentional but it wasn't some coordinated effort. Additionally that water gets cleaned and filtered before we drink it
Living in Denver, the house I'm in has lead pipes, the city sends us a Brita LongLast+ capable of filtering out the lead and has billboards of the importance of filtering out lead
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Adding my point of view from central European standpoint. We do have very safe and pretty good tasting tap water. And still, I do use Brita filter and I encouraged my friends and family to do so as well. At no point was the reason "tap water is unsafe/harmful". The reason is we have a hard water and Brita objectively helps me keep my electric kettle clean. Before I started using it, I had a limestone built up immedietely. When I invested into a fancy kettle, I also started filtering my water. Now I only need to clean the lime built up once every other year. The other reason is I am a coffee freak, and filtred water makes my coffee taste better. After all, 90-99% of my coffee is made of water, so it makes sense to use as clean and pure water as I can. As also an outdoorsy person, I have though about getting a filter for making clearer and safer water outdoor, but it never even crossed my mind that Brita would be a candidate for such activity. It still baffles my mind how different approach to such a simple thing as tap water is amont Europe and the US.
I've been using Brita filter travel bottles since like 2017. Using a bottle means I'm not using about 1000+ disposable plastic bottles every year, and regardless of where I go, I can fill up from the tap and have clean* (or at least better tasting) water. I've never liked the taste of tap water and these bottles help a lot. The only problem, is that these Brita bottles are terribly designed. I use the older design that they discontinued (the black bottle at 9:45 in the video) because the mouthpiece is a hard plastic (it has a rubber piece over it that I take off because it gets gunked up) and is easier to clean, the lid has a tendency to leak though. The new bottles have a completely rubber mouthpiece and the texture is kind of porous, so it get's gunked up really easily and could be very unsafe, but the lid doesn't leak. I've contacted Brita about these issues and they're just like "sorry pal, get fucked". I dropped my bottle one time and cracked the lid, so I asked if they sold replacement lids or if I had to buy a whole new bottle. They also said to get fucked. So much for being more environmentally friendly. If anyone knows of a better alternative to these things then let me know.
I've been using my Brita jug for going on 20 years. I noticed when they changed the instructions from "replace filter every four months" to "every 3 months" to (now) "every 2 months". The very tiny fine print says "...based on 11 glasses a day of average use". It's a cash grab. I change the filter every 6 months, based on 2-3 glasses a day. Apparently the new jugs won't even let you get away with that.
This video misses one of the big selling points of pitcher filters, which is for low-volume filtration e.g. for tea/coffee making. My tap water (I live in Berlin, Germany) is absolutely fine for drinking but it dulls the flavor of coffee. I don't need a countertop filter because for drinking and cooking, my tap water is fine, it's only when I make tea/coffee that I use the pitchers. In this case, I am indeed making a choice based on what's wrong with my water (ridiculously hard) but there's not enough in the video to show that pitchers do have their place. A more practical advice for using pitchers is ignore the replacement indicator and go by taste / limescale buildup in your water heating vessels.
I'm just so flabbergasted that most people don't even read the fine print on the boxes of these Brita filters. It clearly states that Brita doesn't clean the water, it only alters the taste to make the water taste better. But those who purchase this product with their eyes closed are only putting tons of money in Britta's pocket. Research is key, and investing in a good water filtration system as you mentioned is good once we test our water to see what's needed.
Ever since I got pregnant I’ve had some kind of intolerance to tap water, it gives me a horrible nausea. Filters helped a bit but at the end I had to start buying bottled spring water (and only some brands seem to be fine). I don’t know if it has something to do with the fluoride/chlorine thing but for sure the filters didn’t help too much 🥲 I live in Quebec btw and used to drink tap water just fine
brita changed my life, not trying to sound like a salesperson XD. depression + disabilities make me hate getting up to get water. i hate the taste of tap, hate wasting money on water bottles, so i just bought the brita pitcher one day on a whim. tastes great, i drink so much water (im not dehydrated anymore!), migraines went away, and i'm a lot happier. who would've guess fulfilling my body's needs would make such a huge impact /s
I have a video dedicated for testing Brita Water Filter with 3 experiments, I tested it under microscope with tap water, dirt water and water full of microbes. If anyone finds it useful, you can check it out in my channel.
Just for reference, where I grew up we get the water from a well because the property is not connected to communal water (its a farm in the middle of nowhere). The filter system alone (not including the pumps, glassfiber tanks, the actual digging of the well and everything else required) was about 8000 dollars and it requires 2 filters to be changed every 2 weeks, which are about 20 dollars each. It also requires annual lab testing. My point is that doing proper water filtering on a small scale is incredibly expensive, requires alot of upkeep and infrastructure. Forgive me if I dont see the big need for a jug that filters your drinking water, even if (or especially if) you are connected to actual communal water that is filtered industrially at large scale, which tends to be better.
I thought it was common knowledge that these types of water filters are only designed to remove limescale and that the benefits of having one are that your kettle and other appliances don't fur up with residue. I was never under presumption that these types of filters can filter out pathogens or contaminants. If you shake the filter then it feels like it just contains grit or something, i.e. something that's suitable for filtering out large-ish chucks of white chalky rock, which, if the problem's bad enough in your area, may even be visible enough to see floating in a glass of water filled from the tap. There's nothing technologically sophisticated enough inside these filters to separate out anything as small as stuff that exists on the microbial level let alone the molecular level. You'd need completely different tech for that, though if you don't mind the water being hot then boiling it will kill almost all pathogens. Many people even prefer to drink water with a certain amount of limescale left in because some parts of my country which have tap waters which are prized as being the best tasting are the ones which contain higher levels of mineral content. It's what all those companies selling bottles of mineral water are counting on!
I brita filter my water and I even give my cat brita-filtered water because the water is so hard in my area that it gave my friend's rabbit kidney problems. Cats are susceptible to kidney problems too, so I figure it's a minimal cost to keep my cat healthy
Gidday. I don’t use Brita filters anymore but for many years, I had to rely on them. I lived in a rural area. Our town water was hard bore water that was undrinkable, so we had to rely on rainwater. With rainwater, it becomes contaminated when it hits your roof and gutters, because birds and bats like to poop on it. To make our drinking water safe, I had to use Brita filters to filter out the solid waste and then boil and cool it to eliminate the bacteria. You may think was difficult but I had a routine for this. We did buy a side-by-side fridge with a filter but the filters had to be constantly replaced. Brita turned out to be a cheaper option. I still have my Brita jug. I don’t need it because the city water where I live is extremely good. As a prepper, I keep my jug because you can replace the filter with charcoal. It works the same and can be used in an emergency. The simple charcoal pieces you buy at hardware stores will suffice.
Brita isn't my brand, but I do use a water filter. I mostly use it for taste, but after Flint, as well as living in a small town in Michigan... well, the imagination can run wild. I would be lying to say that it didn't give me peace of mind. And besides, as someone who used to go through an entire case of water bottles a week, to zero plastic water bottles, I'm not losing any sleep over using my pitcher filter.😂
Someone else mentioned as well, but I use my pitcher for making my coffee. If I use straight tap, I have to descale my coffee maker or kettles frequently. Switched to a Britta just for those and it has been well over a year since I have had to descale. There is no buildup in either. I drink the tap water straight up, and if I compare to the water from the pitcher, the difference is not really noticeable taste wise.
Also, Terracycle, the recycling program Brita is partnered with, settled a class-action lawsuit about lying about the recyclability of its products back in 2021. Also, I've tried, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to recycle the stuff. I went to the website several times, and the only button I can find remotely related to actually recycling the stuff is the "sign up for waitlist" button. WTF, Terracycle.
We use a jug filter, and it makes such a big difference. Our water tastes so much purer and pleasant. The nasty chlorine/fluoride taste from unfiltered city water is gone.
I'm perfectly fine with the water from our tap in the UK in terms of safety, but I do use a Brita filter. The reason is that I have very hard water. Known it for a while just based on the amount of descaling needed for my kettle, but when I brough my dishwasher a couple of years ago it had a water test kit with it which is just a test strip to indicate the hardness level of the water. The result of ours was the highest, meaning my dishwasher "water hardness" level is set to the maximum of 5. This tells the dishwasher to use the maximum amount of dishwasher salt to help prevent limescale build up. So as well as improving the taste for things like tea, I use a filter for my hot water dispenser (has a Brita filtered reservoir of it's own), plus I use the filtered water from the jug to fill my coffee machine too. With my dishwasher using salt and my hot water dispenser/coffee machine using filtered water it seems to help hugely with preventing limescale, therefore extending the life of the appliances which is good for the environment. I do replace the filters when they indicate they should be replaced, and for plain water or delicate teas (I'm a Brit after all) I genuinely can tell the difference in taste - our water is that hard. In fact if I wasn't renting I would seriously consider having a filter on the water mains coming into the house to help prevent limescale on showers, washing machine etc. Is Brita the best one for just making my water softer? Probably not. Can I be bothered to find a slightly better one? Not really... If someone wants to point to a better brand for hard water filtration then that'd be great. If I lived somewhere with soft / medium water I wouldn't bother with a filter at all however.
In Lithuania, and in Bulgaria, where my parents live, the water is so heavy the kettle becomes covered in plaque (?) after like a day of usage. And in some places the water tastes and smells really bad too. So we've been using Brita for around 3 yrs consecutively, not for the brand specifically but bc it goes on discounts and is the most widely available type of filter here. It really helps a lot. Don't know about muricans though.
I'm on well water, and the Britta filters help me have peice of mind on the larger particles in my well. Without it, my water tends to taste terrible, and have a kind of chalky taste. For the smaller particles the filter doesent get, I regularly test my well just to make sure it's not got issues. I also run both a faucet filter and a pitcher filter on my water. Filters are significantly less helpful, or possibly even worthless on good city tap water, but they are more 11:23 useful for those of us on wells.
A lot of people I know use brita etc filters to help with the chlorine taste. Since chlorine evaporates out of water, they could also just put water in a jug and let it sit for a while, maybe shake/stir it up a bit... I'm in Vancouver where our water's super soft, so there's basically no minerals you'd need to remove, it's really just the chlorine, and if you get get that sorted then our water is some of the most delicious and safe water anywhere in the world!
I did some checking, and it turns out in cities your water is extremely likely to be pure. However, in rural areas, you get lots of pesticide and fertilizer runoff from farms in your water.
The whole reason to use a water filter from the tap is to reduce the amount of calcium that is present in the water so that things like your kettle or pots will not have residue build up and you won't need to replace or clean those nearly as often as you'd usually have to do it. Also so that you won't develop kidney stones after many years of drinking water that is considered too hard.
I live in the south east of the UK. A very hard water area. My tea tastes seriously gross if the water isn’t filtered. (There’s even a film across the top of the drink). There’s absolutely nothing harmful, about the water, it just tastes SO MUCH better filtered…. We know when the filter needs changing because you can start see the limescale deposits in the kettle after boiling water.
I personally use a brita filter because it makes my water taste better, the city water in my area has a bit of a metallic taste. As for standard Brita Filters not being a lead water filter.. that's a bit disingenuous as water filters that filter lead are much more expensive than a standard brita filter. So it's asking a bit much for the price imo. Note: Brita does have a filter that filters lead it is just much more expensive
A few years back the location I was living in the tap water had a strong chlorine smell out of the faucet so we started using filters. I still use a filter where we live now, but it's not as big of a situation where I live now. We also don't use brita, but instead use a different brand that we like a lot more(I don't remember the brand offhand)
Need for it really depends on the location, even up to building itself (the piping in it). I quite often had heartburn cuz of hard water until i started to use any sort of filter for it, and it quickly went away. Will the jug filter "un-poison" the water? Nah, but it will soften it a bit if that is concern for the tapwater.
Yeah, my tap water tastes a bit shit. I live near a paper mill and the water can taste… a little ass, honestly. Like how the mill smells… Tastes just fine when filtered though.
I live in the Philippines. Most of us drink mineral water which is cheaper than distilled and purified water (about ₱20 or ₱25 per gallon). Water that comes out from our faucets are safe for taking a bath, cleaning the dishes, and doing the laundry but not for drinking (even if it's treated already with chlorine) so the safest and cheapest way to have safe drinking water is buying mineral water.
This is a weird take. It's not just the water quality from the plant, but older neighborhoods, especially in lower income areas have deteriorating lead pipes in their homes. The water isn't safe for babies and probably not for children either. A 20$ filter sure costs a lot less than replacing the pipes through your yard and your whole entire house. This is happening in normal cities all over.
2:43 It's important to note that John's theory about cholera being caused by contaminated water was outright refused by his peers and the government. To accept his proposal would have meant indirectly accepting the fecal-oral route of disease transmission, which was too unpleasant for most of the public to contemplate. It was only in 1866, 8 years after Snow had died from a stroke, that one of his main opponents realized the validity of John's diagnosis.
Yep, I just use filters because the water doesn't taste as good from the tap and taste horrible at work. I used to bring 2 64oz bottle of water from home that I dispensed from our fridge, which has a filter, for about a year cause I couldn't stand the taste of the water at work. Eventually I found a filtered water bottle so now my back doesn't take a toll anymore lugging around a gallon of water every day and I get a few more steps in filling the bottle up.
I live in a country with grade A drinking water out of every tab (that's ridiculous, because we also water our plants, wash our cars, and flush our toilets with it), but I still wasn't 100% sure, if it really was as clean, as store bought water, so I bought my water in bottles. I bought it in plastic bottles, because the water itself was heavy as F itself, without being contained in heavy glass bottles. Then I learned, that water in plastic bottles absorbs nasty stuff from the plastic bottle. The water out the tap is free from this. So I paid to let my tab water being tested. I did it online, it costs a few bucks. They send you a vile, you fill it up, send it back, and receive an analysis a few days later. 100% perfect. At least as good as glass bottled water, only 1/10 the price and all I can drink, already in my home. I like sparkling water, so I bought a cheap bubbler. Never bought water again.
I'm actually astounded that the term "Hard Water" didn't show up in this video. One can agree that municipal water is largely safe but not like the taste of their water, OR would prefer their coffee maker not calcify after a week. I don't have very Hard water anymore but I still use a Brita and Fridge filtration for better tasting water. I also make SD bread and Kombucha. The same chlorine that's meant to kill harmful bacteria could kill Lacto bateria used to make delicious food. Why is taste not a consideration for such a low cost filtration solution?
I suspect that, like me, most people filter their water because (1) they prefer the taste and feel of bottled water to their tap water and (2) bottled water got too expensive. I myself take a hybrid approach: I no longer buy large bottles of water anymore, but I do buy large packs of 16oz bottles and use them with Mio Energy as a substitute for caffeinated sodas. I use a Brita pitcher for my household water-drinking (i.e., from a cup rather than a small bottle), and I also use the pitcher to refill small bottles that I haven't fully consumed. To save on filter costs (and because I'm using the filter for aesthetic rather than health reasons), I use regular filters but program the Brita picture fill counter for long-lasting filters to ensure I make full use of the filters.
I think most people are just looking for better tasting water honestly. So I end up using a filter. And I love Brazilian clay filters. Which is probably the best in the world, and it’s eco friendly.
A large amount of lead drinking water pipes are homeowner pipes, particularly the main pipe underground that ties into the water meter and brings the water into the home underground. Municipalities have largely replaced or coated their lead lines to make them safe but it is very difficult and expensive for homeowners to replace the main supply line that is under their house. As for water companies only testing certain taps and waiting 5 min before testing; that is exactly how the EPA tells them to test. It is actually more comprehensive to test 5 min after turning the water on because the water that comes out at first is most likely been sitting in the newest and safest part of your plumbing system and the water that has been sitting in your old pipes, soaking up the bad stuff, is 5 min behind. As for only testing certain faucets, that is because water coming from a sink in a garage for example would be exposed to many potential contaminates that have nothing to do with the water supply. There are plenty of examples of bad water in the US but also if you get your water from your city than they are doing regular testing and will notify you of any contamination in the water.
i love your videos , but i am not typically from your audience demographic table. I am from India. Just a request, if can make some videos about brands from this side of the world too. the way you explain and your research is amazing and your videos have been an important source of knowledge as well as a portal to understand the west. thanks for all that. cheers
The tap water in my apartment comes out brown at first so I've learned to just let it run for a minute before I do anything with it. But I also have a Berkey filter I use for my drinking and coffee water.
This might be the only thing I do splurge on so NO LEVI, you won't stop me from filtering my water OKAY! To be honest, the only reason I filter it is for taste and my Costco Knockoff filters (that are most likely just rebranded Brita filters) make my woter taste better.
I used to live in this neighbourhood that had the absolute worst tasting water ever because the amount of chemicals in the water was scratching the legal limits. Tried a Britta and didn't help the taste at all. Berlin in general has notoriously hard water, and now I only use it to prevent my electric kettle or coffee machine from forming limescale
In New York I always just drank tap water, but then I moved out of state and the water just didn't taste good and I bought bottled water all the time. Replaced that with a Brita and it seems to do the trick, since I don't notice any bad taste when it's filtered.
Important to note that Republicans who talk about abolishing the EPA are, by extension, talking about removing the legal protections that ensure your drinking water is not going to kill you.
tap water is safe from things that may make you sick but depending on where you live it can just taste so bad that you just dont want to drink it, where i live in the UK the water has a really bad chalky metalic and occasionally clorine aftertaste that makes me want to gag, so i use a filter jug as it removes that extreamly unplesant chalky metalic aftertaste, it also cuts down the amount of limescale build up in my coffee maker and kettle, increasin the appliances lifespan and saving me money in the long run. im mainly a tea drinker so extending the life of my kettle is a big plus, another reason i filter the water is drinking herbal teas the minirels and metals in the water can taint the taste of the tea and it can make some of the more subtle teas in my collection taste really awful.
I had a brita pitcher in college because the town's water was really questionable (i remember one time it was slightly brown and bubbly???) but now that I live outside of that town... Nah, sink water's fine
Just FYI chlorine evaporates naturally, so getting tap water and letting it stand for a while would remove chlorine anyway... even if it's not brita and chlorine is a big cause of a lot of the taste of water
My wife and I did a blind taste test of tap water, filtered refrigerator water, 5 stage filtered water and distilled water. It was incredibly easy to tell the difference between each of them and she had to admit it was best to install the 5 stage filter
I live in CO and have clean, beautiful tap water. BUT. The water in my house is REALLY hard. Like, you can taste the minerals. It's not BAD but it definitely has a taste and isn't really pleasant to drink. I got a filtered pitcher and costco knock off replacement filters and it just helps me drink more water.
I ended up switching to buying reverse osmosis water from my local crunchy granola store in reusable 5 gal containers after a year of constant GI issues that mysteriously cleared up the moment I stopped drinking the tap water. Our best guess was elevated levels of copper (a known source of GI distress if ingested), either from aging corroding pipes or electrical wiring improperly grounded on said pipes, causing oxidization. We had been filtering it for taste with a pitcher filter, but it evidently did not remove whatever the trouble contaminant was. Either way, a week after I stopped drinking the tap water, I stopped being sick. Haven't had the nerve to go back to filtered tap, even though we've since moved to another apt. building.
I conduct food safety audits manufacturing plants for my work. My audit consists of checking water testing results. Every county in the USA is required to publish their water testing results publically on their website. If you live in the USA and use public water, your county publishes your water testing results. I've been doing this job for 15 years. Our water is generally ok in the USA. Well water requires testing too but the government doesn't have to pay for this.
I have an extremely sensitive palette to water, even those from a bottle. Im the weord type that could do a blind water taste test and do pretty well. I had to use a filter in my dorm dueing college, not because the water was in anyway bad for me, but purely because it tasted so bad and even messed with the taste of the food and beverages I used it for. It was most likely quite hard of water, as the way it interacted with the dishes points to, but man, it just made everything it touched taste worse.
In my city, we're currently going through a phase where all the algae in our reservoir is dying and rotting, causing our water to taste like mold and dirt, attributed to the chemical compound known as geosmin. It's at the point where if you run warm water to wash your hands, or you take a warm shower, you're smelling that geosmin smell. Geosmin is completely harmless, but extremely off putting. A traditional Brita pitcher works pretty well to eliminate the disgusting taste/smell.
Most of my life I've had "city water" and drank from the tap. In fact, at present, I have city water and drink from the tap. My city even sends us the results of their water testing every year. There were, however, 20 years where I lived in a home with a private well. Nothing toxic about that water, either - it was tested every 6 months and it actually had less bacteria and unpleasant crap than city water. However, we did use a Britta at that home because what that water did have was a LOT of minerals. Drink from that well and you'd never have iron-deficiency anemia. The Britta did a decent job of reducing the excess level of minerals as well as the orange tint from the water, and the replacement filters were easy to get in our area. So we'd filter the water for drinking and cooking purely for taste. Which strikes me as a decent reason to have such a thing, and less of a headache/expense than what some of the other people in the neighborhood did, which was to buy lots and lots of bottled water in individual servicing sized bottles. But like I said, now that I have city water why bother? I'm back to drinking from the tap. Marketing has made people fear some of the best/safest water on the planet, it's sad and ridiculous.
I grew up in a major east coast city with fantastic water (in a house with every conceivable type of plumbing. The water tasted great. later my parents moved to a suburban town & had to filter their water. Four years ago I moved to a ring city outside my home city. The water which came from the same source as the big city tasted horrible so I bought a jug filter. Recently I got a notice from my municipality that we have elevated levels of lead in our water!
Well I would use a pitcher for my water though, but the reason is that the city really is afraid of frozen water pipes, so they have put a lot of heaters or frostguards on them, powered by electricity. The end result is that often you get really hot water when you open the tap year round, and where it will be warm first, then go cold before it gets really warm a second time. So, you will either have to leave the tap running at full blast for a minute to get cold water, or put it in a pitcher in the fridge.
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I used to think it was stupid. Then I moved to an area with bad tasting water. It was so bad I was tempted to buy bottled water. Instead I got a Brita & saved all those plastic bottles. It also helped my house plants.
Is my tap water safe? Yes! Do I still use a water filter? YES!
You realise that just because the water tastes ok it does not mean it's safe right? Cadmium, lead literally any toxin is not detectable by taste. The US has the worst water quality nationally of any developed nation. Please check as it really is dependant on area. Erin Brockavich movie is literally on water poisoning
Similar thing happen to me, I used to drink water from the tap and then I moved to flat in old building were tap water taste bad. I have something like Brita and filter for shower. If my water would be better I would drink from tap.
I used to think it was silly. Then, my area got higher levels of Geosmine and MIB in the water. The council has told us to just add citrus, which doesn't do anything.
Their reasoning is that because the compounds don't make you sick. Instead, they just make the water smell and taste worse. It isn't worth fixing.
We live in an area with horrible tasting water. When I became pregnant, I went from being able to tolerate it to it causing my nausea to get way worse. Been using a filter and it's so much better.
@@ladyauri There are filters that can be installed between the tap and the waterways, you may want to look into those.
Hard water affects how coffee is extracted from the grounds. Using a filter legit makes my coffee taste better.
And vodka
Using alkaline water to make cold brew results in even less acidity.
Brita filters don't soften water
@@mack.attackTell that to the limescale that builds up in my electric kettle if I don't use a filter.
Hard water for bathing can also increase problems with skin, hair, and nails especially if your skin is sensitive / has a condition, first hand experience on the difference after getting a filter (not brita related, but still)
It really depends on where you live. In our town in NJ they told us last year that it was discovered that lots of kids had increased levels of lead. They tested water and it turns out for over a year water was not fit to consume this whole time. And we only learned a year later! We only drank filtered water. And will continue to do so. Because I don’t trust the city government. And I have a kid now. So, unless we live in a Switzerland, I’m not drinking from the tap.
That's actually wild... I don't know about the purity of Swiss water but you would think that stuff would be pretty primo. 👍🏻
Per a quick google search, NJ has 115 active Superfund sites, and 35 other sites have been remediated. I use Brita pitchers for taste as much as health, because my tap water has strong chemical tastes and odors, and neighborhood water mains replacements in recent years have repeatedly inundated the pipes with muddy sediments that heavily fouls and discolors the water. (When that construction work is in progress, the utility hangs a warning notice on every residence's front doorknob.)
I’m living in Geneva, Switzerland. Our tap water is indeed excellent.
@@Belinda-bs8qbwhat are those blue filters? I live in a smaller older city in Quebec & suspect there is lead in our water because the infrastructure is morr than a century old. I've used the standard brita filter for 2 years 😮
Same. The place my dad lives has lead in the water as well, so I definitely used a Brita filter all the time.
I don't use a filter to make it "safer" I use it to soften the water and get less limescale build up on my appliances. After learning how much chlorine is in our tap water I started drinking RO water from the water fill stations now I understand it doesn't get rid of 100% of things but it is far better than just the tap water treated by the local water utility, too many people throwing hazards down the drains and flushed down the toilet.
Apparently heaps of drugs and steroids cannot be filtered by current systems so kids are drinking antibiotics, pesticides and pharmaceutical estrogen. No wonder the age of pubescence is so early now.
Same here
Not to mention they are recycling and filtering sewer water.
You can get rid of the chlorine just by letting the water sit for a few hours, open to the air (say, in a bottle with the lid off). The chlorine will evaporate off.
You do realize that the whole point of drinking treatment plants is to remove contaminants from the water right?
Water that goes down a drains and toilets goes into a wastewater treatment plant that makes it safe to discharge to the environment, and then even if the drinking water source is surface water, it is filtered again to make sure if is safe to drink. These processes are quite rigorous and highly regulated to ensure safety. There may be off taste from Chlorine there to keep it free of bacteria, but it is safe to drink by all known science. Bottled water has far less rigorous regulations surrounding it and most of it is just "filtered" tap water.
Reverse osmosis is a great technology to get the purist water, but it is super energy intensive and impractical at large scale.
Don’t agree with the point that Britas aren’t replacing water bottles but tap water. My family used to buy water bottles to drink at home and would make incredible amounts of trash bottles by the end of the month. Since I ibtroduced them to a Brita they bought each a metal bottle and refill it with water from the Brita
I completely agree. I grew up drinking tap water and never had an issue with it, but when I moved to a bigger city for college I noticed that the tap water definitely tasted much worse, but I would still drink it. When I met my husband though, he would absolutely refuse to drink tap water. He hates the taste, and he also needs his water to be frigidly ice cold. We used to buy multiple cases of bottled water when we would go grocery shopping, and I just couldn't stand the way the bottles would build up in our bin, and that was just from 2 people drinking water! We switched to metal bottles and one of those dispenser water filters that we keep in the fridge years ago and we've probably saved hundreds of water bottles from the trash in that time.
Interesting, I think you might be in the minority of people who drink bottled water at home? Maybe that's not true though I don't know. Glad the brita has helped though!
@@FutureProofTV In the part of California where I've lived, everyone either uses bottled water, or brings their large bottles to water filling places, either independent ones or at a wholefoods type place. Drinking tap water is unheard of. I have always been a tap water drinker (coming from the more northern parts of the states) but then switched to Brita, which doesn't really help either, it is full of bacteria that make you sick.
I’ve had a similar experience in California. My father always bought cases upon cases of bottles of water as I was growing up. Interestingly enough we eventually installed a replaceable filter into the underside of the sink and my father still refuses to drink from it. No matter how much we complained you can’t remove distrust of a state that easily
@@FutureProofTVa lot of people still drink bottle water at home lol
I believe I mentioned this on the Future Proof Health video as well: The reason my father drinks filtered water is not one of taste (although it helps), but one of health: Once upon a time, he had well water (not city water) due to where he lives, but as time went on, they eventually hooked him up over time to the city's lines, however, the water in the area contains an excessive amount of calcium compared to other water in other areas of the Midwest. If he doesn't filter the water, he gets massive kidney stones. By filtering the water, he cuts down on that risk. Has worked for him for years.
I've moved place to place (state to state) with our Brita pitcher as a back up in case the water is gross since we rent everywhere we go. So far, we've lucked out with the taste of tap water. In most instances, most places had a filter installed already on their faucet or within the fridge unit, so it wasn't an issue. And yes, I am signed up with Terracycle to recycle our filters as I use them, although I don't go through them nearly as fast as perhaps an average user would since I use the pitcher as a backup.
Thanks for this story, and thanks for doing the extra step to recycle too haha 🙏🏻
True, though sadly, nomadic yuppies are destroying the world.
Yeah, but I don't take advice from the dead. Think about it, "Future Proof" would mean you resist having a future, which would make you a corpse.
Yeah back in the day, my dad used to take 16 gallon jugs to my grandma’s house every week and get her city water because we had a well and the doctor told him that since we had a water softener, the salt in it would be bad for his high blood pressure.
@@ginglebret Ha ha, unfortunately for us, we move due to my spouse's job. It's every few years, though. It's a stable income, just has to occur at the expense of pulling up our roots every few years. I don't think I have any interest in doing van life or being a digital nomad (or anything like that). Just trying to stay afloat until we can find a small patch of land in retirement where we can maybe homestead and build a modest home (hopefully with decent water, too).
I live in Belgium, which have one of the best drinking tap water in the European Union, it is to the point that using tap water for baby milk powder is 100% safe, but I still use Britta to filter out some of the limescale that is rather larger in quanity (20-30 mg/l) in my region.
There are no risks due to the limescale, at all. But it does make the cleaning of my coffee machine, kettles, ... all so easier if there is less of it. And I really dislike using the citric acide to clean my appliances, it leaves that highly tart taste for a least a couple of full runs after each cleaning.
That's a good point! It's not always about those big health issues 👍🏻
Just curious, wouldn't washing the dishes cause the most limescale build up?
I only just found out by watching this video and reading the comments that there are people who use the filters for other things than reducing limescale buildup.
@@sethpolevoi4027 Yes and no, I use a dishwasher which also have mineral salt and other cleaning agents that help against the limescale build up. And in most households (at least in Belgium) we towel dry the dishes so they don't take up that much space near the sink.
Most houses are a lot smaller in Europe compared to the US.
I came to the comments to say the same thing. Hello, fellow Belgian!
In the Philippines, we don't exactly have drinkable tap water, but we do have a massive industry of water companies that sell 5 gallons of water (not sure why we use gallons since we're a metric country). The containers are reusable and washable. It comes in 2 configurations: round, and square. They're commercially filtered by reverse osmosis. Much better to buy from them rather than using your own filters because it's still cheaper to buy from them than the cost of a residential filter.
I don't drink water, not even filtered water. I drink tea. However I have found that filtering the water I use in my electric tea kettle leaves less hard water mineral build up on the kettle. My daughter uses filtered water to reduce mineral build up in her coffee maker. Since neither she nor I have the overall need for a full house water softener, this is an easy fix for the few appliances that consistently has otherwise hard water run through it.
Hard water buildup here, too! I'd love a whole home softener, but I can't afford it. Nothing wrong with using a Brita filter to help with that.
>i don't drink water
@@KylirrI don’t understand some people
joke about the first sentence aside, i can attest this is an actual thing.
on tangent, i also have read the mineral, well for bathing water, will affect how your soap lathers more easily or not.
Drink water
I will not stop using a filter, it tastes better. The taste of the tap water at my house is the only reason i didn't drink it that much
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at the end of the day as long as people are gettin hydrated it's a net positive tbh
When I lived in Texas I didn't care much for my tap water's taste though it was okay. But because of the heat it rarely got very cold & constantly making/using ice cubes was a pain. Ended up with one of those big Brita pitchers that sits on the shelf with a little spigot. As long as I top it off before bed I always have nearly ice cold good tasting water on tap in the fridge.
Tap water tastes good where I live now but I still like having my extra cold water from the fridge
@@FutureProofTV In summer I usually fill from my fridge and in winter I just get it from the tap directly. The smell and flavor of the water treatments is a bit too much in summer.
Thoughts on fridge filters (Instead of 3-6 month change I'm more of a 3-6 years) or in-line filters like Culligans options
@@ThomasSorensen1 I have the same setup as you. I have one single gallon jug that I refill with tap water and keep in the fridge. When my Brita gets low, I pour the chilled water into it. This ensures I have the coldest water no matter the time I refill.
Yeah, the tap water taste and smells funny where I live.
With the mass deregulation of ground water protections, (which I ask, who is that supposed to benefit? It’s not the U.S. citizens) AND the further deregulation of penalties for oil companies that engage in fracking, which has been shown to contaminate water sources, you can never know if another situation like Flint, Michigan will happen to another metro city.
Consumers benefit from deregulation. Regulations don't protect us from anything and add unnecessary costs for the consumers. And fracking doesn't effect ground water, that's just a fake crisis pushed by environmentalists so they have something to protect us against.
Spot on. The mantra "America has the best _______" and "America is the greatest country in the world" breeds complacency and compliant citizens. Too many Americans believe it is as good as it gets, so can't ask for better.
Cracking companies kept trying to convince Oklahoma and zoo were suffering from Earthquakes for years that the fracking wasn't causing the Earthquakes when it only started happening in Oklahoma once they started fracking and then stopped happening once they stopped fracking. Literally large a** lawsuits of them even bringing in scientists that they've paid 42 state that fracting couldn't possibly cause the earthquakes or hurt the groundwater literally the earthquakes caused by the fracking ended up splitting a well that was providing water to an eagle rehabilitation center and ended up killing eagles on mass because the groundwater had become contaminated
The short version is that if you're in doubt about the quality of your water due to the taste, there's an uncomfortably high chance that your city has serious water quality issues that haven't been reported yet. My stance is that I'm better safe than sorry. I can definitely taste the difference between tap water and filtered water, so I'm going to keep filtering my water.
For me, I live in an apartment where maintenance replaces the fridge filter every few months, which means it's easy and more environmentally friendly than pitchers. But it's good to know that there are under-the-sink options for when I eventually become responsible for my own water supply. I'm not a big fan of how difficult some of those pitchers are to clean.
The Flint, Michigan case is an extremely unique case of negligence of the people in charge managing the water treatment system and has nothing to do with fracking or groundwater contamination.
They changed the water source to a more corrosive source (Flint River). The water leaving the treatment plant was safe to drink, but they did not think carefully about how the distribution system would be affected by the more corrosive water. This lead to distribution pipes corroding which caused old lead pipes and other contaminants to leech into the water after the treatment plant.
Flint was a failure on all the people in charge to both identify this would be problematic from an engineering level and to communicate this to the public as soon as they were aware.
Two useful things about filtering jugs:
1 - If the timer on your Brita jug runs out of battery or stops working for whatever reason, you don't need to replace the whole jug - Brita sends those timers for free to anyone, just call your local infoline and give them your address, they will mail a new timer to you.
2 - I can recommend looking online for cheaper alternatives that are not made by Brita, as they do have a price markup for being the most recognizable brand and other brands can be even few times cheaper. If you already have a jug, some companies make filters that also fit into Brita jugs, especially the older ones, as Brita does implement some modifications in design to prevent this. Best to read the description of the filter, they tend to provide instruction on what to look for to tell if their filter will fit your jug or not.
For 1, I removed the battery and go by taste now. If the water tastes similar to my tap water, I know it's time to replace it.
Hey this is good info, thanks for sharing here!
I highly recommend Clear Genius as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative. Their filters just let you replace the filter pod and not all the plastic.
I have a timer my self, I live alone, so I just put it on my agenda and when the time has pass, I change the filter
Sry, but locking the explanation behind why Future Proof health was closed behind a paywall on Patreon is a rly weird decision. As someone who likes both channels, a simple "hey this is whats going on" instead of having to pay 5 bucks for it, would have been nice.
Yeah I was thinking this too
yeah its really a poor decision but i guess thats how they think they'll make money. im curious about what happened but im not 5 bucks curious. some people might think 5 bucks is a small price to pay but it makes a difference when you live in a 3rd world country
@@henrylanonI agree, as a person who lives in America.
@@henrylanon It isn't made for people living in a third world country.
I know, right? We are closing down, pay $5 to know why is the weirdest money making idea I've seen so far on YT lol
I tested my water with my Uncle who is an expert. The result was: my tap water was healthier than most of the mineral bottled waters we tested. Most of them even contained chlorine and some plastic particles.
How did you test the water? Are there kits a person can purchase, and are some more reliable than others? I'm very interested in having pure drinking water too.
Chlorine in trace amounts is pretty natural in trace amounts and even neccesary for health (used for stomach acid and nerve function). Tap water companies usually elevate the levels pretty how for anti-microbial reasons and that can form pretty nasty compounds though... Plastic particlse are pretty typical, those get *everywhere*. Interesting that your tap water is safer though
@@Mallchad "Chlorine in trace amounts is pretty natural in trace amounts"
I couldn't have said it better.
I don't see your tap water being safer then bottled water as bottled water have very high checks to what goes in the there water as it is all removed with reverse osmosis then they add in the metals and chlorine as all drinking water has chlorine to stop anything growing like fungus or algae. And for the plastic it is in everything and i mean everything very small but has gotten in every thing we eat and drink there is no avoiding micro plastics now.
@@elemenopi55 - I just decided to leave tap water for washing clothes and bathing. I bought a three gallon bottle and fill it at WalMart for $1.20. They have a machine there that filters the water through osmosis. I use the bottled water for drinking and cooking. It lasts about a week. Not an optimal solution but good enough
The tap water in our area is particularly clean and I use it for everyday drinking and cooking.
But when it comes to heating water in a kettle, particularly for brewing coffee, I always use filtered water. Not only does my coffee taste better with filtered water, it significantly reduces the limescale buildup in my kettle.
I find a brita style filter system is the most practical for my needs.
Edit: we have since moved to using Zero Water, seems to do a better job in mitigating the scale issue in the bottom of our kettle than Brita.
the issue for example in nyc is that even though the tap water is clean, the decades old pipes inside the building is the major problem. This is not an issue for for buildings but most buildings were built before the 80s when lead pipes were phased out.
How do you know it is clean? Hoave you sent it off to a lab
@chefgav1 we used several water quality testers, for suspended particles, trace minerals / metals, etc.
They are fairly easy to use and it is recommended you test your water on a regular basis.
These points have been touched upon, but (1) we mainly use filtered water because when we moved to the Washington, DC area we were shocked at how funky the tap water tasted, even though we didn’t seriously doubt its safety, (2) we’ve found that filtering the water also reduces the rate that lime scale develops in our kettle, which is a bonus, (3) now that we own our home, we have a dedicated under sink filter system that’s nice because it filters in real time and has an alert when it’s time to change the filters (with the capacity for larger, rechargeable, and/or replaceable batteries or other power supply to make sure it actually functions), but that wasn’t really a convenient option when we were renting, so we used britta pitchers, and (4) not to mix FutureProof videos, but filtered water + a hydro flask bottle has replaced plastic bottled water on innumerable occasions.
I recommend zero water over Brita as Brita removes so little amount and is only good for removing small amount for limescale on things that's it they are useless for the cost.
DC water, which we use for cooking, is largely processed sewer water, ironically since DC gets a steady 3-4" a month rainfall year round, very stable, but not enough for the 6-8M or so people in the greater DC area who want to take a daily shower and have other such First World concerns. Also some DC area pipes are old and have Pb in them, which you cannot really taste (it tastes sweet actually from what I've read). Enjoy your drink!
I’m also in DC and was similarly shocked at how awful the water here tastes. It’s musty, or for the 6 weeks a year when they triple the treatment chemicals, like pool water. Honestly, the Brita filter only really works when it’s brand new. After a week it starts to taste nasty again. I unfortunately buy almost all my drinking water now.
In my experience, most people are a) using Brita filters instead of bottled water, and yes, lots of people drink bottled water at home because b) safe water is not necessarily delicious water. For me, that's why I used one, because our water smelled strongly of chlorine and using a filter removed that smell making it much more enjoyable. Also, using a pitcher is good if you want your water refrigerated, rather than running your tap for 5 minutes to get a merely lukewarm glass. (Now we live in the Netherlands and have the most delicious tap water I've ever tasted).
Buy PUR filters instead! The Brita Pitcher is useless since it is not air tight. PUR filters attach directly on the tap and don't take anywhere near that long to fill a glass.
Actually leaving your water to sit can get rid of the smelll, no need for filters
@@hubert4646 Don't listen to this troll. Letting your water sit makes it taste nasty, and the reason for filters has nothing to do with the smell.
There's a lot of nuance that needs to be kept in mind. Some people with sensory issues like myself (ex. Autism) will have a hard time drinking water if it doesnt taste a specific way. It's also important to remember people in rural areas with well water! We did in fact replace bottled water with our pitcher water. For me, its worth it, and I can tell the difference in taste when the filter is on its last leg.
Yes! I Don’t have Autism, but I have a sensory disorder and it makes a HUGE difference. I also really need to have my preferred drinking vessel or I’m pretty much automatically going to end up dehydrated by default!
Not autism precisely but also neurodivergent and YES. Tap water and a big chunk of bottled water brands I will only drink when really, really thristy.
Three quarters of all people don't live in rural areas with well water.
That reminds me of the show Monk, how he had to drink Sierra Springs or whatever that one bottled water was
This was helpful. Thank you! For what it's worth: We have well water at our home because we live in a rural area. We can taste the difference between straight well water from the tap and the Brita filtered water. We're glad to have our Brita pitcher. But investing in an under-the-sink option may be better.
For me the question is not the safeness of the water but simply the taste. I live in Ireland, and while our tap water alike is safe to drink and supposedly really good, it does have a slight chlorine flavour from the sanitiser in the treatment plants (like in a lot of places in America too). For me, this spoils the taste of my tea. I used to buy bottled water, but when I got a Brita filter it got rid of the chlorine flavour entirely. This saves me a lot of money!
What I relized, and what I think most folks don't think about is, it's not that the water is filtered, but its that it's COLD that makes it so much better.
The filter on my brita died after a couple months, but I continued refilling it every day for months until it froze and cracked after sitting too long in the winter. And I realized that really, I just want to drink cold water, so I just thrifted a nice glass galon jug to use instead, or just cycle two big metal mugs in the fridge!
I use the Brita to filter out the chlorine taste and smell. The water was beautiful before they started chlorinating it. But the boil water notices were occurring more and more frequently and they couldn't seem to sequester the town well system. (E-coli, I think.)
Florida gets their water from the "Florida Aquifer"... The short version of this story is that our water is generally pretty hard, and often comes with unwanted tastes. I absolutely agree that the idea that "tap water is dangerous" is a sham.
I know from experience that the MAJORITY of people who buy Brita filters aren't doing it because they think it'll make their water safer. We buy it because tap waste taste bad. We have one on our faucet, and I have a brita water bottle. We went with Brita because we rent; And it's not exactly easy to install a true water filtration system in an apartment.
And I absolutely disagree with the idea that Brita filters don't curb the use of single-use water bottles. Ever since I got my Brita bottle, I have almost exclusively used it as my source of water. I've stopped buying water bottles all together.
I second everything you said
"Tap water is dangerous is a sham"
Yeah man fluoride being supplied to 3/4 of Americans is good cause its good for your teeth! Thats why they put it in your toothpaste :^)
I can attest to curbing single-use bottles getting replaced after acquiring a Brita jug. I didn't feel too good drinking from the tap because of the taste but felt even worse drinking from plastic bottles so Brita seemed like the logical solution and it sure did the trick.
@@abdulkhan-iq1if this… this right here…. I’ve always been sensitive about how my water tastes. But I couldn’t *stand* tap water, so before I had my britas, I would drink single-use bottles of water.
Its really a shame, I have lived in Florida since 1972, when I was a kid the water tasted SO much better than it does now, because the aquifer was still pretty pristine back then. Now not so much, cattle ranching, septic tanks etc. have fouled the system. I have a Britta and am sticking with it for that reason.
I use an under the sink filter.
I used to almost NEVER drink water. Everywhere I lived the water made me feel slightly nauseous to drink. And the place I live now has hard water that tastes nasty and metallic.
I drank so much soda. 1-3 liters a day, sometimes more. Sometimes juice. But soda, soda, soda.
Finally I got sick of the expense and what it was doing to my teeth, and got a water filter. Within a week I was drinking half the soda I had been, and these days soda is a rare treat.
Having a water filter changed my life.
unfortunately we live in a city with well documented cases of the tap water being disgusting. we have to use a life water filter jug
Hey :), considering you have a few videos that touch on PFAS I thought you may want to know that filtering does reduce PFOA levels. This is very helpful if you live in an area with higher than usual levels and especially if you’re pregnant or giving it to children who are more vulnerable to PFAS. You wouldn’t necessarily be sick straight away but we don’t know the long term effects of higher PFOA levels. You don’t need a Brita specifically but carbon filtration is actually very effective. EPA actually lists carbon filters as an effective way of reducing chemical contamination.
Some older buildings still have lead pipes! I've lived in a large city with water that is condsidered safe, but in old apartment bulidings (70+ years old) for a long time. It's always been recommended to me to use a water filter that can filter out lead because at the moment lead pipes don't have to be disclosed (but lead paint has to be!). Soo many landlords will be sneaky about admitting there is lead in the pipes because they don't want to repalce the plumbing in the builiding. So even if the water is safe, a buliding's pipes might not be.
Very true. Brita's Elite (blue) filter does filter out lead and is changed every 6 months. You can check your pipes to see if they're lead by using a magnet I believe too, if you choose to google it.
But lead protects against 5g 😊
I don’t worry about the safety of my water, but considering how much of it I drink, I need it to not taste like it came out of a swimming pool. The fridge filter works fine for that, but I did use a Brita pitcher when I lived in apartments and houses that didn’t have fridge filters and weren’t on a well.
I… need to change my filter. thanks for the reminder!
We've been using a Brita pitcher for a decade at least, but we don't change the filter often.
Why we use it - better tasting water, no buildup/residue in the kettle, and sometimes even a difference in color.
We never buy bottled water, but we do drink a ton of filtered tap water. We use it for drinking, filling the kettle, and making ice.
For general cooking we just use tap water.
I'm fine with buying brita filters once a year. I was worried you were going to say they were owned by Nestlé lol
I have used Brita for about 5 years now & will never go back to drinking tap water or bottled water. I also have a portable brita water bottle with a filter for on the go
I think perspective is a big thing to point out as well. For most of North America our water is vastly cleaner and safer than the rest of the world. In many other countries, it's common for people to buy a water subscription for water they will use to cook and drink with. They can't even trust the water if they boil it due to containments present. Sometimes, you might be a brief boil advisory from your local water municipality due to maintenance work or changes in the system. These are normally resolved within a day and used as a precautionary measure. I do use(mainly for the piping since I rent) an under sink filter from a company called Hydroviv. They custom make filters based on available testing data from your local water company or regional watershed. Their filters last about 6 months and are a great option. Installation is also renter friendly unlike many other options.
The only reason that I personally use a Britta filter is because I want the water to be cold and my city water has a chlorinated taste. I have no impression that the filter makes it any safer.
Haha well we're glad you're getting your daily water intake even if the cold part doesn't have much to do with the filter hey?
@@FutureProofTV Gonna assume he means that he keeps it in the fridge. I do the same thing with a no-name tap container, no matter how long the sink is left on, it doesn't get as cold as it would in the fridge after a couple hours. I love my water ice cold and the filter has nothing to do with it, haven't replaced it in years
And an edit after continuing the video, I've also come to the realization that maybe I should just toss the filter after years of crud buildup lol oops
Put your water in a regular jug. Let it sit for an hour or two. The chlorine will evaporate. Then chill it in the fridge. Voila!
The EPA has been underfunded for years, they dont have great oversight at this point. I'd rather not be in a Flint, MI situation, considering I live near MANY old iron and coal mines. Theres too many stories of things being "perfectly safe" until years later. The water tastes better, is easier on my kettle and makes myt coffee taste less metallic.
(Update Edit) Was recently notified by my local municipality that I have lead in my water lines, so once again glad I have been using a filter that removes lead, especially for my cats.
I grew up in the midwest. My liquid intake was coffee, sweet tea, and pop(soda). It wasn't till I purchased a water filter till I started drinking just water. Sure most filters out there don't do much, but it gave me a healthier lifestyle. To me that is absolutely worth it.
While I respect the attempt, the video felt empty. For one, I do in fact replace bottles with filtered water. I was raised on bottled water (which is SUPER wasteful) and can't stand the taste of plain tap water (in my area). I use a Kirkland filter but it's essentially the same thing as Brita if we're being honest. Many are in my situation too! I also find that I drank less tap water due to taste (but again, I was spoiled, raised on bottled water). It also helps with my powder drink mixes since the water itself tastes more like nothing. Now when it comes to my cat? I have to keep the toilet lid closed because of her, so she doesn't care. I'm also willing to bed it's totally safe for her! Where I'm curious are the claims such as if a water filter can help prolong the lifespan of equipment (such as Keurig or Nespresso devices) as some will state, or if that's a bunch of BS. There are about 50 other topics that branch off this one and I get that this was meant to be a short form video, but it felt like you addressed a topic too broad that came down to "do your own research." Great, but... I ended the video feeling like I just got out of a meeting that should've been a two liner email. I think there's a lot of potential topics to branch off of this one, but I don't know if this quite made the mark. Then again, how do you in 15mins? I definitely understand the struggle with the constraints in place.
After what they did to those poor frogs, public water sources are pretty sus.
I know this is probably meant as a joke but those frogs changed their sex in response to chemicals in the water. Where did the chemicals come from? Fertilizer runoff. Unintentional but it wasn't some coordinated effort. Additionally that water gets cleaned and filtered before we drink it
they're TUrning the FROGS gAy!!! 🐸
@@FutureProofTVwhaaaT!???
Living in Denver, the house I'm in has lead pipes, the city sends us a Brita LongLast+ capable of filtering out the lead and has billboards of the importance of filtering out lead
Adding my point of view from central European standpoint. We do have very safe and pretty good tasting tap water. And still, I do use Brita filter and I encouraged my friends and family to do so as well. At no point was the reason "tap water is unsafe/harmful". The reason is we have a hard water and Brita objectively helps me keep my electric kettle clean. Before I started using it, I had a limestone built up immedietely. When I invested into a fancy kettle, I also started filtering my water. Now I only need to clean the lime built up once every other year. The other reason is I am a coffee freak, and filtred water makes my coffee taste better. After all, 90-99% of my coffee is made of water, so it makes sense to use as clean and pure water as I can.
As also an outdoorsy person, I have though about getting a filter for making clearer and safer water outdoor, but it never even crossed my mind that Brita would be a candidate for such activity.
It still baffles my mind how different approach to such a simple thing as tap water is amont Europe and the US.
I've been using Brita filter travel bottles since like 2017. Using a bottle means I'm not using about 1000+ disposable plastic bottles every year, and regardless of where I go, I can fill up from the tap and have clean* (or at least better tasting) water. I've never liked the taste of tap water and these bottles help a lot. The only problem, is that these Brita bottles are terribly designed. I use the older design that they discontinued (the black bottle at 9:45 in the video) because the mouthpiece is a hard plastic (it has a rubber piece over it that I take off because it gets gunked up) and is easier to clean, the lid has a tendency to leak though. The new bottles have a completely rubber mouthpiece and the texture is kind of porous, so it get's gunked up really easily and could be very unsafe, but the lid doesn't leak. I've contacted Brita about these issues and they're just like "sorry pal, get fucked". I dropped my bottle one time and cracked the lid, so I asked if they sold replacement lids or if I had to buy a whole new bottle. They also said to get fucked. So much for being more environmentally friendly. If anyone knows of a better alternative to these things then let me know.
I've been using my Brita jug for going on 20 years. I noticed when they changed the instructions from "replace filter every four months" to "every 3 months" to (now) "every 2 months". The very tiny fine print says "...based on 11 glasses a day of average use". It's a cash grab. I change the filter every 6 months, based on 2-3 glasses a day. Apparently the new jugs won't even let you get away with that.
This video misses one of the big selling points of pitcher filters, which is for low-volume filtration e.g. for tea/coffee making. My tap water (I live in Berlin, Germany) is absolutely fine for drinking but it dulls the flavor of coffee. I don't need a countertop filter because for drinking and cooking, my tap water is fine, it's only when I make tea/coffee that I use the pitchers.
In this case, I am indeed making a choice based on what's wrong with my water (ridiculously hard) but there's not enough in the video to show that pitchers do have their place.
A more practical advice for using pitchers is ignore the replacement indicator and go by taste / limescale buildup in your water heating vessels.
I'm just so flabbergasted that most people don't even read the fine print on the boxes of these Brita filters. It clearly states that Brita doesn't clean the water, it only alters the taste to make the water taste better. But those who purchase this product with their eyes closed are only putting tons of money in Britta's pocket. Research is key, and investing in a good water filtration system as you mentioned is good once we test our water to see what's needed.
Not exactly true. My water is cloudy from my tap. But with a brita pitcher is comes out crystal clear and taste incredible.
Ever since I got pregnant I’ve had some kind of intolerance to tap water, it gives me a horrible nausea. Filters helped a bit but at the end I had to start buying bottled spring water (and only some brands seem to be fine). I don’t know if it has something to do with the fluoride/chlorine thing but for sure the filters didn’t help too much 🥲 I live in Quebec btw and used to drink tap water just fine
INTERESTING OBSERVATION, they may be able to target pregnant women more with tap water.
brita changed my life, not trying to sound like a salesperson XD. depression + disabilities make me hate getting up to get water. i hate the taste of tap, hate wasting money on water bottles, so i just bought the brita pitcher one day on a whim. tastes great, i drink so much water (im not dehydrated anymore!), migraines went away, and i'm a lot happier. who would've guess fulfilling my body's needs would make such a huge impact /s
I have a video dedicated for testing Brita Water Filter with 3 experiments, I tested it under microscope with tap water, dirt water and water full of microbes.
If anyone finds it useful, you can check it out in my channel.
Just for reference, where I grew up we get the water from a well because the property is not connected to communal water (its a farm in the middle of nowhere). The filter system alone (not including the pumps, glassfiber tanks, the actual digging of the well and everything else required) was about 8000 dollars and it requires 2 filters to be changed every 2 weeks, which are about 20 dollars each. It also requires annual lab testing.
My point is that doing proper water filtering on a small scale is incredibly expensive, requires alot of upkeep and infrastructure. Forgive me if I dont see the big need for a jug that filters your drinking water, even if (or especially if) you are connected to actual communal water that is filtered industrially at large scale, which tends to be better.
I thought it was common knowledge that these types of water filters are only designed to remove limescale and that the benefits of having one are that your kettle and other appliances don't fur up with residue. I was never under presumption that these types of filters can filter out pathogens or contaminants. If you shake the filter then it feels like it just contains grit or something, i.e. something that's suitable for filtering out large-ish chucks of white chalky rock, which, if the problem's bad enough in your area, may even be visible enough to see floating in a glass of water filled from the tap. There's nothing technologically sophisticated enough inside these filters to separate out anything as small as stuff that exists on the microbial level let alone the molecular level. You'd need completely different tech for that, though if you don't mind the water being hot then boiling it will kill almost all pathogens. Many people even prefer to drink water with a certain amount of limescale left in because some parts of my country which have tap waters which are prized as being the best tasting are the ones which contain higher levels of mineral content. It's what all those companies selling bottles of mineral water are counting on!
I brita filter my water and I even give my cat brita-filtered water because the water is so hard in my area that it gave my friend's rabbit kidney problems. Cats are susceptible to kidney problems too, so I figure it's a minimal cost to keep my cat healthy
Gidday.
I don’t use Brita filters anymore but for many years, I had to rely on them.
I lived in a rural area. Our town water was hard bore water that was undrinkable, so we had to rely on rainwater.
With rainwater, it becomes contaminated when it hits your roof and gutters, because birds and bats like to poop on it.
To make our drinking water safe, I had to use Brita filters to filter out the solid waste and then boil and cool it to eliminate the bacteria.
You may think was difficult but I had a routine for this.
We did buy a side-by-side fridge with a filter but the filters had to be constantly replaced. Brita turned out to be a cheaper option.
I still have my Brita jug. I don’t need it because the city water where I live is extremely good.
As a prepper, I keep my jug because you can replace the filter with charcoal. It works the same and can be used in an emergency.
The simple charcoal pieces you buy at hardware stores will suffice.
Brita isn't my brand, but I do use a water filter. I mostly use it for taste, but after Flint, as well as living in a small town in Michigan... well, the imagination can run wild. I would be lying to say that it didn't give me peace of mind. And besides, as someone who used to go through an entire case of water bottles a week, to zero plastic water bottles, I'm not losing any sleep over using my pitcher filter.😂
Our water straight from the tap definitely tastes and smells slightly like pool water. When run through the our Brita it tastes fine though.
Someone else mentioned as well, but I use my pitcher for making my coffee. If I use straight tap, I have to descale my coffee maker or kettles frequently. Switched to a Britta just for those and it has been well over a year since I have had to descale. There is no buildup in either. I drink the tap water straight up, and if I compare to the water from the pitcher, the difference is not really noticeable taste wise.
Also, Terracycle, the recycling program Brita is partnered with, settled a class-action lawsuit about lying about the recyclability of its products back in 2021. Also, I've tried, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to recycle the stuff. I went to the website several times, and the only button I can find remotely related to actually recycling the stuff is the "sign up for waitlist" button. WTF, Terracycle.
We use a jug filter, and it makes such a big difference. Our water tastes so much purer and pleasant. The nasty chlorine/fluoride taste from unfiltered city water is gone.
Any chance we can get a ftp update on what happened to the other channel for those without access to Patreon?
No. Don’t buy Brita but give me money so I can allow you access to a video where I tell you why that channel doesn’t exist anymore. 🤪
I'm perfectly fine with the water from our tap in the UK in terms of safety, but I do use a Brita filter. The reason is that I have very hard water. Known it for a while just based on the amount of descaling needed for my kettle, but when I brough my dishwasher a couple of years ago it had a water test kit with it which is just a test strip to indicate the hardness level of the water. The result of ours was the highest, meaning my dishwasher "water hardness" level is set to the maximum of 5. This tells the dishwasher to use the maximum amount of dishwasher salt to help prevent limescale build up.
So as well as improving the taste for things like tea, I use a filter for my hot water dispenser (has a Brita filtered reservoir of it's own), plus I use the filtered water from the jug to fill my coffee machine too. With my dishwasher using salt and my hot water dispenser/coffee machine using filtered water it seems to help hugely with preventing limescale, therefore extending the life of the appliances which is good for the environment. I do replace the filters when they indicate they should be replaced, and for plain water or delicate teas (I'm a Brit after all) I genuinely can tell the difference in taste - our water is that hard.
In fact if I wasn't renting I would seriously consider having a filter on the water mains coming into the house to help prevent limescale on showers, washing machine etc.
Is Brita the best one for just making my water softer? Probably not. Can I be bothered to find a slightly better one? Not really... If someone wants to point to a better brand for hard water filtration then that'd be great.
If I lived somewhere with soft / medium water I wouldn't bother with a filter at all however.
In Lithuania, and in Bulgaria, where my parents live, the water is so heavy the kettle becomes covered in plaque (?) after like a day of usage. And in some places the water tastes and smells really bad too. So we've been using Brita for around 3 yrs consecutively, not for the brand specifically but bc it goes on discounts and is the most widely available type of filter here. It really helps a lot.
Don't know about muricans though.
Same in Latvia, the water is hard, it has lots of calcium.
I'm on well water, and the Britta filters help me have peice of mind on the larger particles in my well. Without it, my water tends to taste terrible, and have a kind of chalky taste. For the smaller particles the filter doesent get, I regularly test my well just to make sure it's not got issues. I also run both a faucet filter and a pitcher filter on my water.
Filters are significantly less helpful, or possibly even worthless on good city tap water, but they are more 11:23 useful for those of us on wells.
A lot of people I know use brita etc filters to help with the chlorine taste. Since chlorine evaporates out of water, they could also just put water in a jug and let it sit for a while, maybe shake/stir it up a bit... I'm in Vancouver where our water's super soft, so there's basically no minerals you'd need to remove, it's really just the chlorine, and if you get get that sorted then our water is some of the most delicious and safe water anywhere in the world!
Yup. People don't realise that chlorine will just evaporate away.
I did some checking, and it turns out in cities your water is extremely likely to be pure. However, in rural areas, you get lots of pesticide and fertilizer runoff from farms in your water.
The whole reason to use a water filter from the tap is to reduce the amount of calcium that is present in the water so that things like your kettle or pots will not have residue build up and you won't need to replace or clean those nearly as often as you'd usually have to do it. Also so that you won't develop kidney stones after many years of drinking water that is considered too hard.
I live in the south east of the UK. A very hard water area. My tea tastes seriously gross if the water isn’t filtered. (There’s even a film across the top of the drink). There’s absolutely nothing harmful, about the water, it just tastes SO MUCH better filtered….
We know when the filter needs changing because you can start see the limescale deposits in the kettle after boiling water.
I personally use a brita filter because it makes my water taste better, the city water in my area has a bit of a metallic taste.
As for standard Brita Filters not being a lead water filter.. that's a bit disingenuous as water filters that filter lead are much more expensive than a standard brita filter. So it's asking a bit much for the price imo.
Note: Brita does have a filter that filters lead it is just much more expensive
A few years back the location I was living in the tap water had a strong chlorine smell out of the faucet so we started using filters. I still use a filter where we live now, but it's not as big of a situation where I live now. We also don't use brita, but instead use a different brand that we like a lot more(I don't remember the brand offhand)
Need for it really depends on the location, even up to building itself (the piping in it). I quite often had heartburn cuz of hard water until i started to use any sort of filter for it, and it quickly went away. Will the jug filter "un-poison" the water? Nah, but it will soften it a bit if that is concern for the tapwater.
"Water is coming" was the best thing I've seen today!
Using a brita filter I have noticeably better tasting tap water and contrary to what this video suggests I reuse water bottles more often as a result.
Yeah, my tap water tastes a bit shit. I live near a paper mill and the water can taste… a little ass, honestly. Like how the mill smells… Tastes just fine when filtered though.
I live in the Philippines. Most of us drink mineral water which is cheaper than distilled and purified water (about ₱20 or ₱25 per gallon). Water that comes out from our faucets are safe for taking a bath, cleaning the dishes, and doing the laundry but not for drinking (even if it's treated already with chlorine) so the safest and cheapest way to have safe drinking water is buying mineral water.
This is a weird take. It's not just the water quality from the plant, but older neighborhoods, especially in lower income areas have deteriorating lead pipes in their homes. The water isn't safe for babies and probably not for children either. A 20$ filter sure costs a lot less than replacing the pipes through your yard and your whole entire house. This is happening in normal cities all over.
2:43 It's important to note that John's theory about cholera being caused by contaminated water was outright refused by his peers and the government. To accept his proposal would have meant indirectly accepting the fecal-oral route of disease transmission, which was too unpleasant for most of the public to contemplate. It was only in 1866, 8 years after Snow had died from a stroke, that one of his main opponents realized the validity of John's diagnosis.
I loved Future Proof Health....😭
Yep, I just use filters because the water doesn't taste as good from the tap and taste horrible at work. I used to bring 2 64oz bottle of water from home that I dispensed from our fridge, which has a filter, for about a year cause I couldn't stand the taste of the water at work. Eventually I found a filtered water bottle so now my back doesn't take a toll anymore lugging around a gallon of water every day and I get a few more steps in filling the bottle up.
I live in a country with grade A drinking water out of every tab (that's ridiculous, because we also water our plants, wash our cars, and flush our toilets with it), but I still wasn't 100% sure, if it really was as clean, as store bought water, so I bought my water in bottles. I bought it in plastic bottles, because the water itself was heavy as F itself, without being contained in heavy glass bottles. Then I learned, that water in plastic bottles absorbs nasty stuff from the plastic bottle. The water out the tap is free from this. So I paid to let my tab water being tested. I did it online, it costs a few bucks. They send you a vile, you fill it up, send it back, and receive an analysis a few days later. 100% perfect. At least as good as glass bottled water, only 1/10 the price and all I can drink, already in my home. I like sparkling water, so I bought a cheap bubbler. Never bought water again.
My tap water tastes like piss, and the water that comes out of my Brita filter does not taste like piss.
I'm actually astounded that the term "Hard Water" didn't show up in this video. One can agree that municipal water is largely safe but not like the taste of their water, OR would prefer their coffee maker not calcify after a week. I don't have very Hard water anymore but I still use a Brita and Fridge filtration for better tasting water. I also make SD bread and Kombucha. The same chlorine that's meant to kill harmful bacteria could kill Lacto bateria used to make delicious food. Why is taste not a consideration for such a low cost filtration solution?
I suspect that, like me, most people filter their water because (1) they prefer the taste and feel of bottled water to their tap water and (2) bottled water got too expensive. I myself take a hybrid approach: I no longer buy large bottles of water anymore, but I do buy large packs of 16oz bottles and use them with Mio Energy as a substitute for caffeinated sodas. I use a Brita pitcher for my household water-drinking (i.e., from a cup rather than a small bottle), and I also use the pitcher to refill small bottles that I haven't fully consumed. To save on filter costs (and because I'm using the filter for aesthetic rather than health reasons), I use regular filters but program the Brita picture fill counter for long-lasting filters to ensure I make full use of the filters.
I think most people are just looking for better tasting water honestly.
So I end up using a filter. And I love Brazilian clay filters. Which is probably the best in the world, and it’s eco friendly.
A large amount of lead drinking water pipes are homeowner pipes, particularly the main pipe underground that ties into the water meter and brings the water into the home underground. Municipalities have largely replaced or coated their lead lines to make them safe but it is very difficult and expensive for homeowners to replace the main supply line that is under their house. As for water companies only testing certain taps and waiting 5 min before testing; that is exactly how the EPA tells them to test. It is actually more comprehensive to test 5 min after turning the water on because the water that comes out at first is most likely been sitting in the newest and safest part of your plumbing system and the water that has been sitting in your old pipes, soaking up the bad stuff, is 5 min behind. As for only testing certain faucets, that is because water coming from a sink in a garage for example would be exposed to many potential contaminates that have nothing to do with the water supply. There are plenty of examples of bad water in the US but also if you get your water from your city than they are doing regular testing and will notify you of any contamination in the water.
i love your videos , but i am not typically from your audience demographic table. I am from India. Just a request, if can make some videos about brands from this side of the world too. the way you explain and your research is amazing and your videos have been an important source of knowledge as well as a portal to understand the west. thanks for all that. cheers
The tap water in my apartment comes out brown at first so I've learned to just let it run for a minute before I do anything with it. But I also have a Berkey filter I use for my drinking and coffee water.
This might be the only thing I do splurge on so NO LEVI, you won't stop me from filtering my water OKAY! To be honest, the only reason I filter it is for taste and my Costco Knockoff filters (that are most likely just rebranded Brita filters) make my woter taste better.
Hey, do whatever you want lol
@@FutureProofTV It was meant as a little bit of a joke. I hope the tone is carried through my comment because I really like your videos!
I used to live in this neighbourhood that had the absolute worst tasting water ever because the amount of chemicals in the water was scratching the legal limits. Tried a Britta and didn't help the taste at all. Berlin in general has notoriously hard water, and now I only use it to prevent my electric kettle or coffee machine from forming limescale
I JUST got a brita... there was a water main break and after it got fixed I think our water tastes funny now. Curious what you have to say Levi
In New York I always just drank tap water, but then I moved out of state and the water just didn't taste good and I bought bottled water all the time. Replaced that with a Brita and it seems to do the trick, since I don't notice any bad taste when it's filtered.
Important to note that Republicans who talk about abolishing the EPA are, by extension, talking about removing the legal protections that ensure your drinking water is not going to kill you.
tap water is safe from things that may make you sick but depending on where you live it can just taste so bad that you just dont want to drink it, where i live in the UK the water has a really bad chalky metalic and occasionally clorine aftertaste that makes me want to gag, so i use a filter jug as it removes that extreamly unplesant chalky metalic aftertaste, it also cuts down the amount of limescale build up in my coffee maker and kettle, increasin the appliances lifespan and saving me money in the long run. im mainly a tea drinker so extending the life of my kettle is a big plus, another reason i filter the water is drinking herbal teas the minirels and metals in the water can taint the taste of the tea and it can make some of the more subtle teas in my collection taste really awful.
I had a brita pitcher in college because the town's water was really questionable (i remember one time it was slightly brown and bubbly???) but now that I live outside of that town... Nah, sink water's fine
Just FYI chlorine evaporates naturally, so getting tap water and letting it stand for a while would remove chlorine anyway... even if it's not brita
and chlorine is a big cause of a lot of the taste of water
I loved future proof Health ☹️
My wife and I did a blind taste test of tap water, filtered refrigerator water, 5 stage filtered water and distilled water. It was incredibly easy to tell the difference between each of them and she had to admit it was best to install the 5 stage filter
I live in CO and have clean, beautiful tap water. BUT. The water in my house is REALLY hard. Like, you can taste the minerals. It's not BAD but it definitely has a taste and isn't really pleasant to drink. I got a filtered pitcher and costco knock off replacement filters and it just helps me drink more water.
Most people I know use them exactly for that reason, not because their water is undrinkable.
fun fact: hard water is actually pretty good for you, it contains decent enough levels of calcium to make a dent in our daily recommended intake
I ended up switching to buying reverse osmosis water from my local crunchy granola store in reusable 5 gal containers after a year of constant GI issues that mysteriously cleared up the moment I stopped drinking the tap water. Our best guess was elevated levels of copper (a known source of GI distress if ingested), either from aging corroding pipes or electrical wiring improperly grounded on said pipes, causing oxidization. We had been filtering it for taste with a pitcher filter, but it evidently did not remove whatever the trouble contaminant was. Either way, a week after I stopped drinking the tap water, I stopped being sick. Haven't had the nerve to go back to filtered tap, even though we've since moved to another apt. building.
I conduct food safety audits manufacturing plants for my work. My audit consists of checking water testing results. Every county in the USA is required to publish their water testing results publically on their website. If you live in the USA and use public water, your county publishes your water testing results. I've been doing this job for 15 years. Our water is generally ok in the USA. Well water requires testing too but the government doesn't have to pay for this.
I have an extremely sensitive palette to water, even those from a bottle. Im the weord type that could do a blind water taste test and do pretty well. I had to use a filter in my dorm dueing college, not because the water was in anyway bad for me, but purely because it tasted so bad and even messed with the taste of the food and beverages I used it for.
It was most likely quite hard of water, as the way it interacted with the dishes points to, but man, it just made everything it touched taste worse.
In my city, we're currently going through a phase where all the algae in our reservoir is dying and rotting, causing our water to taste like mold and dirt, attributed to the chemical compound known as geosmin. It's at the point where if you run warm water to wash your hands, or you take a warm shower, you're smelling that geosmin smell. Geosmin is completely harmless, but extremely off putting. A traditional Brita pitcher works pretty well to eliminate the disgusting taste/smell.
I'm tempted to join the patreon just to see the story behind Future Proof Health!
One of us! One of us! One of us!
Dude same!
If you want to know its because he sucked at making money on it.
@@lylemata6672and now we're supposed to pay more money for him to explain that on patreon ... lmao
Most of my life I've had "city water" and drank from the tap. In fact, at present, I have city water and drink from the tap. My city even sends us the results of their water testing every year. There were, however, 20 years where I lived in a home with a private well. Nothing toxic about that water, either - it was tested every 6 months and it actually had less bacteria and unpleasant crap than city water. However, we did use a Britta at that home because what that water did have was a LOT of minerals. Drink from that well and you'd never have iron-deficiency anemia. The Britta did a decent job of reducing the excess level of minerals as well as the orange tint from the water, and the replacement filters were easy to get in our area. So we'd filter the water for drinking and cooking purely for taste. Which strikes me as a decent reason to have such a thing, and less of a headache/expense than what some of the other people in the neighborhood did, which was to buy lots and lots of bottled water in individual servicing sized bottles. But like I said, now that I have city water why bother? I'm back to drinking from the tap. Marketing has made people fear some of the best/safest water on the planet, it's sad and ridiculous.
So what happened to the health channel, if anyone knows, please give a TLDR, if possible
Same boat. Kind of crappy it's behind a paywall
I grew up in a major east coast city with fantastic water (in a house with every conceivable type of plumbing. The water tasted great. later my parents moved to a suburban town & had to filter their water. Four years ago I moved to a ring city outside my home city. The water which came from the same source as the big city tasted horrible so I bought a jug filter. Recently I got a notice from my municipality that we have elevated levels of lead in our water!
What happened to Future Proof Health?
Yeah I want to know too but they put the video only for Patreon members ☹
Murder. 😳🧐
@@FutureProofTV Paywalling knowledge. Either die the hero or live long enough to become the villain
Sadly we still live in the world. Gotta make money out here. 🤷🏻♂@@sethpolevoi4027
Well I would use a pitcher for my water though, but the reason is that the city really is afraid of frozen water pipes, so they have put a lot of heaters or frostguards on them, powered by electricity.
The end result is that often you get really hot water when you open the tap year round, and where it will be warm first, then go cold before it gets really warm a second time.
So, you will either have to leave the tap running at full blast for a minute to get cold water, or put it in a pitcher in the fridge.
Could have made this a 2min video
Wouldn't make much money if it was only 2 min