It is true that Brita water filters are quite popular with people who are sensitive to the quality of the water they use. A big reason for their popularity is that compared to other water treatment alternatives, they are quite cheap to buy.
There are now two types of Brita water filters available. One is a faucet filter and the other is the through type jug.
The question is: Are they really profitable? In other words, considering their total cost of ownership relative to their effectiveness in removing contaminants from tap water, are they really any better than the competition?
In this article, I’ll walk you through a little analysis I did. Please note that all performance statements and prices were taken from the manufacturer’s website, literature, and certified statements.
cost
First, let’s talk about the cost of ownership, which includes both the initial cost of purchase and the cost of maintenance, that is, the money you spend on cartridge replacement over the life of the filter.
As for the initial cost, as I already mentioned, it is relatively low. Just to give you an indication, a Brita pitcher is around $25, while the faucet type of filter has a sticker price of around $35. By comparison, for a high-quality home water filtration system , you may need to pay upfront around $130.
However, when we consider the ongoing cost, then it’s a different story. As for the pitcher type, the suggested retail price for a single filter cartridge is $7.99 and the manufacturer recommends replacing it every 40 gallons of water. That brings the cost per gallon to about $0.20.
The single faucet style filter cartridge has a suggested retail price of $18.99 and has a 100 gallon life. That brings the cost per gallon to around $0.20 as well.
When you compare these figures to the corresponding costs published by other leading manufacturers of water filtration systems, you’ll see that ongoing costs per gallon range from $0.09 to as high as $0.15.
Now, let’s do some math: if we say that an average household of four drinks about 2 gallons of water per day, then in one year the total drinking water consumption of this household will be 730 gallons. Putting all of our figures (upfront costs and cost per gallon) for Brita water filters on one side and those for another water filtration system on the other side as stated above, then it is estimated that in around eleven months to a year of daily use, the cost of ownership will be the same.
This means that after the first (maximum) year of use, it will be more expensive to use Brita water filters than to use its main competitors.
Effectiveness
When estimating effectiveness, that is, how many contaminants they can remove and how efficiently they can do it, Brita water filters are clearly no better than average.
Take chlorine, the widely used disinfectant that has been linked to cancer and atherosclerosis, the leading cause of heart disease. In its performance sheets, the maker of Brita claims 99% chlorine removal for the faucet type, while only 75% for the jug type.
As for the very harmful byproducts of chlorine, the maker of Brita claims that neither product is capable of removing them.
The same goes for VOCs (volatile organic compounds), while cysts and cryptogiardia (common pathogens) cannot be removed with the Brita type of pitcher.
In general, the Brita faucet type filter works better than the pitcher type. However, the key type still does not show better than average performance.
To conclude, it is clear that while Brita water filters seem attractive due to their low initial cost, they are not as competitive in the long run. Especially, when you consider that they underperform for what you bought them for in the first place, and that is to purify your water!
If you are serious about choosing a high-quality, cost-effective water filtration system, please visit my website for more information and to see what I personally use in my home and recommend.