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Somewhat related, I recently bought a Brita water filter jug which has a little led on the lid which glows red when the disposable filter cartridge has “expired
by tailspin2019 4y ago
Somewhat related, I recently bought a Brita water filter jug which has a little led on the lid which glows red when the disposable filter cartridge has “expired” and needs replacing.
Before I even started to use the thing I knew what to expect. Sure enough it starts to glow red after a ridiculously short period of time of using a brand new filter cartridge.
I’ve been ignoring it for a few weeks now and checking for any difference in taste of the filtered water but haven’t detected anything yet. I’d recently been wondering about how to verify the filter’s effectiveness somehow as I’m sure this indicator is less than useless and essentially setup to “lie” for profit.
There should be laws against this sort of thing. Any indicator that tells you when a consumable needs to be replaced should have to meet some level of accuracy in order to be legal.
- bombcar 4y agoMy fridge has something similar but at least it tells you what it does - it simply counts down 3 months. So I just reset it and tell it there is a new one and it stops beeping at me.
- hgsgm 4y ago
- chucksta 4y agoI'm fairly certain its disclosed somewhere that light is just on a timer, there is no realistic way to monitor something like that otherwise. Depends on your tank, see "how do I read and reset" https://www.brita.com/support/faqs/replacement-filters/ https://www.brita.com/support/faqs/replacement-filters/
- ogn3rd 4y agoget a cheap TDS meter.
- dharma1 4y agoThose filters (usually coconut shell carbon) can start having bacterial biofilm grow on them over time, and generally get saturated with gunk, that’s why you’re meant to change them frequently. I guess when they do depends on a lot of factors and the recommendation is an average length - ideally would have some better sensors on when to change them but gets more costly
- lazide 4y agoAnd (defensibly, somewhat) they’ll of course set the indicator to be for the worst case possible, even if not probable, so they 1) get more money, and 2) won’t lose money in lawsuits from someone saying ‘It still said it was fine!’ who gets sick, even if there were other really obvious signs something was wrong. So for a filter, either 24/7 use or one time use then letting it sit (whichever is worse).
- alistairSH 4y agoAnd yet water filters for use when camping last WAY longer and don't cost that much more. A simple Katydid BeFree lasts 1000L. I'm betting the Brita indicator came on WAY before that.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ska 4y ago> Any indicator that tells you when a consumable needs I'm not a fan of the blinking reminders either, but it's not a monitor it's just a flashing version of the "remind me in the months" wheel or whatever. The problem they face is a hard one. There are really two timelines you care about, one is how long it stays effective, the second is how long it is safe. The first one especially is highly affected by both usage patterns and the water quality you are starting with. With an inline system I'd sort of hope to have reasonable monitoring, but Brita filters are fundamentally passive devices, to do this "properly" your going to 10x-100x your costs, maybe worse. A less cynical (than pure profit motive) take on the timing would be that the lifteimes are all based on some sort of average case for usage and (bad?) test case for hardness and water quality. I suspect they have to be careful in what they say about how best to adjust this without opening themselves up to liability, so they don't.
- tailspin2019 4y agoYes in fairness you make some good points. But given what we see the printer industry blatantly doing - I’m still cynical!
- ComodoHacker 4y agoIronically, the printer industry is getting off with less scrutiny from regulators because safety isn't involved.
- ocean2 4y agoOne may attempt to sterilize the used filter. For example by using a microwave. This could prolong the lifetime of the filter cartridge.
- ska 4y agoThat could help on the biofilm/mold front, but won't do anything about particulates in the filter.
- lancesells 4y ago
- lettergram 4y agoYou can use a TDSmeter to see how many particulates are in the water. Brita (as do many charcoal based filter) adds some particulates though. If your water naturally has a lot of stuff in it though, Brita will reduce it overall
- jp_nc 4y agoHave had good luck with ZeroWater which comes with a TDS meter on the pitcher. Unlike Brita indicators which are time-based, this allows you to just measure the solids have actually been removed (if it's too high, it's time to replace it)
- nebula8804 4y agoZerowater is great but man their expensive filters do not seem to come near the advertised amount. The expense and lack of good third party alternatives for their filters just adds salt to the wound(since it didn't get filtered out HA!).
- sgc 4y agoWhat is the appeal of these compared to just getting a 10 inch under the counter filter set? I have a double filter set, with two different multistage filters. The water is extremely well filtered and it's relatively cheap to change the filters a couple times a year as per manufacturer recommendations. It took me 35 minutes to install, but it's been running fine for years.
- nebula8804 4y agoYou make a good point. I'd imagine the large upfront cost + the effort required to install.
- sgc 4y agoIt is not expensive - even when compared to pitchers -, and I guess perceived difficulty, since it is not hard to install.
- zikduruqe 4y agoMy refrigerator recommends changing the filter every 6 months. Last filter change, I wrote the date on it with a Sharpie. Sure as shit, 6 months later, the light goes off to remind me to change the cartridge.
- shuntress 4y agoRegulation regarding the truthfulness/accuracy of indicators probably wouldn't hurt. But, the better solution is effective Right To Repair laws that coerce a minimum level of standards and open design. For example, if Brita were required to publish the parameters of that part, you would be able to more easily make an informed decision regarding replacing that part (either by repairing it, cleaning it, refurbishing it, or replacing it with one from another maker) without the tedious guesswork and reverse engineering.
- lazide 4y agoGood luck with that! Even the EU hasn’t broached that subject. Most of those folks make their money on consumables anyway, so then the manufacturers would Jack up the price on the main product and blame the legislators.
- shuntress 4y agoI'm OK with sleazy companies pricing themselves out of the market if that's what it takes to prevent rent-seeking "ecosystems" imposing vendor-lock-in by making their "too cheap to be true" loss-leader products require esoteric consumables.
- lazide 4y agoSure, but clearly it isn’t on legislators priority list.
- bikezen 4y agoCan't say I've experienced the same thing, ours lasts pretty long and with our water you can start to taste the filter needing to be replaced shortly before the light goes red. iirc Brita advertises the tracker monitors how long the pitcher is being tilted for, so there's some verbiage about avoiding doing certain things with it etc in the installation guide/manual.
- pndy 4y agoI'd say the unfiltered water quality still might matter in your case. I had to swap to the "stronger" orange marked Maxtra cartridges for harder water because the standard ones weren't actually helping. And I can tell the difference because our kettle gets less limescale now - that's also still the marker for me when filter is about to wear off. For our family one cartridge lasts for about a month now. I'm using these jugs for 10 years already and the quality of these dropped significantly. The older Elemaris line (with "probes") had more durable plastic while the newer Style (with silicone lid handle) already broke twice during washing. At leas the rounded sensor is more waterproof than the "probe" - that one I had to replace twice and luckily the local distributor send these for free.
- root_axis 4y agoJust FYI, those brita jug indicators are based on a counter that increments every time the lid pops open from a pour, after a certain threshold the light changes color.
- bonestamp2 4y agoIt depends on the model. Mine has the light on the dispenser (at the bottom) and the lid (at the top) has nothing connecting it to the light. I know there's nothing connecting them because it came unassembled and I put it together. I believe it is simply a timer on my model.
- root_axis 4y agoThe models do vary, but according to brita all the models with lights are based off of the lid opening. https://www.brita.com/support/faqs/replacement-filters/ https://www.brita.com/support/faqs/replacement-filters/ Brita® pitchers and dispensers have three different styles of filter indicators—Pitchers WITH Max Fill Line, Pitchers WITHOUT Max Fill Line, and sticker filter indicators. Pitchers WITH Max Fill Line The filter indicator lets you know when it’s time to replace your filter. It activates when the lid is opened for 5–8 seconds (based on size of reservoir) and measures water use by counting the number of times the reservoir is filled.* Pitchers WITHOUT Max Fill Line The filter change indicator lets you know when it’s time to replace your filter. It is activated each time you pour, and measures water use based on 8 fl. oz. pour
- bonestamp2 4y agoFair enough. I guess I just don't understand how that would possibly work for the model I've got. The lid is at the top, and the electronics are at the bottom, and outside of the water. There is a clear container of water separating the lid and the electronics. The lid is a thin piece of plastic, there's really nothing to it. I'm still convinced it's just a timer for this model, or at best it measures the water coming out of the spigot: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B081KN2V33 https://www.amzn.com/dp/B081KN2V33
- nebula8804 4y agoSo Brita filters are just activated Carbon that improve the taste and filter some of the worst pollutants but nothing else. One way to test is using a TDS meter to see if over time the amount of dissolved solids increase. This is not a bulletproof test but it may give some indication of when the filter is saturated. Again, the Brite/PUR filters do not do much to begin with. This video shows how the Brita filters perform compared to others. THey use a TDS meter. I do want to also point out that TDS is not the only metric for how good water is filtered but thats another conversation. [1]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0ioX6GSz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0ioX6GSz0
- darkteflon 4y agoWe use Brita at home. Fwiw, it seems to be pretty successful at filtering chlorine - I did a little before/after experiment with a chlorine test kit purchased off Amazon.
- nebula8804 4y agoYes Chlorine can affect taste so it is one of the things it does filter although I have had friends tell me that it does not do a good enough job and they still taste it. I guess it depends on the person.
- hammock 4y agoI recommend Zerowater which have a 5 stage filter that includes ion exchange.
- nebula8804 4y agoI also recommend Zerowater although it seems like their filters empty out faster than expected(as per their chart explaining how long the filter would last per initial TDS reading). Wish there was an ecosystem of third party filters like Brita has to help put downward pressure on the price. I also hate the fact that they don't really have a recycling program anymore. These filters are huge and I feel guilty just tossing them.
- lozenge 4y agoSave a cup from the end of the first filter and taste test against the first cup from the new filter?
- tailspin2019 4y agoCan't believe I didn't think of this - but this is a great idea :)