Today we’re going to be comparing two popular water filter brands – Brita vs Zero Water.
If you don’t want to drink tap water but also don’t want to have to keep buying bottled water, then a home water filter jug is always a great option.
However, how good the filter actually is at removing impurities and improving taste depends on the actual product you use.
We were impressed with the Zero Water filter when we tested it out for the first time, and found that it compared favorably to our trusted Brita filter.
In this article, we’re going to take a detailed look at both of these popular consumer products to decide which one comes out on top.
We’re going to focus on the product features, the taste of the water, the effectiveness of the filter and what real customers are saying about both of them to see exactly where they both stand.
We’re going to split this article up into the following sections:
• Brita – The Basics
• Zero Water – The Basics
• What Does The Water Taste Like?
• How Effective Is The Filter?
• Brita vs Zero Water – Our Recommendation
• Anything Else To Consider?
• Wrapping Things Up – Final Thoughts
So, with the introductions out of the way, let’s start taking a closer look at Brita to see how it compares to Zero Water.
Jump To Section
Brita – The Basics
Check Brita filter prices now on Amazon: www.amazon.com
The Brita filter we’re using in this comparison article is the new Brita Style Water Jug.
It has a sleek design and takes the latest version of the Brita filter cartridges available in the UK – the Maxtra+.
The marketing material on the official website says that the Brita uses “cutting edge” water filtration technology to deliver great tasting water, day after day.
It also comes with a Brita Smart Light, which changes color from green to amber to red to let you know when the cartridge needs to be replaced.
The Brita Style is certainly one of the most stylish filter jugs we’ve come across in recent years. It looks very cool, and the silicone part of the lid comes in a variety of different colors.
Zero Water – The Basics
Check Zero Water filter prices now on Amazon: www.amazon.com
Zero Water has been around for quite a few years in the US but they are now launching in the UK.
In this article, we’re going to be focusing on one of their flagship filter jugs – the Zero Water 12-cup water filter jug.
It features a sealed lid which allows you to pour the water without having to wait for the reservoir to be completely empty.
This filter comes with a handy Total Dissolved Solids meter. This means that you can test any water you want to find out the amount of TDS for purity.
This is great, as it means that you know exactly when to replace the filter (basically when the reading goes above zero).
If we’re being totally honest, it’s not quite as sleek looking as the Brita Style water filter, but it looks OK, even if the model we tried was a bit clunky.
The filter is designed to take out most impurities, to leave you with a clean glass of great tasting water.
What Does The Water Taste Like?
First up, it’s the taste test. Before we get going with this section, bear in mind that we were testing both of these filters with tap water from London, United Kingdom.
The quality of your tap water will, of course, vary depending on where you are in the world.
Brita
We’ve been using a Brita filter for a few years and generally are quite happy with it.
It filters out the chemical-like taste which often accompanies UK tap water, removing things such as Chlorine.
We did notice that the taste of the water differs for a few days when you have just changed a cartridge. It has more of a ‘sour’ taste for the first few days before normalizing.
After that, it does produce some really good tasting water, that you wouldn’t liken to tap water.
Zero Water
The Zero Water filter promises to remove 99 per cent of impurities to leave you with a truly clean glass of water.
This really is evident in the taste. The Zero Water filter provides an excellent taste to rival many brands of bottled mineral water in our opinion.
There’s only really one word to describe how the Zero Water filtered water tastes – clean.
The Verdict
We give this round to Zero Water. Although there’s nothing wrong with the taste of Brita’s water, we much preferred the cleaner taste of the Zero Water.
How Effective Is The Filter?
Now it’s time to take a look at how effective both filters actually are.
The first thing we did was to use Zero Water’s TDS meter to see how the water ranked. We tried this with regular tap water, the Brita filter and the Zero Water filter. Here are the results:
Tap Water vs Brita vs Zero Water
As you can see for yourself, Tap Water in London had a TDS count of 348, with the Brita coming in with a TDS count of 273. As promised the Zero Water filter delivered to remove all dissolved solids and leave a clean glass of pure water.
The main reason for this is probably because the Brita uses a standard two-stage carbon filtration system, while the Zero Water has a five-stage filter which is designed to catch more impurities.
The Verdict
The Zero Water wins this round as well with its impressive ability to filter out all dissolved solids.
Brita vs Zero Water – Our Recommendation
Although both of these water filters will give you good-tasting tap water, we rate the Zero Water filter a bit higher than the Brita, simply because we found the water to taste better and also be more effective at removing impurities.
The one downside of the Zero Water filter is that the cartridges are significantly more expensive than the Brita ones, but that’s largely because it uses a more advanced filtration system.
One other slight negative when it comes to the Zero Water is that it is slightly slower than the Brita at filtering water. This is less of a problem if you go for one of the bigger pitchers.
Check Zero Water filter prices now on Amazon: www.amazon.com
Anything Else To Consider?
One thing to bear in mind is that although the Zero Water filter is great at removing impurities from the water, it also removes some beneficial things such as magnesium.
For this reason, you may want to look at options to remineralize your water if you’re just sticking with the Zero Water.
This is less of a problem with the Brita, which is designed to remove the bulk of the harmful contents of tap water but also leave in some of the minerals.
Wrapping Things Up – Final Thoughts
So, that brings us to the end of our comparison look at the Brita and the Zero Water filter.
Overall, we think that these are two pretty good consumer products which provide good tasting water.
However, we rate the Zero Water Filter slightly higher than the Brita, simply because we found the water to taste better, and it was more effective at removing impurities.
Check Zero Water filter prices now on Amazon: www.amazon.com
