Santa was thinking about the environment this year in our house. One of our Christmas gifts was a Pur water filter pitcher. I confess, we had been using plastic water bottles. In our new-old house we know that the visible plumbing has been replaced with lead-free pipes. It’s the plumbing that we can’t see that we are concerned about. We wonder about the pipe from the town-line to the house. Our city’s website states that they have a program that tests 50 homes per year……
So we had been avoiding drinking the water to avoid the risk of lead and whatever else there might be. We had also been trying to be more hydrated with water, so as you can imagine we were recycling a lot of water bottles. So someone must have told Santa to get us a water filter. We had previously looked at Brita and other filters, but apparently, this Pur filter system is certified by WQA to remove 99% of lead, 96% of copper and mercury, 96% of industrial pollutants, and reduces chlorine.
Wikipedia tells me that: “The Water Quality Association (WQA) is an Illinois-based trade association representing the residential, commercial, industrial, and small community water treatment industry in the United States. It has more than 2,500 members consisting of both manufacturers as well as dealers/distributors of equipment.“
PUR 11 Cup Ultimate Pitcher with LED & Lead Reduction Filter, White
The filter that we received was an 11 cup pitcher filtration system, purchased from Amazon. It has slim lines, so it fits nicely in my refrigerator. The filters are replaceable, and so may be ordered online or purchased from Walmart. It was easy to assemble, and the lid fits nicely. It has a neat little light on the top which indicates when it is time to replace the filter, based upon how many times you have refilled the pitcher. I think that this is awesome, but I still haven’t gotten to the point where it tells me to replace – so I assume it works.
Note that I have found less expensive filter replacements for the pitcher from Waterdrop!
The water does seem slow to refill in the pitcher, but that’s OK because I can imagine that it’s filtering more bad stuff out. I also find that if I try to pour filtered water from the pitcher while I am still filtering water – I do tend to spill – so that could use some improvement, or I should just be patient.
All and all I am really happy to have this pitcher. It could actually be a bit larger, as we go through more than 11 cups in a day – so maybe I should buy another. It’s not perfect, but I am very happy not to be using plastic water bottles, and I am happy to be consuming less lead.
As Martha Stewart would say – It’s a good thing. Thanks Santa.
(ordered from Amazon.ca Prime – CDN$ 45.49 received in 3 days).
Come on! Plastic cups and bottles are the least problem. Any meat, cheese, sausage etc. from a discounter is packed into plastic. All electronic devices are made of plastic. We live in a plastic universe.
You are right, and there could have been less packaging on my amazon shipment – but my husband and I were using way too many platic bottles, and it was something we could do.
If you are lucky enough to have clean drinking water at home, it is possible. The water quality in my place is awful, i only use it to wash clothes. For food and drinking purposes i rely on bottled water. A six-pack à 1.5l is already heavy if bottled in plastic. Can’t imagine heaver glass. Also carrying bread and other stuff in paper bags while it’s raining is not handy if you ain’t no car. But thumbs up for your efforts. Every bit helps, although big companies continue to sh#t at men, animals and the climate…
You are right!
Thank you. I recently read that a dutch company has developed a new kind of plastic foil which is made of organic material. Maybe this could replace real plastic which is used as food package in supermarkets. Then plastic bottles and cuttlery would be the least problem. 😉
That sounds promising.
Electronic devices are not bought all the time though, whereas the bottles would have been used every day, so over time would amount to much more plastic.
That’s true. It’s really about our household and what we can do. We don’t buy a lot of electronics, but we had been using a few cases of plastic water bottles per week, which we can do without. Thanks for commenting!
Agree :). Just got to keep questioning things and thinking creatively.
This is good advice. We live in a historic town too, and need to pay attention to water quality.
Our drinking water comes from underground springs. But we have also installed a filter on our shower head, available from Home Hardware, to filter our chlorine and impurities from the shower water.
Sounds like a good idea as well Sally. We need to do that too!
You can buy a test kit to check your water for lead yourself. I was really worried when we came to our new home with a toddler. It gave great peace of mind.
Thank you. Great idea!
I definitely agree with this article. If somebody thinks reusing disposable plastic bottles is being environmentally friendly, think again. The chemicals and bacteria leach from the bottles to your water and can get into the body. Using filtered water is better, more accessible and cheaper.
But when we go out, for a walk or bicycle ride, we still need some water. In this case, a portable water bottle is essential.. https://bubibottle.com
Agreed and thanks for the comment!