PUR 18 Cup Dispenser with One Pitcher Filter DS-1800Z
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of PUR 18 Cup Dispenser with One Pitcher Filter DS-1800Z
Customer Review: Our Favorite Water Filter
Summary: 5 Stars
A critical part of eating healthily is drinking enough fresh water every day. For environmental reasons you should NOT be drinking bottled water! Those bottles - even if you recycle them - leave a huge carbon footstep. Instead, get a filter!
We have well water, which we have tested for arsenic and other substances. It is reasonably healthy but, like all water in modern times, could stand to be a bit cleaner. We have tried a variety of Brita filters, under-sink filters, in-fridge filters and so on over the years. The problem is normally the flow rate. For example, our fridge has a built in filter on its water spout in the door. The water comes out so slowly that you could stand there for over a full minute waiting for your glass to fill.
So when we spotted this unit many months ago, we grabbed one. We have loved it ever since!
The great benefit with this large unit is you sit in on the counter right next to your fridge. When it runs low, you just pull the flexible sink spigot over and blast more water into it. Quick, easy, no lifting. When you want some water, you just open up the filter's spigot and the water comes out at a nice high rate. This means even filling up a whole pitcher for iced tea is quick and easy. The spigot even has a "stay on" position so it's easy to fill up large containers.
Yes, you can certainly keep this IN your fridge too if you want. I personally don't like ice-cold water, I get cold very easily and if I drink fridge water I start shivering. Also, it would take up a huge amount of space in your fridge. However, if you enjoy cold water or have space to spare in your fridge, that is certainly an option for you.
Does this filter out 100% of all known problems past, present and future? Probably not. But, like most filters out there on the market, it definitely pulls out enough problems to make it worth using. If you're drinking bottled water right now, this is certainly MUCH much better than that option!! The amount of waste and carbon put into creating those plastic bottles is just phenomenal - never mind the gas and exhaust used up in trucking the bottles across the country to your store. You should always eat local and fresh as much as possible for those reasons. You can't get much more local and fresh than out of your own faucet!
Highly recommended for pretty much everybody. We should ALL drink more water every day, and we should all ensure that our water is as clean as it can be. This unit helps with both.
Customer Review: The Perfect Solution
Summary: 5 Stars
Our tap water has a pretty bad taste so my husband was constantly buying those huge packs of bottled water. Despite my complaints that it was expensive and generated too much waste, he was reluctant to stop buying it because it was convenient. Well, I would have to agree with him there, it was convenient to just grab a cold bottle out of the fridge and go, but there just had to be a better way.
I thought of having bottled water delivered (again) but the monthly expense and hassle (those heavy bottles!) nixed that idea. The grocery store sells those same bottles without having to committ to a montly bill, just buy what you need, but again, lugging that thing into the car and then out of the car when we got home was not going to get it. Plus we'd have to buy another dispenser or rent one so that was out.
Next I thought of one of the faucet dispensers, but our kitchen is already teeny tiny and that just seemed like something that would get in the way. Also, it seemed you had to replace the filters on those things way too often. It also didn't solve the issue of being able to grab a cold one out of the fridge (it is not THAT cold out of the faucet--especially during the summer) so no-go on that idea.
Then the idea of a filtering pitcher came to mind, but we both want to increase our intake of water so I knew we would need something larger. To my pleasant suprise, there are dispensers that sit in the fridge. Cool. Now which one? The first name that popped in my head was Brita, but the review and the price on their comparable product was not that great. The reviews for the PUR dispenser were much better and so was the price so I decided to give it a try.
Wow! This thing is great. I didn't really think anything would filter out the awful taste from our tap water (it is so bad that hubby will not drink tap water when we run out of bottled water), but low and behold it does! It tastes like I am drinking bottled water from the store. The slim design fits easily in our fridge and it is so easy to use. We fill up our Camelbak bottles and just go. When it starts to get low we fill it back up and it is usually ready for the next fill up.
So let's see, no big packs of bottle water and excessive waste, no heavy 5/10 gallon bottles to lift, no monthly bill, cold water ready to grab and go (well we fill up our Camelbak bottles, but not much different) never runs out, inexpensive filters that last 2 months.
Perfect.
Customer Review: Didn't filter out the grossness from my faucet :(
Summary: 3 Stars
I tested this product for two weeks+.
I purchased this product to reduce the waste of plastic from the Zephyrhills jugs that I've been purchasing. Plus, I wanted to reduce the amount of BPA chemicals going into my body. Since I rent, I can't get those awesome under the sink water filtration systems...so I figured this would be the best alternative.
The product itself looks great. Easy to clean and assemble. Only bad thing I can think of is the one drop of water that comes out after you finish taping the water....really, not that bad of a flaw. I'm not that picky, I can deal with that minor flaw. No mess in the fridge due to a constant leak. Thumbs up for the product quality.
Now for my reason on giving it only three stars...it doesn't appear to filter the water from my faucet THAT great. I wish I had a water testing kit to see how contaminated my water is without and with the filter. It's too bad they didn't include this with the product for people like me. After drinking the filtered water, I had an unusual after taste in my mouth that went on and on. I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. It tasted sorta minty...and just plain gross. Even my stomach felt sore some of time after drinking the water. Could it be the dumb fluoride that gets thrown into our water system or could it be something more serious like pollutants and chemicals coming from the faucet? I don't know. Even though this didn't taste right form the get go...I put my chin up and continued testing this for two weeks. I was hoping I would get used to it...but no, the nasty after taste kept on. I just couldn't do it anymore after two weeks. I don't know what I'm drinking and will be going back to Zephyrhills. Sucks. I really wanted to save money and the environment, but I don't want to chance it by getting sick from what I'm drinking.
I live in Orlando, FL (32822). Again, I didn't go so far as testing the water quality with a water testing kit...wouldn't surprise me if the area I live has really poor water quality.
Anyone know if there's a general map showing the water quality in an area? I searched briefly, but didn't see anything useful on the internet.
I hope I'm not the only person here who had these results. :(
Customer Review: Beats Bottled Water in Every Way!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased two of these dispensers in January 2008. One I keep in my refrigerator, the other on the counter top. I purchased four four-packs of filters with the units, and I still have two of those left, after almost a year of daily use. I absolutely love these dispensers and have had absolutely no problem with leakage or anything else.
The dispenser is very easy to carry with insert-handles on either side that are easily gripped. When the dispenser is almost empty I take it to the sink, fill it up and then wait for the water to filter down a little bit before returning it to the area where I keep it. It is true that the filtering sometimes takes an hour or more to complete but I have not found that to be a problem. Pur recommends not using the water until the filtration process is complete, although the company doesn't state why.
The dispenser holds 144 ounces or 1.125 gallons. The filters are stated to efficiently filter 40 gallons before replacement is recommended. Therefore, you can fill up one dispenser 35 times before you'll need to replace the filter. To be on the safe side I usually replace the filter after 30 fill-ups. It's easy to keep track of the number of times you fill up the tank by simply marking the decal that comes with each filter or using a little notebook to check off the refill times. Thus, I would not recommend topping it off after every use like some reviewers stated they do, because it would be difficult to keep track of how much water the filter has actually processed.
Earlier this year, information regarding the danger of certain plastics containing BPAs came to light. I have not been able to determine what type of plastic these containers are made of, and thus don't know if this dispenser poses any problems regarding BPA contamination. I do hope that Pur and/or Brita will soon offer a stainless steel dispenser which will eliminate that concern. Of course, stainless steel dispensers will be heavier, however, I think the trade-off is worth the peace of mind.
In the meantime, this dispenser is convenient, easy to use and provides a far less expensive and far more 'green' way of drinking filtered water.
Customer Review: Great tasting water at your finger tips
Summary: 5 Stars
I grew up using a Brita Pitcher (sitting on the counter top 24/7) and when I finally moved into a place of my own with about 3 feet of counter space I knew I couldn't fit a pitcher, toaster and dish rack all on the counter and still be able to work...
Brita's version of this had several poor reviews, so after looking at the PUR version I figured I'd give it a try. My husband needed some convincing that it would be OK to live in the fridge as the fridge is rather small - However this filter system is very unobtrusive and fits right up against the wall.
There isn't much by way of assembly of the item - however there are 3 pieces plus a filter to put together. I recommend that you give everything a quick wash with warm soapy water as there was a rather 'plasticky' smell when I pulled it all out of the Styrofoam and plastic wrap. This went away once it was all dried. As with any other carbon-based filter system I've used, the filter needs to be soaked in cold water for 15-20 min before being installed; not a big deal.
When putting everything together, I recommend that you insert the blue reservoir into the clear tank before putting the filter into the reservoir. There are 2 little nubs on the filter that slip into two little tracks when you put it in, but the filter must also be twisted into place to create the seal between the unfiltered water in the reservoir and the tank below. I have a feeling that people who had issues with the filter leaking was because of this...
Once it it was in the fridge, I filled the reservoir up with water and let it work its magic. We've been using a large regular pitcher filled with tap water - which is easier than taking the entire assembly out of the fridge to fill it and put it back in again. There is plenty of clearance between the lid and the top shelf to allow for us to slip it off, fill up the reservoir and slip the lid back on again.
I HIGHLY recommend this filter as far as water taste goes - the town I'm in has a rather metallic taste in the water and this removes everything. The PUR water tastes better to me than bottled now!!