We happened by the Mavea booth at last weekend’s Go Green Expo in NYC and were duly impressed with their line of cool looking, affordable water pitchers. Since roughly 85% of all U.S. households have hard drinking water, products like the Mavea Elemaris pitcher allow consumers to make fuller use of their tap water and avoid buying expensive and environmentally harmful bottled water.
The Mavea pitchers have some nice features: they’re easy on the eyes and fit easily into most fridges; they direct fill from the tap through the top so you aren’t removing the top all the time; the filter lasts for about 40 gallons, is fully recyclable, doesn’t leak any carbon filter material or need pre-soaking, and takes out all the bad stuff but leaves in essential minerals.
Another nice feature is a built-in Smart Meter to let you know how long the filter’s been in use, the volume filtered and the hardness of your water.
It’s interesting to note that Mavea is an American division of Germany-based parent Brita, (in the U.S. the company sold its Brita line to Clorox years ago) so they’ve been innovators in water filtration for a long time.
You can buy the Elemaris pitcher @ amazon.com $29.95
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I agree with Peter that “hardness” of water (when referring to minerals such as calcium and magnesium) is what makes water taste good and is good for health. However, the Mavea filter does remove some mercury and other things besides reducing chlorine. But, I agree, it doesn’t take out enough harmful stuff. DOes anyone know of a better carbon filter that is easy to buy and use? I used to be sold on reverse osmosis and now, with more knowledge, I avoid it like the plague. NOt only does it leach out all the minerals I like in water, it is a scientific fact that leaching everything out of the water makes it more acidic and “aggressive”–meaning it will more readily absorb harmful substances than water that is mineralized–even absorb carbon dioxide from the air. I did an experiment boiling R.O. water in a glass pot with plastic handle and in a metal pot. The R.O. water immediately picked up the taste of plastic and then metal. Tap water did not pick up these substances. Some researchers also believe that r.o. water “leaches” minerals out of your body.
Unfortunately, Ross should have learned a bit about water before writing this.
Not sure what is meant by “hard drinking water,” but this unit is (more than likely) a simple carbon filter that primarily removes chlorine, the stuff that (for most people) makes water taste bad.
The statement, “takes out all the bad stuff” is way off. Although THMs will largely be removed by carbon, there are many “bad” things that will not be removed by carbon, such as lead, mercury and arsenic.
Hardness in drinking water usually makes it taste good, and is actually recommended by WHO (World Health Organization). There is no real reason to want to remove it.
Peter