Faucet Mount Water Filters
At work, Kodak (our landlord) requires us to have a water filter in our little kitchen area (don’t ask why). Initially we had a Brita faucet mount filter, but once we used up the spare filters for it, we threw it out and bought a Pur unit to replace it.
As per many of the reviews on the Brita unit, our switch became very very difficult to turn between the filtered and non-filtered settings. It was so bad that pretty much everyone simply left it on the filtered mode all the time. Even when running hot water through it (which you’re not supposed to do). We also had more than one instance of someone moving the faucet (it rotates) by grabbing the Brita filter unit and accidentally pushing the filter release button. This isn’t a huge deal when there’s no water pressure, but when the faucet’s on, water goes everywhere! Regardless of if water’s running, removing the filter will reset the timer function that tells you when to put a new filter in. We resorted to writing the install date of each filter with a Sharpie on the top of it (which is ugly, but effective) and replacing the filter once a month.
I had seen the Pur unit at a store and commented how the lever was very easy to switch between filtered and non-filtered, so we bought a Pur unit. It is indeed very easy to switch between filtered and non-filtered modes, much much easier than the Brita. Now, most people switch to non-filtered mode for hot water, since switching is so easy. The filter is a cartridge that goes inside of a screw on cap, so there’s no easy way to accidentally remove the filter and spray yourself or reset the life counter. Overall, the Pur is simply a better unit than the Brita. The Pur does seem to flow a little slower than the Brita.
Amazon reviews seem to indicate that older Pur models had some issues, but comments from Pur people about changes they’ve made, plus my experiences, seem to moot the problems. We have no issues with our Pur popping off, leaking, or cracking. We don’t have any special mounting system, just what came in the box.
Overall, I’m happy with the Pur. The next time I need to buy a faucet mount filter, I’ll be buying a Pur.
(If you haven’t read my stance on Amazon Affiliates, you should.)