Are you thinking about buying a Brita water bottle? Read this article before buying one.
A Brita water filter pitcher is quite a common sight in many household refrigerators. Consumers enjoy the cleaner taste and better quality of the water, and it’s a much more environmentally friendly system than going through cases and cases of disposable water bottles.
According to Brita’s website, consumers use 2,000 plastic bottles every second, every day–yikes! However, one can’t deny that water bottles do come in handy during a workout, at the office, or on the go. The good news is that Brita is now officially manufacturing reusable Brita water bottles.
In this review, we’re going to take a look at Brita water bottle, as well as a few competitors. We’ll compare their specs and features and give you an honest analysis to help you decide whether or not a Brita water bottle is your top choice for portable hydration.
What Is a Brita Water Bottle?
Image © brita.com
As of June 2018, Brita has three basic water bottle designs: the Hard-Sided Bottle, the Sport Bottle and the Large Water Bottle. All three are BPA-free.
They each contain a replaceable Brita® bottle filter, which acts to lessen the smell and flavor of chlorine usually present in tap water and also filters out particulates 50 microns or larger in size. (For reference, human hair on average has a cross-section of 50 microns.) The bottles also feature a built-in carrying loop for convenience.
There are a few benefits to using a Brita water bottle. The taste of your water is usually noticeably better.
In addition, the water you drink will be cleaner with the particulates filtered out of it. The other benefits are those that you reap with just about any reusable water bottle. You’re likely to save money because you’re not buying multiple disposable bottles throughout the year.
You’re also benefiting the environment by reducing plastic bottle waste. Just one Brita water filter can replace up to 300 of the standard 16.9-ounce water bottles that consumers have been used to buying for so long.
Brita Water Bottle Usage, Care, and Maintenance
Brita water bottles are fairly easy to use and maintain, especially because they are dishwasher-safe. To clean the bottle, just take out the filter first, and place the plastic components on the top rack of the dishwasher or hand-wash them with mild soap.
When water is in the bottle, it’s best to keep the bottle out of direct sunlight to prevent algae growth. The most important thing is remembering to change your filter. For optimum performance, you should replace your Brita water bottle filter every two months or every 40 gallons.
Unlike some filters, the filter for Brita water bottles requires no “pre-soaking” period. To get started with the hard-sided bottles, you’ll want to flush the filter for about 15 seconds under running water.
Then you place the filter into the filter housing in the lid and press down on it. You may have to push firmly to make sure the filter is flush with the straw. Once you’ve done that, line up the straw and lid and then rotate the straw to lock it. For the Sport Bottle, you start by pushing the filter into the housing, then filling the bottle up to the top with cold tap water.
Next, you make sure that the cap is securely tightened and then squeeze all the water out through the filter to activate it. This water and any water that you use to rinse a Brita filter can actually be used to water houseplants so that it doesn’t go to waste.
If for some reason any of the parts malfunction, Brita’s website offers a customer service phone number and claims that it “offer[s] a 30-day, unconditional, 100% money-back guarantee on all Brita® Pitchers, Faucet Filter Systems, Water Bottles, and Filters.”
The water bottles are also under a 90-day limited warranty. When you are eventually ready to retire your bottle, you can actually recycle it (along with any old filters and filter packaging) through the Brita Recycling page on Brita’s website, as long as you have a least five pounds of Brita products to ship.
Comparison: Brita Water Bottle
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Brita Water Bottle Specifications
All three Brita water bottle models are made of BPA-free plastic. Each bottle variety has some unique features and specifications.
Hard-Sided Bottle
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The Hard-Sided Bottle (model # BB04) has a decent 23-ounce carrying capacity and weighs 0.39 pounds (6.24 ounces). It measures 9.48 inches in height, 2.96 inches in width, and 3.60 inches in depth. For ease of drinking, its lid features a sip straw that can be lifted up and then popped back in to be flush with the top of the lid. A carrying loop is also attached to the lid.
This bottle is available in multiple colors:
- Blue with a green floral print and a white lid
- A quartz-like purplish-pink with a black lid
- Dark blue-gray with a black lid
- Mint green with a green, gray, and white circle pattern with a white lid
- Persimmon red with a white lid
Sport Bottle
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The Sport Bottle (model # BB09) is slightly smaller and lighter than the Hard-Sided Bottle, featuring a 20-ounce carrying capacity and weighing 0.26 pounds. This bottle measures 9.54 inches in height, 2.70 inches in width, and 2.86 inches in length. Since the Sport Bottle caters to people participating in sports or exercise, it’s made of soft-squeeze plastic, and the lid has an easy-sip spout that can be quickly and easily pulled open. The bottle includes a carrying loop in dark gray that’s attached right under the lid.
This bottle comes in some lively, sporty hues:
- Orange with a white lid
- Lilac with a white lid
- Aqua blue with a white lid
- Mint green with a white lid
- Lime green with a white lid
- Blue-green with a white lid
- Electric yellow with a white lid
Large Water Bottle
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The aptly-named Large Water Bottle (model # BB08) boasts a 34-ounce carrying capacity. Interestingly though, despite it being larger than the Hard-Sided bottle and holding 11 more ounces of liquid, the Large Water bottle weighs 0.42 lbs. (6.72 ounces), which isn’t that much heavier than the Hard-Sided Bottle’s 0.39 pounds (6.24 ounces). The Large Water Bottle measures 9.45 inches in height, 3.54 inches in width, and 4.09 inches in length. The lid has a carrying loop directly incorporated into its design.
This bottle is available in these colors:
- Clear with a green and white stripe pattern and a white lid
- Clear with a gray chevron pattern and a white lid
- Moss green with a black lid
- Black with a black lid
Brita Water Bottle Pricing
Brita water bottles are available at major retailers in-store and online. You can’t buy the bottles directly from Brita’s website, but the Brita website does list where its products are available.
The Hard-Sided Bottle’s you can find it at a lower price. On Amazon, you can get some colors in this model. Certain colors are available on Walmart and Target’s websites for under fourteen.
The Sport Bottle has a bottle with a Brita filter but is hoping for a smaller price tag, this model might be the way to go.
Target has similar price points and also sells a twin pack of orange and blue.
Keep in mind, if you buy a Brita water bottle and use it frequently, you’ll probably want to have some filter replacements (model # BB06) on hand.
Pros and Cons of Brita Water Bottle
Before purchasing a Brita water bottle, there are a few key things to consider. Owning one of these water bottles can significantly cut down how much you’re spending on drinkable water if you’re in the habit of regularly buying cases of disposable water bottles.
Cutting down on this plastic waste is also better for the environment. The Brita filters do need to be changed about every two months, as do the filters for the Milestone from Refresh2go. This is a bit more convenient than the KOR Nava, which needs a filter change about once a month.
Brita water bottles are great for reducing the chlorine smell and taste of your water. That said, they aren’t made to keep water cold, and like the KOR Nava, they are not designed to be 100% leak-proof, though their design can help to reduce spills. If being leak-proof is an important feature in your water bottles, you’ll want to stick with something more like the Milestone.
The Brita Hard-Sided bottle and Large bottle are comparable in price to the KOR Nava at around twenty, and the Brita Sports bottle is comparable in price to the Milestone.
Interestingly enough, although the Brita Sports bottle is a lower price than the Hard-Sided bottle and Large bottle, its build quality is generally good and more on par with the KOR Nava and Milestone.
When reviewing these three models, consumers report a lot less breakage and significantly fewer instances of defective parts than consumers reviewing the Hard-Sided bottle and the Large bottle.
Regarding those two models, complaints tend to surface about frequent leakage, water is hard to suck up through the “easy sip” straw, and the lid or bottle breaking. These two particular models do not seem to be consistently well-made.
One downside to Brita water bottles, in general, is that components are not available for sale separately. If just your bottle’s lid breaks, you still have to buy a whole new water bottle.
Conclusion: Brita Water Bottle
All in all, if you buy a Brita water bottle, you are likely to be satisfied with it. It consistently improves the taste and quality of tap water if maintained correctly.
Additionally, despite the prices listed on Brita’s website, you can often find these bottles and their replacement filters for a lower price online at major retailers.
Being top-rack dishwasher-safe makes them easy to clean, and the filters have a decent lifespan of about two months. What keeps these bottles from receiving a full five stars is the consistency of their build quality, mainly in the Hard-Sided and Large Bottle models.
The Sport Bottle gets our highest recommendation out of the three available models, being the most lightweight, cost-effective, easy-to-use, and well-made. Overall, our rating for Brita water bottles is 4.5 out of 5 stars.
