Brita Maxtra or Aqua Optima

Lugh_Chronain

Incidentally, Amazon have 8 x LAICA Biflux water filters compatible with Brita Maxtra for £16.95 if anyone is interested.

Not sure if these are recyclable, will leave that for you to find out.

Fluffs123

i was looking into this recently too, coincidentally, and this USA website doesn't think much of Brita.

http://www.your-nutrition-guide.com/brita-water-filters.html

but the one they recommend seems to be only available through one UK web retailer, so you're stuffed for replacement cartridges if they go bust. also there's no performance specs on either the Brita or Aqua websites to compare.

hamwic81

Just like everyone on this thread, I too had a dilema of choosing the best water filter that was available in the UK. As Fluffs123 pointed out there's a huge variety out there in the US that point to US solutions not available in the UK, however I disagree that the Brita is not popular in the US as I found a few websites/articles which detail some testing on lead reduction which is a problem in the US and incidently this is the issue that I am encountering and hence my research. Subsequently I have tried both of these water filtration systems currently the most popular and widely available in the UK.

I also approached both Brita and Aqua Optima about what testing they have done to prove their filters reduce lead particulates from normal tap water and I have to say both companies co-operated brilliantly by producing lab test results, unfortunately I can't attach documents to this post and it's too much to paste in the graphs but it seems that they both seem to reduce lead particulates fairly evenly. However as a personal choice, I have chosen the brita Maxtra filtering system for the following reasons
- Brita have been working on water filtration alot longer starting in Germany and have built up a reputation of quality all around the world
- Brita overall seem to filter alot more impurities based on various lab tests i've seen
- Brita filtered water for me seems to taste 'alot' better/cleaner' than the Aqua optima filtered water.
- Probably less important out of all these factors but it was important to me. I found that the Aqua Optima seemed to filter too quickly for my liking (almost as though it was just passing through the cartridge), which although i'm sure it's doing the job it doesnt fill me with confidence whereas the Brita maxtra which although takes a while to filter you get a better sense of it actually filtering the water. Again this is just my opinion and probably has no bearing on the actual filtering of the impurities.
- I actually disagree that Brita filters are too expensive given that they average around £2-2.50 per filter (if you shop around) which compared to bottled water over a given month is not alot realy.

Lugh_Chronain

Incidentally, Tesco currently have Brita Maxtra Cartridges 6Pk half price for £12 (£2/each) until 6/9/2011.