How Many Gallons Per Zero Water Filter

ZeroWater eight Cup Pitcher

$25 at Walmart
Brita Grand 10 Cup

$35 at Walmart

Depending on your local h2o supply, completely pure drinking h2o tin can exist elusive. Afiltered bullpen is a elementary, relatively affordable way to scrub your tap water so that it's a lilliputian cleaner, even if not necessarily free from all impurities. One company, Brita, has dominated this infinite for decades. Over time, though, many competitors accept entered the ring.

The boldest newcomer is ZeroWater. ZeroWater makes the lofty merits that its cascade-through filters remove the most impurities of any filtered h2o pitcher on the market. The company fifty-fifty includes a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter with its products. That manner consumers can personally exam the results of their filtering.

To find out if ZeroWater makes skillful on its promise and how information technology compares with Brita, I put pitchers from each company to the test myself. Here's how information technology all went down.

The combatants

The way I chose each water filter bullpen wasn't complicated. I went to my local Target and selected the least expensive pitcher I could discover from both brands. I also made certain that each pitcher came with ane filter in the box. I settled on the $25 ZeroWater 8 Cup Pitcher and the $35 Brita Chiliad 10 Loving cup pitcher.

ZeroWater 8 Cup Pitcher

Impressive h2o filtration

Brian Bennett/CNET

This viii-cup model from ZeroWater uses what the visitor calls five-stage h2o filtration. You also become a TDS meter that's arranged with the product. And the bullpen lid even has a handy receptacle for the sampling instrument. I likewise capeesh the extra flap on the back of the lid that makes faucet refills easier.

Brita M 10 Cup

Classic h2o filter technology

Brian Bennett/CNET

Yous pay a little more for the Brita Thousand merely information technology has slightly larger capacity (10 cups). While the bullpen doesn't come up with a TDS meter, there is an electronic filter indicator on the lid. Y'all tin fix it to alert you when it'south time to swap in a new Brita water filter.

Filtering time

Waiting around for water to run through a filter is a drag, particularly when you're parched. That'southward why one important factor to consider is filtering time. To measure this I poured 16 ounces of tap h2o into each pitcher. I so timed how long this book of liquid took to drain from the filter sleeping accommodation into the filtered water area.

Hither the Brita was swifter, only non by much. Information technology took one infinitesimal and 56 seconds to complete the task. The ZeroWater took a fiddling longer. Information technology needed ii minutes and fourteen seconds to filter the same amount of water.

Winner: Brita Grand 10 Cup

My home tap water had a TDS meter reading of 187 ppm.

Brian Bennett/CNET

Filter operation

The main purpose of any water filter pitcher is to remove as much junk from your tap water as possible. While information technology did take slightly longer to process water, the filtering powers of the ZeroWater 8 Cup Pitcher were impressive. I measured the TDS level of my tap water, unfiltered, to become a baseline number. That day it came in at 187 parts per meg.

Later on filtering through the Brita, my tap water had a TDS meter reading of 147 ppm.

Brian Bennett/CNET

Moments later, I ran tap h2o from the same faucet through each filter pitcher, then tested their ppm. Water from the Brita showed a TDS of 147 ppm. That'due south a modest reduction of 21.iv percent. Past contrast, I was floored past the filtered water I tested from the ZeroWater viii Cup. I logged a TDS of 0, essentially 100 percent reduction of TDS. Keep in mind I used my own Orapxi water quality tester, not the supplied ZeroWater TDS meter.

ZeroWater filtered water — TDS meter readings of ZeroWater filtered h2o were an astonishing 0 ppm.
Brian Bennett/CNET

Winner: ZeroWater 8 Cup Pitcher

Cost and lifespan

In terms of the lifespan of each filter versus its cost, things get a little muddy. At $30 per two-pack, ZeroWater filters cost $xv each. Brita's Longlast filters are a lilliputian more expensive at $17 a popular. That said, ZeroWater filters have an estimated lifespan of 20 gallons. Brita rates its Longlast filters to have a 120-gallon filter life. Then although the ZeroWater bullpen is cheaper and its filters are cheaper, because you lot'd need to buy ZeroWater filters much more often, you'd end up spending more with ZeroWater's organization.

Winner: Brita Grand 10 Cup

The winner overall

The Brita pitcher might seem to be the clear winner in terms of speed, and total cost of ownership. Simply information technology did remove far less textile from my tap water. That fact outweighs all others and makes the ZeroWater acme domestic dog in my book.

I do know that my local water quality here in Louisville, Kentucky, is actually quite skilful. My only complaint is the scale deposits that tin occur over time. The ZeroWater viii Loving cup cut those impurities downwards to nothing. That means I'll never accept to descale my coffee maker again, which for me is priceless.