Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31308 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: Brita Water Filter Systems Ltd
• Model: 1000814
• Released on: 2009-03-15

Manufacturer's Description
BRITA have launched the BRITA Meter - the first intellegent cartridge exchange indicator with 3 Way measurement of water quality. The BRITA Meter will, fo the first time, allow consumers to determine when their filter cartridges should be changed based on their own individual water quality.

The BRITA Meter uses unique 3-way measurement technology which BRITA has developed itself: it determines not only how much time has elapsed since the cartridge was inserted, but also the volume of water that has been filtered and the level of hardness (limescale) in the water.

Health and Wellbeing; more important than ever…

Drinking a sufficient amount of water is one of the simplest exercises for staying healthy. Almost all bodily functions such as blood pressure, liver, kidneys, joints and digestion require water to function perfectly. After all, our bodies are made up of approximately 70% water.

In order to keep our bodies in top form we should drink an average of 2.0 litres of water each day. Hydration is important for our bodies to function properly both physically and mentally. Our seven golden water rules might help you to keep the perfect water balance. Please also read our special tips for children and during pregnancy.

Hydration – just how important is it?

Our bodies are around two-thirds water, so it is hardly surprising that water is crucial to our health and general well-being. It forms a major part of our blood, lubricates our joints and eyes, aids digestion, flushes out waste and toxins and helps us look better by keeping skin smooth and elastic. Drinking too little water can lead to dehydration and, in turn tiredness, lethargy, headaches, inability to concentrate, dry or cracked skin and even reduced blood pressure.

When exercising – get the most out of your workout!

Exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, but is important not to forget that muscles do not work as well when dehydrated. We can lose over a litre of water in an as little as an hour when exercising, so it is important to put those fluids back. Experts recommend drinking water before, during and after exercise to avoid dehydration.

Under the weather, one way to start feeling better There are a few times when keeping fluid levels topped up is quite important as when we are ill, water is lost in a number of ways, particularly through sweating and diarrhoea, often at a time when the stomach is particularly sensitive. Keep a BRITA water filter close to hand to make sure the patient can help themselves to a glass of water to sip whenever they're feeling thirsty. In retirement – as important as ever As we get older, our ability to recognise feelings of thirst fades. This can result in symptoms of dehydration that are easily countered by keeping water levels topped up. Keeping a jug filter topped up is a good reminder to drink the recommended amount, and ensures you are drinking water at its best. Seven Golden Water Rules Drinking lots of water will keep you fit: you will not become physically tired as quickly and you will also be mentally "on the ball" when your water reservoirs are filled up.

Rules for healthy drinking: • Drink at least 8 x 250ml glasses a day or more if you get a lot of exercise. Do not wait until you are thirsty. • Drink lots of water evenly distributed over the day. The best way to do it is to always have a supply of drinking water close by: on your desk, in the train, in the car, at the beach... • Water cannot be replaced by coffee, tea or soft drinks. Coffee and alcohol even have a dehydrating effect.

• Drink before, during and after working out. Take regular water breaks! • The very best thing is to start and finish each day with a glass of water, because while you sleep your body loses water. • Cold viruses can dehydrate your body. Therefore you should always keep a big bottle of water near your sickbed, so that you do not have to get up to get a drink. • When the weather is hot, drink room temperature or warm water for keeping your water equilibrium in balance; warm water is absorbed much faster than iced water. From Pregnancy onwards

Children – an easy way to give them the best start… Children in particular need plenty of water - but a recent survey commissioned by BRITA shows that almost two thirds (64%) of children aged 3-15 do not drink enough water. Because they can be so active, children in particular need plenty of fluid to stay healthy. But according to the results of the survey, most children are not drinking enough water - preferring fizzy drinks or squash instead.

In fact, soft and fizzy drinks seem to be replacing water, with children drinking on average over two soft or fizzy drinks a day. More worrying is that more than one in five drink three to six soft drinks per day and 6% drink seven glasses or more. Water consumption is not high enough with more than a third (36%) of children drinking only two glasses of water or less. Worse still, 4% of parents say their children do not drink any water at all.

Children should drink between six and eight glasses per day of a size appropriate for the age of the child and children of all ages should drink a bit more in hot weather and when running around.

Water enables your body to digest food more efficiently and assists the bowel in getting rid of waste products. It also helps your body to deal better with the sugar and salt in food so that it does not retain too much of these potentially health-damaging substances. It can reduce fluid retention as well as cushioning unsettling swings in blood-sugar levels.

Parents and teachers find that children are better able to concentrate, maintain good behaviour and feel good if they drink enough water - the effects can literally be life changing. A child who does not drink enough is at risk of dehydration, showing symptoms such as headaches, constipation, lethargy and urinary tract infections. Even mild dehydration is thought to affect the ability to concentrate at school. Character of Water

Today, drinking water is taken for granted in the majority of the developed countries. Still, it is one of our most precious resources. Most of our tap water comes from reservoirs or rivers, the rest being taken from underground sources. The 'raw' water goes through an intensive treatment process to make it safe for human consumption, although ground water, because it goes through a process of natural purification, needs little treatment (apart from some disinfectant to keep it safe during transportation).

Filtered vs. bottled Tap water is perfectly safe. But it does not always taste, look or smell as good as many of us would like. Impurities that affect your tap water's taste, odour, and colour include: • Chlorine: Chlorine can be used in water supply as a safe disinfectant. It has a bad taste and odour. • Sediment: This is inorganic matter or natural vegetation. Sediment can cause build up in household pipes and bad tastes and odours. • Water Hardness: Hard water contains dissolved minerals such as magnesium and calcium. These two elements in time cause limescale to build up in kettles, hot water appliances. • Metals and Heavy metals such as lead, copper and aluminium are often present, depending on the age of your homes plumbing. Filtered water Filtered water will provide you and your family with clean, clear, and fresh tasting drinking water and:

• Makes great tasting coffee and tea. • Reduces limescale build up in kettles and coffeemakers. • May improve the colour and texture of foods cooked with water and can reduce the amount of scum produced during cooking. • Costs much less than bottled water. • Helps cut flowers to last longer and household plants thrive.

Bottled water There are three main types of bottled water - mineral, spring and table. Each is subject to strict regulations. In fact, there is no legally required minimum content for minerals in mineral water, and levels in some bottled water have been found to be similar to those in tap water. Research into 28 mineral and spring waters (and one table) published in 1995 found that all had what the regulations defined as a low mineral content. You really cannot rely on these waters to make a significant contribution to your mineral intake, its report concluded.

Hard or soft water – what does it mean to you? Confusingly there are two different kinds of water hardness, both caused by calcium and magnesium salts. The first, found in most water, is known as permanent hardness and is caused by the calcium and magnesium salts of chloride and sulphate. They give water its characteristic taste but do not cause scale deposits when the water is heated. The second type of hardness is called temporary hardness and is caused by calcium and magnesium bicarbonate. Calcium and magnesium bicarbonate are destroyed by boiling and therefore this is sometimes referred to as "temporary hardness". Boiling changes it to insoluble carbonate, which is the deposit we know as scale. This fixes to surfaces such as heating elements and boiler walls. It also causes that murky, scummy appearance in tea and coffee.

Maxtra Cartridge The BRITA Maxtra filter cartridge with the unique Maxtra 4-Step Filtration has +20% improved limescale reduction compared to the BRITA Classic cartridge*. In addition to that, it reduces other substances such as chlorine, which affect the taste and odour in your tap water, reduces aluminium and certain heavy metals (like copper and lead) along with certain pesticides. Organic impurities are also reduced.

The result is cleaner, clearer water for great tasting hot and cold drinks, delicious food and less limescale build up in your domestic appliances. *vs. BRITA Classic when used in BRITA jug water filters (average according to BRITA standard test protocol)

Maxtra offers an advanced filtration technology that works in four steps:

Step 1 Intensive Pre-Filtration In a first step the water flows through a fine mesh filter. This is the pre-filtration. The mesh retains particles, which are present in the tap water. Step 2 Ion Exchange Filtration The ion exchange resin comes into action! It reduces the carbonate hardness, which causes limescale that affects the water quality and leads to a limescale build up in your household appliances. Also, levels of metals such as aluminium, copper and lead are significantly reduced.

Step 3 Activated Carbon Filtration The granulated activated carbon is another step in the BRITA water filtration. It significantly reduces substances that affect smell and taste of your tap water such as chlorine, certain pesticides and organic impurities. Step 4 Intensive Final Filtration In the fourth and last step a special fine mesh filter retains the particle mixture.

The Maxtra FlowControl leads to a consistent flow rate through the cartridge for an improved water filtration. Contact times between water and filter cartridge contents have been optimized for your convenience and our best ever performance!

Filtering water is now even more convenient! Maxtra fits all new BRITA jug water filters easily! Just insert the cartridge into the funnel and press it down until you hear a slight "click". A ring pull handle on top of Maxtra and the non-slip grip make the exchange process easier for you. Maxtra cartridges require no pre-soaking and there is no need anymore to keep the cartridge immersed in water. Easy and efficient - designed for your needs! You will find all information on exchange frequency and which jug water filters fit Maxtra on the packaging of your BRITA jug water filter and in the instruction manual inside.

Recycling: Do your bit for the environment… Recycle your used Brita cartridges. All components of the BRITA cartridge are recyclable. Cartridges returned to BRITA will be returned to our own recycling plant in Germany where the component parts are separated and processed for secondary use.

Box Contains

Customer Reviews

Does the job, gets rid of chlorine...
I bought this because of the terrible taste of chlorine in the tap water in Northampton. Buying bottled water was becoming a hassle so I thought I'd give this a go. Does the job, gets rid of chlorine, makes tap water drinkable, although it doesn't get rid of flouride which would be nice. The build quality of the jug is acceptable, pourer is okay, seems solid enough, although I don't think it would take dropping too many times. I must admit I don't change the filters as often as recommended. I'm still on my second after 5 months, no noticeable change in the taste, no bits in the water. It doesn't fit in the door tray of my admittedly old fridge freezer. It's about 10cm wide at the top, tapering to 8cm at the base, about 27cm from handle to spout. Water comes out the tap cold anyway and I prefer to drink it at room temperature so not bothered about that. It's about 27cm tall so fits on a fridge shelf if necessary. Of course it's a hassle to keep filling it but you know that going in. It only takes a minute or so to filter enough for a glass, just keep it filled. The indicator thing is a mystery, I'm not sure how (or even if) it works but I haven't found it's necessary. It's a shame we need to pay extra to get chemicals out of our tap water but that's the reality, and this is the solution.

It's fine, but nothing spectacular
I had a Brita Fjord jug for years, which used Classic cartridges and I thought I'd upgrade and give the Elemaris a go. The jug itself is fine; the filtered volume of water is marginally less than the old Fjord, but no big deal. The jug can be refilled without removing the top, which is a useful addition (there is a flap built into the lid that opens as soon as you put it under the tap, and it's cleverly constructed so that it closes once the top bit is full). Now for the flaws: 1) I bought a new cartridge for my old jug and replaced it at the same time as trying out the new Maxtra cartridge. The old Classic cartridge filters more quickly so you begin to wonder why you are paying more for a Maxtra cartridge (and there are no "generics") 2) The intelligent meter supposedly measures volume, quality of water AND time. Perhaps I am not using the jug enough so volume is not the restricting factor, but essentially mine seems to be counting down every week, just like the old meters 3)Pouring. The old jug was made so that even if the top bit had some water in it, the jug still poured properly. In other words, the top bit was water-tight when pouring. Not for the new jug. If you happen to overfill it you will regret it when you pour a glass of water all over the table. Overall the jug absolutely does its job, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra expense compared to other more basic jugs, and I'd stick to Classic models if possible.