I, like so many other people over the past few years, have been looking for ways to reduce how much household waste we have and how much plastic we use up. Although we do recycle, if there is less that is used in the first place then it can make a difference. One thing that we used to use a lot of in our house was bottled water. I never really was a tap water snob until I moved to the south, but there definitely was a distinctive difference and made the switch to bottled water. I knew that something needed to be done, though, and have been looking for alternatives. Many bottled water companies use only recycled plastic in their bottles and i would recycle them, but it is still a lot of plastic.
I have tried water filters in the past, the kind that filter the water in a jug, but it still tasted very much like the same tap water, even if it was slightly cleaner. Which is why I was so thrilled to be introduced to Zerowater filter jug. With other water filters that I have used in the past, you have to take their word for it that the filter is doing its job. But with Zerowater, you can test to see the difference, as the filter specifically comes with a laboratory grade water quality reader. Once the tap water has gone through the filter, you can use the TDS water reader to see just how close to zero the water now is (zero being as pure as water can be).
TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids and is a measure of the substances that are present in the water, other than the obvious H2O. This could be anything from silt and dead leaves to sewage or substances like fluoride, and chlorides, or metals like lead and copper. Some areas in the UK have a TDS reading of over 300, but as you can see with my test below, mine was nearly three hundred for standard tap water, but went down to less than one when using the Zerowater filter. I could completely taste a difference in the water too!
The Zerowater jug as a capacity of 2.8 litres (the equivalent of 12 cups) so having a jug full a day, or thereabouts, will be the water that I need to consume each day without any plastic that I need to recycle. Of course, the jug itself is made of plastic, but it is durable and good quality, and something that will last and last, rather than throwing out two or three plastic bottles each day. The jug is also designed with a unique and easy to use lid, so you can pour out the filtered water, even if there is still some water in the reservoir waiting to be filtered (handy when you’ve got a busy household and all need to have water).
Value for money
The Zerowater jug is priced at £39.99 which I think is really reasonable for a well made product that you can use again and again, and will help you to save money on bottled water in the long run. For what you get, I do think that it is value for money, and with the water quality check device that comes with it, it is easy to see why I will keep using this over and over.
The design of the jug os so that it can fit neatly in the fridge, and there is a unique feature to water filter jugs, in that there is a button that you can press to dispense the water, which has been helpful for my children. When filled with water it is quite heavy to lift for little ones, so they can just bring their cup to it, press the button, and dispense the filtered water that way.
Overall, I really think this is a great product. You are likely to need to replace filters over time, but long term, it is going to be something worth having in the home in order to reduce plastic consumption (and save money on bottled water too). I think that it is going to be such a good thing for out health too, as it is quite scary to be thinking about what we used to be drinking straight from the tap, full of who knows what.
Have you heard of the Zerowater jug before? I can completely recommend it for any household! It would be great to hear what you think.
*this was gifted in exchange for an honest review – all opinions are my own and I would only recommend something that I would use myself.
A unique and simple-to-use lid is also included, allowing you to easily pour out the filtered water even if there is still some water in the reservoir waiting to be filtered (this is very useful if you live in a large home with many people who all want access to water).