I've had something in my refrigerator for more than ten years. As a matter of fact, it has come with me through five addresses. My Brita water pitcher is actually so old that I couldn't even find it online to get the proper item name for it. What can I say, I hold on to things that work for me for as long as they work for me. This includes clothes from high-school that I still wear lol.
I've had a Brita in my refrigerator for as long as I can remember. As a child my grandfather purchased one of the really big 18-cup Brita dispensers after his doctor recommended he get more water for his health. That is where my love affair with Brita began. When I moved out on my own Brita was the only thing I considered as an option for my water. Around 2005 I purchased the Brita pitcher I still have today.
Thankfully, Influenster sent me a new Brita Stream complimentary for testing purposes. I didn't think that I had any problems with my old Brita pitcher, but now that I have the Brita Stream I feel like I have significantly upgraded!
The new Brita Stream is awesome. I can absolutely taste the difference in the water. Hubs didn't believe that there was any difference in the taste of the water from the two pitchers (or in water in general) so we did a blind taste test, and I passed. I could indeed tell the difference.
The Brita Stream solves problems I didn't even know I had with my old Brita.
First off, installing a new filter takes much less time and is much more convenient. The filters for my old Brita required you to soak them in a cup for a number of minutes before you could install it in the pitcher, and even then the first few batches of water would always have little filter particles in it. With the Brita Stream you just run the filter under water for 15 seconds, install it, and BOOM, delicious water.
Because the Brita streams filters water as you pour into your glass instead of when you fill the pitcher you can drink filtered water immediately, as apposed to the old Brita where you had to wait for the water to filter through before you could pour it. This also allows you to put ice water in the pitcher for filtering as well.
The technology to remind you to change your filter is totally new, improved and high tech. It used to just be a dial that you set manually. Now there is an electronic monitor that shows a green, yellow, or red light every time you pour so you know how close to needing a new filter you are. I am definitely guilty of going week...maybe even months... past the manual dial reminder. This electronic system should work much better for me.
The only thing I dislike about the Stream is the controlled pour. This is actually supposed to be a perk of the pitcher, making it easy to fill water bottles. The majority of the time I'm pouring into a glass, and the pour on the Stream with the controlled pour feature makes the pouring a little bit slow. My ideal situation would be if there was some sort of mechanic that allowed you to switch between controlled pour for bottles and a faster pour for glasses.
I don't need two water pitchers so I'll be gifting my old faithful to someone and enjoying my new Brita Stream from now on.
What kind of water are you drinking?
Disclosure: I received the Brita Stream complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. All opinions are my own.
