Sunday, August 03, 2014

Product Review: "Compatible" Water Filters

Just did a product review on Amazon.com so thought I'd vent here, too. 

Decades ago- right after we bought this house- we bought a Multipure water filter. They're pretty neat. Expensive, but neat. They take nearly everything out of tap water using a carbon block filter. We've been more than happy with it, but the filter replacements got more expensive over the years. 

Not too big a deal as we'd use one filter well past the supposed 12 month lifespan. I'd often leave the same filter in for two or three years. Earlier this year the wife complained the water coming from our last original filter tasted bad so I went to order another. The price had gone up considerably since last time we bought one so I checked Ebay to see if there were any that were less expensive.

I found a number of supposedly "compatible" filters that were much less expensive. Around $36.00 delivered for these copycat filters, as opposed to close to $90.00 (after taxes and shipping) for the original replacement. The statement on their Ebay listing seemed to claim the same filtering ability as the originals. I took that with a grain of salt. Still, for the savings, why not give it a try.

When it was delivered, I wasn't surprised to see it looked like an original. Screwed right into the fixture and seemed to work the same. Water tasted fine, too. I wasn't sure if it took out all contaminants as the originals but wasn't too concerned about that. Good enough for me, at least as it started out.

Then a few days ago the wife mentioned the water coming from the filter tap tasted bad. Once she mentioned it, I noticed it as well. I figured it was time to buy a new filter, although it seemed to me we'd bought this one around the first of the year. That's nowhere near as long as an actual Multipure filter lasts. But, if I had to buy two a year, that's still less expensive than buying an original. 

Except I'd usually use the originals for more than one year. Sometimes two or three, but I figured what the heck. I went ahead and ordered another phony filter. Then we started wondering exactly when it was we bought the last one. The wife thought it was in the last few months. I thought it was probably closer to January. 

I checked my Ebay purchase records and the wife was right. I bought the last one on March 28. With the filter not installed until around the first of April, that meant only four months use before something went wrong (bad tasting water from the filter, but wife says regular tap water tastes fine). That means we'd have to buy three or four of them a year making the high cost of authentic filters not so high.

I already ordered the phony filter by the time I figured that out. In a few months when that one stops working I guess it would make better sense to buy a filter straight from Multipure. Sometimes trying to save money doesn't save money.

7 Comments:

At 10:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Don't skimp where your health is concerned.

2. You know water is supposed to have a flavor, right? It's got minerals and those minerals influence the flavor.

 
At 10:55 AM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

Yep, water has flavor. That's why when I was with the local Army National Guard engineer unit we used to take a big water tank of "Eureka water" with us when we went to annual training in Camp Roberts, a place with arguably the worst tasting water I've ever tasted. It was a sad day, indeed, when we ran out of Eureka water.

But this isn't the tap water. Wife says our straight tap water is fine. It's what's coming through the filter. These phony filters supposedly have coconut hulls mixed in. I'm wondering if maybe the coconut is rotting or something?

Water doesn't smell or look bad. Just has a bad taste. Hard for me to describe as I have a very poor sense of smell and taste. Of course, I might not have noticed it had the wife not said anything. Now I can't help but notice it.

 
At 1:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If the cheapie filter has any organic material in it it can become a bacteria breeding hive. Recent article about loofah sponges mentions this. They never dry out correctly.

Best kind of water filter that I've used before were charcoal base filters. But again, as 1st commenter stated, if you're going to use them you need to change them, often

 
At 1:36 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

That's what kinda worries me about the coconut charcoal, or whatever it is they say is in these filters. I believe the Multipure ones are pure carbon, although I could be wrong.

I did see one comment in the Amazon reviews from some guy from Multipure. He only wrote that their filters are "certified" to do what they say they do and the other ones aren't. I don't believe he mentioned anything about the components of the filters. Maybe they are made the same?

As far as changing them often, maybe, but the originals seemed to work for years without changing. I've always been surprised when changing filters, too. I would expect the outside to be slimy green with mold after a year, two or three, but they aren't. There would just be a little brown on the pre- filter from sediment.

I'd usually just keep using them unless I just felt it had been long enough or, as the last time, when the wife said the water wasn't tasting good.

 
At 3:35 PM, Blogger Julie Timmons said...

I use PUR and the filters arent that expensive. They have an on-off feature and i usually have it on off for anything but drinking.

 
At 10:43 AM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

Just got my replacement filter. A daily early, but they blew it. They sent us two filters for the price of one! I checked, the order just says one and they only charged for one. Not complaining and, no, I'm not sending the extra one back.

 
At 10:42 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

nice post, very helpful read the blog, i also mumbai city Best Multi-pure Water Filter Residential Commercial Under Sink Systems Machine From Supplier http://www.aquatechindia.com/

 

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