ZeroWater 10-Cup Ready-Pour 5-Stage Water Filter Pitcher 0 TDS for Improved Tap Water Taste - IAPMO Certified to Reduce Lead, Chromium, and PFOA/PFOS

My wife and I live in Arizona, which has some of the hardest water in the country. It's safe but it's basically dusty, dirty desert river water with all sorts of minerals and dirt in it. We use a filter on our refrigerator for drinking water but my wife still refuses to drink it; she says it tastes terrible. I never noticed it that much - I feel like straight drinking water usually tastes bad regardless - but especially with ice, I could smell it. So I ordered this pitcher because I feel like constantly buying bottled water like my wife's been doing is really wasteful in a whole bunch of ways. And we both love it. We don't use it all the time and I'll get to why in a second, but when we want just clean, good tasting drinking water or ice, it really beats any other filtered water, especially here. I thought it was a nice touch that it comes with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter that you can use to measure your water before and after to both be sure the Zero Water filter is working and also know when to buy a new one (they say when the TDS go above a certain threshold, the filter needs replacing). I measured our water from the tap with 500ppm dissolved solids! That is very high. I then filtered this with Zero Water and it went down to 3ppm. Not 0, but that's a tough number to start with. I then tested our filtered refrigerator water and it still measured at 400ppm! So the fridge filter (which is a standard carbon filter like in every other filtration system) is doing something, but it's not very effective on Arizona water. Also, my wife was right! The fridge filtered water is still pretty terrible compared to even unfiltered water from, say, New York (which actually has really good natural water). But I then re-filtered the fridge water through Zero Water and the result was 0ppm. And I think that's a fairer test, since most people will be starting with water that's probably in the 100-300ppm range. Since the fridge filter starts complaining that it needs to be changed at 6 months regardless of usage, and there's really no other convenient way to know when it's dead, we just do that all the time now... we re-filter our fridge water for drinking and ice. But most people won't need to do that - most people can just filter their tap water and will get 0ppm water from Zero Water filters. Now, I will say that I still drink the straight fridge filtered water sometimes, and we also use it in cooking and other things. That's because Zero Water literally filters *everything*, even the good stuff like fluoride and certain minerals your body needs. If there's a situation where the taste doesn't really matter or otherwise gets masked, like in cooking, I'd recommend sticking with unfiltered or less-filtered water. (Other filtration systems are designed to specifically leave alone things like fluoride and good minerals.) But man, the first time I tasted our Zero Water, it was like tasting water itself for the first time. It almost didn't taste real. I don't think I've ever had truly pure water before. It was borderline sweet, maybe because I'm conditioned to our water tasting a bit bitter so that's what my brain expects. But it was very clean, otherwise tasting like absolutely nothing. And obviously with nothing dissolved in it, it's totally clear as well. I can't really comment on filter longevity as we haven't had to replace ours yet. That's after about a month of use, though, filtering still some pretty hard water even after the fridge filter got through it. That said, I don't think this is a system meant to filter *all* your water, and if you use it that way, you'll probably go through filters pretty quick in this part of the country. (The pitcher comes with a brochure that shows how long you might expect a filter to last - in volume, not time - in different parts of the country.) It is best used as a filtration system just for straight drinking water and ice, and if you use it that way, the filters seem to last decently long enough. I did just test our water again a couple days ago and it was still at 0ppm, so our first filter is still working fine after a month.

I have used Brita for a long time and while I think its good, the ZeroWater is superior. Water taste and consistency is much better; no minerally flavor and light. The filter is much larger than the competition so that's probably one of the reasons. Only potential downside is that the jar is larger than comparable products so you'll need extra space in the fridge. Totally worth the money.

I am extremely sensitive to the smell and "fishy" aftertaste of tap water, so finding a reliable filter was a priority. After switching from Brita to ZeroWater, I can confidently say the difference is night and day. The Performance: - Taste & Odor: The filtration power is significantly better than Brita. There is absolutely zero "watery smell" or metallic taste. The water tastes incredibly clean and crisp. - Peace of Mind: I love that it comes with a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter. Being able to monitor the water quality in real-time gives me so much confidence in what I’m drinking. The Experience: - Eco-Friendly: I bought this specifically to reduce plastic waste from bottled water, and I’m very satisfied with the results. - The Trade-off: Yes, refilling it constantly can be a bit of a chore, but for the quality of water you get, it is a very small price to pay. If you are picky about how your water smells and tastes, this is absolutely worth the investment. Room for Improvement: - Instructions: The manual could be a bit more detailed. It would be much more user-friendly if they provided a QR code linking to a setup or maintenance video. Final Verdict: Highly recommended for anyone who can't stand the smell of tap water. It truly delivers on its promise of "zero" impurities.

Let me start out by saying that this is a good product, and it does work as described. Before talking about my specific use of the Zero Water Pitcher, let me just say that the filters for these have to be put on carefully and tightly to avoid leaks. Also, they are expensive, about half the cost of the whole pitcher. I bought the pitcher in response to Covid-19. I am very particular about the taste of my water. I just want it to taste like water (nothing else). When I purchase pre-bottled water, the water tastes like plastic. I just imagine those plastic molecules lodging themselves into my tissues and staying for a good, long while (maybe forever). Ick! I normally get water out of the water dispensary at Hyvee. That water is highly purified, and it tastes like nothing but water. I use refillable gallon jugs to tote the water home. Once you've washed these out a few times (before use), they no longer affect the taste of the water. Well, due to Covid, the dispensary was closed down. What to do? After trying several brands of bottled water, I found that all of them tasted like plastic. I bought the Zero Water Pitcher to see if it would filter out the plastic taste. I will say, it is pretty effective. It gets rid of most of the bad taste, though for some reason, I get the best results when drinking the filterd water out of a glass (vs. my usual plastic, pre-rinsed cup). So it's not 100% perfect, but tolerable. I put the water through the pitcher twice. It's a lot of work, and the lid is constantly put on and taken off. It's holding up so far. I tested the plastic-y bottled water with the included tester, and it registers 000 before it goes into the pitcher, so the filer should last for a while. I guess plastic molecules don't count as impurities. By the way, I love having that tester! The proof is in the pudding, as they say. :) Here is one thing I want to tell you. I read online that you shouldn't make a lot of water in the pitcher and save it, because all of the natural things like chlorine that water needs to be safe to drink are removed. That means the water can start growing bacteria if left to sit. The author of the article said that the water resulting from the pitcher is somewhat unnatural for this reason. I have noticed that the ice cubes I make from it tend to break apart easily. No biggie, but fun fact! In any event, i read a lot of Amazon reviews before I bought this and did not see some of these uses and considerations discussed, so I wanted to chime in with my experiences and thoughts on the Zero Water Pitcher. Overall it's a good product that works as described. Just keep in mind that the filters are pricey, so if your water has a high impurity reading, you're going to be buying them frequently. Also, the pitcher is kind of big for keeping in the refrigerator, but it has a handy little spigot on the bottom that you can use, so you don't have to keep taking it out to get water. I'm giving the Zero Water Pitcher four stars. Overall I'm happy with it!

I don't typically write product reviews, but after 6 years of less-than-gentle use of this product by yours truly, I felt like a review was deserved.. so here we go! I first purchased this product in December 2014 and have used it on a daily basis since then (JUST ordered a second one a few days ago as my original finally sustained a crack after being dropped onto the tile floor for probably the 12th time.. and I should clarify that the dropping of the filter has everything to do with my clumsy nature and nothing to do with the handling ability of the filter itself). As an athlete and coffeeholic, I tend to go through a lot of water on a daily basis. This filter puts up with my daily, rough handling with ease, and the quality of the water it yields is excellent. There is no off-flavor or odor or any taste at all really, just pure water. I am also a fairly lazy person when it comes to maintenance of products, and I am happy to report that this product is about as low-maintenance as it gets. I typically just give it a quick gentle wash whenever I replace the filter, and that's about it! As for the frequency of filter replacement, that will likely depend on the quality of the tap water where you live. I have used this product while living in areas with moderately "hard" water and typically go months between filter changes. The included water probe is an excellent way to know when it's time to replace the filter, just check it every now and then and replace when it's over 6. Or, if you're like me and forget to check, you'll eventually start to notice a slight flavor to the water (almost like if you didn't get all the soap rinsed out of your water bottle), which will be your cue to check with the probe and, sure enough, it's time to replace the filter. Back when I first looked into purchasing this product, I saw some reviews describing issues with the product leaking in the fridge through the easy-pour spout at the bottom of the filter. Because of those reviews, I was nervous at first to use that spout for fear of the product developing a leak; however, over time I became less and less concerned with this possibility and used the spout when necessary. I say "when necessary" because using the little spout takes longer than just pouring from the top of the filter like you would from a pitcher. So I typically only use the spout when pouring into a bottle with a narrow opening or when needing water while the filter is actively filtering water from the upper basin (because although you can technically pour filtered water from the product while it is actively filtering water from the upper basin, you run the possibility of the lid of the filter falling off and water (both filtered and not-yet-filtered) spilling everywhere. As someone who has experienced this, I typically wait to pour from the filter until there is no longer water in the upper basin (typically takes less than 5 minutes for a full basin of water to be processed) and always place a hand on the top of the filter to anchor down the lid "just in case"). I am happy to report that I have never had any leaking issues with the product in the fridge (other than the one it developed a few days ago from its most recent drop and sustaining a crack). I'll also comment on the size/capacity of the product - In my opinion, it is ideal. Any larger and it would take up too much space in the fridge, any smaller and it would be impractical due to how often it would need to be refilled. With how it's designed, the majority of the size of the product is actual usable capacity. As I mentioned already, it can filter a basin's worth of water in under 5 minutes which means that even if its capacity isn't quite enough to fill whatever it is you're filling, you'll be able to have more filtered water available in just a few minutes (or even sooner if you use the little easy-pour spout at the bottom). I've also never had an issue with it tipping over in the fridge, and I store it on the top rack in the fridge. The product itself is quite durable. By no means have I been gentle with my use of this filter - I use it every morning to fill the kettle for coffee and am not exactly fully awake when doing so, I hurriedly yank it from the fridge to fill a water bottle before rushing off to a game, and I blindly grope for it in the fridge when needing a 3am chug of water.. This filter can handle it all. As I've mentioned, I've even dropped it many times over the years and only just had it actually crack due to a fall. As for cons, I really don't have one... the only thing I could think of would be a way to have the lid truly lock down onto the product to eliminate the risk of it falling off while actively pouring.. but again, simply placing your other hand over the lid (like you would when pouring hot water from a kettle) takes care of that. So, TLDR - Excellent quality, very durable, ideal size/capacity, and has stood the test of time and rough handling

The filter is great. I have used a competitor’s filter pitcher for close to 10 years. I decided to try ZeroWater and I am satified with the water from the ZeroWater Pitcher. My water definitely tastes better as does my coffee made with filtered water. My beef is with the design of the pitcher itself. First, the entire lid must be removed to fill the reservoir, instead of a small trap door in the lid, as on the competitor’s pitcher which is much more convenient. Second, the prefilter reservoir is tiny compared to the pitcher capacity taking 3 or 4 fillings of the reservoir to fill the pitcher, which is time consuming. Third, the pour spout on the top of the pitcher is terrible. Nine times out of ten, no matter how careful I am, some water winds up on the counter or floor. There is a lip on the front of the little flap that covers the spout that causes water to pour everywhere. Lifting and holding this flap open helps but doesn’t solve the problem. It’s very awkward to hold the lid and reservoir in place while holding this flap open and pour into the teakettle at the same time, not impossilbe but .... jeez. Fourth, if you don’t hold the lid/reservoir assembly in place there’s a good chance the whole thing will pour out of the pitcher along with your water. To be fair, this same problem happened with my old filter pitcher too. There’s gotta be a simple fix. Fifth, there is a push button type pour spout on the bottom of the pitcher’s handle. Fine if you’re pouring a small glass of water I guess but if you keep the pitcher on the bottom shelf of the fridge very inconvenient. Also this spout is awkward to use and takes forever to fill a large glass or container or even the teakettle. For the filtering aspect of this product I would score 5 stars. For the design and convenince aspect of this product I would score 1 star, as it does contain the water without a problem. ZeroWater’s engineers should try using their product alongside their competition’s product. They’d see the deficiencies right off. UPDATE: I put this picther in use on December 10, the day it was delivered. Today, January 3rd is the the first time I replaced the filter, it lasted a total of 24 days. I noticed the water from the tap varies in respect to TDS (total disolved solids) from 350 to 290 range. Through the life of the filter, the filtered water was clean tasting and fine. Toward the end of the filter’s service life a very small amount of fine charcoal granules were apparent in the pre filter reservoir. This did not affect the finished, filtered water in any way. My pitcher from the major competitor to ZeroWater typically lasted 2 plus months but it only filtered down to about 150 TDS. Take that for what its worth. Remember different localities will have different numbers out of the tap. I definitely taste a difference with ZeroWater, this filter being much better than the competition. I pour from this picther about 6 or 7 times a day. I can count on one hand the number of times in the 24 days I’ve used it when I’ve been able to pour from the ZeroWater without some amout of spillage on the counter, floor or stove. Keep a towel handy when you use this pitcher. IT IS A SIMPLY AWFUL DESIGN. I’ve had friends and family to try pouring from it with the same results. It’s a mess. The reservoir lid is, at best, difficult to remove without the entire reservoir coming out of the pitcher with the lid. I compared this spout with several other pitchers I own that don’t exhibit the pouring problem. Bottom line is the others have a squared off spout as opposed to ZeroWater’s rounded/pointed spout which effectively “fans” the water column out instead of keeping it compact to aid in directing the water where you want it to go. The flap that covers the spout MUST be held open to avoid even bigger messes on the counter. I mentioned in my first review the lack of flap or trap door for filling the reservoir. That problem is even more apparent when you realize that you laid the underside/inside of the lid on the countertop making it necessary to rewash the lid (and wipe the counter dry) before replacing it on the pitcher. The size of the prefilter reservoir is still an issue, because the filter works so well it is considerably slower than the competitor’s; it literally take 30 to 45 minutes and 3 to 4 fillings of the reservoir to fill the picther from empty. A larger prefilter reservoir in relation to the overall size of the picture could easily solve this. I see from reading other older reviews many of the problems I have were mentioned long ago by others. I wonder why ZeroWater has done nothing to resolve these issues and keeps selling an inferior pitcher to go with their superior filter. In my opinion a pitcher made to store and pour water is a pretty simple concept. I think that function should trump form. This pretty blue pitcher with its swooping curves and stylish looks literally ignores the purpose and seems to want to “look good” instead of “work good”. I want a pitcther that filters my tap water and is simple and easy to use with no mess. Too bad ZeroWater can’t deliver. June 16, 2019 I have now been using this pitcher about 6 months, about one of every ten pours does not result in spilled water on the counter, floor or stove. (I’ve learned to place the vessel I’m pouring into on a towel to make clean up easier.) I have carefully watched how I am pouring to determine if it’s my fault or the design that causes the spills. It’s the design, pure and simple. My advice is if the manufacturer can’t fix the design flaws they should offer a supply of free towels to be used when pouring from the pitcher. I have noted on the underside of the reservoir there is a lip near the spout that seems designed to spread the water column and also to push the reservoir out of the pitcher. RIDICULOUS! It’s very awkward to try to hold the reservoir in place while holding the spout lid open while holding a towel to the pitcher to prevent a mess on the counter. Perhaps if ZeroWater is averse to a redesign of the pitcher they would be open to making filters that fit the competitor’s pitcher. That one works as pitcher should. Again, I love the clean tasting water from the filter, the pitcher is a piece of junk!

I don’t ever write a review, however after reading many I felt the need to enlighten people to an intelligent assessment of this product. After nearly a year now with ZeroWater (ZW) and many decades of that other well known water filter/pitcher (B), I offer this review and advice: The filtered water is just flat out exceptional. Much better than that “other” popular product. Our tap water is terrible and scores 375-400 TDS. The “ZW” brings that down to 000. The “B” filter doesn’t come vaguely close to that. With the change I was astounded by the superior results and have since enjoyed great water. The negatives of the reviews are justified. The filters are expensive, slow, and longevity is an issue. A much shorter life span than the “B” filters. My wife and I drink a lot of water and a filter generally lasts 4-5 weeks. Still well worth the cost in my opinion. The pitcher definitely has several issues which many people have documented, but easy to address. Glass 1/2 gallon jugs and individual bottles (with the insulators) solve all the complaints. Every morning I fill up what is needed so as not to deal with the pitcher throughout the rest of the day. Yes, I agree with the criticisms in the reviews but it’s worth the effort to work around them.

This is a great filter! A neat device is the TDS (Total Disolved Solids) meter. I bought two pitchers and one didn't work. Electronics is my career, so I determined it was battery connections that needed to be manipulated. I'm sure it worked, prior to shipping. The filter is rather big, as it has several stages and it will be more expensive, to replace, compared to a Brita pitcher, which is what I had been using. The meter is fun to 'play' with as you can check your tap water and compare your other water filter to this one. TDS is not the only thing that is important about clean water. BUT, this filter has charcoal, which will remove bad tastes. How your water tastes can be subjective. This filter will remove most minerals and sometimes highly purified water, such as distilled, has a flat taste. I didn't find that to be the case here. One neat addition is a water tap on the front. If you like to keep your pitcher in the refrigerator, you don't have to pull it out to get water. Water is all I drink, so I used to carry two Brita pitchers to my bedroom at night. I have a small ice maker in the bathroom, so I have iced water through the night. One down side is the weight of the filled pitcher. But, you can't get highly filtered water, from a multi-stage filter, and expect the filter to be the size of a Brita filter. Because the large filter occupies more space, the pitcher is bigger to allow for more water capacity. I live in an area with old, rusty pipes. Rust is such a problem that I have a full house sediment filter and under the kitchen sink, I have another whole house filter, with smaller particle filtration and a carbon filter. This then leads to a two stage filtration system employing carbon and sediment filters. I removed the kitchen sink sprayer and installed a filter tap. Maybe I'm nuts, but I then use this water to put into this pitcher! I have a parrot and other birds and I just don't like the idea of drinking rust. I'm already rusty and creaky, so I don't need more rust! With all of that and the Brita filter, when I wiped the inside of the water bin, of the ice maker, I see rust on the paper towels! This is after a large volume of water, over time, but it still disturbs me. Maybe that comes with being a highly analytical engineer! Or, a big part is when I added the whole house filter. I had to remove a section of galvanized pipe and needed to replace it with PVC. I looked inside of the metal pipe, in place since 1971 and I was horrified by what I saw. There was something black inside of the pipe. I stuck my finger in and it was covered with a black goo! There was so much that the inside diameter, of the pipe, was reduced by 50%! Perhaps you know understand my obsession with water filtration. I replaced the pipe leading to the underside of the sink filtraction system, but I know that when I shower, some of that goo is getting on me. Yuck! I had wondered why a black mold looking substance would form in the toilet. I really need to find out what it is. But, I'm not allowed to put in a well and I can't force them to replace all of their pipes. Unfortunately, I can't afford to have all of mine replaced either! Well, I sure covered water filtration! I recommend that everyone should have a whole house filter. I plumbed mine so I can have a sediment filter and a carbon filter after that. I also suggest that you do as I'm about to. Send off a sample of your tap water to have it tested. If you do put in a whole house filter, or you just use this pitcher, I would have the filtered water also tested, out of curiosity. A final word. The less filtered the water going into this pitcher, the faster the filter will need replacing. If you use a clear whole house filter housing (highly recommended) you can see what is being kept from going into your body and you can tell when to replace the filte. Another final word! Remember that filters filter water! So, all the water, that passes through a filter, goes through a filter with all this yucky stuff in it. So, don't be stingy about changing filters. Your meter will help give you an idea when to change your filter. It is a great tool and a fantastic marketing device!