How often should you change your brita water bottle filter

When trying to save money or help the environment by reducing plastic, you may have considered buying a Brita filter to clean your water. Brita products clean your water by filtering it and help to eliminate the need to buy bottles or gallons of water. Brita products also have changeable filters, so you may wonder, what happens if I don’t change out my Brita filter?

What happens if you don’t change out your Brita filter? If you don’t change a filter in your Brita, your water is no longer being filtered. You can get sick, germs contaminate the water, the water will taste weird, the water can get cloudy, and it will smell funny.

Makes sense, right? If you have a dirty old filter in your Brita, it’s not going to work properly. Be mindful of your water when you are using an expired filter. But what’s the worst thing that can happen if you do not change your Brita filter?

There are some things that may happen if you don’t change your Brita water filter.

·         You may notice a different flavor and smell of your water.

When your filter is left alone for a long time you will notice the taste of your water begins to change. The smell might even be affected as the minerals and chemicals that your filter was protecting you from come through.

·         You may notice cloudiness in your water and ice.

If you notice your ice starting to get cloudy, it might be time to change your Brita filter. If you use your filter to make ice cubes you may notice that the water isn’t as clear as it once was. You may even notice that your water is murky and dull. This isn’t a good sign and should signal to you that you need to change your filter.

·         Your water begins pouring out more slowly.

Perhaps your water isn’t pouring out quite as fast as it used to. That’s because all the old minerals and bacteria build up on the filter and make the job of letting the water pass through harder. It’s gross when you think about it and should motivate you to change your filter.

·         Your water becomes dirty.

This goes along with the flavor, smell, and, well, everything else. You have a health hazard on your hands when you don’t filter your water out properly. There’s so much that gets filtered out of the water like chlorine, lead, pesticides, and more. Your water may be dirtier than you realize, and, if you don’t change your filter, you are ingesting all of these harmful things into your body.

Can Not Changing Your Filter Make You Sick?

Old filters have a lot of contaminants in them. After all, they filter out all the bad stuff in your water and that bad stuff must go somewhere. So, when you don’t change your water filter it becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria.

Eventually, your filter will be filled with the maximum capacity of bacteria. When you don’t change it, all those germs end up leaking into the flow of water. If your area has a higher number of contaminants in the water, you might end up having to change it more frequently than others. This is to avoid getting anything in the water that could make you sick.

If you live in a place with cleaner water, then you can go a little longer before replacing it. However, it’s always best to follow the directions for your specific Brita filter. The main purpose of a filter is to get rid of the bad taste from tap water, whether it’s from bacteria or just metal. Sometimes, the metal you taste is chlorine.

You really want to be careful when it comes to health hazards. If you have a suspicion that something will make you sick, it’s best to avoid it. So, if changing your filter is the price to pay for maintaining your good health, it’s worth it.

Is It Safe to Drink from An Expired Filter?

The safety of drinking from an expired filter is questionable. If your local tap water has been deemed as heavily contaminated, then you might want to steer clear from continuing to rely on an expired Brita filter. However, it is not a very dangerous thing.

Most of the time, if your filter just expired, you can still drink from it with little consequence. After all, we do put tap water in our mouths when brushing our teeth. You still want to change it because over time bacteria and chemicals do build up.

Drinking from it for a little while right after it’s expired won’t land you in the hospital in most cases. Be aware that it will no longer purify your water, so it comes down to how much you trust taking a glass of tap water to drink. The expiration dates are relative as well because it’s hard to identify when exactly a filter will expire.

If you have the Brita faucet version, it will tell you when you are getting close to needing to change the filter and when you do need to change it. Changing it is a one-click action, and it is recommended to replace your filter every four months for an average family.

When to Change My Brita Filter

Instead of waiting until it’s past time to change your filter and your filter is giving you all of these signs, you can choose to be ahead of the game and know when to change your Brita filter. Brita.com is the most reliable place for this, so let’s see what they say.

Brita has water bottles, faucet filters, and pitchers. Their replacements come in boxes with a few filters in them such as a five-pack.

Is It Better to Drink from an Expired Brita Filter or Drink Tap Water?

If your filter is expired, one thought that could come to mind is: Is it better to just drink tap water? Would this save you from all the bacteria that’s built up in the Brita filter? Well, in a sense, it’s better to drink from an expired filter than no filter at all.

The main reason people purchase the filter in the first place is to filter out all the bad stuff from tap water. Yes, there may be a lot of bacteria and metals built up in the filter, but at least the filter is attempting to catch them whereas drinking the tap water has no protection and is just straight from the faucet.

Some people think it’s a bit of a tie because you have all these bad things closer to the end of your Brita where the water comes out. This point of view is understandable; however, it’s still debated. Overall, both sides can agree that drinking out of something marked as expired is never good.

It’s about peace of mind when drinking out of a Brita. You know that your water will be filtered and safe to drink. If you must choose between the faucet and your Brita, most would pick the Brita every time.

In Conclusion

In the end, you want to make sure to change out your expired Brita filter for the good of your health and your water. Expired filters get tons of gross bacteria and can even affect things like the smell and taste of your water. Water has all sorts off metals, chlorines, and bacteria that you want to watch out for and having a fresh filter will make sure they don’t get from the faucet to your mouth.

If you suspect it’s time to change out your Brita filter, see the helpful chart to figure out when you need to go to the store or order one online.