Hands-on review: Benefits of ZeroWater 12-cup Ready-Read water filtration jug are crystal clear

Birdy was offered a review sample of ZeroWater’s 12-Cup Ready-Read 5-stage Water Filtration Jug, and pitted it against her existing Brita filter – the results were surprising!

When I was offered a review sample of this filter jug from ZeroWater, I must admit I was curious. Here in the UK (especially Scotland), water filters aren’t necessarily an essential purchase, and there are certain big brand names that dominate the market.

I hadn’t heard of ZeroWater before, but what was so special about this one? I was willing to give it a try to find out – that, and I liked the idea of a 12-cup filter.

From the official website:

The 12 Cup Ready-Read 5-stage Water Filtration Jug is perfect for a busy household to ensure you and your family have easy access to filtered water. Get peace of mind knowing you’re always getting the purest tasting water with the new integrated TDS meter. This upgraded model with Ready-Read Technology gives an instant TDS readout of water as it passes through the device’s body. The premium 5-stage water filtration removes virtually all dissolved solids from your tap water – more than any other leading brand! See for yourself by detaching the meter and reading TDS levels before and after filtering your tap water.​

My jug turned up fairly swiftly, and I was initially quite impressed by the packaging, followed by the sleek design of the thing I pulled out of its box – and also the physical size of the filter! This was a behemoth. I was even further intrigued, so it was time to get this bad boy set up!

ZeroWater’s directions/ease of use

First thing’s first; I read the instructions. The ‘quick guide’ is very clear and thorough, and I was able to quickly get my filter jug set up and ready to rock.

Seeing as my jug also came with a TDS meter, the guide instructions also had an order to do things in so I could test the water clarity. This was:

1. Test your tap water
2. Test your ZeroWater filtered water
3. Test your old pitcher

Again, this was very clear! Good. I got to work. The first thing I did was, as suggested, test my tap water.

Now, considering how high the TDS meter can go up to (401+), I was very curious to see how good old Edinburgh water would fare on the scale. Would it be, as expected, fairly low? Or would it reach American levels of 051+??

There was only one way to find out. I put some tap water into a glass, and tested it with the TDS meter only to get a reading of… 036! Not bad! Not bad at all. That means my new filter should last longer.

As you can see, the TDS meter is very clear to read, and easy to use. You just pop it in your glass of water, and it’ll give you a reading.

ZeroWater’s water clarity

If I’m reading ZeroWater’s guide correctly, ZeroWater will always get your water clarity down to 000 – but depending on how high your score is, it may just have to work quite a lot harder to get there.

It also means if it’s quite high, it might only last 8 – 15 gallons, say (see the photo above for more details).

My next step was to test the water clarity on my ZeroWater filtered water. It was no great surprise when it came out as 000, but it was reassuring to see it achieve the clarity it boasted of, nevertheless!

As someone who’s not a fan of water-flavoured water, I can honestly say the water tastes very… clean. No complaints here, as 000 is pretty unbeatable.

However, I did still have one last thing to do…

Putting it to the test: Battle of the Filters!

That’s right! It was time to test my new ZeroWater filter against the current champion of the house, my existing Brita filter! Brita IS one of those big, household-name brands, and I bought my Brita filter on the basis that it was a name I could trust to filter my water effectively.

In preparation – and in honour of fairness – I cleaned out the Brita jug, inserted a brand new filter, and let the tap water run all the way through it twice before testing, too. Basically, I again followed all the instructions.

So, how did this champion household-name brand stand up against ZeroWater? Well, it delivered a score of… 030. Really?! That’s something I did find a bit surprising, as it meant my Brita filter was only really lowering my tap water’s score by 006.

That result really sealed the deal for me and ZeroWater. Goodbye old Brita filter! I am no longer in need of your services!

ZeroWater’s practicality

Of course, there’s more to water filters than just the clarity of the water; it has to be practical and easy to use. The ZeroWater jug is a bit bigger than my older filter jug, and doesn’t fit in the side pocket of my fridge, meaning I have to sacrifice some internal shelf space.

But that’s okay; it makes up for it in terms of the easy tap, and also the sheer volume of water I’m able to store in it at any one time.

It’s actually quite fabulous, especially as I have a couple of water bottles with quite small openings, usually leading me to spill some water using my old jug. Not anymore! This tap is precision.

Here it is sitting in my fridge. As you can probably see, the TDS meter sits nicely in the middle of it, so you can test the water clarity as any time.

It’s a nice touch.

This filtration jug also has an in-built handle, which I am CERTAIN has been very carefully means-tested, but that doesn’t stop me feeling a bit nervous carrying it by just the handle when it’s very full and quite heavy. Maybe I’ll get used to that.

Value for money

The ZeroWater 12-Cup Ready-Read 5-stage water filtration jug comes in at £44.99 on the ZeroWater website, and I think that’s a bargain for what you get.

I’ll probably be ordering more ZeroWater filters once this one has been used up, so I can keep enjoying the fanciest water filter I’ve ever owned – it’s also quite pretty, too.

I think, knowing how effective this filter is, and how great it is to use, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the £44.99 on it. Sure, it’s a bit more expensive than Brita (actually, not that much more than the XL Brita jug), but with all these great features, it’s worth it.

Overall

I’ve really enjoyed the first week of using my new ZeroWater filtration jug, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It works like a dream, and I’ve had zero issues.

This water filter so easy to use, and although I’m sacrificing a bit of space in my fridge, the tap is a great feature that more than makes up for it (plus, I have a standalone fridge, so can afford space – if you don’t, there are other options available on the ZeroWater website).

Although ZeroWater may not be as big a name as Brita, it’s definitely worth paying the extra money (and it’s really not that much extra) for the amount of value you get – and thanks to the TDS meter, it proves it definitely outshines Brita. So, if you’re on the fence, I hope this review has helped.