There’s nothing better than a cool glass of water, but most city tap water is chlorinated, fluoridated, and loaded with minerals that can make it taste nasty. Or maybe you’re on tested-as-fine well water, but you prefer filtering your drinking water for extra peace of mind. Either way, you should check out The Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter.
For the most part, city tap water in the USA is cheap and plentiful; it is also regulated by the EPA. You can check the quality of the tap water in your area by plugging your zip code into this page. Even though your area’s water is likely perfectly safe to drink, it may still have off-flavors or traces of contaminants that make it taste weird — and make you eagerly eye bottled water when you head to the grocery or convenience store. But I’m going to ask you to stop for a moment before you add yet another bottle of water to your checkout pile. Hear me out for a moment, okay?
I’m going to assume that all of us can agree that if you really put some thought into it, bottled water is expensive, wasteful and terrible for the environment. If you’ve been buying bottled water to keep on hand at home, then you know that it’s heavy when bought in bulk, the empty bottles create a lot of trash (because let’s face it, only 23% of used plastic water bottles are recycled in the US), and the plastic holding or even just capping those bottles of water may actually be bad for you. In a perfect world, we would never eat or drink anything that has ever touched plastic, but unfortunately it’s not realistic. What we can do, though, is try to limit our exposure to it.
Recent research suggests there might be cause for concern. Chemicals called phthalates, which are known to disrupt testosterone and other hormones, can leach into bottled water over time. One study found that water that had been stored for 10 weeks in plastic and in glass bottles containing phthalates, suggesting that the chemicals could be coming from the plastic cap or liner. Although there are regulatory standards limiting phthalates in tap, there are no legal limits in bottled water; the bottled-water industry waged a successful campaign opposing the FDA proposal to set a legal limit for these chemicals.
And for that, we pay thousands of times the cost of a similar quantity of tap water. But worst of all, much of it (including my old favorite, Smartwater) is basically just tap water that’s been run through a filter … something each of us could and should easily do at home.
If purchasing a reverse osmosis water filtration system isn’t an option for your home or apartment, you may have looked at getting a plastic pitcher water filtration system that can go in your fridge. It’s looking more likely that even these non-toxic, BPA-free containers can still leak toxins, and that the best water storage containers would be glass and stainless steel. Glass is good, but it can break. Stainless is good, and while it can dent if dropped, it will likely survive. That’s where an investment in a water purifier such as The Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter might be wise.
Features of the Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter:
- Premium Carbon Block Filter removes between 95-99% of chlorine, chromium, lead, mercury, and fluoride from tap water
- Filtered water has a smooth, silky taste
- Uses gravity fed premium block water filtration
- Handcrafted food-grade stainless steel body
- Durable and stylish polished stainless lid and spigot
- Powder-coated designer exterior
- Non-slip rubber base ring included
- Great for both indoor and outdoor use
- Fridge- and counter-friendly
- Carbon Block Water Filter is made in Detroit, Michigan
The Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter comes packed in a deceptively short, recyclable cardboard box. The stainless steel decanter is not assembled when it arrives, but the directions are included and they are very easy to follow. Included in the box are the decanter lid, the upper filter container, the lower water container, a white rubber ring base, the lid knob, a knob washer, a knob screw, the spigot, 2 spigot washers, 2 rubber spigot washers, and a spigot nut. In a separate box, there is a solid carbon block filter, a filter washer, and a filter wing nut.
The only tool you’ll need to put the lid together is a Phillips head screwdriver for attaching the stainless steel lid to its handle.
Attaching the spigot to the stainless lower water container takes just a few minutes and doesn’t require any hand tools. After assembling everything, I washed it all with hot soapy water and set it to dry.
This is the premium carbon block filter that will go inside the upper filter container of the water dispenser. The filter consists of a solid carbon block which is encased inside a hard plastic mesh container with a plastic cap on one end and a plastic drainage tube on the other; a plastic wingnut screw connects to the drainage tube after it has been passed through the upper filter container to secure it in place.
Okay, I have to admit that the plastic on the filter is the only complaint I have so far. I would rather that there was none used, but since the plastic coming into contact with the filtered water is minimal, I have to trust that it’s sufficient to limit most if not all of the possible negative aspects. [I should mention here that after all of the plastic research I did for this article, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I now want to figure out a way to cut all plastic out of my life (or at least from anything that touches my food or drinks) — but I know it’s virtually impossible to do!]
Before handling the filter, you should wash your hands; next, you need to rinse the new carbon filter under cold water for a minute to remove any loose particles; you’ll also need to remove the upper filter.
Here’s the installed filter in the upper filter container.
Premium Carbon Block Water Filter Features:
- High capacity, high flow Premium Carbon Block Filter
- Specifically designed for municipal water sources
- Improves the taste of your water, removes odors and increases clarity
- Premium Carbon Block Filter removes between 95-99% of substances like chlorine, chromium, lead, mercury, and fluoride from tap water
- Our Premium Carbon Block Filter is specially designed to discourage bacteria growth
- Designed to last for approximately one year (750 gallons)
- Made in the USA in Detroit, Michigan
Here’s a video showing how the carbon block filter works.
And here’s my fully assembled water filter decanter. It measures 13.5″ tall by 7.25″ wide, and it weighs 3.6 pounds (empty with the filter) and 11.6 pounds (when filled with water).
Here’s a quick video showing how to complete the decanter’s assembly.
The Pure Company promises that their water decanter provides water that is:
ODOR + CHEMICAL FREE – Our solid block, gravity-fed carbon filter is naturally formulated to eliminate odors, metals and chemicals while keeping beneficial minerals.
They say that their carbon block filter provides:
LONG-LASTING FILTRATION – With over 750 gallons of fresh, clean water produced in our filter’s lifespan, you’ll only need to change it once a year. And there’s no priming required—your very first glass from the spigot tastes great!
The decanter has:
DURABLE FEATURES
Our classically designed spigot, lid and handle are crafted of easy-to-clean stainless steel.
You can keep the water dispenser either in the refrigerator or on the countertop.
All that’s left is to test it and see if it can give water that tastes as good as what we get out of our reverse osmosis system — (which incidentally has plenty of plastic parts. See? You can’t get away from plastic no matter what you do! =/
I set the Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter on our countertop, removed the top filter container and filled it with tap water — making sure the spigot was turned to the right in its OFF position. We are on well water, and while our water is delicious from the tap, I prefer knowing it’s passed through some kind of filter before I drink it.
It takes about an hour for a full gallon of water to pass through the filter. Once it had done so, I was pleased to see that the wingnut and spout from the filter did not rest in the newly filtered water. That’s a plus.
I asked my husband Kev to test a glass of water from our RO, a glass of water from the tap, and a glass of water from the dispenser; I put all three samples in the same type stainless wine glass so he couldn’t tell which was which. As I mentioned, our well water is delicious to begin with. Even so, Kev was almost immediately able to tell which water was from the tap. I thought this was pretty impressive because when I tried all three, I couldn’t tell one from another at all. He was also able to immediately tell which water was from the RO, which makes him a freak in my book. Kev said that the water from the Pure Company dispenser tasted similar to our tap water, but it tasted like it was “missing an element” that the tap water had; he thought it tasted good. Bear in mind that our R/O system cost us over $1000 including install, and it takes up a large portion of our under-sink cabinet; the Pure Company, decanter, on the other hand, can be slid back under the cabinet on our countertop when it’s not needed. I suspect that if our water source were municipal, Kev would have had an even easier time discerning the filtered water from the tap.
The Pure Company says that their carbon block filter can provide:
- >95% reduction of Chloramines
- >95% reduction of Chlorine
- >95% reduction of Chromium
- >98% reduction of Lead & Mercury
- >95% reduction of heavy metals
- >97% reduction of Flouride
- >99% reduction of Glyphosate (pesticide)
- >95% reduction of pharmaceutical compounds
- >95% reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- >95% reduction of Trihalomethanes (THMs
An argument might be made that by removing most of the minerals in your water isn’t necessarily a good thing, but my stance on it is that I get my fluoride from my toothpaste and the other minerals from the food I eat. I’d rather my drinking water be as pure as humanly possible. The water produced by the Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter is filtered and delicious — and it can easily be used to fill a reusable stainless water bottle for carrying around during the day.
If you are ready to cut out bottled water, but you can’t commit to an RO system or don’t have the cabinet space for one, the Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Dispenser is a great option.
The Pure Company Carbon Filter Water Decanter retails for $228 and replacement filters are $59; it is available directly from the manufacturer.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample
What I Like: Dispenser has all stainless construction; The dispenser is attractive and large enough to hold a gallon of water yet small enough to fit under most cabinets or in a refrigerator; The carbon block filter lasts about a year; Minimal plastic touches your water
What Needs Improvement: It’s expensive