{"id":622069,"date":"2026-06-05T05:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T05:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/622069\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T05:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T05:39:34","slug":"is-a-water2-pod-better-than-a-brita-filter-jug-i-found-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/622069\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a Water2 Pod better than a Brita filter jug? I found out."},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a personal trainer and do a lot of running in my spare time. So, I drink more water than average; about five to six litres every day (as opposed to the NHS<\/a> recommendation of 1.2 to 1.5 litres of fluid daily).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always opted for tap, sometimes jazzing it up with my sparkling water maker. But having read about water quality, I was keen to see if a filter<\/a> would make mine cleaner and better tasting. Two of the leading brands are Brita, which has been making water-filtering pitchers since the 1970s, and Water2, a newer brand co-owned by Bear Grylls, which makes filtration systems that connect directly to your plumbing.<\/p>\n

To find out how these two different filtration offerings stack up, I tested and compared one popular product from each brand: the Brita Style Essential<\/a> water filter jug, and the Water2 Pod 2.0<\/a> under-sink water filter.<\/p>\n

Both options promise cleaner, better-tasting water, but they differ in convenience, technology and price. Read on to find out which one I named the winner in the battle of Brita versus Water2.<\/p>\n

Why should you filter tap water?<\/p>\n

While UK tap water should be safe to drink and cook with by official standards, it still contains detectable impurities. According to Dr Tapas Sen, a nanomaterial chemistry expert at the University of Lancashire<\/a>, water quality can vary significantly depending on where you live, after all, that\u2019s why limescale doesn\u2019t coat kettles<\/a> everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, tap water in the north west of England tends to contain a higher concentration of PFAs<\/a> (\u2018forever chemicals\u2019) than the government\u2019s set limit due to the exposure of industrial water from plastics companies,\u201d says Dr Sen. \u201cPFAS can contribute to many diseases including cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Sen stresses that UK tap water is still heavily regulated, and the supply is thoroughly treated before reaching homes. For peace of mind, however, some households use a filter to remove any traces. This is also more convenient than opting for bottled water, and less problematic from an environmental standpoint.<\/p>\n

Taste comes into it too. A survey by TAPPwater<\/a> found that 42 per cent of the UK population don\u2019t trust or like the taste of tap water, and 25 per cent also believe that their tap water contains a variety of contaminants. Some feel that teas or coffees taste better when brewed with filtered water.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome tap water contains high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), which includes minerals, salts, metals and other dissolved substances,\u201d he says. \u201cHigh TDS isn\u2019t always dangerous, but it can affect taste, water hardness and appliance build-up. A water filter should be able to remove excess TDS, and sometimes PFAS and microplastics too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHard water containing an optimum concentration of minerals such as sodium, potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium may have health benefits,\u201d adds Dr Sen. \u201cHowever, untreated hard water can cause limescale deposition to domestic appliances, works against cleaning products such as detergents and soaps, and can cause dry skins, triggering eczema due to excessive concentration of calcium and magnesium.\u201d<\/p>\n

How I tested these filters<\/p>\n

For this head-to-head test, I first assessed how easy the Brita Style Essential jug and the Water2 Pod 2.0 filter were to set up, as well as how simple it would be to replace a filter.<\/p>\n

Then I timed how quickly they filtered. Build quality and cost were also considered, as well as how well the Brita jug poured when the reservoir was still full of unfiltered water. Since taste is key for some households, I also judged whether I liked drinking the filtered results.<\/p>\n

I checked the hardness of the water using testing strips to see if the two filters successfully softened the water, which should prevent limescale formation in kettles. For reference, the unfiltered water from my London tap is classed as being \u201cvery hard\u201d before filtration.<\/p>\n

Finally, I used a digital meter to check the levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), such as dissolved minerals, in the water. My digital meter measured my unfiltered tap water\u2019s TDS at 340 ppm, which is classed as \u201celevated\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Brita filter is a classic for a reason<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a personal trainer and do a lot of running in my spare time. So, I drink more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,209966,41719,166687,166689,211124,169376,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-622069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-individual-review","tag-kitchen","tag-kitchen-equipment","tag-recommended","tag-recommended-home","tag-special-exclusion","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}