This was my final paper for my independent research project in a laboratory class, Ch 15, at Caltech. I’m currently in finals week so I have about 4 finals to take and 1 more assignment to finish.
Abstract:
Brita(R) water filters are popular personal and home water filtration systems that claim to reduce, among many impurities, the concentration of copper in tap water by at least 74% and chlorine by at least 94%. These claims and the performance of the filters were tested by filtering residential tap water and then collecting filtrated samples at various points along the filtration process up to 40 gallons (Brita(R) ’s claim of the filter’s lifespan). By using mercury electrode differential pulse cyclic voltammetry and uv-vis spectrometry (on DPD colorimetric reaction), the concentrations of copper and chlorine, respectively, were determined in unfiltrated and filtrated tap water. The results showed that there was an average of 36.10% +/- 2.43% reduction of copper and 72.49% +/- 0.03% reduction of chlorine throughout the 151 L (40 gallons) filtering of the Brita(R) water filter. There was also a detectable difference (5.48% change for copper and 17.12% change for chlorine), albeit small, between new filters and filters due to be replaced after 151 L. Under real world usage of the Brita(R) water filter (and not in prepared laboratory samples), Brita(R) ’s claims about percent reduction are overestimated by ~43% for copper and 13% for chlorine.
Full Paper: Analyzing the Effectiveness of Brita® Water Filters (PDF, 565 KB).
6 Comments
YAY MIKE! I hope you enjoyed the class, seeing as I am partly guilty for you taking it =P
Thanks Caleb. I did enjoy the class, and I’m glad you suggested that I take it!
Hello Michael,
I came across this today, as I’m trying to research why I have always had a allergic reaction to Brita water. Reason is that I’m temping at Clorox (Brita is owned by it), and contacted a researcher. They say they have never heard of an allergic reaction. I stopped using Brita filter systems in 1997 or so, because the huge bumps I get on my neck and upper back are just not pretty.
I used to get the exact same bumps when taking magnesium supplements.
I don’t know if the 2 are connected, but I found it rather strange.
I have not tried the Brita faucet system, but have one at home now as I got it for free, and the researcher said I should try it as it does not contain the same raw material.
What do you think about that, and what might your thesis be - if you have time, that is.
Thanks,
Leticia
Hi Leticia, thank you for commenting on my blog. I sent you an email in response to your comment.
I am responding to Leticia
I just went on the web to see if the bumps on my back could be caused by the Brita pitcher that I started using right before they appeared. You can’t imagine my relief at reading your post. They itch also.
I will contact Clorox to let them know you are not the only one with this reaction.
I have a friend with the same type of reaction on the face. However this happened from a PUR facet filtration system. Has anyone gotten more information regarding the topic?