PUR Vs Brita | Which Is Better?

PUR VS Brita has always been the most popular comparison of all times on water pitchers and faucet water filters. Two of the company has been competing for the crown of “Best Sellers” on Amazon.

Let’s talk a little bit about the background of two companies.

Who Are PUR and Brita?

PUR, an American based company that has more than 30 years of experience in developing water treatment products.

This includes water filter pitchers, faucet-mounted, dispenser, and filters for Kenmore refrigerator. Their products are sold over 33 countries in the world.

Brita, on the other hand, is a German-based water filtration company that has been in the business since 1966.

Their product includes water filter pitchers, dispensers, faucet-mounted water filters, and filtered water bottles. Their business has expanded to 66 countries around the globe which is doubled compared to PUR.

Both companies claimed that their product does not PURIFY water and will only provide a certain level of filtering on tap water contaminants.

Brita Vs PUR Comparison

Among all the products from these two companies, we have 2 particular product categories that they are competing

1. Water filter pitchers, dispensers
2. Faucet-Mounted Filter

Both companies invested heavily in developing great water filters in these two categories to make it more affordable and effective.

The initial cost of these two products is less than $50 which is the entry-level of water filtration.

Just how good are these water filters. Let’s take a look at the individual comparison.

PUR vs Brita: Water Filter Pitcher/ Dispenser

Water filter pitchers are always one of the easiest ways to filter contaminants in tap water.

It is lightweight, portable, and compact which you can store in the fridge or put it on the dining table.

As such, the pitcher is one of the favorite water filter products by people who are renting a house or college students staying in dorms. Let’s look at the key features for both pitchers.

I bet you have already settled with either Brita or PUR as your first water pitcher. Let’s compare it in 4 different aspects.

1. Filtration Quality

For every water filter system, the heart of it is the filtration cartridges. The appearance has little or no impact on the system.

Brita has 3 different cartridges while PUR only has 2 which can be used across their pitchers.

Let’s take a look at the capability of those 5 filter cartridges that claimed by the respective company.

Product	Features
Brita Standard Filter	Contamination Reduction: Reduce chlorine, mercury, carbon, cadmium, and zinc. Material: Activated carbon granules and Ion Exchange Resin
Brita Stream Filter	Contamination Reduction: Reduce chlorine, mercury, carbon, cadmium, and zinc. Material: Dual-layer activation carbon filter
Brita Longlast Filter	Contamination Reduction: Reduce everything from standard filter plus 99.9% of lead, class 1 particulate, benzene and asbestos Material: Activated carbon granules with ion exchange resin and lead absorbents media.
PUR Basic Filter	Contamination Reduction: Reduce mercury (95%), chlorine (97.5%), Zinc (86%), Class 1 Particulate(99%) Material: Activated carbon filters with ion exchange material.
PUR Lead Filter	Contamination Reduction: Reduce mercury (95%), chlorine (97.5%), Zinc (86%), Class 1 Particulate(99%), Lead (99.9%) Material: Activated carbon filters with ion exchange material and Lead reduction media

From the comparison table above, we can see that the cartridges from both companies are removing more or less the same contaminants.

Winner: The cartridges from both companies perform practically well in this sense. Couldn’t identify the winner based on this case. 

2. Design and Models

While Brita filters have been in the market longer than PUR, it has many more varieties as compared to PUR.

Let’s start with PUR. 

PUR has 4 different models of the pitcher spanning across the 7 and 10 cup pitcher. The features include:

1. 3 out of 4 of the models come with an LED indicator for filter lifespan.
2. All the models are equipped with the easy-fill lid.

It is a simple and basic functionality for a pitcher to perform the filtration. Nothing fancy.

Dispenser: It comes with 2 models of 18 cup dispenser too which is compatible with the filter cartridge that is used by the pitcher.

Fancy Design By Brita

On the other hand, Brita has more than 15 pitchers and dispenser models available in the market.

As once said, you sure will find a suitable model in Brita.

Here are some of the features on the Brita Pitcher.

1. 5-12 cups of water pitcher across more than 15 models.
2. Filter-On-The-Go technology on selected models to filter as you.
3. Most of the pitcher comes with an electronic filter indicator.
4. Additional features such as WIFI connected, auto-fill lid and stainless steel body available on selected models

There are different functionality which will suit everyone’s needs and requirement of a water filter jug.

Dispenser: Similar to PUR filters, it comes with an 18 cup dispenser that uses the same filter cartridge as the pitcher.

Winner: Brita filters have a slight advantage in terms of designs and the choices available to the market.

3. Lifespan and Maintenance Cost

As we always mentioned in our post, the lifespan of the filter reflects how great and innovative the company is.

A longer lifespan filter can reduce the frequency of replacement and reduce the maintenance cost of the system.

It is better to understand how much you will be paying every year for replacement filters rather than just considering the initial investment of the system.

Let’s dive into the filter lifespan and cost for Brita vs PUR.

PUR Filtration Cartridge

1. PUR Basic Filter: 40 Gallons, up to 2 months for 2 person usage.
2. PUR Lead Filter: 30 Gallons, up to 2 months for 2 person usage.

Annual Maintenance Cost: $36(Basic Filter),  $60(Lead Filter)

Brita Filtration Cartridge

1. Brita Standard Filter: 40 Gallons, up to 2 months for 2 person usage.
2. Brita Stream Filter: 40 Gallons, up to 2 months for 2 person usage.
3. Brita Longlast Filter: 120 Gallons, up to 6 months for 2 person usage

Annual Maintenance Cost: $33(Standard and Longlast Filter),  $40(Stream Filter)

Winner: Brita filter is clearly cheaper and more sustainable in terms of lifespan and the annual running cost to produce filtered water.

4. Customer Reviews and Complaints

Reviews:

Both filtration systems receive and above-average reviews from it’s existing customers from Amazon.

Brita filter has about 1400 reviews with an average rating of 4.1 over 5 while PUR filters have about 600 reviews with an average rating of 3.9 over 5.

HouseHoldMag gave a 3.9 on Brita Pitcher and 3.7 on PUR pitcher based on our 5 unique review criteria.

Complaints:

Both companies’ pitcher received complaints on the body quality of the pitcher, but it is only a fraction of it.

It is merely a production quality control issue where it impacts a small portion of the customers.

Winner: Brita has a leading edge in terms of customer satisfaction and product effectiveness. 

5. PROS and CONS

Let’s summarize the findings of both pitchers with the PROS and CONS.

Get yourself this Brita Water Pitcher today. It is one of the best seller water pitchers.

Alternatively, you can still check out the reviews on PUR 11 Cup Classic Pitcher and compare it with the Brita Everyday.

Our Verdict and Winners: Brita

With all 4 of the criteria above, in an overall view, Brita is leading in the pitcher’s field compare to PUR.

Even the Amazon leading chart also shows the choice of the consumers towards the water filter pitcher category is leading toward Brita.

While it might be a personal choice, I would definitely recommend Brita instead of PUR for water filter pitchers.

PUR Vs Brita: Faucet-Mounted Filter

The faucet-mounted filter is one of the most compact and easiest installation filter that is available in the market.

There is no complicated tubing, canister filter, and drilling is required in order to make it work. All you need is a compatible faucet!

The comparison table below shows the key features of faucet-mounted water filters for Brita and PUR.

Let’s use the 4 aspects above to determine which faucet-mounted filter is better than the other.

1. Filtration Quality

First up, let’s compare the filtration cartridge for Brita vs PUR in this category.

Brita only has a single type of filter cartridge while PUR has 2 different types of filter cartridges.

Here is the specification that was CLAIMED by the respective company.

Product	Features
Brita Faucet Filter	Contamination Reduction: Remove 99% of lead. Reduce chlorine taste and odor, benzene, asbestos, trichloroethylene. Material: Single stage activated carbon filter.
PUR Basic Filter	Contamination Reduction: Removes 99% of lead, mercury, cysts, pesticides, chlorine and sediment. Material: Sediment Trap Filter and Activated Carbon Media
PUR MineralClear Filter	Contamination Reduction: Removes 99% of lead, mercury, cysts, pesticides, chlorine and sediment. Add a crisp taste to the water. Material: Sediment Trap Filter, Activated Carbon Media and Post Filter

From the comparison above, we can clearly see that the basic filters from both companies are a close fight. What sets that apart is the MineralClear filter by PUR which made the filtered water tastier.

NSF Certified: Both water filters are certified against NSF/ANSI standard 53 and 42 and 401 for reducing lead, chlorine, and many other contaminants.

Winner: For this reason, PUR has the reason the claim the title for filtration quality of faucet filter cartridge. 

2. Design and Models

Unlike water pitcher, PUR and Brita only have a handful of models on this category.

There isn’t a lot of fancy features been introduced by both companies.

Brita Faucet Filter Models

Brita comes with 3 different models that use the same filtration cartridge.

Here are some of the features available on the system.

1. All models come with an LED lifespan indicator.
2. The advanced model comes with 3 different water flow selections.

PUR Faucet Filter Models

PUR filters however, have more additional features as compared to Brita in this category.

Here are some main features of the faucet-mounted filter series by PUR.

1. LED Light indicator for all models.
2. Bluetooth tracker is available to track the usage of water in real-time.
3. Vertical and horizontal filtration systems available at your choice.

Except for the chrome model, all the faucet filters are built with BPA free plastic.

Winner: PUR filters have great and innovative design that puts it at the top of the list.

3. Lifespan and Maintenance Cost

The lifespan of filtration will have a direct impact on the annual maintenance cost of the system.

On average, a great faucet-mounted filter will produce 100 gallons of filtered water per single cartridge. Let see how do PUR and Brita perform.

PUR Filtration Cartridge

1. PUR Basic Filter: 100 Gallons, up to 2-3 months.
2. PUR MineralClear Filter: 100 Gallons, up to 2-3 months.

Annual Maintenance Cost: $51(Basic Filter),  $54(MineralClear Filter)

That would be a good choice to upgrade to a MineralClear filter as it is only $3 difference per year! 🙂

Brita Filtration Cartridge

1. Brita Faucet Filter: 100 Gallons, up to 2-3 months.

Annual Maintenance Cost: $78

Winner: In terms of affordability, PUR filters are much more affordable as compared to Brita filters. You wouldn’t know the running cost from the initial pricing of the product until you calculated it.

4. Customer Reviews and Complaints

Reviews

Both faucet filters receive average reviews from it’s existing customers from Amazon.

Brita has about 500 reviews with an average rating of 3.8 over 5 while PUR has about 1500 reviews with an average rating of 3.4 over 5.

We gave a 3.9 on PUR filters and 3.6 on Brita filter our own review criteria.

Complaints

Likewise, both companies received complaints about the body quality issue.

This quality issue occurs in the water pitcher for both companies where it only impacts a small portion of its customers.

There are only a fraction of customers that have this issue and apparently, PUR has more issues as compared to Brita.

Winner: Brita is more satisfactory as rated by it’s existing customers.

5. PROS and CONS

Let’s summarize the findings of both faucet filters with the PROS and CONS.

Get yourself this Brita Faucet Filter today with Amazon. Discover what the customer says about this product.

To get yourself a PUR faucet filter, click on the link below to purchase it from Amazon.

Our Verdict and Winners: PUR

It is quite obvious that PUR is the winner in this category. The filtration quality, additional functionality, and filter cost, and lifespan are way better than Brita.

Brita may have dominated the pitcher market, but PUR did a good job of securing the market share of the faucet filters.

Bottom line

There is always good and bad in the same brand in a different category. In Worldofwaterfilter, we recommend products regardless of brands. We will only recommend a great filtration system for our readers.

Leave a comment below if you still have any doubts about our PUR VS Brita comparison. We are glad to assist you with this matter.