Brita’s success as a company is widely driven by its pitchers, one of its most popular products. There are many pitchers to choose from, and they come in many designs. The time it takes to fill a pitcher can vary based on the style of the pitcher.
If you have a Brita pitcher or are considering getting one, you want to know how long does it take for the pitcher to fill up? And is there anything you can do to speed up the process? In this blog post, we will answer all of your questions about Brita pitchers and filling times!
In general, Brita water filters take up to 15 minutes to fill. The water quality can affect the time it takes for water to pass through the filter. Water that has a lot of suspended solids will take longer to filter than clean, clear water. Some Brita filters, such as the Stream filters, may filter water more quickly than others.
How long does it take to fill a Brita pitcher? In this article, we compare the different filters and pitchers in Brita’s lineup. We also discuss if overfilling the pitcher is a good idea.
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How Many Types of Brita Pitches Are There?
Brita carries many pitchers in their lineups, such as Cascade, Champlain, Huron, Lake, Metro, Monterey, SoHo, and many more. These pitchers differ in design, filling capacity, filters, and color options.
One of the reasons why Brita’s pitchers sell so well is because of its lineup. Brita pitchers come in many designs, each with its own name. These pitchers also differ in capacity, color options, and filters they take.
All Brita pitchers come with an electronic filter indicator that lets you know when it’s time to replace your old filter.
- Cascade: Cascade pitchers come in black or white color. It has a 12-cup water capacity and uses only the Stream filters. Its ultra-fast filtration also allows it to filter water as you pour it.
- Champlain: Champlain water filters are only available in white. It works with regular Brita filters and has a 10-cup capacity. When you buy the brand new pitcher, you receive two free filters.
- Huron: The Huron water pitcher can hold up to 10 cups of water and comes in a variety of colors, such as white, red, black, and teal green. You can also choose between installing Standard or Elite filters.
- Lake: Lake water pitchers come in white or blue color and have a 10-cup capacity. It takes regular Brita filters. When you purchase this pitcher, you get two regular pitchers free.
- Metro: Metro pitchers are similar to Huron. It comes in multiple colors, such as white, red, and teal green. You can also choose between installing Standard or Elite filters. It has a smaller capacity of 6 cups per pitcher.
- Monterey: Monterey has a teapot-like shape and comes in blue, black, white, or green color. It has a 10-cup capacity and takes the Elite filters.
- Pacifica: Pacifica pitcher can take up to 10 cups of water and comes with a Standard filter. The pitcher comes in black, white, and red.
- Rapids: Rapids pitcher can be purchased in green, light green, or teal color. It has a 10-cup capacity and takes the Stream filter. This means it also comes with pour-as-you-go technology.
- Soho: Soho pitchers are probably one of Brita’s most versatile. It comes in red, white, and black. It comes in a space-saving 6-cup capacity and takes Standard or Elite filters.
- SpaceSaver: SpaceSaver keeps the pitchers small to fit into smaller fridges. Choose between black, red, blue, and white color. It has a 6-cup capacity and takes the Standard filters.
- Tahoe: Tahoe pitchers have a capacity of 10 cups and come in an array of colors, including white, black, blue, and teal green. You can also choose between installing Standard or Elite filters.
- Wave: Pacifica pitcher can take up to 10 cups of water and comes with a Standard filter. The pitcher comes in only white color. It makes it up by having a lockable lid.
How Do You Fill a Brita Pitcher?
To begin filling your Brita pitcher, open the top lid and insert the filter- making sure to line up the notch. Fill the reservoir with water, making sure not to go past the max fill line. Once the water has been filtered, pure drinking water will be stored in your pitcher.
Filling a Brita pitcher is not an exact science. However, suppose you are doing this for the first time. In that case, you want to ensure that you set up the filters correctly. This helps to prevent unfiltered water from entering your pitcher and wasting money.
The following steps below are written to help completely new users of Brita to set up and fill their pitchers for the first time.
- Tear into your Brita pitcher package. Inside, you should find your pitcher, filters, and a user guide.
- Clean the pitchers from the container to the lid. You may be able to watch the container. Still, you may want to be careful with the lid, as it may contain an electronic filter indicator.
- Do not use a dishwasher to clean your Brita pitcher; your filters also do not need washing.
- Assemble the pitcher as per the user’s instruction.
- Insert the filter into the filter compartment. Be sure to line up the filter and the guides on the pitcher. The filter should fit in snuggly, without any visible gaps.
- Pour your unfiltered water onto the top part of the pitcher. Ensure to not exceed the max fill line to avoid overfilling your pitcher.
- You should now see some water filling the drinking water compartment. Depending on your filter type, it may take up to 15 minutes to fully filter the water from the top part to the drinking water compartment.
- Pour your water into a cup and enjoy!
How Long Does a Brita Pitcher Take to Fill?
Generally, it may take up to 15 minutes to fill a Brita pitcher. The refill rate may depend on the water quality, with better quality water filtering faster. If you use the Stream filter, you should get faster filtering time.
Brita filters work magic, it cleans the water from nasties and particulates, ensuring better drinking water for you. However, it does need some time to do the job.
Filters may take up to 15 minutes to completely refill the pitcher. The time needed may be different based on several factors:
1 – Pitcher type
Some filters are larger, hosting up to 12-cups of water per pitcher. These may take longer to refill than if you are trying to refill a smaller pitcher, say a SoHo or SpaceSaver.
However, some larger pitchers, such as the Cascade, come with a Stream filter, which speeds up the filtering process. This means the pitcher may be large but should fill up faster.
2 – Filter type
With Brita’s pitchers, you get two-three types of filters, then Standard, Elite, and Steam. These filters perform similarly on the quality side. The water will definitely be cleaner once filtered by them.
The difference is the longevity and speed. Standard filters are slow and last the least long. Elite filters are slow but last three times as long as Standard filters. The Stream filter filters the fastest but does not last as long as Elite filters.
If you want to refill your pitchers the fastest, choose the pitchers that take in Stream filters.
3 – Water Quality
Water quality can influence the rate of filtering. If the water has been pretreated and has more nasties removed, it should refill faster.
The logic is simple. Pretreated water may have fewer chemicals or particulates that may slow down the flow of filtration inside the filter. If you want to fill your Brita pitchers faster, pour in cleaner water.
Can You Overfill a Brita Pitcher?
You may not want to overfill your Brita pitcher. This is because the water may overflow inside the drinking water compartment, causing spillage. The additional unfiltered water may also splash around at the top of the pitcher. If you pour the pitcher, the unfiltered water may spill out and mix with the filtered water.
Sometimes, when filling the pitcher, you may want to save time and fill in more of the pitcher, passing the max fill line. This may not be a good idea generally.
This is because Brita pitchers already have their volume calculated properly. When you pour your unfiltered water and stop before the max fill line, the unfiltered water compartment should be completely empty. The water all enters the filtered water compartment.
If you fill over the max line, not all the water may pass through the filter, meaning you have some unfiltered water sloshing around when picking up the pitcher. That may be uncomfortable and may make the pitcher harder to use.
When you pour some water to drink, you have to tilt your pitcher, which means some of this unfiltered water may spill out and get mixed up with the filtered water. This may make the effort of filtering your water go to waste.
Read my article that answers the question Do Brita filters expire.