That’s very neat. I wonder if there are any other locations (I’m in North America) that Brita will take back their cartridges.

Hello my friends :)
;)

That’s really nice. But the purpose of changing cartridges is because they get dirty, and don’t filter properly anymore. Your article suggests reusing them instead of recycling them. How can we re-use them? Is it possible to clean them? Most are charcoal filled, and are not open able.

(please e-mail me if you have a way to re-use them. I’d love to quit buying new ones!)

You CAN reuse them You must first fun them through bleach, then let them site in already filtered water to get rid of any excess bleach. let them sit and dry then TA DA reusable filters. I have been doing this for a couple years now.

Bleach is a bit scary. I seriously doubt if soaking in filtered water would remove much bleach containments. Besides Bleach is a serious environmental hazard in and of it self and far too toxic for household use.

you can buy re-usable cartridges - they cost more but save in the long run.just rinse+re-use

Bleaching them, then soaking them is a good idea, however, after a while the carbon will no longer remove impurities from the water. Soaking it in salt water for about a day or two will reactivate the carbon, allowing it to continue filtering the water.

Some designs, particularly ceramic filters (which we use at a vacation home to filter lakewater for drinking) can be washed off on the outside to extend their life a bit.

If you split them open carefully you end up with the case and the used granules which tend to be black and white. The granules can be used as decorative sand (eg. candle sand or with dried flowers). I did write to the rhs to see if it could be incorporated into the compost heap but they recommended not as they might contain metals.

The case can then be used to store things or decorated as a flower pot.

If it’s simply carbon inside you can add it to the compost heap. There shouldn’t be anything in a public water supply or within potable well water that would cause harm to your pile. If your water does have heavy metals such as lead, you should really re-consider drinking the water - filtered or not.

Has anyone had luck with microwaving the Brita filters? Brita themselves utilize a thernal process to regenerate/reactivate the charcoal in the returned/recycled filters they get back from the consumer/distributor.

Hi everyone,
I belive activate charcoal/carbon would have to be blown by stem on a high-pressure container in order to be reactivated. Activated charcoal/carbon are created by treating them with oxygen, making them porous and thus it absorbs most chemical impurities in it. Used carbons are already ‘filled’ up chemically and it’s not as easy as soaking them in bleach or saline solution to be reactivated again

Soaking them in bleach makes no sense, they actually filter out the chlorine (or bleach as some call it) in the water, how would soaking it in bleach help? All you would be doing is adding to what the filter has already filtered out… I have heard soaking them in salt water, I actually had charcoal filters for my fish tank that were regenerated that way, the one thing to mention is bacteria, the charcoal will hold alot of bacteria but once its full it will start releasing it in in large quanities, not good for your membrane or you. The sediment filter is made of polypropeline and that is recyclable.

Any water filter cartridges, whether pour-through or plumbed-in type send to us will be recycled to the fullest extent possible. You can send us your old filter even if it’s not one of our brands, and even if we didn’t supply it originally. All materials are seperated and recycled. We never advocate re-using expired water filter cartridges or treating them at home with chemicals. It’s vital to change filters at the correct intervals to prevent waterborne bacteria and to keep you drinking water clean, great tasting and wholesome.

I have linked your site to the WATER PAGE of my website on the complementary /holistic lifestyle,

http://www.jacynthacrawley.com/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/bio?opendocument&part=12

and will also add it to the Environment and Recycling Page
http://www.jacynthacrawley.com/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/bio?opendocument&part=13

This e.mail is for information / politeness.
I am an international author.

Yours very sincerely

Brita now apparently offer recycling points in stores selling their products.

Details below:

Here at BRITA we do take our responsibility to environmental issues very seriously and in line with growing consumer demand for greener living, BRITA has launched a new in store recycling scheme. Recycling bins are now situated in a range of high street stores such as Robert Dyas, Argos and Cargo. Other major retailer collection points will be following soon.

The BRITA branded bins will be located next to the existing water filter category in store. Customers can recycle any BRITA consumer product filter cartridge, including those for the new BRITA water filter taps.

For further information regarding this scheme please contact the BRITACare department on 0844 742 4800.

use the inside carbon for the compost heap then saw the plastic into rings for napkins or just saw off one end for a cool little tube seedling pot.

While Brita filters are collected and recycled in Europe, the North American segment of Brita, which is owned by Clorox Corporation, does not have such a program.

For any readers out there in the U.S. of Cananda, a group of us are working on a campaign to ask Clorox to create a take-back recycling program for the filter cartridges.

I encourage you to read my blog posts about this issue and then join our Yahoo Group if you’d like. At this point, we are writing letters to the executives at Clorox but will be planning further actions when we figure out our strategy.

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/labels/Brita.html

Scroll down to the bottom if you’d like to read the posts in chronological order.

Beth

I have just been speaking to Wendy on the Brita Filta helpline and she mentioned that if you take them to any ARGOS shop they will recycle the old cartridges for you, on Brita’s behalf.

Active charcoal filter recycling;
For many years both aquarium bone meal charcoal and water well filters I have recycled by drying in air and sunlight and then soaking in normal H2O2, hydrogen peroxide. Put them in a container, if nothing else a plastic bag and leave them soak for 24 hours. If the charcoal is separable lay in a glass dish, oven safe, and bake at 450F for about an hour. With aquaria or drinking water filters the biggest contaminant is bacteria. What few chemical or gas contaminants are there light heat such as this drives off most of what the peroxide has broken down. Peroxide is used to treat water in many areas. It is also useful as a wash for suspect fruits and veggies to neutralize many pesticides/herbicides and bacteria.