being as you don't seem to be able to get their cartridges any more. I did consider the generic ones, but the reviews weren't very favourable, so went for this.
The initial attraction is the 2 month cartridges, through not having to change them so often, saving on buying 12 separate and reducing the waste by half. Unlike the Kenwood the cartridge actually locks into the jug by a twist and lock mechanism, so it shouldn't fall out for any reason and the filtration time is very quick, appreciably faster than a Kenwood.
I cannot see filtering more than the 150 litres per month that would overload the cartridge early and in the 2 weeks that I have been using it I have had no problems with the quality at all. It also seems to remove chlorine as well, allowing water bottles to be filled straight from being filtered and not having to stand.
The lid is very well designed, it has a sprung loaded refill cap that you just put under the tap to fill and it then self seals again when finished. I have not had any reason to remove it whilst in use and it is also attached by clips, so it will not just fall off accidently as it did with the Kenwood for it to sit on the side unused most of the time. The cap is also temperature sensitive and turns blue when the water is chilled, be it in the fridge or straight from the tap. Not something I would use, but of use to someone I would guess.
There is also a rather naff little manual timer wheel that has 1-12 on it and can supposedly be set to the month that the cartridge needs to be changed, which I have done but it does not define the day so you will have to remember it anyway so makes it rather redundant. The 30 day electronic timer on my Kenwood broke twice and I didn't replace it a third time, so that wasn't much better.
It will fit in the fridge door, but I keep it on the side and it is compact enough to not get in the way.
Overall I cannot really fault anything to do with this product other than the strange little wheel and will undoubtedly be buying another 12 months of cartridges. The only thing I can see being a problem, and this is not the product, is that after a month it will need a good wash. My Kenwood always needed one from dust, use and very rarely algae growth, so I cannot see this one lasting 2 months without being taken apart and cleaned.
So, for a brand I have never heard of a definite thumbs up and unquestionably an improvement over my old water jug.
| Brand | Aqua Optima |
|---|---|
| Model Number | EJ0331 |
| Colour | White |
| Product Dimensions | 10.5 x 24.2 x 22 cm; 590 g |
| Volume Capacity | 2.1 litres |
| Item Weight | 590 g |
