A Virgin Pure home water dispenser isn’t the
only solution on the market to provide you with filtered water. Naturally we
believe ours is the best solution - that’s why we do what we do! But we want to
offer you a fair comparison to the other choices. So we took a look at filter
jugs, bottled water and integrated taps that filter and dispense hot or cold
water and stacked up all the information we could find. We compared each in
terms of cost, convenience, sustainability and water quality. Here’s what we found:
How
much does each option cost?
Based on cost alone, the cheapest filtered
water solution is a filter jug. It has a low one-off upfront cost and monthly
replacement filters are also affordable. However, the problems with fridge
storage space, a relatively unsophisticated filtration system and the lack of a
hot water dispenser means that a filter jug may not be the smartest option
overall.
Bottled water may also look like a good
solution based on short-term cost. But in the long term you could be spending
£2000 more over three years than you would if you invested in a water cooler
dispenser for home. Then there’s the unnecessary damage to the planet caused by
the high amount of plastic waste you generate every time you buy bottled water.
An integrated filter and boiling tap is the
most expensive solution, with a prohibitively high one-off upfront cost.
Subsequent ongoing costs are also higher than a Virgin Pure home water
dispenser, which also provides you with instant boiling water as well as chilled.
You can also choose to spread the initial cost of a water dispenser over
monthly payments, making it even more convenient for your finances.How
convenient are the options?
A filter jug is probably the least convenient
water solution. Not only do you need to change the filter every month (how many
people leave old useless filters in their jugs for months on end?) but you
obviously need to refill the jug every time you use it. This means you have a
relatively small, finite supply of water that you have to wait hours and hours
for while it chills. Then there’s the amount of fridge space it takes up.
While bottled water may be convenient, it’s
not so convenient for the planet. And it takes up the most space in your
fridge. This is where a Virgin Pure home water dispenser comes into play. Once
installed, not only do you have unlimited purified chilled water on tap, you
also have hot water at the touch of a button. That means you never have to
wait, you never have to refill, you don’t need fridge space and you don’t need
a kettle. And while an integrated filter and boiling tap offers the same
conveniences, it’s a far more costly solution.How
sustainable is each option?
Buying bottled water is clearly the least
sustainable solution. You’ll be adding nearly 600 times more plastic to the
recycling pile across a year than you would if you relied on a hot and
cold water dispenser for home. And this
is only if you choose to recycle it, otherwise once a year you’ll be adding the
equivalent weight of a small cow to the growing piles of plastic waste.
A Virgin Pure home water dispenser is the most
sustainable option here, resulting in the least amount of plastic put into
recycling every year. We were unable to calculate a fair comparison to
integrated filter and boiling taps due to the wide variety of different
products on the market, each using different amounts of plastic in their
disposable filters and packaging. When we install your dispenser for you, we
take all the packaging away with us and re-use it.How
does the quality of the water compare?
So which solution offers you the best water?
Our research found that most filter jugs will only commit to removing
limescale, chlorine, lead and copper from your tap water, whereas a Virgin Pure
home water dispenser will remove all of those as well as organic matter and
contaminants; herbicides and pesticides; VOCs (volatile organic compounds); and
tiny plastic particles that can get into the mains water system as well as into
bottled water.
While bottled water doesn’t need filtering, it
can still grow bacteria. When stored, both bottled water and filter jugs can
potentially breed high levels of bacteria, especially if they’re not
refrigerated. The key difference with a home water dispenser is that it
contains a UV lamp which kills any bacteria in the water. When you add on the
convenience that the system will boil as well as chill your water for you, a
Virgin Pure home water dispenser can provide you with better quality water than
found in both filter jugs and bought bottles.
Again, we were unable to calculate a fair
comparison to integrated filter and boiling taps due to the wide variety of
different products on the market, each with different filtration systems. But
all of these products were costlier solutions compared to Virgin Pure.So there we have it. Hopefully we’ve made it
easier for you to see how these different options compare. The choice, as they
say, is yours!
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a new subscription package to your basket, we will apply the first month free discount, which will be visible in your cart. So don’t worry if you don’t see it right away.
How
convenient are the options?
How
sustainable is each option?
How
does the quality of the water compare?
So there we have it. Hopefully we’ve made it
easier for you to see how these different options compare. The choice, as they
say, is yours! 
