I found something way grosser than putting a pen in your mouth to find that it tastes like potato chips. I just poured myself a glass of water from our Britta pitcher, and it tasted funny. I couldn’t quite place it. I looked in the cup, and there were black floaties. I looked in the pitcher, more floaties. I asked who put dirt in the water. Nobody fessed up. I took the pitcher to the sink, poured out the water, and noted that the floaties weren’t floating, they were stuck to the bottom. I then realized where I knew that smell from. The aquarium I had as a teenager.
Algae? I think there was algae growing in my pitcher, which had been left out overnight. Ugh. I swear, I’ve cleaned the thing, but obviously not in the last couple of weeks. Ugh. I went and got the most acidic thing I could find, which was a can of root-beer. Ugh. Algae with a root-beer chaser. UGH!
After I was finished being grossed out, Zeeb asked for some salt on his mashed potatoes and gravy. This conversation ensued:
Z: Mom, if you eat playdoh, it tastes like salt.
Me: Who eats playdoh?
Z: The playdoh-eating-man eats playdoh. Star-man and Live-guy.
Me: Why does he eat playdoh?
Z: Cause he likes playdoh to eat.
C: He doesn’t eat salt chips cause he only eats salt and playdoh.
Very interesting.
July 31, 2007 at 10:39 am
Hello,
I have a Brita filter as well and the black “things” are the carbon pieces in the filter used to purify the water.
Although, I have a concern about the smell of the pitcher! I wash it, soak it, refill the water, change the filter and it still smells funny!!! Any suggestions???
July 31, 2007 at 11:02 am
Hi Teach, thanks for your comment. I’ve had the pitcher for a couple of years, so I knew about the carbon particles. This black stuff was something entirely new. It was slimy and growing on the bottom of the pitcher, and it really did smell like an aquarium. I’m still recovering from the grossness.
As for the regular smell, I don’t know. It might be the local water. Maybe the things that are getting filtered out just have a distinctive smell. I personally don’t like the filtered water. We have really good tap water where I live, but I still like to filter it for my kids. I’m just really glad I didn’t give them the algae water!
July 31, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Algae water….uhm, that’s awesome. I’m so glad your dedication to the sciences has manifested itself in your daily life.
August 22, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I was just poking around the internet to find out what to do about the algae growing in my Brita pitcher, and came upon your blog. I find even with frequent washings (every 2 weeks), I still get green algae growth along the bottom and sides of the walls if I don’t refridgerate it. Seems to have only started happening this summer, though.
August 31, 2007 at 5:55 pm
The green growth/algae ring has appeared in my Brita as well. This summer, last week, was the first siting. It, too, has been out of the refrigerator for some time. I’m curious and slighty concerned. (But mostly curious.) What and why? If you have any ideas, let me know.
March 14, 2008 at 1:07 am
I came on looking for info too…about the algae. It is just disgusting…we have had a pitcher for years, typically in winter on the counter (which may get some AM sun), but in summer in the fridge. And recently we got a new slimmer/smaller pitcher…I never noticed the problem before. When it starts it’s barely noticeable, a slight green tinge on the floor of it…but I scrubbed the heck out personally, scrubbed the white part all over (not the filter) put a new filter in yesterday, and was shocked to find black/green algae tonight already. I noticed Brita seems to now be owned by Clorox…I am NOT putting bleach in the water. Clearly without the chlorine etc, there is nothing to prevent the algae from brewing… but what’s the answer????
May 23, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Yup — another green algae sufferer. My 90-year old Mother drinks filtered water from her container (with algae) and I am trying to find out if it will negatively affect her health?? She has been very tired for the last few years and I certainly am concerned.
Any suggestions as where to find out?
June 23, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I’m completely freaked because I just found the green stuff growing at the bottom of our Brita pitcher that we use to make my baby girl’s formula!!! Ugh. Like the previous commenter I’m seriously concerned about this and the possible health implications. PLEASE, any information would be very much appreciated.
July 14, 2008 at 11:11 am
I’ve also had this green stuff on the bottom of my Brita pitcher. I’m concerned and would like to know if it’s responsible for my stomach aches of late.
It only grew when I left the pitcher out of the fridge, my kitchen gets some light, not sure if the pitcher got direct light. Threw out the pitcher (it was several years old) and got a new smaller one. I’m keeping this one in the fridge!
August 27, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I think that any green algae that would grow in water filtered from a municipal water supply would be safe. Other colors would make me pause a little bit, as they may be cyanobacteria and not actually algae at all. Here is a link that explains a lot about freshwater algal blooms in water supplies:
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/A-Bi/Algal-Blooms-in-Fresh-Water.html
August 27, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Just to clarify, I have a Brita Pitcher at my desk, and every two weeks or so, I get a little green film that I need to wash the pitcher to remove. I had actually drunk a quart of the water one time before I noticed how furry and green the bottom of my pitcher once. Gross!!! But ultimately I felt no ill effects. Maybe it’s rich in antioxidents!!
August 27, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I just can’t leave this alone…would there be any health benefits from the algae in my Brita pitcher…hmmmm?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/33492/the_suprising_health_benefits_of_algae.html?page=2&cat=5
March 31, 2009 at 11:23 am
I woke up really nauseous last night and thought it was food poisoning. But it’s definitely from the algae growing at the bottom of my Brita pitcher! I’ve experienced that before, when I’ve accidentally left it out on the counter. I hope there are no long-term health effects, but in the short term you can get severe stomach aches.
August 26, 2009 at 5:42 pm
1 tbsp of bleach to 1 gallon of water will sanitize in 15 minutes. It’s commonly used in homebrewing as the last step to cleaning fermentation containers. Since the Brita is plastic, do not let it soak longer than 15 minutes, and do not use straight bleach – dilute it. Rinse thoroughly.
[I am not Dr. or chemist, use at your own risk, but it seems to work well and I’ve been doing it for years with brewing equipment]
October 6, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I came upon this old thread because I have the green growth in the water level window of my coffee maker. The window is enclosed, no way to get a pipe cleaner in there, and I’m wondering how to kill and clean out the growth.
I had the algae in my Brita also. I keep the water pitcher on my kitchen counter. My solution; I replaced the Brita with a Pur, and I leave the pitcher behind the coffee maker, out of the sun. No growth since. The other posters know the difference between the algae and the black “dust” from the carbon filter.
November 6, 2011 at 10:09 pm
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November 14, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I have found that as long as I never let the water level get so low in my Brita as to expose the bottom of the filter to air inside the pitcher, I don’t get algae. As long as the bottom of the filter is submerged in water, you won’t get green stuff growing. I’m in an office with no sunlight and still got algae when I left only an inch or so of water (exposing the filter to air) during my vacation for the last 2 weeks.
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