Compostable all-natural water filters

I think the design is great, and from a business perspective I like their desire to do it on a subscription basis (like Proactiv for example). As a consumer, that annoys me a bit, but I guess they'll see how it turns out.<p>HOWEVER, the United States has pretty awesome water coming right out of the tap. And charcoal based filters are mostly taste filters. They aren't going to remove most pollutants (you'd need a reverse osmosis filter for that). It's an aside to this product discussion, but I really don't know how we've been duped into buying products that support a whole industry of bottled water and water purification. I say that as I look at my dumb brita filter on the counter...

Chemist here:<p>Drinking bottled water is like paying taxes twice. Drink tap water unless the taste is prohibitive.<p>This company seems just another gimmick. The only person who might have a clue of the chemistry going on is the "world expert" David Beeman, who chooses to entertain us with marketing gibberish rather than facts. The vocabulary is chosen to confound the chemistry-illiterate viewer and appeal to chemophobia.<p>Organic, BPA, PLA, vegan, plastic, "Catalytic activated coconut shell carbon", etc. I would like to have a chat with this "world expert".<p>A big chunk of the world would give everything they have for access to our tap water. Gimme a break with your pathetic fear mongering.

This and other products roughly similar to Brita filters all seem a bit ridiculous and wasteful. At least this one is glass and so free of plasticizers[1]. A simple drip-through filter isn't going to do that much to improve most U.S. water supplies.<p>Instead, just get a multi-stage reverse osmosis filter unit. That'll take out virtually everything potentially nasty and/or bad tasting: chlorine, flouride, metal salts used to control algae, misc. minerals and so forth. Coffee and tea brewers, you really owe this to yourselves. The maintenance amounts to replacing a few filters in an under-sink unit every one to three years depending on your local water supply. No remembering to refill a pitcher, just a little extra spigot on your sink.<p>[1] BPA-free isn't good enough. Replacing one plasticizer with another that also has high estrogenic activity is pointless.

Nice idea, but I dislike claims like:<p><pre><code> Soma's proprietary formula produces the best tasting water. You'll notice a crisp, pure taste you won't find anywhere else. </code></pre> Really? While I appreciate water filtering, I want some real evidence that this water filter is considerably better than any other water filter on the market.

What exactly is filtered by this? In Germany, water from the tap is commonly found to be cleaner than the stuff you can buy in plastic bottles.<p>The only application that comes to mind would be regulating water hardness.

I wish they'd show someone using it.<p>How big is it? Seems like it's about the size of a gallon jug. Maybe bigger. The hourglass shape, unlike a traditional filter, wastes a lot of fridge space.<p>Do I have to remove the filter to pour? That would be a deal-breaker for me. If not, is it spout directional, or can I pour at any angle?<p>Pouring from of a top-heavy hourglass could be awkward. Especially if it's weighted down with a filter.

Have seen a few comments about US water quality. It may be good in general, but the water here in Los Angeles is horrible (though sterile?). I grew up in Ventura County and never thought twice about tap water (and laughed at others too) until I moved here.<p>Part of it is LA's fault, they use so much chlorine it smells like you're drinking from a jacuzzi. Even after letting it sit for a day or two for the chlorine/ozone to dissipate, it still tastes bad in a similar way. I'm not sure what the other minerals/contaminants are. Finally, our current building is old and we get red rusty water first thing in the morning once a week or so.<p>So yes, we filter our water before drinking, pretentious or not. We have a PUR 3-stage attached to the sink, and it costs a bit more than I'd like, but honestly ~10 bucks a month is nothing compared to the night/day improvement we get from it. I hope the claims about removing heavy metals are true for my daughter's sake.

How big is it? Seems like pretty essential information, but I can't see it on the page. The entire top half seems to be made of glass, so it's pretty big relative to the amount of water it carries.<p>I'm not sure if having a filter delivered to you every two months is all that sustainable. And the people I know who filter their water wouldn't want any kind of plastic in it's path; but the people who filter water here are pretty fanatic about that. I guess the main attraction in the US is to get rid of the chlorine?<p>Oh and $33 per delivery also seems like a lot? Are filters that expensive? (The page says the 3 filters in the first real pledge are $100+ in value.)<p>(Edit: it's $15, see below, much more reasonable, sorry about that.)

Seems like a great product and business model. I ditched my Brita filter for bottled water a couple years ago because of the black dots. It was embarrassing to pour water for people when there were black dots floating in it. Might have to switch back to a filter now.

how do you pour the water out? don't you run into the same issue of taking that filter out? and the shame wastes so much space in the fridge, for better or worse, Brita ones are pretty efficient, space-wise

The ability to recycle the filters should have been played up more! That's one of the biggest things I hate about my current Brita filter.<p>Would be interesting to see the subscription cost for filters after the initial run.

Interesting. This isn't just a product, it's a product-as-a-service.

Just looked at the Kickstarter, looks like an interesting product. I could totally see this being pitched on Shark Tank for some reason.

Does the filter fall out when you pour it? I noticed the video never shows anybody actually pouring water out of it...

Oooo the caraffe is slick!