Kishu Charcoal - Water Filter for Pitchers - 2 Half Pieces. The ONLY Certified, Tested Activated Charcoal Pre-Boiled & Ready to Use!

I grew up with the best drinking water (NYC), so living in LA it really stands out how awful and undrinkable the water is. I grew tired of contributing to plastic bottle waste so I got the idea to try using two of these broken kishu packs (so that's 4 charcoal pieces total) in a 2 quart glass jar and let them soak for 36-48 hours (yes that's a lot of water to Kishu ratio), then I pour the kishu water into a Brita to filter out the charcoal and dust sediment (the brita is useless without Kishu, FYI). I did a taste test between tap, just brita, and then the kishu/brita, and compared it with crystal geiser. Tap and brita tasted the same (gross), The 36+ hour soaked Kishu water poured into Brita was the cleanest tasting water I've ever had out of a faucett here in LA - when I drank it next to the crystal geiser it was honestly super close in terms of smoothness and made me realise crystal geiser is probably just bottled filtered tap water. I was utterly shocked. I don't know how often I'll have to replace this system since the water is so dirty here, but I am really so happy to finally have found something that works!! Edit: I recently graduated to a 1.5 gallon glass jar for soaking because I needed to drink more water and it's working just as well, maybe can taste a tiny bit more chlorine but still good. Also, I don't think I mentioned that this method does not work if you put your kishu directly in your brita pitcher. Something about the kishu absorbs the plastic and it gets into the water (I could taste it at least), so that's why I soak first with a glass jar.

I got this oak filter about 6 months ago and followed the directions for boiling it. I love the taste of the water. Its always in a full pitcher on my counter and is usually refilled every day. I boiled it again at 6 months. The taste is clean and pleasant. It's inexpensive, organic, easy to use and maintain with the promise of a long life. You really cannot beat the price, durability, safety and convenience.

So happy I found these! My Britta pitcher had broken and I was pricing filters. I came across these and will never go back. I use 4 of the broken sticks (equals 2 Regular sized ones) for a 1 gallon jar. It works great overnight. I then fill smaller glass bottles to make it easier to pour. We always have filtered water. I have very hard well water which tastes good, but creates buildup. I think this water is easier on our teeth and tastes as good or better than bottled water. I love that I can reuse these to help with odor when they are done filtering water. And then after that there is no plastic waste. It's a win-win! Buy them! You won't regret it.

As expected , love it

Although I like the natural quality of this product and the concept of a plastic-free water filter, unfortunately, it is not very effective. It does filter the water but not as well as the standard Brita filter. Even after 24 hours, the water was better tasting but not as clean tasting as a Brita filter pitcher (the Brita filter was almost at the end of its life by the way...