PUR Flavor Options Pitcher - Review (Giveaway Closed)

In my family, we're drinking more water than ever. We've cut way back on our intake of sugary drinks for reasons of health and frugality. But I've found it a challenge to drink enough tap water--and the more I hear about contaminants in tap water, the less I want to drink it! We have city water, so I know that the water company checks for specific contaminants. I'm confident that our tap water meets all the legal requirements for safe drinking water. However, it's simply impossible to test for every potential contaminant, and an extra filtration step just makes sense.

Enter the PUR Flavor Options Pitcher. It filters out common contaminants--while not removing the fluoride--and leaves the water tasting fresh and clean. I think the result tastes like bottled water, and I find that I'm drinking a lot more water now that we're using the PUR pitcher.

The other special feature of the PUR Flavor Options Pitcher is the option to add flavor--or not--to each glass you pour. When the flavor cartridge is inserted, you simply press the button to add flavor. Each press of the button adds just a little flavor, so you can adjust the intensity of the flavor by the number of times you press the button. The flavors are sweetened with acesulfame K and sucralose, so you get the sweetness without calories or carbohydrates. I like the lemon flavor, but I love that it's an option: I use it about every third glass of water, and the rest of my family prefers unflavored water all the time.

I haven't comparison-shopped for the pitcher, the replacement filters, or the flavor cartridges, but the Amazon prices will give you an idea of the cost:

• Pitcher with 1 flavor cartridge $20.16
• Replacement filters, pack of 3 (each lasts 1-2 months, or about 40 gallons) $19.99
• Flavor cartridges, pack of 2 (each cartridge flavors up to 75 servings) $8.99

While using the PUR Flavor Options Pitcher obviously costs more than drinking unfiltered tap water, it's far less expensive than drinking bottled water all the time. You can even bottle your own water, and PUR estimates that you can save up to $600 a year. For my family, I think that the health benefits--drinking cleaner water and drinking more water--are worth the cost.

If you'd like to try the PUR Flavor Options Pitcher, you have two choices:

Buy it at Amazon or one of the many retailers that sell PUR products. I just searched for local retailers on the PUR website and found listings for Kmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, and Sears, as well as the pharmacies, home improvement stores, and warehouse stores.

Win it - Thanks to PUR, one Frugal Creativity reader will win a PUR Flavor Options Pitcher.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations, Bridget!

If you'd like to win, just leave a comment with the flavor you would most like to try. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you. Limit 1 entry by this method. This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Leave a comment to tell me which benefit of filtered water (saving money, reducing waste in landfills, drinking cleaner water, etc.) most appeals to you. (1 entry)
• Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (include @FC_Melissa in your tweet). (1 entry per day)
• Subscribe to my feed in a feed reader or by email. Leave an extra comment to let me know you've done this. If you already subscribe, leave a comment to let me know. (1 entry)
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post. (1 entry)

More details: Open to residents of USA, age 18 or older. Giveaway ends 9/15/09 at noon (Eastern time). Winner will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and must claim the prize within 72 hours, or another winner will be chosen. Void where prohibited.

Disclosure: I received the PUR Flavor Options Pitcher and a 2-pack of flavor cartridges, at no cost to me, for review purposes. I had the opportunity to participate in this review and giveaway because of my membership at The Product Review Place.