UniWES

I disagree with M&M’s review about the filters lasting no more than 1 day. That hasn’t been my experience at all. Make sure they get loaded with the black side facing the front of the fountain, and the narrower edge goes in first. Also, it’s important to rinse the filter with cold water before inserting. This will get rid of any loose carbon dust. The manual explains all this.

According to the manual, 1 filter should last 6-8 weeks, depending on your pump speed and how quickly your animal(s) go through the water. I change mine every 2 months, sometimes longer. Now, I *clean* the whole fountain every 5-6 days, taking apart the whole thing, dumping out the old water, giving it a good scrubbing with soap and hot water. I take the lid off first, clean it, and rest the filter on the lid while I clean the rest of the fountain. Then I put the same filter back in, unless it’s due for a change.

$10 for a 3-pack that lasts 6 months is a good deal to me. Don’t know how the other user had such problems with grime and slime. It’s important to clean the fountain regularly is all I can think of.

Great product!!

Since I already posted a review for the Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain, I am going to keep this review focused on the product itself, which is the new and improved filter.

I can’t say that I was all that thrilled with the previous filter for use with the older version of the Drinkwell Pet Fountain. It was always producing a lot of charcoal in my cats water and although it didn’t hurt him, I still didn’t like the site of all that “garbage” in the bottom of his water dish. Also, the old filters didn’t seem to do that good of job of filtering out the water. I don’t know if it was just me, but I didn’t like them all that much.

Now we jump forward to the other day when I got the Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain for my cat’s eighth birthday, which he was simply overjoyed with and stuck his entire face in the stream to get the first drink.

These new filters seem to do a much better job at filtering out the water as it circulates throughout the system. I have yet to see any charcoal in the bottom of his dish, nor anywhere else for that matter. I would definitely recommend that you buy several of these three-packs of replacement filters and be sure and change them frequently depending upon the condition of your local water. Some places have a harder water than others and therefore should replace the filters more often.

Shawn Kovacich
100% Cat Lover

The premium version of the Drinkwell filter keeps the charcoal spread out, allowing it to be more effective than the standard model.

For our two cats we have a Platinum Drinkwell Fountain. We also live in a VERY hard water area.. There is nothing about the fountain or the filters that will “soften” the water, that is not what they’re for. The idea is to get cats–descended from North African Desert animals—to drink more water. Its better for their kidneys; they’ll likely live longer. ( A high percentage of older cats die from kidney failure, it is very common. Many veterenarians now are encouraging the use of some canned or “wet” cat food in a cat’s diet to provide more moisture, since most cats aren’t big on drinking….thats in part what all this is about.)

As other posters have commented, my former cats always wanted the tap water on a “thin” drip or flow of water. It had to be “just so”…not too much, not too little…but they preferred drinking that water over their water in bowls, no matter how often the bowls were changed/cleaned. (Yes, I tried glass, ceramic, stainless steel, every recommendation about what type of bowls cats are said to prefer…)

When the cat water fountains first came out I was skeptical at first…but it made sense, obviously this re-created what the cats preferred. The running water, the sound….so I got one.

The critical element after buying the fountain is maintaining it. READ the directions! Change the filters “every 2-4 weeks depending on the size and number of pets using the fountain”. Thats from the back of the Drinkwell filter package. And please use Drinkwell filters if you have a Drinkwell fountain! They are made to work together.

Also follow the directions regarding rinsing off the excess charcoal off the filters with cold water before insertion into the Drinkwell machine. It is a good filter, but you must follow the directions.

CLEAN the fountain…including the little parts around the motor. We take it apart about every other week and put the entire fountain, minus motor, in the upper section of the dishwasher, and run it, with the usual dishwashing detergent, which works great. The motor area can be cleaned with q-tips or the special brushes sold by Drinkwell. If the fountain is not kept clean and the fiilters are not replaced, the whole thing will stop working, though long before that your cats will be drinking recycled dirty water.

This isn’t hard, just a bit of reminding yourself. Just like with your car, there is basic cleaning and maintenance required.

Also, reading some other posters: please don’t use BLEACH to clean the fountain…plastic of all kind (think Tupperware) absorbs odors, I can’t imagine a cat with his/her sensitive nose drinking water after the unit the cleaned w/ bleach, no matter how dilute. Also the vinegar and water thing….thats better than bleach but are you really cleaning the unit? Not that it has to be sterilized….just cleansed the way you would your family’s dishes and glasses.

BTW we also keep a bowl of water available too, “just in case”.

These Filters Work Great, Catching all cat hair that may have gone through the pump Dirt, dry food, Everything.

These Filters Recommend changing every two weeks. I let a filter go for a month take it out rinse it and let it go for another month, if it still looks Great. I’m giving the cats filtered water as it is and only use these to catch debri. So save some money and check your filters and see if they can be used again.

These filters are quality Drinkwell products and this package of three is a good buy. These filters do the job for which they are intended. I love my Drinkwell watering fountain.

Ok, so I clean my Drinkwell Platinum Fountain Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain 168oz and put the unit back on the floor. I lay down on the coach to take a nap. Next thing I know I have 3 paws whacking me upside the head and I hear, “Hello Mcfly, you did not change the dang filter and now the water is running over the top of the filter.” So I get up and check out the filter. Low and behold the cats were correct. I did not change the filter and the water just ran over the top and went to the basin without being filtered. Now this was the 5th time in 6 weeks I had cleaned the unit. Basically it took 5-6 weeks for the filter to clog up. As the 3 amigos stared at me like I was a complete idiot I proceeded to replace the old filter with a new one from my stock I had purchased on Amazon. Once the new filter was in place, the 3 amigos all took their turns playing in the water, only pausing to give me the look of, “next time don’t be such a dingbat,” then proceeding to continue their frolicking.

So here is the skinny on the filters. They really don’t consist of much other than a fibrous trapezoid shaped to fit in your Drinkwell filter slot. They do have a black carbon side with some carbon granules between both sides that is supposed to remove odor from the water. How much odor it takes out I cannot say. But I am sure it does help.

These filters will not take out anything that would be considered harmful like hard metals or even any minerals. They are not made for that purpose. They are made to keep things like hair or food particles from recirculating. And they function quite well for that purpose.

Length of life simply depends on how many cats you have, how fast the filtration flow is, and how dirty your cats are. Over time I have noticed that my usage, with 3 playful kittehs, varies between 4-6 weeks. Now one of my cats thinks he is a raccoon. He is constantly taking his food over the water and cleaning it. Ok, he may just be playing with it, but he does take it over to the Drinkwell unit and puts the food in the water and then proceeds to bat it around. I also have another cat that likes to use his paws to bring the water from the waterfall to his mouth. For these reasons I tend to get a lot of cat hair in my fountain. Most is stopped by the hard plastic “pre-filter” but some does get by. This likely has an effect on my filters lifespan.

I highly recommend these filters. As I have yet to find a generic brand for these filters you really don’t have much of an option, unless you want to make your own. I make my own fish tank filters, but I have a basket/case made for the filtration materials to fit in. I have never seen anything like that for these filters. For that reason you really do not have much option other than using these, unless you want to somehow create your own basket to put your filtration media into. That being said, these filters do what they are intended to do.

Watch for these to be on sale in bulk. I have found a 12 month supply (12 filters/4 – 3 packs)Drinkwell Platinum Premium Filters, 12-Pack for a good price at different times. The price does fluctuate so you have to watch it. Sometimes it is cheaper to purchase them just 1 package at a time and sometimes it is better to purchase them in bulk.