Hydros Filtering Water Bottle

We have one hydros that we love (in spite of its fussiness) and one hydros that's unusable due to leakiness.Since they, at one time, were responding to customer service requests and supplying customers with the newer, leak-less lids, it should have been a warning to me that they had stopped responding at all in the last few months.I actually went so far as to purchase another one to replace the faulty, leaky one. It just arrived from amazon yesterday and is defective. The lid won't remove. It's on crooked like when you place a lid on a jar and don't have the threads aligned properly. I've tried to open it, my husband has tried to open it--no dice. It's going back to amazon.If I'd only purchased the first, functional bottle, I've have given it four stars - it works and the water tastes great. Since it's really fussy to use, I'd withhold the fifth star. Because of the other two faulty bottles and hydros' poor customer service, this bottle only gets one star.

I scoured reviews, looking for the ultimate filtered bottle to become a permanent fixture at my work desk. I love the aesthetics of the Hydros bottle, but noted that many reviewers warned about throwing this bottle in a gym bag for fear of prevalent leaks. I deduced that keeping my bottle in a stationary spot would provide me with the best experience in self-contained water filtration enjoyment.Unfortunately, I was wrong.I WANT to love this bottle. I hate having purchase regret. But as I type this, my bottle sits on an absorbant coaster with paper napkins shoved into the rubber loop thingy to catch the ubiquitous drip that has come to be a fixture on each of the papers I process throughout the work day. The parts are difficult to move and the line up has to be just so to avoid maximum leakage (complete leakage elimination is simply not possible). It takes me longer to muscle all the rings into place than it does to fill the bottle-- and god forbid you get your hands wet during this process... grippage slippage will be your downfall!The water DOES taste fantastic, but I find myself not drinking nearly as much of it as I should, for fear of upsetting the delicate balance of assembly. Also, i look like a freak trying to imbibe around a makeshift water bottle maxi-pad. :(

People who know me know that I am very particular with my water bottles (I've had so many different water bottles that I couldn't count them all). I have been looking for a bottle with a filter (because I like the idea of removing excess chlorine and such) however I rather dislike sports caps and those water bottles with straws. That's when I happened across this bottle. The drinking "spout" is sort of like the type you'd have on a travel coffee mug. The drinking spout looks small, however quite a bit of water comes out of it. The side filling spout is great for water fountains as it's easier to fill the bottle.I am very happy with this bottle. However there are a couple of things to note. For one, at first the bottle started leaking a tad when I would drink. I contacted Hydros support (they were very nice and helped me out) and they told me that you have to tighten the cap pretty tight. Once I did that, then I haven't experienced anymore leaking (I can turn the bottle fully upside down and shake it and no water comes out).Also, the system for the various parts of the cap is a bit confusing at first (that's the reason I knocked a star off the review). Once I looked at the paper with the bottle that explained it, then it made more sense to me (Hydros also has some videos on their website and YouTube showing how to use the bottle). I wish they kept the system simpler, however once you get used to it then you never think about it.Last thing to note is make sure you soak the filter (as the instructions say to do before using). And don't worry, the water will turn dark blue/black for that initial soak, but after that it's fine.It's also great that a part of the proceeds go toward their Operation Hydros project to set up clean water systems and infrastructure in underdeveloped countries. So because of that I was able to justify spending a bit more on this water bottle.Overall I'm very happy with this bottle. Just make sure you close the cap tightly and you'll be good.

I bought this bottle for myself and one for my husband. We both love them! The filter really does work, makes our yucky tap water taste a lot better. It is also super easy to fill the bottle once it's low or empty. However, I do have three complaints. 1. The bottle only holds 16oz. so I end up filling it very often during the day. 2. If you use the side opening to fill it at a water fountain, it doesn't fill very fast because the opening on the filter is the same side as the bottle's opening meaning that gravity doesn't pull the water through the filter. 3. This bottle can leak. It does NOT leak all the time as other reviews have said. But it can be tricky to make sure that the symbols match up meaning that the bottle is sealed. I've forgotten to check a few times and ended up with a soaking wet backpack. But if you make sure to check every time you close it, you will have no problems.

After reading all of the leaky bottle stories, I was afraid to buy this. But there were a few good reviews and I couldn't continue drinking the extra-harsh water in my office, so I went for it. The funny thing is that at first, I had no leaks or anything; I felt like my careful reading of the instructions must have helped. But one day as I was attempting to twist the top-most lid in order to drink, I must have messed up my perfect setup because yeah, it's totally leaky.So yes I like my tasty, filtered water, but I think there could be some design improvements on the bottle. The leaky part is one. In addition, the top-most twisting top is really hard to actually move if your hand is wet; when this happens, I often end up inadvertently twisting the larger, orange part.