Water filter jug
A jug with a replaceable cartridge, usually activated carbon with an ion-exchange resin. For tea it does two useful and quite different things: the carbon takes out chlorine compounds, which are the most obvious off-flavour in treated tap water, and the resin removes some hardness, which changes extraction rather than smell.
Identity
- Category
- Accessory
- Also called
- carbon filter jug, filter pitcher
- Material
- Plastic jug with a carbon and ion-exchange resin cartridge
- Typical capacity
- 1000–3000 ml
- Skill level
- Beginner
Porosity
Not porous. It contributes nothing of its own to the liquor, so it can be moved between teas freely and washed with detergent without consequence.
Where it comes from
Modern and domestic.
Named here rather than presented as generic equipment. The object belongs to a practice, and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.
If you do not own one
Drawing water and letting it stand uncovered for an hour loses much of the free chlorine and none of the hardness. In a soft-water area a filter changes very little; in a hard-water area it is the cheapest change available to a bad cup.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Care and maintenance
Change the cartridge on time. An exhausted cartridge stops removing anything and becomes a warm plastic reservoir of standing water, which is worse than no filter at all.
Other accessorys
- Alcohol burner
- Cha dao utensil set
- Cha he (tea presentation vessel)
- Charcoal brazier (fenglu)
- Cup stand (chatuo)
- Electric ceramic tea stove
- Futaoki (lid and ladle rest)
- Hishaku (bamboo water ladle)
- Induction plate
- Kensui (waste water vessel)
- Kusenaoshi (whisk stand)
- Mortar and pestle
- Podstakannik (glass holder)
- Ro and furo (hearth and brazier)
- Ryoro (senchado charcoal stove)
- Stone tea mill
- Tea boat
- Tea cloth
- Tea cosy
- Tea mat (chaxi cloth)
- Tea pet
- Tea pick (cha dao)
- Tea tongs
- Tea tray (cha pan)
- Teapot warmer
- Waste water bowl (jianshui)
- Water cooling bowl (sukwoo)
- Yuzamashi (water cooler)
Sources
This page is TeaHQ synthesis. No external source stands behind the description, the material or the account of how the object is cared for. Where the record names a tradition, that attribution is TeaHQ’s own reading of common practice rather than a citation.
TeaHQ names no maker, brand or shop and has nothing to sell. Nothing on this page should be read as advice to buy the object — the substitute note above exists because owning it is usually optional.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this piece of teaware against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.
- TDS meter vs water filter jug — Measuring water against changing it, and the measurement is less informative than it looks. A TDS pen reports conductivity converted to an estimated dissolved-solids figure; it does not report which solids, and for tea the composition matters more than the total.