Brita UltraMax Dispenser: The 27 Cup Tank and the 40 Gallon Part
Twenty seven cups is about 1.7 gallons, and the Brita UltraMax dispenser holds all of it behind a spigot on a fridge shelf. It's the biggest tank the brand builds, and the cartridge behind it is the small half of the deal: 40 gallons, or 2 months, whichever arrives first. The tank is a container. The filter is the part you buy again, and the two of them are measured in different units.
Brita UltraMax Dispenser: 27 Cups, One Cartridge
The record we hold lists this as a bundle: the dispenser, a locking lid, a pour spigot and a pack of filters. There's nothing hard to follow about the tank. It's about 14 inches long, 10 tall and 5 deep, so it wants a fridge shelf rather than a door bin.
The cartridge is where all the variation lives. One slot takes the Standard part at 40 gallons, the newer Plus part on a 60 day clock, and the Elite part at 120. Three filters, one slot, three bills. They don't all treat the same water, and the Brita lineup counts the family on one shelf.
What that adds up to at your tap: the tank decides how often you walk to the sink, and the cartridge decides what's left in the glass. Pick the body by the pour. Buy the filter by the standard.
- Tank: 27 cups, or a little under 2 gallons, behind a lid that lifts off in one piece for a refill.
- Footprint: about 14 inches long and 10 tall, a shelf body rather than a door bin.
- Cartridge: the Standard part is rated 40 gallons and the Elite part 120, and both drop into this slot.
- Indicator: a sticker on the lid rather than an electronic light, so the reminder is a date you write yourself.
Think of it this way
A 27 cup tank is a 1.7 gallon bucket, and the part behind it is rated for 40. That's about 24 tankfuls before the cartridge is spent, so the jug is the easy half and the filter does the counting.
Brita UltraMax Dispenser Score: 4 of 7
Seven criteria, 1 point each, no partial credit. It's scored as it ships, with the 60 day part in the box, and a different cartridge moves one line and leaves the other six where they sit.
The 3 zeros are the ones this index keeps returning. The tank is the least interesting half of this page. The same three lines sit at zero on the Tahoe review, and the reason is the cartridge rather than the body.
| Criterion | Points | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Certified removal scope | 0 points | The sheet behind the standard part covers 5 substances and carries no lead entry, and this body carries no 401 entry either |
| Certification and test transparency | 0 points | A data sheet with standards, a capacity and a full reduction table, plus no certificate or listing number to key in anywhere on it |
| Filter life and rated capacity | 1 point | 40 gallons and a 60 day clock, both published by the maker, which is more than most of the shelf will say out loud |
| Cost per gallon | 1 point | About 13 cents on the 3 pack basis, the cheap end of the pitcher aisle |
| Flow rate and pressure drop | 0 points | No flow rate for the pitcher, for the cartridge or for the sheet, so a 1.7 gallon fill is unpriced in time |
| Install and footprint | 1 point | No plumbing and no tools, and about a foot of fridge shelf instead of a cabinet |
| Maintenance burden | 1 point | 6 changes a year at the household figure, the same rhythm every pitcher on this shelf runs |
The zeros are 3 different things: paperwork, scope and time. The transparency line is the strangest of the three: Brita prints a reduction table with percentages on it and still leaves readers without a number to look up. A sheet with standards on it isn't the same thing as a listing.
Who the Brita UltraMax Dispenser Fits
The dispenser fits a household that pours for more than one person and wants cold water without holding the fridge door open. The tank does the work of about 3 jugs. Same cartridge, different body. It also suits a kitchen where the filter lives in the fridge door and nowhere else.
It doesn't fit a glass a day. A tank this size sits half full, and the calendar retires the cartridge anyway. The 6 cup jug runs the same part through a smaller body.
This Is Not Your Dispenser If
- You pour for one. The big tank sits most of the way full, and 2 months retires the filter whatever you drank.
- Lead is the reason you're shopping. The pack in the bundle isn't the part that carries the lead listing.
- You want the reminder to think for you. This lid takes a sticker, not the electronic light the Elite body runs.
- Your fridge shelf is short. About 14 inches of shelf is the price of the big tank, and a 10 cup jug takes half of it.
The way I see it
A dispenser is a pitcher that stopped being carried. At 1.7 gallons, lifting the body to pour means hoisting about 17 pounds, and the spigot is why you never have to.
What the Brita UltraMax Dispenser Gets Right
The strength is a tank that earns its shelf space. The weakness is the box it arrives with: a big body and a short interval, so the capacity outruns the filter. That's the trade.
What You Get
- 27 cups in one fill, which is about 6 times what a full 10 cup jug pours before it runs dry.
- A locking lid and a precision spigot, so a full tank pours without being lifted.
- One slot that takes all 3 cartridge tiers, so the body outlives every filter it will ever hold.
- A footprint of about 14 inches on a shelf, which is smaller than the 30 cup dispensers beside it.
What It Costs You
- A sticker on the lid instead of the electronic indicator the Elite body carries.
- The pack in the box runs the same clock, so the bundle is a supply rather than a longer filter.
- No flow rate anywhere, so the time a 1.7 gallon fill takes isn't a number you can shop on.
- The zero on transparency is the same one the whole index carries, and the Elite pitcher misses it too.
What the UltraMax Dispenser Costs per Gallon
Every figure below is a band, because retail prices move. The honest comparison on this shelf is the cartridge divided by the gallons it treats. Only one of the 3 tiers lets you do it cheaply.
- The Standard part: about $5 a cartridge on the 3 pack band, against a 40 gallon rating, which lands near 13 cents a gallon.
- The bundle: the dispenser and a 6 month filter pack sit in the $50 to $60 band, so the tank is most of the money.
- The Elite part: 120 gallons on a 6 month clock, about 2 changes a year, which lands near 15 cents a gallon.
- By the glass: 40 gallons is about 640 eight ounce glasses, so the short part pours a glass for about a penny and a half.
A gallon a day is about 365 gallons a year. At that pour the rating retires the cartridge before the calendar does. Pour half as much and the calendar wins instead.
The part nobody puts on the box: the tank and the filter are sold as one bundle, and only one of them is the thing you replace. The body is a one time buy, and the cartridge doesn't stop coming.
Put another way
The bundle is a supply rather than a capacity. Three cartridges in the box with a 2 month tag each is 6 months of the same part, and a bigger tank doesn't stretch any of them.
About 6 cartridges a year on the 60 day clock, near 13 cents a gallon.
The UltraMax Dispenser vs the Field
Every row comes from our records. Standards and rated life come off the certification trail rather than the copy on a listing. Bands rather than live figures, and the points column carries each part's own page score, so 1 dispenser here hasn't got a page yet.
| Part | Class | Certified | Rated life | Upfront band | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brita UltraMax Dispenser (B0G84Y711W) | Dispenser | 42 | 40 gal | $50 to $60 | 4/7 |
| Brita Tahoe 10 Cup (B0BSHJJJGX) | Pitcher | 42 alone | 40 gallons | $50 to $60 | 4/7 |
| Brita Small 6 Cup (B09W4PLVQP) | Pitcher | standard 42 | a 40 gallon part | under $20 | 4/7 |
| Brita Everyday Elite Pitcher (B0B3BM3Z94) | Pitcher | 42, 53, 401 | 120 gal | $40 to $50 | 5/7 |
| PUR Plus 30 Cup Dispenser (B07CRSK5KX) | Dispenser | 42, 53 | none published | $40 to $50 | not scored |
Three things fall out of the table. The two big bodies here run the same 40 gallon part, and the only row naming 401 is the Elite jug. The pitcher roundup sorts the same bodies on the same lines.
The shortest buying rule on the shelf is the cartridge, not the tank. Fit the biggest body you can. Let the filter handle the rest.
The same 40 gallon part in a jug that takes half the shelf.
UltraMax Dispenser Questions
- How often does the Brita UltraMax dispenser need a new filter
- It's every 2 months, or every 40 gallons, whichever lands first. The bundle ships 3 cartridges, so the box is about 6 months of the same part. A gallon a day hits the gallon figure first.
- Does the Brita UltraMax dispenser remove lead
- It's the Elite cartridge that gets you there, not the tank. The body is model OB24, and the maker's own sheet puts OB24 on the IAPMO lead list when the Elite filter is inside it. The part in the bundle is not the one on that list.
- How many cups does the Brita UltraMax dispenser hold
- 27 cups, which is 216 ounces, or a little under 2 gallons, at a time. That's a hair under 3 of the 10 cup jugs this brand also sells.
- Is the Brita UltraMax dispenser worth it over a 10 cup jug
- It's the same cartridge in a bigger container, so the water is identical and the trips to the sink aren't. The dispenser divides a 40 gallon part into about 24 pours, where a 10 cup jug divides it into about 64.
- What filter does the Brita UltraMax dispenser take
- The slot fits the Standard part, the newer Plus part and the Elite part, so shop by the letters on the carton rather than the listing. The Standard and Plus parts run the same 2 month tag, and the Elite one runs 6 months at 120 gallons.
Where the UltraMax Dispenser Lands
This is the biggest tank Brita builds sitting on the smallest cartridge the brand sells. That isn't a flaw so much as the trade: fewer trips to the sink, and the same 2 month tag, so the body is the upgrade and the filter is the bill.
The pick is the Elite part for anyone who wants the lead listing, because the body is already on the maker's own list once that cartridge is inside it. The tank is the part you keep, and the cartridge is the part you argue about.
For a fridge that pours for a crowd this is the right body and the wrong box. Pair it with the Elite part and the same tank covers 6 months at 120 gallons. The water filter index holds every body on this shelf.
Buy the tank once, and let the cartridge be the decision you make again.
The Tank Is Bigger Than the Filter
The big tank pours nearly 2 gallons at a time, and the part behind it is rated for 40. Pick the cartridge by the standard and let the body be the part you stop thinking about.
Standards the UltraMax Dispenser Names
- NSF/ANSI 42
- The aesthetic effects standard, covering chlorine, taste, odor and particulate class. The standard part in this bundle names it, which makes it the floor rather than the selling point.
- NSF/ANSI 53
- The health effects standard, certified per listing, covering lead, mercury, cadmium and named compounds. The body here reaches it through the Elite cartridge, not through the tank.
- IAPMO R&T
- The certifying body on the Elite sheet. It lists the pitcher bodies covered for lead, and this dispenser's code, OB24, is one of the 9 it names.
- Model code
- OB24 is the dispenser body, OB03 is the Standard cartridge and OB06 is the Elite one. Shop the code on the carton, because the tank names change faster than the codes do.
More on the UltraMax Dispenser
- Best Pitcher Water Filters: the class page this review links up to, 18 bodies scored on the same 7 lines.
- Brita Water Filters Review: the brand page, 9 records and the 2 cartridge families behind this tank.
- Best Water Filters: the hub above all of this, 136 records on one scorecard.
- The Nerd Stamp Methodology: how the 1 to 7 rating is built and what each line asks for.