The indicator light on a Brita filter can stop working after 2-5 years because the non-replaceable sealed battery has run out. If your faucet or pitcher filter is still within its one-year warranty, contact Brita support so it can be repaired or replaced.
Modern Brita faucets and pitchers use a filter light to indicate when the system’s filter needs replacing, with a traffic light color system of green, amber/yellow and red. However, the indicator light on your Brita filter may stop working, which makes it difficult to know when the filter needs replacing.
Brita produce a variety of water filtration systems, and their light indicator varies from product to product. To help you avoid the frustrating task of finding the correct guide for your Brita faucet or pitcher device, we have provided an overview of how each type of light indicator works, why and when the lights may stop working (and what you can do about it).
How Brita light indicators work
Brita water filtration devices use LEDs to indicate when the system’s filter needs replacing.
These indicators work by measuring how often the product is used and reminding you after a certain amount of usage that the filter may need replacing.
There is no direct connection between the indicator and the filter. The indicator works as a timer based on how long Brita believes each filter will last on average.
Brita pitcher lights
For Brita pitchers, the indicator is effectively a simple timer, measuring whenever you use the pitcher to filter water as a gauge of roughly how much water you have put through the filter.
It will then remind you regularly when to replace your filter, based on how often you have used it.
This means that an indicator is not actually a necessary component of a Brita water filtration device, whether it be a faucet or pitcher, serving more as a general guide than an absolute rule.
If you are confident that you can remember to change the filter in your device regularly or are happy to replace it when you notice the water starts to smell or taste bad, you probably don’t need the indicator at all.
It’s important to replace your filter regularly as running water through an old filter can be dangerous and contaminate your drinking water.
Water purification discusses these issues further in these posts:
Brita faucet lights
For the Brita faucet, the indicator measures the amount of water passing through the device, as well as the amount of time that passes.
It will then show a red color on the indicator after roughly 100 gallons or 4 months, whichever comes first, to remind you to replace the filter.
If you have reset the indicator on your Brita filter correctly, and it is still not working, the most likely reason is the battery has run out.
Brita’s Battery Policy
For pretty much all Brita visual indicators, whether it be an LED smart light, meter or a memo, the battery policy is the same.
Each of these small electronic devices are fitted with a non-replaceable battery. These batteries are designed to last between two to five years, depending on the exact make of the indicator – this should be displayed on the warrantee’s section of your user manual.
Brita states that you can keep using a Brita faucet or pitcher after the indicator battery has run out. However, it is then up to you to estimate how long each replacement filter lasts.
Can you replace the battery?
It is technically possible to replace the battery in the Brita indicator, however doing so would require some degree of technical expertize.
To replace the battery, you have to break the water-tight seal of the device, effectively meaning you would have to remove it whenever you wanted to wash the unit.
The indicator does not actually measure the quality of your filter itself but is instead essentially a timer to remind you of how often the filter should be replaced. Given this, we do not recommend attempting to replace the battery.
If the battery stops working while it is in warranty (typically one year), you should contact Brita customer support for help.
Indicator lights on a Brita pitcher filter
Brita pitchers use a small tab with three lights and a “reset” or “status” button.
Older Brita pitcher models
Lights are labelled from top to bottom as:
- Change
- Change Soon
- Good.
How to reset
The labelled “reset” button is located beneath the indicator labels.
To activate or to reset the indicator, press and hold the reset button for around eight seconds. The indicator should flash all three lights simultaneously. It should then flash only the green light three times, at which point the indicator is reset and you may release the button.
Newer Brita pitcher models
Lights are labelled from top to bottom as:
- Standard Filter
- Long Last Filter
- Replace
How to reset
To “activate” or “reset” the indicator, hold down the status button beneath the lights.
- Holding the button for two seconds will select the “Standard Filter”.
- Holding the button for six seconds will select the “Longlast Filter”.
Status button
With both older and newer versions of the Brita pitcher, pressing the button once for 1 second and then releasing will give you a status update:
Older models:
- Blinking Green = Filter is good
- Blinking Yellow = Change soon
- Blinking Red = Replace the filter
Newer models:
- Blinking Green = Filter is good
- Blinking Red = Replace the filter
Indicator lights on a Brita faucet filter
For Brita faucets, the indicator light is one single light, and will change color depending on how much usage it estimates the current filter has left.
The indicators on Brita faucets are designed to be fully automatic, and no matter the model should not require manual activation or resetting upon replacing the filter.
If you have replaced the filter in the device, the light indicator should immediately turn solid green. If this doesn’t happen, remove the new filter, and begin again.
When placing the filter into the device, ensure the small button at the back of the faucet filter base (the part that is not replaced) is pressed and held until the new filter is secured.
Location of the faucet indicator lights
Brita Complete Water Filter Faucet System
The indicator light on the Brita complete water filter faucet system is on the front at the base of the filter, making it easy to see.
Brita Basic Water Filter Faucet System
The indicator light on the Brita Basic water filter faucet system is on the top section.
On these models the indicator can sometimes be difficult to see through the glass covering, so to double check the color you may need to get a direct top-down view.
Indicator light sequence
When the filter is working correctly and does not need replacing, the indicator will show a:
- Green color
When the filter is estimated to have only 20 gallons/75 liters or around two weeks of life left, the indicator will show a:
- Split color (Green and Red) = for the Basic Water Filter Faucet System.
- Flashing Amber/Yellow = for the Complete Water Filter Faucet System.
When the filter needs replacing:
- Solid Red = for the Basic Water Filter Faucet System.
- Flashing Red = for the Complete Water Filter Faucet System.
Other forms of Brita indicators
On some older models of Brita products, a percentage or bar system is displayed, rather than lights.
Both the meter and memo versions will have a start button placed either above or below the screen.
The memo will have four bars displayed on the screen that gradually disappear, corresponding to four labelled percentages decreasing from 100% through 75%, 50% and 25%.
The meter, however, will simply have four unlabeled bars displayed on the screen, each corresponding to a week’s worth of usage.
To reset either after replacing the filter, simply hold down the start button until all four bars on the screen flash up and are displayed.
Similarly, to the colored light indicators used by Brita, the battery for these indicators is designed to last roughly five years, and replacing the battery appears just as finnicky and prone to eliminating the water-tight nature of the indicator.
If the battery dies or the indicator simply stops working, it is certainly worth contacting Brita customer support as previously suggested, as Brita will often offer to send you a replacement indicator free of charge.
Replacing the indicator is fairly easy, needing only to prize the plaque out gently with a flathead screwdriver, and placing the new one in.
