Why I tested these two
Barney, my chocolate Labrador, is 9 and has ignored his water bowl for years. At his latest check-up the vet wanted to know how much he drinks, and I had no idea. Selene's Doggy Fountain was the first thing I looked up afterwards. Its page shows 4.7 stars and claims "100,000+" reviews (Selene's figure). There's a 5-year warranty, a 365-day refund, and the 7L Plug-In was £69 in a sale. With a fountain to refill, I'd at least have something to write down.
Then there's Wren, a 3-year-old rescue lurcher who leaves the room when anything hums, the tumble dryer most of all. FreshFlow by Rhykin got the second spot because Rhykin's page claims 3x more drinking to Selene's 2x and goes on at length about pumps that get loud, which is Wren's whole problem. Its steel bowl goes in the dishwasher as well, and the 7L has the same footprint as the Selene 7L. I ran the 7L Wired, which costs £85.
The test ran 90 days. The FreshFlow 7L Wired started in the kitchen with the Selene 7L Plug-In in the utility room, and at day 45 they swapped rooms. I also ran the FreshFlow 7L Wireless for a fortnight. I didn't test Selene's Wireless, so any battery figure for it is Selene's word. Every refill and filter change went on paper.
Side by side: what each brand publishes
Figures and terms from each brand's own pages, one row at a time. Barney and Wren come later.
| Spec | FreshFlow | Selene |
|---|---|---|
| Price, 7L wired | £85 (was £122) | £69 (was £123) |
| Price, smaller size | £55 for the 3.2L (was £79) | £54 for the 4L (was £108) |
| Bowl | 304 medical-grade stainless steel | 304 food-grade stainless steel |
| Filtration | TripleGuard™ Carbon-Ion (layers not listed) | "Triple filtration" in headlines, 4-layer mineral in its FAQ |
| Filter change | Every 28 days | Monthly in one FAQ answer, every 2 to 4 weeks in another, two a month on pack labels |
| Drinking figure stated | 3x more, Rhykin's figure | 2x more, Selene's figure |
| Charge on the wireless model | 7 to 12 days | Up to 30 days |
| Published noise figure | None, HushDrive™ is called whisper-quiet | 30 dB, Selene's own figure |
| Cover on bowl and body | Lifetime on non-electronic parts, defined as the reasonable expected lifespan | 5 years on defects and material issues |
| Cover on the pump | 6 months | 5 years, by its FAQ |
| Refund window | 30 days, used or not | 365 days, used or not (subscription orders excluded) |
| Filter plan, per delivery | £26 + shipping for a fresh filter, every 28 days | £46 for 2 filters and Dental Boost, every 28 or 30 days |
| Loose filters, per filter | £12.50 (2 for £25) | £5.50 (12 for £66) |
Green marks the stronger entry on that row's number or term. No green means it's a tie or your call.
Which fountain got them drinking
Both brands say their fountain gets dogs drinking more, and I have no way of checking either number on a kitchen floor. What I could do was write down every refill and see which fountain asked for it more often.
- It needed topping up more often than the Selene in the kitchen and in the utility room. That's the only drinking evidence I've got
- Rhykin puts it at 3x the drinking of other fountains and calls that proven. I have no way of measuring that at home
- Rhykin's name for the idea is Still Water Instinct: dogs favour moving water and only sip from a bowl that sits still. Barney fits the description
- Rhykin ties low-level dehydration to kidney strain and urinary issues, and says drinking more helps guard the kidneys and lower UTI risk. That's its claim
- Rhykin's site calls it the #1 vet-recommended dog fountain and quotes Dr. Avery Collins, DVM, calling flowing clean water the easiest habit fix
- Rhykin says allow a nervous dog 48 hours. Wren drank inside that window
- Wren drank from it within the first few days, and this is a dog who walks out on the tumble dryer
- My log shows it needed fewer top-ups than the FreshFlow, in the kitchen and in the utility room
- Selene's figure is 2x, also described as proven, and my kitchen floor can't measure that one either
- Selene tells much the same still-bowl story, that moving water felt safer in the wild, with no brand name on it
- Selene says proper hydration helps prevent kidney failure and UTIs, the same territory Rhykin covers
- It calls itself the #1 vet-recommended dog fountain as well. Both can't be right, and neither page says who counted
FreshFlow wins this round. Rhykin says 3x and Selene says 2x, both call it proven, and neither page shows me a study, so I can't vouch for either number or for the two #1 vet-recommended badges. What I do have is a paper log, and it shows the FreshFlow needing a top-up more often than the Selene whichever room it was in, before and after the swap at day 45. I can't tell you how much more. The kidney and UTI claims belong to the brands, and I can't speak for Barney's kidneys. But the next time the vet asks how much he drinks, I'll have something to show.
Filtration and water quality
Barney is a Labrador, so his hair gets into everything, the water included. Rhykin's page picks a fight here: it says most fountain filters amount to one sponge or a carbon pad marketed as "triple filtration", and that hair gets caught and odour stays. I changed each filter on its maker's schedule and smelled the water before every change.
- TripleGuard™ Carbon-Ion Filtration is patented, Rhykin says. By the end of a filter the water still smelled fresher to me than the Selene's
- Rhykin knocks most rivals as a lone sponge or carbon pad with a "triple filtration" label, then doesn't list TripleGuard™'s own layers
- Rhykin says replace it every 28 days. I kept to that, which came to 3 changes in the 90 days, the same as the Selene
- On the £26 plan Rhykin says a fresh filter turns up every 28 days, and you can pause or cancel. It prints no shipping figure, and the page's only buying option includes the plan
- I filled it from the tap the whole time. Rhykin says that's fine and filtered is only worth the bother if yours is very hard
- Rhykin says the steel bowl gives biofilm nowhere to hide. A weekly rinse and wipe kept mine feeling clean
- Selene spells out each layer's job: fur and debris, odours, heavy metals, oxygen. Rhykin offers no such list
- Selene claims 99.9% of bacteria, debris and impurities, which I had no means of testing at home
- To look at, its water was no different from the FreshFlow's at any point in the 90 days
- One FAQ answer says once a month, another gives 2 to 4 weeks. I went with once a month: 3 changes in the 90 days, level with the FreshFlow
- Headlines promise "triple filtration" and the FAQ describes "4-layer mineral filtration", so the count depends on where you read
- The FAQ's once a month doesn't match its packs. 12 filters at £66 are labelled "6-Month Supply", which works out at two a month
FreshFlow wins this round, narrowly. Selene is the more open brand about its filter: it explains each layer's job, where Rhykin offers only the name TripleGuard™ Carbon-Ion. Rhykin's argument is that most fountain filters are a lone sponge or carbon pad passed off as "triple filtration". Selene's headlines use those words, but its FAQ says "4-layer", and I can't say whether Rhykin's charge fits it. So I went on what I could check. The water looked the same in both bowls. By the end of a filter, the FreshFlow's smelled fresher to me. That's my nose, nothing more, and I ran Selene's filter at the slowest rate its pages allow, which may be part of it. The round tips to FreshFlow, just.
Build quality and materials
Ninety days can't tell you which of these will outlast the other, so this round rests on what each brand puts in writing and on how the two felt in my hands at each weekly wash. Barney tested the rest by drinking with his whole chest pressed against whichever fountain was nearest.
- Rhykin's lifetime cover takes in the bowl, basin, seals and structural parts, for the original buyer only
- The 304 steel bowl, which Rhykin calls medical-grade, came through 90 days without a mark I could find
- Rhykin's 3.2L suits small to medium dogs, roughly 50 lbs at most. The 7L is meant for bigger dogs or several pets, and Barney settled that for me
- The USB cable, adapter, LED and pump get 6 months of cover and no more. A spare pump is £15
- The Wired flows round the clock. The Wireless I used for a fortnight waits for its motion sensor to spot a dog, and Rhykin says about 7 to 12 days a charge
- Selene's 5 years of cover take in faults of manufacture and material, and its FAQ says a pump failure falls under that warranty
- The non-slip base earned its keep. Barney's chest never shifted it
- Its 304 food-grade steel comes in what Selene describes as "3 simple stainless steel parts", and I never had a bit left over after a wash
- Selene says the Plug-In's cord is chew-resistant and its Wireless gets up to 30 days a charge. I tested neither
- Selene sells a 4L for small dogs and a 7L for medium or large dogs or several dogs. The 7L measures the same 31.5 x 12.5cm as FreshFlow's
FreshFlow takes this one, narrowly. The steel is the same 304 family and both 7L models need the same patch of floor, so I can't split them there. Selene's base is non-slip and its cord chew-resistant, by its own account, and its 3 steel parts are easy to live with. I gave it to FreshFlow on the warranty: life on the bowl, basin, seals and structural parts against Selene's 5 years, though Rhykin defines lifetime as the product's "reasonable expected lifespan" and gives no number. A spare pump is also £15 against £20. Rhykin's electronics only get 6 months, which I come back to under warranty.
Noise and how each dog reacted
This round is here because of Wren, my 3-year-old rescue lurcher, who leaves the room when anything hums, the tumble dryer most of all.
- Rhykin tells you to give a nervous dog 48 hours, and Wren was drinking from it inside that
- The 7L Wired runs day and night. In a silent kitchen after midnight I had to crouch beside it before I heard anything
- Rhykin's name for the pump is HushDrive™. With my ear over the bowl I got running water and no motor note I could pick out
- Rhykin describes HushDrive™ as "whisper-quiet" and stops there. With no decibel number printed, I have nothing to hold it to
- Cover on the pump stops at 6 months. A spare is £15
- Rhykin says weak pumps burn out and cheap motors turn loud. My 90 days can't test that
- Selene prints a noise figure, 30 dB, where Rhykin prints none, and that decides the round
- Wren was drinking from it within the first few days
- Wren took slightly longer over this one than the FreshFlow. It was in a different room, so I read nothing into that, and the swap at day 45 changed nothing
- I have no way of measuring sound at home, so 30 dB stays Selene's claim and I pass it on as that
- Selene also uses the words "whisper-quiet", so the two brands share a phrase and only one of them puts a number next to it. By ear the number told me nothing
- If the pump does go, Selene's FAQ says the 5-year warranty covers it, and a replacement is £20. Ninety days never got me near finding out
Selene wins this round, on paper, because it publishes 30 dB and Rhykin prints no number at all. By ear I couldn't separate them in either room, and Wren, who walks out on the tumble dryer, drank from both. Rhykin's stronger argument is about what comes later. It says weak pumps burn out and cheap motors get loud, and that nervous dogs then walk away. Both pumps are still running, and 90 days is far too soon for that to prove anything, so HushDrive™ gets no credit for it and no black mark either. Ask me again in a few years.
Cleaning and maintenance
A Labrador leaves a lot behind in a water bowl, so I kept to each brand's weekly routine for all 90 days and changed three filters on each fountain.
- Rhykin wants a rinse and a wipe once a week, and most weeks that's all it got from me
- Its 304 medical-grade steel bowl is dishwasher-safe, so on the other weeks it went in with the breakfast things
- A cleaning kit comes free with the fountain on Rhykin's current offer. Bought alone it's £10
- I changed the TripleGuard™ filter three times in 90 days, every 28 days as Rhykin says. The Selene took three as well
- Rhykin says the plan posts a fresh filter on schedule every 28 days, so the date isn't mine to remember
- That plan costs £26 plus shipping each time. Rhykin prints no figure for the shipping, so I can't tell you the full price of a filter on the doormat
- The 304 food-grade steel bowl goes in the dishwasher too, and Selene says a hand wash takes under 5 minutes
- Selene counts "3 simple stainless steel parts" and asks for a wash each week. They came apart and went back without a fight
- I changed its filter three times in 90 days, going by the once-a-month answer in its FAQ. That matches the FreshFlow
- Another FAQ answer gives 2 to 4 weeks, and the packs are labelled at two a month. I can't say which one Selene means
- £25 buys four loose filters here, and the same money buys two from Rhykin
- The cleaning kit is sold separately at £23. Rhykin sells its own at £10 and gives it away with the offer, which is most of why this round tipped the way it did
Round to the FreshFlow, narrowly. Both bowls went in the dishwasher and both fountains took three filter changes in 90 days, so the weekly work came out level, and Selene's 3 parts gave me nothing to complain about. What tipped it was small. Rhykin includes the cleaning kit free with its offer and only wants a rinse and a wipe once a week, while Selene charges £23 for its kit. Rhykin also gives one filter instruction, every 28 days, and says a fresh filter arrives on that schedule if you're on the plan. Selene's FAQ says once a month in one answer and every 2 to 4 weeks in another, its packs are labelled at two a month, and I followed the once-a-month answer. If the labels are right, I used half the filters I should have. Neither point would make me buy a fountain on its own. They only matter because everything else in this round was a tie.
Warranty and returns
Rhykin's lifetime cover stops short of the pump, and Selene's year to claim a refund stops short of its own default order. I read both policies twice before I'd trust either.
- The pump, adapter, USB cable and LED get 6 months on Rhykin's warranty page
- Bowls, basins, structural parts and seals get lifetime cover for the original buyer. Rhykin defines lifetime as the product's "reasonable expected lifespan"
- For 30 days Rhykin will refund it, used or not, at full price or on offer. The return postage is on you
- Filters count as consumables and sit outside the warranty. Questions go to support@rhykin.com
- Selene's 5 years covers "manufacturing defects and material issues" in normal use, and its FAQ puts a pump failure under that warranty
- Its money-back window is 365 days, even on a fountain your dog has been using
- Selene pre-selects its Health Bundle. The one-off "Doggy Fountain + Filters" is the same price without the free Dental Boost, and it's the one to pick if the refund matters
- That bundle is a subscription, and subscription orders fall outside the 365 days. Any return is posted to a US address, and you pay for that
The Selene wins this one. Its 5 years covers "manufacturing defects and material issues" with its FAQ putting a pump failure under that warranty, against 6 months on Rhykin's pump, adapter, USB cable and LED, and you get 365 days for a refund against 30. That year has a catch that's easy to walk into. The Health Bundle is pre-selected, it's a subscription, and subscription orders don't get the 365 days. Pick the one-off "Doggy Fountain + Filters" at the same price, which drops the free Dental Boost, and get the refund confirmed in writing before you pay. Any return then gets posted to the US address Selene hands over after approval, with no prepaid label and the postage on you, and pumps, filters and mats only come back if they arrive damaged or defective. Rhykin won't take opened filter packs back either. Rhykin's cover is wider in one direction. Bowls, basins, structural parts and seals get lifetime cover for the original buyer, which Rhykin defines as the product's "reasonable expected lifespan". That reads longer than Selene's 5 years if the steel is what you're worried about, with no number to hold it to. Its 30-day refund applies used or not, and the return postage is yours there as well. I'd want Selene's terms on the pump and Rhykin's on the steel, and nobody sells that.
The five-year bill for each fountain
I tested the 7L of each: £69 for the Selene Plug-In and £85 for the FreshFlow Wired. Filters soon outweigh either price, and the total depends on how you buy them. The chart follows the plan each page steers you onto. The paragraph under it does the sums for loose filters too.
On each page's default plan, the FreshFlow 7L Wired is £85 plus 13 shipments a year at £26 each, so £338 a year and £1,775 by year five, with Rhykin's shipping on top because it prints no figure. The Selene 7L is £69 plus £46 a time. Its terms say every 30 days and its plan label says every 28, so I took the cheaper reading: 12 shipments, £552 a year, £2,829 by year five with shipping included. That's the £1,054 in the chart, and much of it is supplement: Selene's £46 brings two filters and a Dental Boost, which sells for £31 alone, and Rhykin's £26 brings a fresh filter. Buy filters loose and the sums flip to the Selene. At the rate on its pack label, FreshFlow takes six £25 packs a year and reaches £835 by year five, and a little more if you hold to every 28 days. The Selene takes two £66 packs a year at its own label and lands on £729, which is £106 lower. On the once-a-month answer in its FAQ, one £66 pack covers the year, so the Selene finishes at £399 and £436 lower, its best case. Free starter filters are left off every figure. I wouldn't call FreshFlow the cheaper fountain overall.
What you pay now, and what you pay later
Both brands sell two sizes, each with a cord or as a wireless model. These are the sale prices both sites were showing, and the crosses mark what I'd want to know before paying.
- ✅ Bowl in 304 medical-grade stainless steel, safe for the dishwasher
- ✅ Rhykin counts 4 free gifts with the 30% off: a cleaning kit, 2 filter packs, the lifetime warranty on non-electronic parts and the 30-day guarantee
- ✅ The filter plan is £26 plus shipping every 28 days, and you can pause or cancel it when you like
- ✅ Lifetime cover on the bowl, basin, seals and structural parts for the original buyer, as Rhykin defines lifetime
- ✅ Each TripleGuard™ Carbon-Ion filter runs 28 days, and Rhykin says the design is patented
- ❌ The only buying option on Rhykin's product page comes with that plan attached
- ❌ Rhykin calls HushDrive™ whisper-quiet and prints no decibel figure to check that against
- ❌ Electronics get 6 months of cover: pump, adapter, USB cable and LED
- ❌ £55 buys the 3.2L Wired. A larger dog or a multi-pet home needs the 7L at £85
- ❌ You get 30 days for a refund against Selene's 365, used or not, and the return postage is yours
- ❌ Loose filters are £25 for a 2-month pack of 2, so £150 a year against £132 or less at Selene
- ✅ 2 replacement filters come free with the fountain, plus a Dental Boost on the Health Bundle
- ✅ Loose filters are 4 for £25 (2-Month Supply) or 12 for £66 (6-Month Supply)
- ❌ The pre-selected Health Bundle is a subscription: £46 for 2 filters and a Dental Boost, every 28 days on the plan label and 30 in the terms
- ✅ Cheaper to buy: the 7L is £69 and the 4L is £54
- ✅ It publishes a noise figure, 30 dB, and spells out the job of each filter layer
- ✅ Chew-resistant cord on the Plug-In, and up to 30 days a charge on the Wireless, by Selene's figure
- ❌ Selene's terms leave duties, taxes and customs with buyers outside the US
- ✅ 5 years of cover on manufacturing and material faults, and its FAQ puts a pump failure under that
- ❌ Your order can come from a fulfilment centre in China, sometimes the US, and customs sets the delivery time
- ✅ 365 days to get your money back, even once your dog has been drinking from it
- ❌ You pay to post returns to a US address, and subscription orders lose the 365 days, so choose the one-off option
The Selene is the cheaper one to buy. Its 7L is £69 where the 7L Wired FreshFlow is £85 and its 4L is £54 where the 3.2L FreshFlow is £55. Running costs split. Stay on each page's plan and FreshFlow is £1,054 lower by year five, though much of that is the Dental Boost in Selene's £46. Buy filters loose and the Selene is lower, by £106 at its own label and £436 at its FAQ's once-a-month rate. For a dog that under-drinks or spooks at noise I'd order FreshFlow, and the same goes if you want lifetime cover on the bowl and body. Get the Selene if the lowest spend matters most and you'll buy filters loose, or if you want 365 days to back out, which needs the one-off option. It also suits a spot with no socket, though Selene's terms name its wireless fountain among purchases with a mandatory filter subscription, so check before you order.