Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me explain how we got here to begin with. We have what is technically "good" tap water. On the TDS meter, it measures between 46-51, which is acceptable, though the TDS display turns red when it's over 39. Personally, the water tastes funny to me if I drink it straight from the tap. I don't want my water to have any other taste than pure, clean water. So, I purchased a water dispenser that uses the 5-gallon water bottles and subscribed to a water delivery service, which charged $7 per bottle, plus a delivery fee. I then stopped delivery and bought filled bottles at the Home Depot for $7 each. So, I saved the delivery fee and I wasn't tied to a delivery schedule, but now I had to lug these bottles from the store to the house. Then, we found refilling stations at our grocery store where we could fill the 5-gallon bottle for only $1.75. Woo-hoo! We were saving money now! Initially, we only used our filtered water for drinking. Then we started keeping a 5-gallon bottle on our kitchen counter to use for cooking, too. In the garage, we have 8 backup water bottles. In the summer, we fill up 6-8 bottles roughly every 10 days, so that's about 3 fill-ups per month or between $31.50-$42.00. This winter, our house has been really dry and we have 4 humidifiers running in various rooms, and we're even boiling water to add humidity to the house. We use tap water for the water we're boiling, but we use the filtered water for our humidifiers and we've been going through a 5-gallon bottle PER DAY! Plus, now, the refilling station increased the price to $2.50 per bottle. At the rate of a bottle a day, we're looking at almost $75 per month! Now that the cold spell has eased up, we're using about 3 gallons per day, which is approximately $45 per month. These costs don't take into consideration the time and physical effort/strength (each bottle weighs approx. 40 pounds when full) to lug the bottles to the refilling station, fill them up, put them in the car, carry into the garage, etc. But, this cost and effort was starting to wear on us. A few years ago, I looked into the under the sink systems, but my husband didn't like the whole setup and I didn't like the inconvenience of trying to get under the sink, and all the stuff I have under there, to get to the filters to change them. He asked me to search the internet for countertop water systems. I half-heartedly looked because I thought they were going to be behemoth-sized monsters taking up most of the counter. But, hello, there's already a behemoth of a 5-gallon water bottle taking up space, I figured it couldn't be any worse than that. I was pleasantly surprised to find this machine that is tucks in under my cabinets, unlike the 5-gallon bottle, and I have it on one of those slider mats so it glides effortlessly, even when full. It only takes up 16"x8" on my countertop. Now, I get water at the push of a button rather than trying to lift or tilt the 5-gallon bottle. BUT, initially, we said we weren't going to get rid of the 5-gallon bottles until we put this unit through its paces to see if it will keep up with our needs. Now for the cold hard data. The unit arrived on New Year's Eve and we began using it on New Year's Day 2023. As of this writing, We have been using this water filtration system for about 8 days now and are very happy with it. It's very easy to use. There are a couple of aesthetic things that could be improved like the size of the words on the display and the clarity of the words. The words look fuzzy and out of focus but the most important button we use is the first one, so we don't even read the display anymore. The unit has an Intake Tank where you fill it with approx. 5 liters of water. It goes through a CF and an RO filter and sits in a "Pure Water" Tank, which holds approx. 1/2 gallon of water or 1.8 L, until it's ready to be used. When dispensed, it then goes through a UV filter on it's way to your glass. When we got the unit, we followed the instructions to flush out the system. We have a TDS meter and I measured the water at each step of the process. Our starting water measurement was 50. Because our incoming water isn't that bad, we only ran it through 3 full tanks before we were satisfied that it had been flushed thoroughly. You may need to run it through several more cycles depending on your source water supply's quality. From the 1st tank, we got one Pure Water Tank serving and it registered at 36. From the 2nd tank, we got 3 servings, which were 19, 10, and 10, respectively. From the 3rd tank, we got 2 servings, which were 7 each. The reason for the difference in "servings" is because in the first tank, the filters took up some water to be primed, and then there's a partially filled Pure Water Tank, which didn't get emptied until the second round. The whole process isn't a one-for-one in-and-out. You put in 5 liters and you get about 4 liters back, but it just depends on where the water is in the filtration system. I hope my explanation is makes sense. I don't fully understand how the system filters, but here's how I understand it. In the bottom third of the Intake Tank, there is divider splitting the tank in half. On one side, the water is drawn into the system to be filtered. The waste from the filtration process is excreted into the other section from a valve on the bottom. The leftover water needs to be discarded, the Intake Tank rinsed, then refilled with clean water. I measured the remaining water and it registered at 236 on the TDS meter! I don't understand how water coming it at a reading of 50 creates waste of 236, but that's what I've observed. Also, we retested the filtered water dispensed and after 1 week of using the system, it now reads at 4 instead of 7, as it did on the first day of use. The bottled water we used to buy registered between 0-3 on the TDS meter, so our water now if fairly comparable. We keep a pitcher by the machine at all times and keep it filled at all times with the filtered water. We also keep a one-gallon container on the counter as a backup in the event we need a big amount of water at one time for cooking purposes. We will probably always keep 1 or 2 5-gallon bottles filled for emergencies. It takes about 8 minutes for the system to fill the Pure Water Tank (approx. .48 gallons/1.8 liters), and 2 minutes to fully empty the Pure Water Tank, so 10 minutes to go through a full cycle. You don't have to fully empty the tank. There are smaller serving sizes 180ml, 350ml, and 450ml, or 6 oz., 12 oz., and 15 oz., respectively. We just prefer to fill up our pitcher and dispense as much as we want immediately. Once you dispense your desired amount of water, the system will automatically kick into Filtering mode and work to refill the Pure Water Tank. Overall, we are very pleased with this unit. We got it with a $100 off coupon. Based on our approx. monthly expenditure on bottled water, we figure this unit will pay for itself in about 6-7 months. At which time, it should be ready for new filters. Also at that time, it will need to have some system maintenance done to it, which involves cleaning the intake valve at the bottom of the Intake Tank and a couple of other things. So, until I get to that point, I'm leaving the rating at 4 Stars until I've gone through a life cycle of the filters. At that time, I will update this review with additional observations and monthly readings to see what long-term use of the system reveals. I know this was a long review, but I’m passionate about clean water and I wanted to give a thorough write-up of my experience. If you found this helpful, please give this review a Like. Thanks!