Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This system was recommended to me by a friend and after installing it and having it running for about three months I couldn't be happier with it. The water is hands down the best I've ever tasted from any source and it's completely eliminated the need to buy bottled water for my wife and I so it will pay for itself in about a year. I also bought a TDS meter to measure the total dissolved solids in our water (HM Digital TDS-4). Our tap water consistently measures 690-720 ppm which is extremely high and consequently, it tastes pretty terrible. Our previous faucet mounted Pur filter only made a marginal improvement. The water coming out of the RO system now measures at around 25 ppm and tastes amazing. From reading most of the reviews here and from my personal experience of installing it, I put together some information that I've given to friends and thought it would be helpful to have it consolidated into one post here. A few reviews mentioned that the main shut-off valve that comes with the RO system started leaking after a while and that you'll be much better off if you just replace it with a better one from the start. The valve is $11 and you can get it at Home Depot and I opted to replace it from the start. It's a Watts 1/4 in. Plastic Adapter Stop Valve model #:P-467CS and Home Depot SKU: 1000018247 Just a few notes regarding the installation: Very important: Cut all hoses so the ends are square and and the cuts are clean before making the connections or they may leak. I did that and I've had no leaks, but I can see how you might have leaks if you decide to skip this very important step which is also mentioned in the installation instructions. A few reviews mentioned that changing the order of the filters so the mineral stage comes before storage tank improves the taste of the water. I opted to do this and have never looked back as the water tastes amazingly good. The way it's configured out of the box (after the 3 big filters) is RO Membrane->Storage Tank->Carbon->Mineral->Faucet Change it to RO Membrane->Mineral->Storage Tank->Carbon->Faucet. When you're ready to run water through it for the first time (and whenever you change filters), disconnect the input hose to the RO membrane and flush the first three stages into a bucket. Just like a faucet-mounted filter (ie: Pur, Brita), the water will come out gray at first from the residual carbon so it's probably better not to send all that into the RO membrane. Once the water runs clear connect it to the RO membrane. I think the rest of this is in the instruction manual, but I'll mention it anyway: After you re-connect the RO membrane, keep the valve to the storage tank off and let the water run for a while. It will only trickle out and like the carbon filters, the RO membrane needs to be flushed for a little while and you don't want that going into the storage tank. When you're ready to fill the storage tank, it takes about two hours to fill. Once the tank is full, open the faucet and let it drain it completely and re-fill. You'll want to do that twice before using it. The water will have some bubbles in it at the beginning and it will gradually become very clear. I think that covers it! All of that made a for a leak-free installation and some very tasty water! Since we don't need to buy bottled water anymore, we bought a few of these reusable bottles on Amazon: Copco 2510-2183 Chevron Hydra Bottle, 16.9-Ounce, Neon Orange Dots