Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Review is for the EQ-400 system. The city had just started using chloramines in the water, resulting in disgusting metallic smelling water. I searched for a system that would do this, but all I found were sales pitches and promises without any hard data. I finally settled on the Aquasana system after finding data that it was tested by Pace Labs to NSF standard 42 (chloramine reduction) and by the University of Texas. Why they didn't go for the full NSF certification I don't know. In fact there are no POE residential systems certified to NSF 42 that I could find. To the Aquasana marketing folks, why don't you be the first one? Installation: The plastic fittings supplied with the unit are manufactured by NDS, a well known company. Some reviews were saying the fittings were of poor quality, but they were ok for me so far. They are sch. 80 PVC. If you want you can use your own fittings, the filter inlets are all standard FNPT thread. Tighten the fittings by hand. I had 3 drip leaks out of the 4 pre-and post filter threads,, 2 of the 3 were fixed after rewrapping with teflon tape. The other one is a slow seepage so it can wait until it's time to replace the pre-filter to avoid draining water. I also had a bypass plumbed in so the system can be completely isolated, and a hose bib directly after the post filter to facilitate draining water when it comes time to replace the filter. So far this system is working as it is supposed to. It's only been about a week so time will tell on the durability and how often the filters will need to be changed. I will try and keep this review updated as time passes. I took a reading of the city water meter to keep track of usage. Some people have commented on reduction in water pressure, I haven't had any so far. My system is plumbed in a straight line as shown in Aquasana's picture. As for the water, no more metallic smell. I tested the water with a standard FAS-DPD test kit. Results are great: Before: Free chlorine: 0.4 Combined chlorine: 2 After: Free chlorine: 0 Combined chlorine: 0 Update 2/10/17- I've been changing the pre-filter about 4-6 months. Recently my water pressure has been low (with multiple toilets flushing) even after the filter change. I found out that there was a large amount of sediment that have gotten inside the main filter unit - even with the pre-filter which I believe is 5 micron. To fix this I removed the post-filter and turned on the water at full pressure with a bucket underneath, I was surprised at the amount of sediment that came out. I did this a few times until the water was somewhat clearer, note that simply opening the hose bib that I had plumbed in resulted in clear water, apparently not enough flow to flush out the sediment. The post-filter also was changed out, and this restored normal water pressure. Update 8/8/18 - apparently Amazon groups the reviews for different models of the Aquasana whole house filters together. The model I purchased was the EQ-400 as I stated in the review. Only this model is designed to eliminate chloramines. The 10-year system is not designed for chloramine reduction. Update 12/21/2020 - After well over 400,000 gallons of filtration I replaced this unit. The unit was still filtering out chloramines perfectly, however due to the high level of sediment in my water which had built up inside the unit the flow rate was just too low resulting in low water pressure whenever someone flushed a toilet. I replaced this with a backwashing filter by a different manufacturer which will be more suitable for my high sediment water. Final take - I have since learned that there are two types of whole house filters, upflow and downflow. The Aquasana is an upflow system, which does not require backwashing but tends to get clogged up easily if your water is high in sediment like mine. The advantage to upflow systems is no backwashing required which saves water, however you will need to replace the pre- and post- filters occasionally. If you don't have a sediment problem with your water the Aquasana system will work great for you. Over the 5+ year lifetime of this system I have never experienced any leaks and if it weren't for my high sediment water this filter would still be in use today.