Watts Premier RO Pure Plus VOC 4 Stage Reverse Osmosis System Module with Built-In Check Valve Shutoff, Four Easy Push Button Filters, Sediment Filter, Carbon Block Filter, VOC Filter, Membrane

Over the course of the past year I have gotten very serious about water filtering and my health in general. I currently own and use the MegaHome distiller purchased here daily as well as my under sink Watts reverse osmosis filter in my kitchen. I also have an Aquasana AQ-4000 that I use on my bathroom sink. I have used all products for over a year so I can give a good solid unbiased breakdown of each product for anyone interested.The reason for me using a water distiller is simply because it is the only way to consistently remove 99% of fluoride from drinking water. The percentage in RO systems is from 80-99%, but it can vary depending on the filters used. That being said a RO filter will filter out different items that have a low boiling point and might pass into the water with distilling, so I like to use them both in series.My personal feelings are that fluoride as a poison should not be placed in public drinking water because it causes more harm than good. There are other pollutants that I am concerned about such as chlorine and such, but they are much easier to remove than fluoride. Each to his own, but that is the reason why I first use my reverse osmosis filter or Aquasana and then run it through my water distiller after.My TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter shows my local tap water to have 068 ppm (parts per million) of impurities where I live. It doesn't tell you what those impurities are it just tells you how many solids are in the water.After distilling the water it shows 005 ppm so it removes a huge portion of dissolved solids in the water. If I use the Watts RO system without distilling the water it also shows 005 ppm when the filters are fresh, but that goes up over time and mine is currently at 007 ppm since I have used the unit for three months. There is brown colored crap that is left in the bottom of the reservoir bin in my distiller if I don't use RO water to fill the distiller tank. This shows the fluoride left behind along with the other toxins is very foul smelling almost like burnt metal. That taste comes across in the water and the little carbon filter that comes with the water distiller isn't enough to get rid of the VOC gas taste or the remaining impurities.I found this link that explained the reason behind the smell after distilling water. I read online that they suggest pre-filtering the water going into the distiller and I did so with my Aquasana as well as my Watts RO system. The water from the Aquasana left a good amount of the brown crap after the distilling was done and the smell didn't go away really so that clearly shows impurities and pollutants left behind. It showed that the Aquasana didn't really filter out enough of the garbage that I wanted out of my water. I started using my Watts my reverse osmosis filter to fill the distiller reservoir before running the unit. That has totally eliminated the bad tasting water afterwards instead of using any other method and I have zero brown liquid or scale buildup in my distiller. I also don't need to post filter with carbon if I fill the distiller with my Watts RO water.This is why I choose to use both a RO system and distiller in series, "NON-FLUORIDATED WATER Industrial quality reverse osmosis water brings the total dissolved solids down to less that one part per million for all the pollutants that might be in there. Distilled water will remove 99% of the fluoride all of the time. I also recommend a pre-charcoal filter on a distiller to remove volatiles so that you are not getting noxious gases in your home. These are worse when you inhale them than when you drink them, because they go right into your blood stream and into your lungs". Before I pre-filtered my distilled water I was getting a lot of asthma related issues and after filling the tank with my Watts RO water I didn't get any asthma related problems from off gassing.After taking care to ventilate my room when running the distiller and using my reverse osmosis filter before the distiller, the water is down off the meter registering 000 or as high as 001 ppm and the taste is unreal with how clean it is. It is the closest thing to totally pure and clean water that one can find in modern society. I am using this ultra purified water to help me detox my body and I use it to cook with. I also tend to use this ultra purified water half cut down with fresh made vegetable juice to keep the water from potentially leaching helpful nutrients from my body.Overall this unit by itself gets five stars from me for the following reasons:1. I love distilled water but the problem with the unit is that it is very slow to distill a gallon of water. The Watts RO system solves this issue by running the filter all of the time when the unit is at rest and keeps the water in a reservoir tank. The tank has more than a gallon of water in the tank and I know this because I fill up my water distiller all of the time and there is more water left afterwards.2. The unit was very easy to install for a person who was a non plumber. Even though I had to go online to get the most up to date instructions I found the unit very easy to put in. There are some useful youtube videos that showed how to install the unit that I found more helpful than the instructions anyways.3. The unit comes with a very nice looking faucet unit. I liked that the unit came with a light that goes from red to green to indicate when it needs to be replaced. That being said my unit has a faucet that the light changes much too quickly and a few drops of water leak out of it when I turn it on and off. I will be contacting Watts to replace the unit, but it was so simple to install and the water was so good that I chose not to mark off a star for the faucet piece since my main concern is the quality of filtered water.4. There is a bit of troubleshooting by yourself to keep the unit functioning properly. I found that I used the system very heavily and after three months I had clogged up the pre-filters. I started to notice that the system was taking a long time to fill up the reservoir so I went to the Watts site and first tried to adjust the air pressure in the tank. When that didn't work I checked my outlet hose for a clog. I noticed at this time that the waste water was running off and not shutting off but my tank was not filling up. The other solution was to replace the prefilters on the Watts site. The prefilters only need to be replaced every six months according to Watts, but I know I used my system more than most so I expected a shorter filter life.5. The two prefilters are really cheap for six months of recommended use. I bought a pack with two red and two yellow prefilters along with a single blue post filter for 56 bucks. That is on par with the price of how much PUR filters cost since you have to replace them every two months meaning six changes per year. For the same price of replacement filters you get much better quality water. The green filter only needs to be changed every 2-5 years and that one is expensive, but as noted it won't have to be changed until 2015 for me so that drives down the annual cost significantly.6. This unit works to filter water without power and only uses water pressure from the tap to make it work. I like this function because if there was an emergency or a power outage I could still get potable drinking water. My water distiller is electric powered and costs money to heat the unit up.7. The filters couldn't be easier to change. You press a button in and twist the filter to pull out. Push the new one up and twist and it is mounted in there.I feel good knowing that if any of my filter systems miss some toxins, the distiller is a second layer of protection to catch the crap that is left over. The brita and pur filters can't touch the Aquasana filter as far as charcoal filters go. The Aquasana can't touch the reverse osmosis or the distilled water as far as purified water goes. You get what you pay for sometimes and although the Watts unit is a higher initial cost than some other purification methods, the filter costs aren't high IMO for the quality of purified water you get. This unit held up very well with no problems so far besides the faucet that I have been too lazy to call Watts to replace because it really doesn't matter too much to me. I am a hard judge, but I think one has to be to ensure optimal health in today's polluted world.Note: Do yourself a favor and buy a cheap TDS meter if you filter water. It is a better judge as to when you need to change filters rather than run on guesswork. When you see the TDS meter registering more solids than it did when you first installed filters then you know it is time to change. My Aquasana system shocked me in that when it was time to replace the filter it was actually registering at 89 PPM and had MORE solids in the water than if I didn't filter the water. This is also the only way to tell when you need to change the main green membrane in the Watts system because when the TDS meter reads above 010 you know the green filter needs to be swapped out. I bought this one for 20 bucks on Amazon and it works great: http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-Pocket-TDS-4-Quality/dp/B0002T6L5M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334516566&sr=8-2

Since moving into my house, I relied upon a custom installed Culligan 3 stage reverse osmosis filtration system (under the sink). Every year I paid a service rep to come to the house and replace filters and service the system. Costs ranged anywhere from $125 TO $175 including parts. (As a side note, in the 8 years Culligan serviced my system, they never cleaned the tank.) This year I called for service and was told the cost would be over $250 in parts and labor to replace the 3 filters and membrane. I had enough at this point and looked for a cost effective (and updated) alternative solution. Culligan also offered to lease me a system for over $300 a year that included servicing. I said no.After much research, I decided on this Watts Premier. I will not bother detailing specification comparisons because those are readily available on the Internet and all these systems essentially provide same filter performance. Since my plumbing was already setup for this system by Culligan, I figured no big deal in switching out. More on that later. Anyway, the product arrived and I was not dissapointed. The product was packed very well with no missing items. The system is comprised of quality components all around. The tank was actually better made and larger than my Culligan tank (8 years old). The filter components are made of quality material and far easier to replace than those on my Culligan system. The supplied quick connectors worked great. Everything is color coded and instructions are OK, though a little more detail would be warranted. The faucet provided is actually better quality than my Culligan faucet and has a filter replacement indicator light. Note that the faucet is Chrome. I did not mind even though all the faucet hardware is Nickel- but some may mind.Installation was fairly simple. As I said, I was replacing a Culligan system (allow more time if you are not replacing an existing plumbed system). So, I did not need to drill through my granite to install the faucet (I would get a pro to do that). The existing hole was a little small, but I managed to make it work. My drain pipe and cold water feed was already plumbed as well as my inline to the refrigerator water supply. The main issue I ran into was tubing diameter. Culligan used 3/8" whereas Watts uses 1/4". The 1/4" seems to be the new standard and I actually noticed increased water pressure post-filter compared to the Culligan system. But, because of the difference in diameter, I had to change out some quick connector connections. This is where I would dock 1/2 star from my rating if I could. It turns out Watts does not include a Tee Quick Connector for connecting the system to the refigerator water supply. I am sure Watts did not include it because they figured you already had one or did not want one. In my case however, I had to transition from 3/8" to 1/4". I ended up ordering the part (Celcon Push-to-Connect Tube Fitting, Acetal Copolymer, Tee, Tube OD) from Amazon for about $4 cheaper (free shipping) than my local Home Depot, which did not have any in stock anyway (they wanted me to buy an entire kit).PRIOR TO INSTALLATION I recommend you read the instructions carefully, gather needed tools, and layout all the parts. There are not so many parts that you will find installation overwhelming. In fact, I was left wondering why I had not done this before since it would be cheaper for me to replace the entire system every year instead of having personal service. Installation time to replace exisyting system is about 45 minutes. Without existing system, I would plan for 2 hours.AFTER INSTALLATION be sure to check for leaks after youu turn water on. Check regularly for a few days. I could not detect any leaks with the Watts. Post installation, the Watts requires you flush the system 4 times prior to consuming water from the system. This will take place over a 24 hr period. You simply let the system fill the holding tank and then drain entirely (emphasis added). Repeat 3 more times. I suspect those reviewers complaining of a "plastic" taste upon first use are not performing this step 4 times and/or accurately. Remember, you need to completely drain the system (empty the tank). The first few glasses of water appeared "milky white." This is due to air in the system and is normal. The water is fine (if you let the glass sit for a minute or two, it becomes crystal clear). It went away after two days.SPECIAL NOTES: If you detect leaking from any quick connections, chances are you did not insert tubing far enough. Simply try to push tubing in further- don't be gentle. The noise you hear in the drain is normal during filtraion process. It can be a bit annoying. My Culligan never made this noise, but the Watts is a different design. This noise is the result from water that did not make it through the membrane filter and IS NORMAL for this design.