Who has any experience with these? There are a variety of them on Amazon. Anywhere from a couple hundred to $3-4 thousand. What brands has the SF hive had experience with?

We installed one in our 2006 Fifth Wheel RV. We plumbed it to the kitchen sink and to the ice maker in the freezer. This was in addition to the whole house filter system. I believe the brand was Home Master (?) Well worth the money spent for crystal clear, tasteless odor free ice

I've owned at least a half dozen under-the-sink Reverse Osmosis systems over the years. I've had some of the more expensive ones and some of the cheaper ones (using the one currently selling at Costco now) and have had reasonably good service out of all of them.

Watts has good products at a reasonable price on Amazon. If you don't have fairly strong water pressure at your place, you may want to consider one with a booster pump. Most residential water supplies have sufficient pressure, but if you're on a well it could be a consideration.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitks:
I've owned at least a half dozen under-the-sink Reverse Osmosis systems over the years. I've had some of the more expensive ones and some of the cheaper ones (using the one currently selling at Costco now) and have had reasonably good service out of all of them.

Watts has good products at a reasonable price on Amazon. If you don't have fairly strong water pressure at your place, you may want to consider one with a booster pump. Most residential water supplies have sufficient pressure, but if you're on a well it could be a consideration.

If you don’t mind me asking, what was the ballpark price for the Costco one? Thanks!

I have a Westinghouse unit I bought at Lowe’s 4-5 years ago. The battery/light thing to remind you to change the filters never worked right, but it seems to cleanup the water well. My wife is sensitive to the taste of city water and she hasn’t complained about the water since I plumbed it in. I’m on the third set of filters.

https://www.pureblueh2o.com/pr...4-stage-ro-system-2/

this is the one I bought at my local Costco. I think I paid only $179 for it, although I no longer see it on Costco's website.

I had a small one from Sears. It worked fine.

I’ve had a 5 stage Watts one for several years. I also bought the booster pump as it was said to decrease recovery time and decrease waste. It does a fantastic job at turning our terrible city water into drinkable water. In the last couple months, though, it seems the pressure tank has gone bad. It won’t hold air which means no pressure.

I haven’t bothered to look into it though because we recently switched to a water cooler with a 5 gallon bottle and local water captured at the source spring.

Check the prices on replacement filters/membranes when you narrow your choices to get the cost of long term ownership.

They work extremely well in removing chemicals including heavy metals, as I recall.
The $200-250 range ones from Costco or Amazon are good, look at reviews.
Pretty easy to install following directions.
They use extra water, using the system water pressure to drive the reverse osmosis process, so some water is wasted as a result, don’t recall how much.

We have had one for about 15 years, installed by a local service. Our ‘hard water’ is high on minerals. The R.O. system is fed with ‘softened water’ then it goes through the filtration process.

It’s like getting pure, bottled type water out of a faucet. Our Kurig(sp?) coffee maker has been trouble free after 5 years with this water.

I change the filters periodically, and check the psi in the pressure tank.

You should be able to get a decent system for under $300. We've had two in about 18 years with no significant issues and only change filters once every few years.

Lots of good input here.

One other thing to realize is that some newer systems have their own proprietary quick-connect filters, where you throw away the entire filter/housing when expired and twist on the new filters or membrane. The convenience & ease of maintenance is the key there.

In the older style R.O. systems, there are permanent filter housings that you simply unscrew to replace the filter elements inside. These are typically standard 10" filters that you can buy in many different places and aren't required to use the original manufacturer's filter. There is a sediment filter and at least one activated carbon filter to remove chlorine, chemicals & improve taste. They usually last 6 months, whereas the R.O. membrane has a lifespan of several years.

Pure Water Products, LLC is the company i have used to buy and maintain my system.

You can call and speak to them for information or help putting together a system for your needs.
Select R/O membrane to meet the amount of water your family will use.
Select the appropriate pre-filters, well, city water, mineral content, etc
Select post-filter, taste, etc.
Type/Shape of filters easy change out, small for looks, etc.
They stock the needed filters for replacement at a good price.
Need a pump for pressure, etc.
Type of fittings need to connect to your under sink pipes/hoses, ice maker, etc.
Yada Yada ....

Edit to add
TDS meter for water ppm to know when the RO membrane needs replaced.
City Water, co-op well - information on your water content is available.

I have one that was installed by Culligan and I have had for at least 10 years. I think it cost around $1,200 and it works great. I pay around $125 a year to be on a service plan where they come out to inspect it and change all of the filters annually. When the membrane needs to be replaced, it is included in the cost of the service plan. Also if any repairs need to be made they are also included in the service cost.

We used to get the 5-gal bottle water delivery. Wife wanted to get away from the plastic. We went with the RENTAL from Costco and pay maybe 1.00 more a month than we were paying for the bottled water. We chose the rental because they supply the filters for free vs buying the system and then we would have to pay for the filters which is a few hundred dollars a year. No complaints with the Costco system.