Waterdrop RO Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System w/ 3 Filters (400 GPD) Expired

I'm researching RO systems myself, I'll take a comprehensive stab at it based on what I know from my research(I encourage you to do your own).

To preface this, remember, a lot people are totally fine with the flavor or municipal water and don't use filters at all. Brita filters remove some metals, organic compounds, and chemicals which change the FLAVOR of tap water. Brita is only meant to improve the flavor and that is truly enough for most people. Is your municipal water good? Most is. Your local water provider/municipality provides yearly reports. Look into it! Pur takes it a step further and removes some additional items, which based on your water quality report you may want/need to filter out these chemicals etc. I believe both companies also offer special filters for lead heavy water, again, very specific to each area.

Okay, you've looked at the yearly report. You probably find no deficiencies, GREAT! You probably don't need RO but might still WANT RO. Why? A few reasons. RO water tastes WAY better to some people, including me.

This system here does NOT re-introduce minerals. What does that mean? It takes beneficial minerals out that are good for you, balance the PH of water, and give the water a "good"(debatable) flavor. Some people like unmineralized taste, some don't. For cooking and other applications like fish tanks, you want or need PH balanced water. In this case you want a six stage system or a model that re-introduces minerals. Most six stage systems only reintroduce calcium to balance PH. I'm okay with that for now but down the line I may look into systems that reintroduce more minerals if it is deemed necessary or desirable.

Why else would you want RO? Water providers and the people working there aren't perfect. Machines break (I'm sure you've seen boil advisories), and people make mistakes. For example, my water provider in 2019 saw an event that was not reported to the public in which one chemical was released into the system at levels way higher than allowed by law. In 2020, a pipeline contractor dumped thousands of gallons of undisclosed chemicals into the reservoir by accident. I imagine most were filtered out but we don't know until we get the water quality report. Even more, if the chemicals, organic compounds, and metals are within the accepted range, you can still filter them more. I would argue that many of the things RO removes in addition to what municipal water provides are undesirable. However, you might never notice if you don't have a skin condition that is reactive to these chemicals and based on regulations it's totally unnecessary.

Finally, there's also 7 stage systems. This introduces also a uvlight to protect against bacteria. Very unlikely you'll need it, but it's an option and what I'd consider "the best". But I think this is more geared towards well water.

This unit is arguably no better than the G2 also on sale for $225. They're both tankless, they both waste one gallon of water for every gallon they filter, they both filter 400 gallons per day, this one the extra water quality readout which allegedly isn't a useful indicator of quality, and is self cleaning. The benefits of these systems are that they are tankless and compact. I.e. you might be able to fit it under your sink instead of putting it in the basement and running the lines upstairs. Maybe you can't fit it under your sink though... If you can't, and maybe even if you can, I would look elsewhere. Hopefully this doesn't get deleted because I believe these are sponsored posts.

I personally landed on the APEC ROES-PH75 for $230 and bought three sets of extra main four filters which get replaced every 6-12 months so after two years I can evaluate if the other three need to get replaced (2-4 years) . They only waste 1/2 gallon per gallon instead of 1 gallon per gallon this unit does, use standard filters, and are made in the USA. The downside is they are much larger and require a tank. I imagine the filters for this unit being non-standard are also drastically more expensive. This likely means you can get the already filter water from the tank much quicker than the tankless, but the unit is only 75 gallons per day vs 400and will take longer to fill up. If you need large quantities of RO water on demand I don't think either of these systems fit your needs. The APEC ROES-PHUV75 has remineralization AND UV. Both cost extra $$$. APEC offers a unit comparable to this slickdeal for $199 at all major home improvement retailers which is larger, requires a tank, but has standard filters. The website I found APEC through isn't charging tax and is having big sales plus free shipping with the code in the banner right now. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions! If you have any corrections to my post I'm happy to edit it, and if you have any systems recommendations before I pull the trigger, that is very much appreciated.

I looked this up because it doesn't sound logical. It isn't true. There is no evidence to support RO water flushes more minerals than regular water. Remember, there is a reason an honest doctor will tell you a multivitamin and many supplements yield expensive pee more so than anything else. There is no qualifier about what you drink. The body naturally expels excess.

Now if you want to say the reason to avoid RO water is because it lacks minerals that are found in drinking water, that's fair. That said, if your main source of those are drinking water, your diet is probably poor or else just eat something that contains it. Obviously there could be an exception for like fluoride, but, per my dentist, use a fluoride toothpaste and I'm fine (we live on a well with some hard water). I mean... calcium, sodium, and magnesium are three of those most common minerals. So eat some peanut butter and wash it down with some milk 🤷

But it's freaking delicious and makes my coffee, tea, and hot chocolate taste better. Try making Orange Pekoe with both, side by side, it's shocking.