Express Water EZRO5 Countertop Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System, Simple Set Up Faucet Filter, White

I live in an area with very poor water quality. The unfiltered water that comes from the tap has a TDS rating of 575. Absolutely hideous tasting tap water. My first attempt at cleaning up my water was a Brita pitcher. It did absolutely nothing to improve water texture or taste, but it may have been effective in filtering various unwanted particles, etc. My second attempt was a PūR faucet filter. Again, it did nothing regarding improvement of taste or texture. I did however like the convenience of the faucet attachment, and I was impressed with the amount of potentially harmful elements the manufacturer claimed it could remove. My third attempt was a Zerowater pitcher. Wow! This was the first time my tap water ever tasted as good as bottled water. I'm not sure how each of the three mentioned filters compare concerning the removal of harmful contaminants, but I do know that the Zerowater filter produced the best tasting water. Using the included TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, Zerowater delivered a zero reading just as promised. If Zerowater is perfect, then why am I here discussing an Express Water system? The expected lifespan of Zerowater filters is dependant on initial water quality. My TDS rating of 575 means that I would only get 8 gallons or less per filter. Even when buying filters in a bulk pack it would be MUCH more expensive than buying bottled water. It's simply NOT cost effective. Finally, my last and best solution: An EXPRESS WATER countertop Reverse Osmosis system. The Express Water system is incredibly easy to install. A simple to understand instruction sheet is included. (1) Remove the blue lock pins from the connector on the SED filter and also from the connector on the black hose coming from the ROM filter. (2) Pull out the protective pins, insert the two color coded hoses (that lead to the faucet connector), and then put the blue lock pins back on. (3) Attach the faucet connector and you're ready to go! It took me about 10 minutes to set everything up. It's recommended to let the water run through the filter for roughly two hours before you'll achieve the best quality. My results: Express Water fills a 64oz (half gallon) bottle in 13 minutes. One gallon in 26 minutes. It reduces my 575 TDS rated water to a rating of 9 and delivers water that has a very pleasing texture and taste. * Your results may vary depending on water pressure and quality. How I use it: I fill a couple of 64oz bottles with filtered water and keep them in the fridge. I also still use the Zerowater pitcher. The water going into the pitcher now has a TDS rating of 9, so the Zerowater filters last much longer (40 gallons or more) and the filtering process is much faster. No more carrying multiple bottles of water home from the store each week, and I feel better about not generating so much plastic waste. If you live in an area with a relatively mild TDS rating, the Zerowater pitcher may be all that you need. But, the only cost effective solution for those in areas with a high TDS rating is to use a Reverse Osmosis system. The Express Water is one of the least expensive to buy, maintain, and operate. I highly recommend the Express Water countertop system. Special Notes: Make sure the faucet attachment is correctly on the threads and tight. If too much water is leaking you'll reduce water pressure and end up wasting water. Even though the overall build quality is excellent, my ROM filter is leaking (directly under the large side of the filter on the left). Initially it was losing about a drop or two a minute, which adds up quickly. I was able to turn the large portion of the filter clockwise which stopped part of the leaking (now it's a few drops an hour). I'm going to give Express Water customer service a call to see if I can get it resolved. I'll update this review after I go through that process. Some people claim that it's not healthy to drink water with a low TDS rating. In my opinion that's nonsense. You don't have to suffer with foul hard water taste and a heavy texture just to get minerals and nutrients in your diet, you'll get plenty from other sources. Plus, there are simple methods to add minerals back into the water should you wish to. Keep in mind that the process of Reverse Osmosis generates a lot of waste water. It isn't like a pitcher or faucet filter system that only outputs clean, filtered water. With Reverse Osmosis you have a special faucet that outputs purified water, and at the same time you have another outlet that rejects the "bad water". For every one gallon of filtered water you're going to create a few gallons of "bad water". Probably a 3:1 ratio. You CAN collect the bad water and use it for watering plants, cleaning floors, etc. But it definitely should not be consumed. You may need to consider the extra usage of water in a Reverse Osmosis system if you have concerns about your overall water usage / water bill. If you plan on using filtered water in an aquarium the manual recommends that you add the DEIONIZATION filter upgrade. Required water pressure: Minimum 45 PSI / maximum 80 PSI. If your water pressure is too high you can add a pressure regulator to make it work. Beyond the brands that I mentioned, there are many other very effective pitcher filter systems available. Some do an amazing job of removing very specific elements (like Floride) and some remove a broad range. Most are incredibly expensive to maintain and in most cases they don't reduce TDS levels (which may not be an issue for you). My advice is to research the quality of your tap water and decide what is most important for you to remove. Then seek out the filter system that best suits your needs.

Highly recommended if you receive hard tap water in your area and are considering getting a reverse osmosis filtration system. One of the best RO on the market, at a very reasonable price. Best part of having a RO system is the long filter life, giving the cheapest water at this purity. Had a good experience with ExpressWater's customer support as well. Installation was easy on the kitchen faucet using the included adapter. Worked without any leakage from the faucet. Water tastes great, similar to bottled or from ZeroWater filter. Water flow rate is as expected from a RO system, very satisfactory. There's also no Deionizing Filter meaning the < 10 ppm water comes directly from RO membrane, shows good quality. One small issue I had: I noticed a small leak at the ROM filter cap (a drop every 2 secs). I tried to take the ROM filter out and tighten its cap using the included key. It did tighten it very well, however, when I tried to reconnect the pipes back together, the mouth of the ROM cap was now facing a different direction causing the white tubing to fall short to secure a connection to the GAC or PAC filter. So I contacted ExpressWater, explained the issue and asked for additional white tubing. They responded in time and mailed me additional white tubing for no extra cost. I was easily able to connect the tightened ROM filter now by cutting the required length of white tubing. There were no leaks at all after that.

Unit leaks faucet connector, probably could be fixed. Its cheap connector, Installation videos say to be careful because of plastic threads. I had every thing nice & tight & was hit in the face by high pressure stream, multiple streams loosen then tighten again. I have a couple connector from carbon countertop filter but are not compatible with this unit, a shame because they are nice stainless steel. I replace my countertop filter every year so when I saw this Reverse Osmosis unit, I wanted an upgrade. I was under the impression that these filter were good for a year, from what I read & videos. I was surprised to see in the manual filters need to be change every six month. Connecting to the sink is extent of effort I wanted to put into this type of unit, After a year I would give it to a friend or toss it. I had no plans on disconnected tube clips filter cutting zip ties. I Could not tell you how the water taste as I did not use unit, put back in the box for return. I have been using a Watts Premier 500315 & other brands of this carbon type filter that state 2yr filtration. Water comes out crystal clear & taste just like bottle water. Before this I used Brita & Pure their would always be stuff floating in water & taste bad. I can recommend any countertop carbon type filter like the Watts . I was not happy with cost of Countertop Reverse Osmosis system, replacement filters & cheap parts for what I paid I was expecting a quality product. Maybe RO water taste great but I'll stick with carbon style filter for now.

This is my first RO system and after using it for a couple of weeks I have to say that I'm more than thrilled with the way it's performing so far! First, I was surprised that the system arrived all put together, for some reason I expected that I had to put everything together but no, the only things you need to worry about are the metal spout and the threaded kitchen sink connector, everything else is already put together by the time it gets to your house. I had an issue with the ROM filter leaking water but I contacted Express Water via email and they instructed me to "tighten" the filter head in order to stop it and it did (I used my hands to do it). Express Water support is very responsive, they usually responded my emails in about 8 working hours. I was not a fan of the metal spout but I found that you can use the EW "upgrade kit" (see pics) to attach a 5 feet hose to it that I can then use to fill up my 5 gallon water jugs sitting on the floor. It's the perfect setup! The upgrade kit may be a little expensive for the purpose but I went for it because EW told me that it could be used to replace the metal spout without issues while I couldn't say the same about cheaper alternatives like small hoses that others have mentioned in other reviews. In terms of effectiveness, I get 3 ppm from the filter (see pics), that's 2 ppm less than the bottled water I used to buy. Tap water is 128ppm. Once I got a 35 ppm reading but I don't recall if that was after I mineralized the water with pink hymalayan salt (the readings in the pics was before mineralizing). Value for money is not that good in the country I'm from (the system is on the expensive side) but I bought it for convenience and peace of mind since you can't really trust the people that distribute the bottled water around here, as it turns out (had somewhat of a health scare with one of the jugs they sold me which prompted me to seek out alternatives). PROS: * Easy to setup! * Very effective. I get a 3 ppm on the filtered water. Bottled water I used to buy was 5 ppm. * Express Water support is very responsive, they usually responded my emails in about 8 working hours. * Easy to extend with a hose with the EW "upgrade kit" (this is also a con, see below). CONS: * Wastes a lot of water, that should go without saying. * After I first set it up I had an issue with the ROM filter leaking water. I contacted Express Water via email and they instructed me to "tighten" the filter head in order to stop the leak and it did (I used my hands to do it). * I'm torn on value for money.. monetarily speaking is not the best compared to alternatives available in my neck of the woods. I will need to use this filter for a couple of years to see a _monetary_ return on investment. However, I was aware of this before buying and I still bought it mostly for convenience and peace of mind since you can't really trust the people that distribute the bottled water around here. I had somewhat of a health scare with one of the jugs the company sold me which prompted me to seek out alternatives like this RO system... but I digress. * Stated filter life expectancy. Express Water should be more forthcoming/honest when it comes to the filter's life expectancy. Saying that the filters need to be replaced every 6 to 12 months makes zero sense. A family of 5 will make a much more intensive use of the RO system than a single person household and saying that they both need to replace the filters after the same amount of time is not very honest imho. Instead they should provide an estimation based on filtered gallons per day, assuming that the tap water has a certain PPM range. That would be way more useful, accurate and honest. * In my opinion, the little metal spout is not the best approach for many use cases. Even to fill a small 1 gallon jug you still need to get a funnel or risk making a mess. The system should include some kind of alternative setup where we could fit a hose instead, or on top of, the spout.

I’m overall super pleased with this system except when it comes time to replace the filters. The under-sink filters are immensely cheaper to replace, esp if you get the 3 year bundle. However, for apartment users, this more costly system is far superior to anything else remotely close to its pricepoint & cheaper than the far less effective Berkey system. I tested the ppm with a water meter & it consistently keeps the levels down to 10ppm within the 6 month filter life time frame. Currently in a pretty polluted area (per EWG reports) having had three major public water supply contamination crises that even our sketchy, corrupt local government had to report on within the EPA’s lax guidelines, and meanwhile we just coasted through as everyone else was dependent on bottled water sold in similarly sketchy type 1 leeching, estrogenic plastic. We found a set of 4 glass gallon jars with screw tops (found relatively cheap on Amazon) & find that storing filtered water in these keeps the water from smelling gross or going cloudy over time. The scientific consensus on the effects of drinking distilled water seems to lean in favor of it being equal to mineralized water, despite the hysteria over leaching electrolytes, but after discussing with a few biochemist friends who didn’t see it as a problem, we still opted to remineralize with a pinch of Himalayan sea salt just for flavor & an abundance of caution. No problems so far. Our pets drink it too; and we all seem to be in fine shape, 2 years later. Pro tip: you can often find cheap & legit Himalayan sea salt in bulk at asian/Indian markets, as opposed to buying it in the marked-up tiny shakers or some yuppie health food store. Would not trust online bulk sources, however, those are often pretty sus & will just straight up send you pink sand among other nonsense. The only thing I don’t like about the ExpressWater systems is the same problem with all RO systems, as far as I can tell: they waste ~66% of the water used to create a gallon of purified drinking water. This is terrible amid a climate crisis / drought, and I am highly skeptical of any uses for the grey water, such as watering plants in soil I may later reuse for growing food. Previously kidded myself that it was closer to 50% waste, but after several tests, it consistently comes out to around 2/3 waste, dependent on fluctuating PSI. Wish there was a more efficient system. For better or worse, water is fairly cheap as utilities go, a fraction of a cent per gallon, so this won’t likely crush your bottom line, but it’s unsettling on an environmental level. But so far, this seems to be the best we’ve got, and I’m relieved to have it & buy it for relatives in Appalachia & other regions with poor infrastructure & environmental regulation. Update: we got the undersink version with a 5 gal tank & no UV but it does have an autoalkalyzing attachment to remineralize and it is way less hassly & more affordable to maintain than this, though did take a bit of finagling to install - customer service was extremely helpful, fluently English speaking & easy to reach. Very pleased with this company, but recommend the undersink model if you have a permanent situation or a flexible landlord. Have thrown pretty big parties and never yet run out of water, though I do budget my ice in advance to make sure I’ve prepared enough before people show up. It doesn’t require a spreadsheet, just a little footnote in the back of your brain the day before. The 5 gal capacity of the under sink model is good & the pressure is excellent, so if you can, I def recommend that over this, but this will totally get the job done in the mean time.

This is a really low price for this type of filtration. I was looking at plug in models, where you pour the tap water into a container and then it filters it, for you, from companies like Waterdrop, Bluevua, and they cost more. Some chill the water for you and some heat the water for you. My own experiences are similar to J.M.'s, the review that comes up at the top, due to the most helpful votes. I threw away the Zerowater pitcher, but kept the TDS meter that was included in the box. I live in Nodak and my tap water starting TDS is 200. This unit brings it down to 0 or 1. Amazon charges a premium for the unit. Off the Express Water site, you can get the unit for $98. Also, you can save money, by changing filter stages 1,2 and 4, and then changing the third stage, the membrane, later on, when your TDS readings creep back up. The 1,2 and 4, is listed as the 6 month, no RO, set on the Express Water site, at $36. I'm a single man, so my 6 month set should last me 18 months. I think you get a cheaper price for everything with this unit, but for women and those who don't want to bother with all the little clips, there is a learning curve, then it might be best to get one of the other units, where you just have one fat filter that screws in, that you change once a year, that can also heat or cool the water for you. The initial price might be $100 more, but those companies like Waterdrop have regular sales. Right now, they are having one for labor day. I already went through the learning curve, so I might as well stick with it. But, wether you go with a more user friendly unit or this one, you are probably saving a bundle and getting cleaner water, if you just buy bottled water. Bottled water isn't really meant to be clean. it's sort of a gimmick, unless you live in Phoenix, LA or Detroit, where the water is especially dirty. They even put on the bottles that it is meant to contain minerals. They don't really tell you how they clean it, do they? But, if you buy this unit, I think all the filters are already there, so it's sort of plug and play. You only have to learn how to fiddle with their clips 6 months or a year, after using it. You want to keep the filters on hand, so you can replace them, when they run out, without needing to fiddle with their website, call customer service, and wait for the box to arrive. It becomes frustrating real quick that they don't make Youtube videos to help us. You talk to them on the phone and you have to describe how O-rings fit into things and it is just impossible. They have you take photos and you keep adjusting things, and eventually it gets easier. If you have money, just spend the extra $100 with the initial unit, and then you can just screw in the fat filters, once a year. A lot of the more expensive countertop RO systems even have electronic readouts that tell you where each filter is in its lifespan and how close it is to needing to be changed. The ROPOT by Bluevua has that, as well as a glass carafe, but its cost-per-gallon is about the highest, about 30 cents per gallon. And they want you to clean the unit with a special kit and you need to descale it.

So get to the big one first... It leaks. Not from any of the connections, but one of the filters themselves has a leak. Tried taking it apart and putting it back together, still leaks. Not a deal breaker since I can just angle it into the sink so it doesn't make a mess but... For the price, didn't expect leaks. Installation wasn't anywhere near as easy as it should have been either. I installed it on a bathroom sink with a slightly recessed aerator and dear lord... It was nearly impossible to get on. The part that screws into the aerator has 3 sections that all move separately, and the first part that you actually need to screw isn't very wide to begin with (let alone when the faucet is covering 2/3rds of it). Flow rate... It's slow. But it's what's advertised, and running without a tank just off city water pressure... Can't realistically complain. But besides that... It's a reverse osmosis system. Checks out with my PH and PPM reader.

First a word about Express Water. The company provides great customer service. When I received my unit the end cap on the ROM housing leaked a little water while in use. I called the customer support number, they sent me a special wrench at no charge to tighten the end cap. That fixed the problem. End of vendor review. Now on to product performance and a recipe for you. I rent an apartment so an undersink RO (reverse osmosis) unit was not an option for me. So I bought this countertop RO unit, and I'm so happy I did. The difference between the taste, smell, and clarity of the city tap water compared to the RO water is like night and day. And as a big plus, the replacement filters are reasonably priced. The three filters last 6 months and the RO membrane lasts a year on average under normal use and conditions. And the number and types of impurities removed from water by an RO unit is very impressive. The better carbon block water filters remove impurities down to about .5 microns. But an RO membrane can remove far smaller impurities. In terms of clean water, and your health, that's a good thing. Now let's talk a bit about the principal complaint/warning regarding RO filtration systems. Rumors and conventional wisdom make the claim that an RO unit removes the minerals from the processed water. And yes, that is absolutely true. I've verified that fact with a TDS meter; the reading for total dissolved solids in the RO water is very low. (The total dissolved solids are primarily made up of impurities and minerals.) But doesn't that prove the RO unit is doing the job it was designed for? Personally, I'd be much more concerned about a water filter that didn't remove the smallest particles of whatever is in the water. I mean, I'd wonder what else is it NOT removing??? So, two thoughts to consider: 1) You get minerals from your food - vegetables, fruts, nuts, etc. So eat a balanced diet every day. 2) Make sole water (pronounced "so-lay") and add it to the filtered RO water. That's what I do and the TDS meter proves I've added the minerals back into the filtered water. Problem solved. You'll Need: 1) A Glass Jar (Don't use platic, use glass; it's inert. Ideally, use a wide-mouth jar for easier removal.) 2) Pink Himalayan Salt (Don't use table salt. You can use sea salt or Redmond Real Salt, if desired.) Directions: Pour enough Himalayan salt into a clean jar to form a 1/4-1/2 inch layer on the bottom (the quantity depends on the size of the jar, but an exact measurement is not important). Cover the salt with filtered or distilled water to the near-full level of the jar (don't use tap water). Shake and let settle. Once settled, the clear fluid on top is the sole water. The pink residue on bottom is salt and minerals. The water will absorb the minerals to its saturation point, and then stop. As the sole water is used and the volume goes down, add more filtered or distilled water. Shake again and let settle. As the pink residue in the bottom of the jar gets lighter (it takes a long time), add more salt. Shake and let settle. You get the idea. Only use the clear solution on the top, that's the sole water. Keep the jar covered when not using. And keep in mind a metal jar lid may rust, so watch for that. After filling the jug with clean and clear RO water, I then add 1 tbsp of sole water to a 2 gallon BPA-free Tritan jug with a spigot (available from Amazon). At that point the RO water has been reminalized and the dire warnings of potential mineral deficiency from the solid carbon block filter proponents no longer holds any water (pun intended). ;-)