APEC Water RO-90, 5-Stage Under Sink Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System, NSF Certified 372 & 58, 90 GPD, Reduces 99% of Impurities

Great product! Very high quality components. Easy to install. Great customer service. My local municipal water has TDS around 330. The filtered water comes out around 10 and tastes great! I am using the system without the tank. You can do this by modify the tubing and connect the filtered output of the ro-membrane to the 5th stage filter directly (bypass/remove the T that feeds the tank and the 5th stage filter, very easy with quick connect used on the APEC system). I use glass pitchers to hold the water. It takes about 5 minutes for the RO-90 to fill up a 2-quart ikea glass pitcher (half gallon). Why would you want to use the system without the tank? To get the best tasting water and not have to worry about whether the tank material is safe or not. For the RO tank to work, the water has to be held inside a bladder in the tank, so that the air pressure around the bladder can push the water out when you need it. For this to work, the bladder has to be a flexible material that can expand and shrink as needed. The type of food grade material that is suitable for this purpose is limited. The material being used is polypropylene and butyl. Now, while this should be a safe material to use, it does add an after taste to the water, especially if the water has been sitting in the tank for a while. That's why there's a 5th stage carbon filter, to filter out the tank taste. But having an after taste that needs to be filtered out does imply that the tank material affects the water. If you don't believe me, just read the Watts RO system reviews on amazon. Many are complaining about plastic water taste. The bladder also ages, and has an expected life of 8-10 years due to all the expansion and contraction. While I am sure the tank material used by APEC is better than the one in the Watts system, why get yourself into this situation at all? Just bypass the tank and store the filtered water in a glass pitcher. Glass is arguably the best material on earth to hold purified drinking water, and will not leach into or affect the water taste in any way. Bypassing the tank also allows you to have explicitly control over when to produce the filtered water. Tap water is generally better quality in the evening when everyone around is also using water. It is less good in the morning when the water has been sitting idle in aging pipes for hours. This is why when your local municipal utility conducts water tests, they usually flush out the water for a few minutes. My TDS test confirms this. Filtered water in late evening has TDS less than 10, while in early morning is around 20-25. I did contact APEC system and was very impressed by their customer support.

I previously have been using a Culligan H-83 system that came with our house maybe 16-18 years ago. The prior owners had it installed. That system worked ok, but never had enough water. It only had 3 stages too, a carbon, the membrane, and then a post carbon. I upgraded it by adding a wound pre-filter, and additional carbon post filters. It worked ok, other than the lack of the amount of water and the slow recovery time. But, the membranes were expensive. So this year I finally bit the bullet and ordered this system. It seems to recover fast, putting out more in an hour than my old system (my old one had a 50gpd membrane). When I purchased the system, I kept my old 4gal tank, used the included 4gal tank, and thinking I wanted to make sure I had plenty of water, I bought a 3rd 4 gallon tank. Holy macaroni batman, that wasn't necessary. Good thing it was only $49 for the tank! This a.m. I drained it completely and took probably 8 pitchers of water from the system and still didn't run out! Incredible. I am very pleased with the build quality. It is better than my Culligan system. The auto-shutoff works well too. I don't see too many ways they could improve this unit. I did not use the enclosed faucet or attach hardware, as I already had those. I think it'll be a great system. I bought the RO-90 instead of the RO-50 thinking that due to the longer Membrane life and longer filter life, that the $100 higher up front cost would probably pay itself back within 3 years, while also giving me 3-3.5gph recovery instead of 1.5gph recovery. So you get a better system and in the end you probably don't pay any more for it. I just wouldn't have bought the second tank, if I could do it all over again. Great system...took me maybe 30 minutes to get it all running, since I had the input and output hoses in place already and just needed to mount and organize. I like the included bracket. I know you can stand them on the floor or under the sink, but this is installed in my basement and it is very nice that I can wall mount it. Keeps it all out of the way real well. Very pleased.

We LOVE this RO system, we bought and returned the big berkley water filter for our horrible Las Vegas water and was sadly disappointed in what the Berkley was able to do. After a ton of research on the web and reading reviews we decided to go with APEC because you never know what you will end up with some poorly made system in china system that might break a valve and flood your home while your at work. The clean sweet flavor of good tasting clean water this system delivers is amazing. It reminds me of the water I drank from the tap when I was a kid back in the 70’s....Fresh and clean! Been using this system for 2 weeks and I will never go back to buying bottled water again. They also give you an extra set of filters and water tester which comes in handy to test the quality and to know when to replace the filters which by the way is really easy to do. To clean the system and sanitize it a friend who installed about 500 RO systems recommended once a year when you replace the filters to pour a few capfuls of hydrogen peroxide into the 3 empty chambers and clean em out with the peroxide and water solution to get rid of any crud (2 carbon, 1 sediment) then disconnect the tube where it feeds into 3 gallon tank and suck out a little water from the feeder tube and replace that water with a little bit of peroxide and re-connect it to the tank so that the peroxide goes into the tank, thank you APEC! Update 3/16/2017: Still amazing water coming out with the same filters after 2 years, I tested the water purity with the electronic gizmo they give you to test purity and its still the same! The only issue I have had is the faucet on top of the sink leaks a little when you open it for water to come out but I was a little bit too hard on it with putting to much pressure on the valve when I opened the faucet ... it was MY Fault... just me being impatient...lol. I called customer support and they offered a new one for half the price on amazon. Incredible company, first class support, and the best tasting water ever!

Here's my review of the APEC RO-90. I have had this system installed for 2 months now so it's time to put down some thoughts. First impressions when opening the box...great. The system is well packaged, seems quality made and the instructions are very clear.(comes with a detailed installation manual). Tubing is color coded to make life even easier. Installation took about an hour...it would have taken much less if I hadn't dropped the o-ring that comes with the feed water adapter. Tip: keep your eyes on the 2 small o-rings that come with the brass adapter :) I have included photos of the installed unit. It fits easily in one side of a standard 36" sink unit, even with a garbage disposal on the same side. Even though I am not a big fan of push fit water connectors, the supplied fittings are good quality and I had no leaks from the get go. We have been using water for drinking and cooking for two months and I haven't noticed an appreciable rise in my utility bill. It's so much more convenient than a trip to the big orange store for heavy 5 gallon water bottles every week. It's a bit startling when you first open the faucet for the first couple of gallons are murky but it clears up pretty quickly as the sediment flushes out. Taste is great, I was really skeptical about that part but it really does taste much better than tap water. I have also heard anecdotally that RO water is not good for kombucha or fermented vegetables. Not true, as far as I can tell mine are doing just fine. Things to note: The faucet requires a hole in your countertop which may be difficult for some, luckily I had an existing hole I could use. There is a lot of range of countertop installation depth, mine are 1.75" concrete and the faucet installed easily. I would recommend a visual check of all the hoses and connections once a month to check for leaks, just to be on the safe side. I would recommend this unit to a friend

I've been debating replacing an old RO system (very similar to this one) that I was tired of trying to fix and piece back together, so I bit the bullet on the RO-90 system from APEC. It's been installed for about 4 hours now, and I am very satisfied with the product. Guess the high amount of ratings actually mean something for once! Reason for purchase I am on a well and have a significant water purification setup in the basement (Brassmaster Plus and other filters) but my water is very hard still. I don't mind the hard water for showering and cleaning vehicles and washing dishes, but I wanted decent drinking water. Didn't want to waste plastic bottles to fill coffee machine, rice cooker, boiling noodles, and for the instant pot. Too much salt can wreck those. I also do some indoor gardening for fresh veggies year round, and noticed a lot of salt buildup at bottom of planters, not good for roots. Install If you have a even a faint grasp on the English language, you'll be good to go with installing yourself (the manual is plagued by Engrish - I wish these Chinese companies would hire an English speaking person to proof read these manuals, but there is charm in the broken language I guess, and it doesn't effect install in any way). If you can't read (not sure why youre in the reviews) you'll be good with the pictures in the manual because of the color coded lines included. Super easy. I had a previous system in place before I installed the RO-90, and the time it took to disassemble the old one and install the new one was about 40 minutes. The hardest part is probably drilling a couple holes to mount the filters, and even that takes less than a minute (make sure you level the filters). Side note: I hooked up my old 4 gallon tank in addition to the one that came with the kit and installed a permeate pump (Aquatec ERP-500) that is slightly underpowered, but still works awesome. Both tanks were full in about 2.5 hours and gave me about 7 gallons of water. Neither of these items is included, but I'd recommend purchasing a permeate pump at a bare minimum, look them up, as they make the entire system much more efficient. Water quality: Pictures speak for themselves. PPM dropped from 311 to 42 on the first tank. I expect this will go down after filters have a chance to break in and lines are cleared. Water ph went up which I wasn't expecting but maybe this will go down too after a couple tanks (you NEED to fill the tank entirely after install and drain it completely before drinking the water, dont raw dog it right off the bat). I haven't had a chance to taste the water, but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm not a taste snob. As long as the water is wet, I'm good. It definitely looks better if that matters. Cost Its fair. Worth the extra bucks for the high output in my opinion. Lot of people get turned off by from RO systems by slow output. Permeate pump and this system alleviate that. Secondary tank is huge for me with how much water I go through, but it's not necessary if you only use a couple gallons a day. Final thoughts 4 stars. Very, very easy install and immediate results that I expect will get better with each tank. System without a pump is good, but still slow. Tank capacity isn't a true 4 gallons (the air bladder takes up room) and can empty quickly if everyone is filling up water bottles and coffee pots in the morning). I think a permeate pump is a must buy, and a secondary / bigger tank if you have a lot of people or down some serious water. Very happy with the purchase, shipping speed, and will recommend it for anyone looking for better water. Absolutely worth the purchase, water is so important for good health!

Replaced a system that went bad. Easy Install - local company wanted $699 so I tried it myself. I'm NOT handy but all the harder work was already done at my house for the other system (drain hole to drain pipe/spigot install in the countertop/t connector and hose to my refrigerator). I feel I could have done a brand new install myself just watching the youtube videos that are easy to find. This was so inexpensive so I ordered the kit. Everything went smoothly except the prior install had a 3/8" hose coming from the spigot T valve because the prior system had a 3/8" connector on the system itself. Nighttime dash to lowes for a (SharkBite Push to Connect 3/8 in. PTC X 1/4 in. D PTC Polypropylene Coupling) and some extra 1/4" hose just in case... and I'm making water!

I have never had a reverse osmosis filtration system before and always used refrigerator filters. I didn't really have any problems with water filtered through those, although I knew it wasn't as pure as with other filtration systems. However, at some point I realized how expensive those refrigerator filters really are. My Kenmore refrigerator has a replacement indicator (I never figured out how it actually works). I have a household of 5 people, mostly adults, and the filters never lasted the promised 6 months. It felt like they were going out pretty quick, so I started to write down the dates with the intention to do the math. It turned out the filters had to be replaced every 2 months. And those filters are about $70 per pair, which came up to at $210 per year. With Apec RO it is $39 per year for stages 1-3, $75 for membrane each 3 years (or more), which means $75/3 = $25.00, and post-filter each 3 years, which is $15/3=$5.00. So the total per year (without any discounts) is $39 + $25 + $5 = $69. So Apec filters cost me 33% the price and much better water. Yes, there is one-time investment to buy the system but with my math above it would pay off in a few years. Another point which made me look into a reverse osmosis (RO) system like Apec was the concern around fluoride. It is rather dangerous chemical that gets added to city water system. You can search online and read yourself if interested (look up "fluoride action network"). Standard carbon filters don't filter out fluoride. RO systems filter out most of it, although not 100%. Once I had done all this research, it was a no-brainer I needed to get an RO system. Upon shopping around I picked Apec RO-90 for its design, clear information on the website, and good filter prices. I installed it myself, although can't call myself experienced in such things. I took my time, reading the instructions carefully. Overall it took me maybe 3 hours, maybe a bit more. The trickiest part was drilling a hole in the stainless steel sink. I actually ended up buying a step drill bit with a special alloy designed for metal. After the installation and flushing I tested TDS (total dissolved solids) with my HM Digital AP-1 meter. It showed 12 ppm, compared to 203 ppm in tap water. For curiosity I also tested my refrigerator water (still had one month old filter in it), which showed 205 ppm - pretty much the same as tap water. The water from RO-90 tastes great - if you can say that water tastes. It just feels really good and smooth. I drink a lot of water, and I can say I prefer this filtered water over bottled water. And it's definitely far and beyond better than fridge water. I have been using RO-90 for 2.5 months now. Just tested TDS today - it is at 7 ppm, even better than before. I'm really happy with how this system performs. No leaks, no noise (read the instructions carefully for proper installation to avoid the drain noise). It fits perfectly under my sink - even better than I expected when originally made the measurements before buying. A few nice bonuses over the fridge filters: 1) Good pressure, it fills up the glass a lot quicker. 2) Having the rotating faucet near the sink turns out to be a lot more convenient compared to the fridge dispenser. For example, filling up the kettle now is as easy as putting the kettle on the countertop and opening the faucet valve. No more intermediate jars. I also like that the valve is not of those types where you have to hold it to dispense the water.

A lot of good descriptive reviews here, I'll add mine here but will focus on my perspective as someone living in Israel. Israel is an arid country which in recent years made a big transition to desalination. The national water company (called "Mekorot") is using >50% desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea mixed with about 25% water taken from the Galilee sea (which is actually a fresh water lake) and the rest comes from mountain and coastal plain aquifer. Water then travels in the "national conduit" to various regions in Israel. The water in Israel are heavily treated, mostly because the national conduit is an open system, i.e. water travel in big pipes that are open to air and elements (e.g. rain water), but also because aquifer can become polluted with industrial waster and fertilizers, so does the Galilee sea. Also chlorine is added and recently fluoride as well. not to mention whatever is picked up from pipes until it reaches the kitchen tap. Local mineral water companies (with strong brands) draw from fountains in mountainous areas and bottle onsite, but are exposed to the same contamination of aquifer. For instance, one very strong brand I examined had 3 times of what considered (in the U.S) the max safe concentration of nitrates. I hope I'm successful so far at convincing you why water filtration is important in Israel. Now comes the question, what are the options? for most people in Israel who don't want to research too much it's these: 1. water pitcher filters, like Brita 2. Tami4 - a water bar that combines carbon filter with UV lamp 3. bottled water, e.g. mineral water 4. there are some local vendors who install advanced water filtration systems like Everpure or some Reverse Osmosis systems Next, why I think all of the above options are either not sufficient or cost effective water pitcher filter - relatively cheap but only filters chlorine and stops some sediments like dust. you're still exposed to a lot of chemicals and heavy metals in the water Water bar vendors - VERY high initial investment (~$1000) and high maintenance (~$150 year), not to mention if their equipment breaks you have to pay for repair. Also it's merely a carbon filter with a UV lamp, with some cold/hot function. I really don't think it's worth the money, especially since the UV lamp is there to kill the germs that grow in the machine itself. important to realize the due to the chlorine and UV treatment by the national water company, small chance of bacteria to survive in Israel's normal tap water. Bottled mineral water - relatively expensive, need to carry from supermarket, or pay a monthly fee to the vendor to deliver to your house. Also not eco friendly (plastic), exposed to aquifer contamination (almost zero regulation and testing by government) and some say under heat conditions plastic can dissolve into the water. But most importantly, from TDS meter readings I've made, tap water and mineral water have the same TDS levels, while unlikely that healthy mineral concentration (e.g. calcium, magnesium, potassium) is any different. In some brands mineral water TDS was even much higher than normal tap water. Local Reverse Osmosis Vendors - at best they are importers who lock you in high maintenance fees. worst case they import cheap chinese systems. You pay a premium for them to import, install and maintain the system for you. I chose APEC RO-90 after hours and hours of research. It's very important for me to say APEC did NOT ask me to write this review and I'm doing it because I think their product and service is amazing and I'd like to give back. Even after shipping and Israeli customs fees, the RO-90 was cheaper and more cost effective than any of the alternatives I specified. What I really like 1. packaging was excellent and the product is robust, The system was intact and I had no worry about that. 2. installation was very easy, everything just connects beautifully. I installed it in a few hours (I like to read the manual very thoroughly) 3. water tastes great, even my pregnant wife who is very sensitive to tastes said she liked it 4. TDS went down from 260ppm (tap water) to 15ppm (after RO-90 treatment) 5. the included tap is elegant and fits nicely on our kitchen counter 6. system is VERY quiet, can't hear it 7. customer service is really good, I already talked to them twice about questions I had, they respond really quickly and their reps are knowledgeable. 8. maintenance is cheap considering the other options, and I have full control over the process. What I don't like 1. the installation guides needs to be more specific about first run - you shouldn't drink first 2-3 tanks, open the tap and let them drain. 2. the feed water adapter should come with more options, I had to buy 1/2'' to 3/8'' adapter to make it work with my pipes - cost me another $10 What still needs to be tested 1. my water bill, but I checked in my house water gauge that the system stops working once the tank is full, so I'm Ok for now. 2. TDS measures at 15-25ppm at the moment, customer service promised it will go down even further, although I'm fine with that level as well. All in all, I'm am very happy with this product. water quality is excellent and it gives me peace of mind I've made a cost effective and healthy choice. Final note: During my internet research on the long term health concerns of reverse osmosis water I've made some interesting discoveries. This is a long subject and I believe I researched it well enough to make an educated decision. I'm tempted to post my thoughts about it here but this review seems long as it is. perhaps some comments might convince me to update this review with some key learnings. For the time being I would like to say this: Almost all resources you'll find on negative long term health effects of reverse osmosis water are based on the World Health Organization research from the 80's. That research had some notable flaws in it and it tends to dramatize concerns. I believe that for people living in western countries and use home reserve osmosis system most of those concerns are not relevant. Reverse osmosis water are safe to drink, especially if you consider the alternatives.

Excelente aunque en mi ciudad necesito ayuda de una bomba presurizadora pero más que eso funciona muy bien

Waited a few weeks before reviewing... now I have been drinking the water for a few weeks, I must say I really like it. I am on a well that was dug last year at 160ft. My water is very hard and has over 700ppm of minerals but is otherwise great quality, no bacteria, no iron or other difficult to treat problems, just very mineral like it was expected in my area. So I installed a water softener to get the hardness down to less than one grain...in order to get ready for RO. I was looking for a good quality RO system with made in USA or Canada filters. My most important criteria was to get a real Dow membrane which this model has. So, on to this RO unit... Installation was done in about 2 hours. I am very handy and this was very easy. No leaks, no fuss... clear instruction (which is a frequent complaint with cheep systems). Every thing is high quality, the filter holders, the faucet and all of the hardware is very good... Water tasted a little metalic the first few days... figure it was the system flushing out (tank and filters). Now don't worry about some black stuff in the first few flushes as this is the loose carbon in the carbon filters, they all do that (all those I have owned...they flush themselves...) . So what I did was drain the tank every time I passed by it in the first few days... then the water taste cleared up real nice. It now tastes like bottled water... Now, my input is over 700ppm of dissolved solids (varies between 700 and 720)... when I measure the output of this system, it hovers around 20ppm... now that is a 97.3% rejection by the membrane... good job Dow Filmtec ... That is why I wanted an American made membrane... Now I am not worried about chlorine as I get my water from a well but I also liked the fact that it has 2 carbon stages for other agricultural chemicals... I would definitely recommend this unit... I am very pleased with the value and ease of installation...

Alles Tip Top

Fácil de instalar, pero asegúrate de tener la presión adecuada (50 - 80 psi) para que se llene el tanque que viene en el sistema de purificación, de otra forma tienes que instalar una bomba para pecera que aumente la presión que entre al sistema. Las partículas por millón que recibo en Cuajimalpa, marca 96 PPM, después de filtrarse el agua, me marca 03 PPM. ¡Increíble!. Incluso el agua embotellada marca 50 a 60 PPM y el filtro sencillo que instalé para los hielos del refrigerador, solamente reduce la mala calidad a 70 PPM. En resumen, vale la pena invertir en este sistema.

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