APEC Water ROES-PH75, 6-Stage Under Sink RO System, Alkaline, 75 GPD

We have city water that is sourced from a river, and had been spending a fortune on bottled/gallon water. We have a house built in 1954 but no lead pipes, although my husband said it's possible we may have some lead soldering somewhere along the way. You can see our lead test in the picture, before and after. If the bottom line is darker than the top line, lead is "undetected." So our water before the test was technically "undetected" but barely. After switching to the reverse osmosis system it was very clearly undetected. The system also brought our total hardness down to 25 ppm from 350 ppm. The reverse osmosis water tested completely negative for pesticides. It brought our ph down from a 10 to an 7.5 We have had this system for 9 months now and have not changed any of the filters so I decided to take the water parameter tests again. Lead was still undetected, although the top line had darkened a bit. (Nothing close to the unfiltered water results though.) Total hardness was still at 25 ppm. Pesticide test came back positive, faint line. We should have changed our first three filters at 6 months per recommendations but my husband thought that was an unnecessary recommendation meant to make the company more money. Would be interesting to see our current water tests had we followed the "rules." We will now change all of them, and start our testing from scratch, and I'll update our tests results here at the 6 month mark. So I would say defintely change the filters as recommended and don't just wing it. Also, we have had no issues with the system leaking as others have claimed. We had a lot of bubbles in the water the first couple days after installation and then they never came back, so if you're worried about that, it doesn't last. Also, my husband had no issues installing the system, but he's a handyman so that's probably why. Last thing I'd like to mention is the water tastes great and very crisp but my husband still prefers the taste of aquafina lol. The system was mainly for me though since I drink literally over a gallon a day, and for cooking purposes. Adjusted for current inflation prices, if my husband and I were still buying the amount of water we were before installation, we would be spending $845.52 a year. So this system paid for itself PLUS all of the replacement filters four months ago.

After reading most of the reviews and the answered questions, I figured that I could just simply install the RO output to my existing ice maker/fridge water supply line and skip installing the supplied RO faucet. I know that the manufacturer still suggests installing the RO faucet, and I could have just used the soap dispenser hole for it, but I thought I would try just using the fridge water dispenser (which we haven't used in years because the water and ice were not good) and this would keep my wife happy by keeping the soap dispenser. And I did not want to drill a new hole in our granite countertop, or let the RO faucet just dangle loose either. So far after about 2 weeks I haven't had any problems and I'm glad I did it this way. I had very little cloudy water initially, like just a couple of gallons, but I emptied the tank anyway. The water tastes very good, and the ice is clean. Prior to this our ice would leave white "floaties" in the glass after melting, which was gross and I don't know what they consisted of either... This approach made installation a lot easier. (1) I just unhooked the old fridge water supply line from the existing ball shutoff valve that I already had in place (close the valve first!), and then hooked that existing fridge supply line to the RO system output (they're the same 1/4" size lines), sending the clean RO water to the fridge dispenser and icemaker. (2) Connected the red input line for RO system feed water into to this existing ball valve (from old fridge water supply connection - no need to install the supplied needle shutoff valve). (3) Ordered a dishwasher drain line adapter (see https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YP9VKHZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details) so I avoided installing the supplied saddle drain valve. I just installed the new adapter onto the garbage disposal nipple where the dishwasher drain is attached, and attach both the dishwasher drain and the black waste water line to that new adapter. I would think everyone with a dishwasher should do it this way vs drilling a hole in your drain line. Much easier. The toughest part was removing/reinstalling the garbage disposal so I could put the tank behind it under the kitchen sink, but even that is not difficult. I don't see the need for the supplied RO faucet and now we get chilled RO water from the fridge dispenser (instead of just room temp water straight from the tank), which is wide enough to fill a pitcher or coffee pot. I can always put in a tee and install the faucet at a later date if I wanted, but we'll probably be mostly just filling up glasses and I saw no reason for the RO faucet at this time. I also removed the old fridge water filter and the plastic filter shield/cover (which increases space inside the fridge) and installed a new plastic bypass plug that I ordered for my GE fridge (see https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZSYD3YY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details). I suppose you could leave the filter installed if you can't get a plug and it would last longer anyway since it is now filtering the clean RO water, but I like the extra space and the fridge filter is unneeded. Plus, I wonder if it would filter out the added calcium or affect the attributes of the RO water in some way. Probably not, but now I don't have to buy those other fridge filters anymore.

Up until the pandemic, we had been using a large volume of bottled water every week. Since it has become risky to return to the store every time we are out of water, it seemed logical that a reverse osmosis system would mitigate that risk. Installation of the APEC system was not difficult, and I spread the work out over two afternoons. The first afternoon was spent boring a hole in our granite countertop. I used a Milwaukee 1" diamond hole saw purchased at our local home improvement store. I followed the recommendations found on YouTube for boring granite. I made a circular well around the drill site with plumbers putty to hold cooling water for the hole saw. This worked out well in terms of eliminating all of the granite dust and in keeping the hole saw cool. In keeping with the hole saw directions, the hole was started by boring at a 45 degree angle until the hole saw caught the granite. Then, the hole saw was carefully raised to vertical to complete the boring operation. The 1" hole was barely large enough to accommodate the air gap faucet that I purchased to replace the faucet that was supplied with the APEC RO unit. I would recommend boring a 1 1/4" hole. The faucet that I used was a Kingston Brass Concord Collection KSAG8198DL Reverse Osmosis System Filtration Water Air Gap Faucet. It has a long lasting Ceramic Disk Cartridge. I selected an air gap faucet to protect the APEC RO membrane from a drain backup. This is the same protection provided for dishwashers. Because the RO discharge water has to pass through the faucet air gap, the air gap inlet uses the supplied 1/4" tubing, but the air gap outlet uses 3/8" tubing. I ordered some John Guest 3/8" Food Grade Polyethylene Tubing from APEC. The discharge quick connect drain saddle supplied with the unit is 1/4" and that had to be replaced with a 3/8" drain saddle, also available from APEC. That requires that a 3/8" hole be drilled in the sink drain line. The drain tubing should be cut as short as possible while still providing serviceability. If the drain tubing forms a large loop below the level of the drain saddle, the air gap will not drain properly, and discharge water will leak from the air gap onto the countertop. Please note that this drain line requirement is only true when an air gap faucet is used. If the APEC supplied faucet is used, there will be no air gap and no air gap leak problem will occur. When connecting to the supply needle valve, it is important to remember to slide the compression nut over the supply tubing first, then the sleeve and tubing insert. Don't over-tighten the compression nut on the supply needle valve. All of the items described above can be ordered from Amazon. Installation went smoothly by following the detailed instructions found in the installation manual. After installation and system flush I measured dissolved solids of 19 ppm. I am told that anything under 100 ppm is excellent. With a new the calcium carbonate pH+ filter the water pH measured 9.3 which is alkaline. That's exactly what we were looking for. That pH is the same as is found in premium bottled waters. You would have to pay around $16.00 a gallon for those. The maintenance schedule is clearly defined in the installation manual, and the replacement intervals will depend upon the raw water quality. Whenever installing or replacing the filter elements, disposable gloves should be used in order to prevent the introduction of bacteria into the system. One thing that I did not find in the installation manual was an end-to-end sanitization procedure to be performed when it is time to replace all of the filters at roughly a 1 year interval. For that you will have to look for guidance elsewhere. Bacteria has a tendency to grow on charcoal media and that may be why APEC offers a UV lamp solution on some of their systems. APEC cautions not to inject chlorine into the system to clean it. That will destroy the RO membrane. However, whenever the filters are replaced, the housings should be thoroughly cleaned with soap and water. A few words about water pressure after reinstalling the system at our new home that is on a private well. There are times when the water pressure drops below 40 PSI and the RO system will run continuously for hours at a time. In order to mitigate this problem and to conserve water, we ordered a water driven permeate pump from APEC. APEC maintains that it will work to pressures as low as 30 PSI, and I will revise this review as soon as I have had an opportunity test it. The downside of any RO system is that is discharges more waste water than the amount of pure water it produces. That can increase the amount of water being drained into a septic system if there is one in use. If a water softener precedes the RO system, the salt that the RO system removes will be discharged into the sink drain. That will discharge some amount of salt into the septic tank. In such cases it may be better to discharge the RO system drain line outdoors and into a dry well along with effluent from the water softener. Draining brine into a septic system is never a good idea, and in many locales it is prohibited. One other problem that we experienced during reinstallation was that the needle valve on the water supply inlet side would not shut off. It appeared as though the needle valve had become pitted or corroded during its brief 4 months of use in Florida. It became necessary to replace the needle valve that is only available by buying a complete standard feed adapter. Next time it happens, I will buy a different style of adapter that incorporates a different type of valve such as a ball valve. These are available from other RO system suppliers on Amazon. A few words about radon. Since writing the original review, we have moved to a house that is on a private well. We moved the RO system with us. The water softener that is ahead of the RO system introduces sodium that is very easily removed by the RO system. Our well water also contains dissolved radon gas. The small charcoal filters that form a part of the RO system are not effective for removing radon gas from well water. If there is radon in the water, it should be removed before the the water enters the RO system. Then, the radon will be concentrated in a larger activated charcoal filter at a location far from the kitchen where the RO system is usually installed. Large activated charcoal tanks are available that will provide radon mitigation for the whole house provided that the dissolved radon concentration is less than 5,000 pCi/l - in our case 3,760 pCi/l. For dissolved radon levels greater than 5,000 pCi/l water aeration and outdoor venting is recommended, although these systems can also promote bacterial growth.

This product literally changed my life! Back in the day I had to go the rite aid on a monthly basis, find Poland Spring boxes, haul them home in the trunk of my car, carry them to the second floor. Then same thing over and over again every month, carrying 5-6 boxes of Poland Spring up the stairs to the second floor. Also, I became a bit concerned with the fact that I throw out more than 100 plastic bottles per month. That is when I started doing my research. At first, I wanted to go with a BRITA pitcher (or PUR) but then after doing so much research I came to realization that those filters do make tap water better, but still not healthy enough for me and especially for my newborn. At first, under sink water systems were out of the question for me because I did not want to deal with finding a plumber, doing major plumbing overhaul in the house which I rent and pay top dollar for this. I was very fortunate to stumble upon this product and after reading all of the reviews I am very happy that I purchased it. The item comes in a big white box labeled APEC. Unboxing it was fairly easy so no need to write too much about it. The top layer of the package consists of 3 filters, then in a middle is 4th stage membrane filter and the piece that goes on top of the filters. Also, there is a wrench that helps tie the filter. There are also color coded tubes, faucet, adapter, drain saddle, teflon tape, etc. On the bottom there is another box with the water tank. In order to install the item you will need a drill, adjustable wrench and a screw driver. Installing 3 stage pre-filters is fairly easy, just follow the instruction as to which filter goes where and then screw them into the arrowhead using the included wrench to tighten the housing, but don't over tighten it too much. Installing the system under the sink is easy if you follow instructions carefully. One thing to note is that instructions are also available in the video format on youtube - just search for APEC water filter installation video. Although installing the item is fairly easy and the video shows that too, the difficult part is spending an hour or two under the sink, which can get very uncomfortable. Also, would be great to have someone help you because it is a bit difficult getting under the sink and out then back under again. The video makes it sound much easier that in real life. To install the feed water adapter you have to turn off the cold water (check that you turned off the cold water by turning on the faucet). I recommend turning off both hot and cold water just to be sure. Then you need to loosen the nut at any location and connect feed water adapter there - you can either loosen the nut at the top where the faucet is or at the bottom where the valve is, either is fine. Be careful - that adapter edges are very sharp and I cut my hand twice by accident. Also, don't forget to use teflon tape that is provided. Now the drain saddle - you need to use a specified size drill (refer to instructions) and drill a hole in the drain pipe. You need to drill in the horizontal pipe to avoid drain noise. If you do it correctly you will never hear the filter system working or making noises. Keep in mind that you need to apply pressure on the drill so that it goes through the pipe. Then you need to align the hole on the saddle to the hole on the pipe. I am not going to comment on installation of tubes so please refer to instructions - just don't want to confuse you. Last step is to install the faucet - you can either drill a hole in your counter but I used the spray hose hole instead. I removed spray hose (you disconnect it under the sink and pull it out, make sure that the water is turned off. Then I put the faucet that came with APEC through that hole. Once you are ready and everything is assembled, I suggest emptying at least 5 tanks of water. To do this, just wait till the tank is full and then open the faucet to let the water drip until it stops and repeat that 5 times. Now, in terms of water quality and taste. I got APEC ROES PH75 which is the same thing as ROES-50 but great tank output (75 vs. 50) and PH filter which you can either use or not use. There is a way to bypass it and you can call APEC support, they are great they can guide you through the process. For extra $20/$30 I decided to go with ROES PH75 - and I love it. You also get more output from your tank. And if you ever decide not to go with PH filter you can bypass it. At first, the water tasted a bit bitter to me, especially compared to Poland Spring but then either I got used to it or flashed a few tanks. Now the water taste is perfect, I absolutely love it. It replaced Poland Spring and I had it for a few months and everyone loves it. I also bough glass Life Factory bottles and love them too! I also bough HM Digital TDS (ppm) meter to check the water quality. Since this PH filter (6 stage) adds minerals back the ppm will not be zero, I am getting around 10. Tap water in NYC is pretty good at about 50 ppm and Poland Spring is roughly 20ppm. If you are considering PH75 or non-PH 50, I suggest going with PH75. It has better gallons per day output and comes with PH filter. If you don't like that filter you can easily bypass it. The water tastes great and this filter definitely improved by life. Thanks to APEC, Amazon and to all the reviewers who contributed to the great rating of this product, which in turn resulted in me buying it!

Very effective, eliminating parts per million. Quick connects are no problem, but I would’ve liked to pay more for a more substantial ball valve on the tank rather than just plastic took me a while to keep it from leaking I bought my own custom oil rubbed faucet that came with quick connects that worked perfectly. Purchased the icemaker line and connection shut off valve, which works perfectly. I initially started with the PH finish filter, adding man-made minerals could not stand the taste of that so I followed the instructions to bypass it and love the way the water taste now. When talking to customer service about that, one of the guys said about 10% of the people choose not to use it after they purchase it so that might be something you might think about. If you call their customer service line when they’re not busy, they’re in-house reps are awesome but if they get busy and you get forwarded over to the Philippines, you already know what’s gonna happen. I had granite countertops so all the YouTube videos you see about utilizing a diamond holesaw on a 45° angle and then simply drilling straight down didn’t happen. It will walk all over the counter — I took an old plastic tile ( anything could work for this use your creativity) that was about a quarter inch thick and drilled a 5/8 hole through it then I put it adjacent to the backsplash and Velcro it temporarily down to the countertop then using the 5/8 inch diamond hole bit took me two seconds to get it started NO WALKING - straight down as a template holder Worked like a charm. On granite countertops, it will take you about 10 or 12 minutes to go through an inch and a quarter.

I replaced a pay by month RO water system, and so glad i did this is much cheaper in the long run. I did a lot of research looking for the best quality RO System. I found APEC Water here on Amazon. The listing, clear details and pictures sold me on it. Arrived a few days later thanks to Amazon Prime. I saved it for a weekend project as i did not know how much time it would take. To my surprise, it was mostly assembled including most of the hoses. I really liked that the whole thing is freestanding too so i did not have to mount anything. Just slid everything in there. It took me and my wife helper about 1.5 hours or so to install. But i really took my time on every step. Once i had everything connected, i had one small leak at the Needle Valve connection. Fixed quickly by an extra turn. All of the connectors are like those Shark Bite connectors. Super easy. Just push them in and done. Cant believe they work so well and so simple but they work great. Taking them off is a little tricky but also easy to do. The plastic hoses taht come with it or 1/4" diameter. Color coded hoses red, yellow, black and clear making following instructions easy. Instructions are very clear with pictures, and full contact info to APEC WATER is right on the back of the booklet, that is always important to me. Most companies hide their contact info not APEC. I did not need any help but nice to know they would be there if i did. I have no CONS really except i was a little disappointed they did not included a 1/4" T connector to tap into my ice maker line. Shows it in the instructions as optional. I think as cheap as they are they should have just included it. No big deal i ordered those on Amazon too. I just have to crawl back under my sink again in a couple days. TIPS TO OTHERS: - Read the directions carefully and follow to the letter. Dont lose a single part, some of them are tiny. - Make sure to leave plenty of room on the hoses to you can move it out when replacing filters. They are extra long so ok to cut some but not too much. - When you cut hoses, make sure not to smash the ends or it will restrict water flow. - Put several wraps of teflon tape where it says to, i did 3-4. - Do not over tighten anything it is easy to break the plastic connectors. - Make a note of the the link to the replacement kit here on Amazon and put a reminder in your calendar 6 months or a year from now to remember to change. I plan on doing mine every 6 months. - I got the 6 stage as it included the PH filter which creates Alkaline water. This is suppose to be good for cancer prevention i read as it cannot survive in an alkaline environment. Solid high quality product very happy with my purchase. LenO

Great product and very good tasting water, a lot better than fridge water . We had it for over 6 months now and we love it . Tank holds a good amount to fill up coffee tank and ice machine at once and will start refilling as soon as we shut it off. Installation was easy if you are handy with plumbing.

The APEC ROES-PH75 is the third RO system that I've owned. In the past I had an Aqua King AK40 and a Pure H2O 5-stage system. Of all these three, the APEC system is the best I've had so far. Price: I purchased the AK40 system for $2500 dollars (with filter replacements costing circa $250/year) and the Pure H2O system for $150 (with filter replacements costing $50-60/year). The APEC system cost a little more than the Pure H2O system, but far less than the Aqua King. Noise: The AK40 system had to be flushed at least once a week and was pretty noisy during a flush. It also would make some noise while refilling in high quantities. The Pure H2O system made sucking and draining noise all the time. It was so obnoxious that guests would get distracted during a conversation. I have not heard the APEC system make a sound (besides when I initially turned on the water flow to the system). Water flow: The AK40 system had good water flow and would slow down proportionately with the quantity of water in the tank. The Pure H2O system was overall slow. This system is high water flow up until the tank is practically empty. Installation: The AK40 system took around 2 hours to install with difficult instructions. The Pure H2O system took 1 hour with good instructions. This system took 1 hour with good instructions. The filters were easiest to replace in the following order from easiest to hardest: Pure H2O, APEC, Aqua King. Taste: Of the three systems, I would rank the taste in the following order from best to worst: APEC, Aqua King, and Pure H2O. The Alkaline filter makes a big difference in taste. Durability: I can't speak for the durability of this system yet, but have not had any issues with leaking during installation. The Aqua King served me for about 8 years and had issues with leaking once in a while. The Pure H2O system gave up the ghost after 1.5 years, when it started leaking from multiple places one day (even though I replaced all filters every 6 months). Overall, I am impressed with the performance of this system and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good RO system.

I was researching a long time about RO systems, which to buy and which would have a better taste in water quality... We used to buy water from Canadian Tire, and it was amazing quality water... BUT I didn't like the fact that we always had to carry bottles into the house and store them and change out bottles. After that we switched to Zero Water Filtration system for our water cooler. It fit our water cooler perfectly and worked a long time, until one day the cooler broke and started leaking all over our kitchen floor. So I was on the search for a replacement. Then I came across this unit! What an amazing quality RO System this unit is! Absolutely loving it. Would definitely recommend it anyone who is looking to replace it for bottled water. It's easy to install, all the lines are color coded and the water tastes amazing. I would never purchase anything else. APEC Water Systems are made in the USA!!! Top quality, excellent tasting water, good value for your money! What more do you want? Buy it, enjoy it. It's amazing! Definitely recommend this one! Don't buy any cheap garbage made in China!

Awesome filter . using it on a old 50 year house with awful smelling water on copper pipes. I used a plumber to install and he was able to use the supplied manuals to read installation. Also able to use most of the parts supplied but plumber used AU standards plumbing connections to drain which feels more hygienic than using the stock drilled fitment. has to be drained a fair around 20 mins in startup to clean the cloudy water from the remineralization stage. I also paid extra to connect it to fridge water/ice dispenser. Only downside is I paid more price for it and it is cheaper now in amazon

The installation instructions were clear. Everything was included in the box. The water tastes great. What more could one ask? FYI, when you use the product for the first time it will be full of tiny bubbles. Give it a few days and they'll all work themselves out of the system and you'll have non-cloudy water.

This unit was replacing my previous 25 year old reverse osmoses system so all the fittings were already in place., Twenty minutes work to replace the tank, hook up the pipes and it was running. Water tastes even better than it did with the old unit but total Dissolved Solids are a bit higher because this one adds calcium at the end.

Supply the whole house drinking and cooking water,5 times cleaner then the council water supply.